Risk-file de-identification is the removal of all 18 HIPAA Safe Harbor IDs (45 CFR §164.514(b)) from a claims or near-miss dossier. anonym.plus runs on your device. The facts of the event stay, but the people are no longer named.
When this applies
A risk team tracks claims and near-misses that name patients, staff, and lawyers. To find trends across them, the identifying detail must come out first.
How anonym.plus handles it
- Open the dossier in anonym.plus on your device.
- Local OCR reads scanned correspondence and forms.
- It flags patient, staff, and counsel names plus dates.
- Confirm the flags and keep your non-ID case codes.
- Swap each item for a steady label, or remove it.
- Save the cleaned copy. The source stays local.
What you need to provide
- The claims or near-miss dossier (PDF, DOCX, or scan).
- An operator (Replace keeps cross-file trends linkable).
- Optional map so one matter maps to one label.
PHI entity types detected
| Category | anonym.plus entity type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Patient | PERSON | claimant J. Ito → [PATIENT] |
| Staff | PERSON | Dr. Reuter → [STAFF] |
| Legal | PERSON | counsel M. Stern → [COUNSEL] |
| Dates | DATE_TIME | filed 06/2025 → [DATE] |
| Record IDs | MEDICAL_RECORD_NUMBER | MRN 318822 → [MRN] |
| Identifiers | ID | claim no. RM-7741 → [CLAIM_ID] |
Compliance achieved
- Strips all 18 ID classes for HIPAA Safe Harbor (45 CFR §164.514(b)).
- Runs offline, so the tool itself needs no BAA.
- Clears patient, staff, and counsel data in one pass.
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Limitations & cautions
A claims dossier is mostly narrative and quotes many parties. A unique mix of date, site, and event can still point to one matter after names go. Review such lines, and weigh whether Expert Determination fits a rare case.
Frequently asked questions
Whose data is in a risk dossier?
These records name patients, staff, and often legal counsel. Patient data is PHI; the rest is personal data. For trend work, all of it is swapped.
Can I keep matters linked across many records?
Yes. A label map gives one claim the same steady alias wherever it appears.
Is anything sent off the device?
No. All work is local, so a sensitive claims dossier is never uploaded.