Which action should be taken before registering a new patient to avoid duplication in CHCS?

• A. Accomplish a "Patient Lookup"
• B. Access On Line User's Manual by entering ??OLUM
• C. Create a medical record using post registration options
• D. Compare patient documentation with a DEERS RIP from MPF

Answer: (A)

Preventing duplicate records in CHCS starts with checking whether the patient already exists before you register. By running a Patient Lookup, you search CHCS for an existing patient using identifying details such as name, date of birth, and other identifiers. If a match is found, you can link the new encounter to the existing chart rather than creating a new patient record, which keeps the patient’s history in one place and avoids confusion from multiple records. If no match is found, you can proceed to create a new patient record with confidence that you aren’t duplicating someone else’s chart. The other options don’t serve this purpose: accessing the On Line User's Manual is a reference action, not a check for existing records; creating a medical record after registration would risk duplication; and comparing patient documentation with a DEERS RIP from MPF is about identity/eligibility verification, not preventing duplicate CHCS entries.