Re: Help finding natural keys

From: Alan Gutierrez <ajglist_at_izzy.net>
Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2003 19:54:56 GMT
Message-ID: <kiiW9.10206$I55.383195@news2.east.cox.net>

--CELKO-- wrote:

>>> I will never permit myself to suffer the indignity of being

> fingerprinted by my grocer. <<
>
> It is just for checking cashing; you will not starve you to death, but you
> might have to pay cash. I wonder about a biometric smart card where I put
> the card into their machine, my finger (eyeball, whatever) somewhere and
> the card acts as an intermediary that says "Yep, trust me, this really is
> Joe Celko, account #9999".

(Off topic)

Yes, I teller at a bank once asked me for a finger print to cash a a check. She said she wouldn't cash it without one. I asked if she'd ask for a finger print of one of their account holders. She said no, but that I was not an account holder. I said I'd like to open an account and handed her the check.

(On topic)

>>> Also, with SSN, there would be a problem since firms are not supposed to
>>> know about each others patients. <<

>
> Ouch! That makes it hard to track a person's medical history ...

I'd like to clarify my statement. It sounds so terribly clueless.

The system is a time share. Your GP and your dermatologist might be on the same system. If your GP updates your information, it does not follow that your dermatologist should also see the modified information. There are laws governing information sharing between practices.

Even if your GP and dermatologist were both customers of our time share system, we would duplicate the data, as if they were on two different systems at two different offices. A candidate key for patient would have to include the firm (organization, practice) treating the patient. It allows me to say with a greater degree of confidence that one firm will not accidentally view another firm's patients.

A patient is really a patient dossier, and that dossier belongs to a particular firm which will be held accountable for it's contents.

Alan Gutierrez - ajglist_at_izzy.net Received on Sat Jan 18 2003 - 13:54:56 CST