Client Unique ID

Computation of a Client unique number requires the entry of certain fields. If all those fields are not present, a unique number cannot be created.

There are several goals of a Client unique number:

1. Have a high probability of being unique, or in other words an extremely small chance of two different clients getting the same number.
2. Generated consistently for the same person: a client with six different cases, the unique number in each case will be the same.
3. Changes in the client’s situation does not change the number: if the client moves, gets married, etc. the number remains the same.
4. Uses information about the client that doesn’t change.
5. Cannot be reversed engineered to identify who the client is. It shouldn’t be possible to run a formula against the number to pull out identifying information.
6. Generation without any action taken by a staff number, other than entering the basic information.

To meet all these goals, we use three identifiers that don’t change:

1. Social Security Number
2. Birth Date
3. Race

Almost everything else about a client can change or be entered differently. Static information about the client is run through a complex function to create the unique number.

For programs that do not gather all that information or that have requirements that aren't so strict, we can modify unique identifiers on other criteria. For example, some programs use the first few letters of the name to generate the unique number. We can work with you to create a unique number that works to fulfill your needs.