# Patients ID in DICOM in the USA

**URL:** https://discourse.itk.org/t/patients-id-in-dicom-in-the-usa/1843
**Category:** Beginner Questions
**Tags:** dicom
**Created:** [May 6, 2019, 8:17pm UTC](https://discourse.itk.org/t/patients-id-in-dicom-in-the-usa/1843 "2019-05-06T20:17:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![hadasara](https://discourse.itk.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/c67d28/32.png) [@hadasara](https://discourse.itk.org/u/hadasara)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2019, 8:17pm UTC](https://discourse.itk.org/t/patients-id-in-dicom-in-the-usa/1843/1 "2019-05-06T20:17:38Z")

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Hi all,  
As a non-USA citizen I was wondering what is wriiten as a patient ID in the DICOM tags.  
Is it passport number? Is it internal ID of hospital system? Is it something else?

Thanks!

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### Author: ![zivy](https://discourse.itk.org/user_avatar/discourse.itk.org/zivy/32/1726_2.png) [@zivy](https://discourse.itk.org/u/zivy)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2019, 8:31pm UTC](https://discourse.itk.org/t/patients-id-in-dicom-in-the-usa/1843/2 "2019-05-06T20:31:14Z")

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Hi @hadasara,

DICOM is an international standard, so no passport numbers here. This is the primary hospital identifier for the patient. It may be empty if the data was anonymized.

Two recommended links with respect to DICOM questions:

1. The [standard](https://www.dicomstandard.org/current/).
2. A really well written [DICOM tutorial](http://dicomiseasy.blogspot.com/p/introduction-to-dicom.html) from your side of the pond.

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### Author: ![hadasara](https://discourse.itk.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/c67d28/32.png) [@hadasara](https://discourse.itk.org/u/hadasara)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2019, 10:47pm UTC](https://discourse.itk.org/t/patients-id-in-dicom-in-the-usa/1843/3 "2019-05-06T22:47:17Z")

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Thanks!