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The Swiss solution for anonymously chaining patient files.

F Borst1, F A Allaert, C Quantin

  • 1Medical Informatics, Geneva University Hospital, HUG, Geneva, Switzerland. francois.borst@hcuge.ch

Studies in Health Technology and Informatics
|October 18, 2001
PubMed
Summary

Switzerland uses a specialized anonymous record linkage procedure to connect patient hospitalizations for epidemiological surveys while maintaining anonymity. This method irreversibly transforms identity data, enabling secure linkage of anonymous health records.

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Area of Science:

  • Public Health
  • Health Informatics
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Linking successive hospitalizations for epidemiological surveys requires robust patient anonymity preservation.
  • Switzerland's Federal Statistical Office manages medical hospital statistics.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To describe the anonymous record linkage procedure adopted by Switzerland for medical hospital statistics.
  • To ensure patient anonymity while enabling the linkage of hospital admission data for epidemiological purposes.

Main Methods:

  • Development of concepts, algorithms, and organizational frameworks by the Federal Statistical Office.
  • Implementation of an anonymous record linkage procedure involving irreversible identity transformation.
  • Adoption of algorithms similar to those developed at Dijon University Hospital.

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Main Results:

  • Successful implementation of an anonymous record linkage procedure in Switzerland.
  • Irreversible transformation of patient identity data is ensured.
  • Anonymous health files can be effectively linked for statistical and epidemiological surveys.

Conclusions:

  • The implemented anonymous record linkage procedure effectively links successive hospitalizations while guaranteeing patient anonymity.
  • Switzerland's approach provides a model for secure data linkage in epidemiological research.
  • The developed algorithms are comparable to established methods used in other leading institutions.