How to move client demographics between EHRs
Move client demographics and contact details between EHRs by listing which name, phone, email, address and emergency-contact fields export as structured data, mapping them in the new system, and spot-checking a sample of charts after import.
- A demographic record is the set of identity and contact fields on a client chart, such as names, date of birth, phones, emails and addresses.
- Many of those fields move as structured data when both systems support them; emergency contacts may arrive as fields or only inside documents.
- Map preferred name versus legal name on purpose, then spot-check phones, emails and addresses after the sample migration.
Which demographic fields usually move as structured data?
Most behavioral health exports include some mix of:
- Legal name, preferred or display name, and date of birth
- Sex or gender fields as the old system stores them
- Mobile and home phone, email, and mailing or home address
- Client ID or medical record number from the old system
- Emergency contact name and phone, when the old EHR keeps them as fields
What actually lands in matching fields still depends on the export and on the new EHR, as covered in what moves in an EHR migration. Build the plan in your EHR field mapping.
How do preferred name and legal name differ in a migration?
Legal name is the name used for billing and formal records. Preferred name is what staff and the client use day to day. Map both when the new EHR has both fields. If the new system has only one name field, decide in writing which value goes there and where the other value is stored (another field, a note, or a document). Wrong name mapping is a common cause of charts that look like duplicate charts.
How do emergency contacts usually travel?
Some EHRs export emergency contacts as structured fields (name, relationship, phone). Others keep them only inside intake PDFs or scanned consents. If they are documents only, plan to attach those files to the chart and tell front desk where to look, using how to move documents between EHRs. Do not invent a structured contact that was never in the export.
How do you move demographics step by step?
Step 1: List every demographic field in the test export
From a test export, write down each name, contact and address field you actually received, not only what the old EHR screen shows.
Step 2: Match each field in the new EHR
For every field, choose a matching field, a field with a simple rule (for example, formatting phone numbers), an attached document, or archive-only. Have front desk and clinical lead review preferred-name and emergency-contact choices.
Step 3: Map phones, emails and addresses with care
Note primary versus secondary phone, which email gets portal invites, and which address is mailing versus home. Keep extension or country-code quirks in the mapping notes.
Step 4: Decide how empty or conflicting values are handled
Say what happens when legal name is blank, when two emails disagree, or when the old chart has a preferred name only. Write the rule so import does not invent data.
Step 5: Test on the sample migration
On the sample migration, open charts across clinicians and check legal name, preferred name, date of birth, phones, emails, addresses and emergency contacts against the old EHR.
Step 6: Spot-check again after the full move
After cutover, spot-check the same fields on a fresh sample and compare client counts. Log mismatches for the reconciliation report.
What should you spot-check after import?
On each sample chart, confirm:
- Legal name and preferred name match the old chart as mapped
- Date of birth matches exactly
- Primary phone and email are the ones staff expect to use
- Address lines and postal code are complete enough for mail and billing
- Emergency contact is present in the place your mapping promised (field or document)
What to watch for
- Preferred name overwritten by legal name, or the reverse.
- Portal invite email pointing at an old address nobody monitors.
- Emergency contacts missing because they lived only in a scanned intake form.
- Duplicate charts created when name fields were mapped inconsistently.
Frequently asked questions
Do all contact details always land in structured fields?
No. Phones, emails and addresses often do, but only when the export includes them and the new EHR has matching fields. Always confirm from a test export.
Should you migrate every historical address?
Migrate the current mailing and home addresses you need for care and billing. Older addresses can stay in the archive or in attached documents if the new chart only holds current values.
How do you handle a client with two mobile numbers?
Map the primary number to the primary phone field and put the second number in the secondary field if one exists; otherwise note it in a staff-visible place your mapping names.
Does Ferry decide preferred name versus legal name for you?
No. Your clinical and front-desk leads choose the rule; Ferry follows the written field mapping and reports mismatches in reconciliation.
For the full project from inventory to archive, see the EHR data migration guide.
How Ferry helps
Ferry migrates data between behavioral health EHRs at a fixed price, with a reconciliation report for every record type. Get a migration quote.