Hi Thomas and Karsten, Names are unusual. We have 'official' names (e.g., birth certificate) and 'unofficial' names (e.g., those we choose ourselves and others we are given). A brother migrated to the Southern US states, married and had four children. I remember 'Gator' and 'Armadillo'; I can't remember the official names and they probably do not like using them.
My wife's first and middle names at birth were 'Jacqueline' and 'Elizabeth'. The British Nurse that registered them did not like the arrangement and she placed 'Elizabeth' first. She is now 'Jacqueline' and the 'Elizabeth' has been dropped except for the INS. My sad case is that I was labelled as 'TJ' the first and middle initials. That was corrected after I gained adulthood and started signing up for various things. If I happened to take either of my brother's children to a Healthcare Facility and I had to provide someone with relevant information, then it has to be 'Gator' and 'Armadillo'. It is unrealistic to presume the Southern US states can sort this out and the rest of this country is similarly peculiar. For example, some Native Americans prefer to use a single name. Since we presume a minimum of three a problem arises and more information is needed. Personally, names should be 'localized' with variable formats. Some co-workers have asserted their right to have multiple last names. There was never enough room on the form. Then there are the places where everyone has the same last name, no middle name, and little variety in the first name, e.g., you should know who you are talking to. The INS attempted a solution some time ago by changing the names, which is why there is no 'e' on the end of mine. Even though people ignore the name change, anyone caught herein without a proper INS name is in real trouble. Flexibility is needed since there are many more variations yet to be encountered. Regards! -Thomas Clark Karsten Hilbert wrote: >On Sat, Mar 12, 2005 at 09:28:37AM +0000, Thomas Beale wrote: > > > >>>I do not completely understand why you need to be able to >>>*process* initials ? >>> >>> >>You definitely do. If your name is "F. Murray Abraham" (to use the name >>of the actor who played Salieri in "Amadeus") and that's what you >>present yourself as, then the EHR system had better not mess it up. It >>probably should record what the "F." stands for, but still needs to >>remember that it is always used in the initial form with both the >>patient, the health service and payers. >> >> >I understand that. > >Let me rephrase my question: > >I do not completely understand why you need to be able to >*process* first name initials any different from fully spelt >out first names ? > >Karsten > > - If you have any questions about using this list, please send a message to d.lloyd at openehr.org
