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Auto Create

Auto Create

Owned by Sarah Mawdsley
Jan 16, 2025
2 min read

Auto-create is a functionality that PKB can configure for an individual PKB organisation.

When configured, Auto-create enables patient records to be created using PID data received via any HL7 message in the integration feed. This means that patient records could be automatically created in PKB on receipt of an appointment (SIU), pathology result, radiology result, measurement (ORU), document or care plan (MDM) message, without the organisation having to send an initial patient creation (ADT) message. 

However, careful consideration needs to be taken before enabling auto-create as it will be in place for all message types, so PKB would need assurance that the organisation is able to include a verified national identifier (e.g NHS number) and the minimum required demographic details (given name, surname, dob, sex at birth) within the PID segment of all HL7 messages.

 

When is Auto-create appropriate

For most customers, an initial bulk upload and real time demographic feed can be developed, meaning patient records will automatically be created in PKB prior to any other data being sent through. Therefore Auto-create is usually not required.

However, if a customer is unable to develop a real time demographics feed or is unable to perform a bulk upload (to create PKB record for patients already registered at and cared for by the organisation), Auto-create can be discussed as as option

 

Points of consideration

If a customer thinks Auto-create may be appropriate for their organisation, the following points must be considered:

  • Auto-create may reduce the volume of demographic messages sent to PKB but will not remove the necessity for a demographics feed altogether, as demographic updates will still need to be sent through.

  • Auto-create can only be enabled across a whole organisation. It cannot be enabled for individual data feeds.

  • As Auto-create will be enabled for all your HL7 data feeds (including any future feeds the organisation may want to develop) some form of data quality control (e.g. SPINE lookup) must be in place that ensures the PID data within all messages is accurate. Particular consideration must be given to ensuring that the supplied national identifier (e.g. NHS number) is verified.

  • PKB will also require that Soft-matching on date of birth is enabled to further mitigate the risk of data being added to the wrong record in PKB and potential duplicate records being created.

  • The Auto create option is only enabled on HL7 feeds. This means if you are using any of PKB’s Custom REST or FHIR APIs, Auto-create will not work. For example, sending a questionnaire request using a FHIR API will not auto-create a patient record. A list of all available HL7 data feeds can be found here: HL7 Message Scopes