How to remove duplicate referring doctors
If a referring doctor has been added twice with separate records, mark the duplicate (the one with no details) as deleted. This removes it from the selection list so it can no longer be picked, without affecting the doctor's other records or any patient already linked to the correct one.
Marking a referring doctor as deleted does not remove the record from the database. It only hides the doctor from the selection list. Patients already linked to the deleted record keep their link.
Why duplicate records appear
Duplicate referring doctors are common because HealthTrack creates a record automatically whenever an incoming result or report arrives with a provider number that does not already match one of your records. A doctor who moves practice and is issued a new provider number, for example, will get a second record.
There is no tool to merge two records into one, so the way to tidy this up is to mark the record you do not want as deleted.
Remove a duplicate referring doctor
- Go to Admin > Referring MO Details.
- In the Surname / Provider Number field, enter the doctor's surname or provider number and click Search.
- Select the doctor entry with no details (the empty duplicate, not the one with referrals or details against it).
- Click Edit at the bottom of the screen.
- Select Delete.
- Click Save.
Do not delete records labelled Internal Doctor. HealthTrack creates these automatically for your practice's own doctors, one for each provider number, and shows Internal Doctor against the address. They are not duplicates. Deleting one can stop that doctor being selected as a referrer and cause an error when it is next needed.
A deleted record can still be matched by incoming electronic results. When results or reports arrive, HealthTrack matches the referring doctor by provider number. It prefers records that are not deleted, but if the deleted record is the only one with that provider number, incoming messages will still match to it. Make sure the record you want to keep for that provider number is active before you delete the duplicate.
Deleted records are hidden from the search results. To see them again (to confirm a record was removed, or to recover one deleted by mistake), select Show Deleted MOs in the search screen.
