• Health, Standard 05/10/2016

The Intertwined record cluster includes data elements that define the situation where more than one entity shares the same identifier. This cluster also describes information about the organisation or individual provider which confirms the existence of intertwined records and the date this confirmation occurs.

Intertwined records are also known as replica records. 'Intertwined' is the preferred generic term.

Intertwined records are records shared by more than one entity. Intertwined records are created when two or more people or organisations are assigned the same identifier and their data are associated with the same record.

Intertwined records are difficult to identify. These records result from human error; either because they have been incorrectly resolved as duplicate enrolments or because one customer is enrolled on another customer's record.

These records represent a clinical safety risk to customers as their recorded health data is combined with the health data of another customer, and a privacy risk if one of the customers views their personal and/or health data.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) 2014. Audit Report No.27 2013–14. Integrity of Medicare customer data. Viewed 16 May 2016, https://www.anao.gov.au/work/performance-audit/integrity-medicare-customer-data.