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Race and ethnicity are defined by specific physical, hereditary and cultural traditions or origins, not necessarily by birthplace, place of residence, or citizenship. ‘Origin’ is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as

the heritage, nationality group, lineage, or in some cases, the country of birth of the person or the person’s parents or ancestors before their arrival in the United States.

The five race data items (Race 1 – Race 5) make it possible to code multiple races for one person, consistent with the 2000 Census. All resources in the facility, including the medical record, face sheet, physician and

nursing notes, photographs, and any other sources, must be used to determine race. If a facility does not print race in the medical record but does maintain it in electronic form, the electronic data must also be reviewed.

Recommendation: Document how the race code(s) was (were) determined in a text fieldEnter the two digit code which describes the patient's race group. If the patient is multiracial, code all races using data fields Race2-Race5. Effective with 2004 diagnoses, use the race coding rules and tables in APPENDIX K.

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