Ravi Preethi, Smith Margaret, Bogović Sabrina, Lin Camille, Yaffee Anna, Dudgeon Matthew, Zeidan Amy
Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, USA.
Department of Internal Medicine, University of California, San Diego, USA.
J Immigr Minor Health. 2025 May 24. doi: 10.1007/s10903-025-01698-7.
The current use of identifiers to describe immigrant patients in Electronic Health Records (EHRs) is poorly described and lacks standardization, but nevertheless has broad implications related to clinical care and research of this population. We conducted interviews with stakeholders to discern strong identifiers for use to identify patients who have immigrated to the United States (U.S.). Language, country of origin, time in the U.S., and race/ethnicity were identified as effective, ethical, and acceptable for use. Limitations of each of these identifiers were noted, highlighting the need to use multiple identifiers in combination when describing patients in EHRs. The processes used to collect these identifiers in clinical settings and the ethical implications of using these identifiers must also be carefully considered. Our results highlight the need for standards related to documentation of immigrant patients in EHRs. Further research is also needed to validate the identifiers we have outlined, discern additional identifiers that are useful and acceptable in specific clinical and research contexts, and explore how strong identifiers can be operationalized in EHRs for clinical, research, and community engagement purposes.
目前在电子健康记录（EHRs）中用于描述移民患者的标识符使用情况描述不佳且缺乏标准化，但尽管如此，这与该人群的临床护理和研究有着广泛的关联。我们对利益相关者进行了访谈，以确定用于识别移民到美国的患者的有力标识符。语言、原籍国、在美国的时间以及种族/民族被确定为有效、符合伦理且可接受使用的标识符。我们指出了这些标识符各自的局限性，强调在EHRs中描述患者时需要组合使用多个标识符。在临床环境中收集这些标识符所使用的流程以及使用这些标识符的伦理影响也必须仔细考虑。我们的结果凸显了EHRs中与移民患者文档记录相关的标准的必要性。还需要进一步研究来验证我们所概述的标识符，辨别在特定临床和研究背景下有用且可接受的其他标识符，并探索如何在EHRs中为临床、研究和社区参与目的实施有力标识符。
