De-identify a medical record
Upload a record, or paste its text, and get the same record back with its identifiers removed. Free, no account needed.
Result
Your upload is never stored. The result is deleted when you download it or after 15 minutes, and nothing is saved in your browser. Automated de-identification can miss identifiers: check the result before you share it.
Questions
What does Safe Harbor remove?
The HIPAA Safe Harbor method lists 18 kinds of identifier that must be removed: names; geographic subdivisions smaller than a state (street, city, county, zip); dates (except year) related to the patient, and ages over 89; telephone numbers; fax numbers; email addresses; social security numbers; medical record numbers; health plan beneficiary numbers; account numbers; certificate and license numbers; vehicle identifiers and serial numbers, including license plates; device identifiers and serial numbers; web addresses (urls); ip addresses; biometric identifiers, including finger and voice prints; full-face photographs and comparable images; any other unique identifying number, characteristic or code. The result page counts what was removed in nine groups.
| # | Identifier | Counted as |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Names | Names |
| 2 | Geographic subdivisions smaller than a state (street, city, county, ZIP) | Address |
| 3 | Dates (except year) related to the patient, and ages over 89 | Dates; Age >89 |
| 4 | Telephone numbers | Phone |
| 5 | Fax numbers | Phone |
| 6 | Email addresses | |
| 7 | Social Security numbers | SSN |
| 8 | Medical record numbers | MRN / account |
| 9 | Health plan beneficiary numbers | Other |
| 10 | Account numbers | MRN / account |
| 11 | Certificate and license numbers | Other |
| 12 | Vehicle identifiers and serial numbers, including license plates | Other |
| 13 | Device identifiers and serial numbers | Other |
| 14 | Web addresses (URLs) | Other |
| 15 | IP addresses | Other |
| 16 | Biometric identifiers, including finger and voice prints | Other |
| 17 | Full-face photographs and comparable images | Not examined: images inside a record are not inspected |
| 18 | Any other unique identifying number, characteristic or code | Other |
What does it do?
It reads one medical record and gives it back with identifiers removed: names, dates, phone numbers, addresses, email addresses, Social Security numbers and others. You see how many of each were removed. Scanned documents are read with OCR first.
What can I give it?
One record, up to 300 pages: a PDF, a scanned image (TIFF, PNG, JPEG or GIF), a C-CDA document (.xml), a FHIR Bundle (.json), an X12 837 claim, an HL7 v2 message, plain text, RTF or a Word document (.docx). You can also paste the record's text.
What happens to my upload?
Your upload is never stored. It is read in memory and discarded when the job is done. The de-identified result is deleted when you download it or after 15 minutes, and nothing is saved in your browser.
Can I upload real patient records?
No. Do not upload records containing real patient information or other personally identifiable information. Use synthetic records only. This free tool isn't covered by a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement. If you need to de-identify real patient data, contact Tenasol.
Can I rely on the result?
Automated de-identification can miss identifiers. Every result is checked a second time before it is released, but you should still review it before sharing it. It is not an Expert Determination.
Is it really free?
Yes. It needs no account and gives you a number of free records every day. If you need more, contact Tenasol.