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Central Distributor SASD: Description of Data Elements

 
MDNUM2_S - Physician 2 number (synthetic)
 
Documentation Sections:
General Notes
Uniform Values
State Specific Notes
General Notes
 

HCUP encrypted physician identifiers are referred to by different names in the HCUP data across years.

Year Variable
1988-2000 MDID_S
2001-2002 MDNUM1_S
Beginning with 2003 MDNUM1_R


Prior to 2001, this data element is called SURGID_S.

MDNUM2_S contains a fixed-key (one-to-one) encryption of the supplied physician 2 number (MDNUM2), according to the following rules:

  • All alphanumeric digits are used in the encryption.
  • All symbols such as ".,:;'*@" are retained in the encrypted value, but not in the same location.
  • Leading zeros are encrypted so that the two original physician identifiers "000A6" and "A6" are distinctly different.
  • When the original physician 1 number and physician 2 identifiers are the same, the synthetic identifiers, MDNUM1_S and MDNUM2_S, are the same.
  • When the MDNUM1 in the ambulatory surgery data and the inpatient data are the same, the synthetic identifier, MDUNM2_S is the same.

Except in those data sources where physician license numbers are supplied, it is not known whether the physician identifier MDNUM2_S refers to individual physicians or to groups. If the physician 2 numbers supplied by the data source are not restricted to license numbers, the state-specific note includes available information about reporting practices, including whether MDNUM2_S refers to individual physicians or to groups.

Beginning in the 1993 data, supplied physician identifiers were checked for null characters. If null characters were found, they were replaced by blanks before the identifier was encrypted. Since this conversion was not done in prior years of HCUP data, the encrypted physician identifiers from 1993 on may not match those in earlier years. However, null characters are rarely included.

 
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Uniform Values
 
VariableDescriptionValueValue Description
MDNUM2_SPhysician 2 number (synthetic)16(a)Synthetic physician identifier
BlankMissing
 
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State Specific Notes

Colorado

In Colorado two types of physician identifiers are available:

  1. Attending physician is provided in MDNUM1_S and
  2. Physician that performed the principal procedure is provided in MDNUM2_S.

Physician identification numbers may not accurately track physicians across hospitals. The state encourages hospitals to use the Professional State License Number as an identifier, but some hospitals continue to use their own internal identification number. Also, some hospitals appear to pad the Professional State License Number (a 5-digit code). Information was not available from the data source about the prevalence of these practices.


Some hospitals may use one license number for all physicians in order to protect physician confidentiality. Information was not available from the data source about the prevalence of this practice. The provided physician identifiers are encrypted during HCUP processing.



Florida

In Florida two types of physician identifiers are available:

  1. Attending physician is provided in MDNUM1_S and
  2. Operating physician is provided in MDNUM2_S.

Physician identification numbers may be used to track physicians within and across hospitals. Florida reports state license numbers for the physician identifiers. During HCUP processing, physician identifiers were encrypted.



Kentucky

Beginning in 2017, Kentucky replaced the two consulting practitioner NPI numbers by the referring practitioner NPI (HCUP MDNUM3) and the patient's family practitioner NPI (HCUP MDNUM4).

Beginning in 2012, Kentucky supplies two additional consulting practitioner NPI numbers that are saved as HCUP data element MDNUM3 and MDNUM4.

Beginning October 2009, only NPIs accepted as valid IDs for both facilities and clinicians.

In Kentucky two types of physician identifiers are available:

  1. Attending physician is provided in MDNUM1_S and
  2. Physician that performed the primary procedure is provided in MDNUM2_S.

Physician identification numbers may not accurately track physicians within and across hospitals. Kentucky collects two different types of physician identifiers, National Provider Identifier (NPI) and state license numbers.



New Jersey

Beginning in 2017, four types of physician identifiers are available:

  1. Attending physician is provided in MDNUM1_S,
  2. Operating physician is provided in MDNUM2_S,
  3. Other operating physician is provided in MDNUM3_S,
  4. Rendering physician is provided in MDNUM4_S

Physician identification numbers may not accurately track physicians within and across hospitals. During HCUP processing, physician identifiers are encrypted. The coding of the physician identification number varies across years:

Year Physician Identifier
1988-93 New Jersey state license numbers
1994-95 Universal Physician Identification Numbers (UPINs)
1996-2008 New Jersey state license numbers.
Beginning in 2008 New Jersey National Provider Identifiers (NPIs)


New York

In New York, three types of physician identifiers are available:

  1. Attending physician is provided in MDNUM1_S,
  2. Operating physician is provided in MDNUM2_S, and
  3. Other physician is provided in MDNUM3_S.

Physician identification numbers can be used to track physicians within and across hospitals. New York reports state license numbers as physician identifiers. Source documentation indicates that if the reported physician number did not possess a valid New York state license number, the license number of the Chief of Service should have been reported.

New York does not limit this field to physicians; dentists, podiatrists, psychologists, nurse/midwives, and other licensed health care professionals may be included. It is impossible to identify the different types of providers in the HCUP data.

The provided physician identifiers are encrypted during HCUP processing.

For the 2001 - 2002 data, physician identifiers are missing (" ") on discharges with an indication of an induced abortion. New York identifies an indication of induced abortion by ICD-9-CM diagnosis or procedure code:

  • An admitting, principal, or secondary diagnosis of "6350" through "6399", or "7796".
  • A principal or secondary procedure of "690", "695", "696", "6993", "738", "7491", "750", "751", or "9649".

Please note that the admitting diagnosis is not retained in the HCUP databases.


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Internet Citation: HCUP Central Distributor SASD Description of Data Elements - All States. Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). May 2024. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/db/vars/sasddistnote.jsp?var=mdnum2_s.
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Last modified 5/22/24