Creating the Segment Scripts |
The next step of the transformation process is to write segment scripts to transform each patient name into the string fff. This enables you to hide confidential patient information.
In the message you are processing, three name fields are defined, as shown in the following table:
| Segment | Field Number | Field Name |
|---|---|---|
| PID | 5 | Patient Name |
| IN1 | 16 | Name of Insured |
| NK1 | 2 | Name |
To transform a name field, you must write a Segment Outbound script for the field. This script is written in Python.
To write a Segment Outbound script for the Patient Name field in the PID segment:
- In the Workspace, in the Segments folder, double-click PID. The Segment - PID window appears:
- Locate the Patient Name row.
- In the Outbound Script column of this row, click the ... (ellipsis) button. An Editing Script window appears, in which you can type the Segment Outbound script for this field.
- In the Editing Script window, type (or paste) the following Python code:
# we invoke a global function called scrub_name value = scrub_name(field) |
- Click Ok to create the Segment Outbound script.
- Repeat the above steps to create Segment Outbound scripts for field 16 of the IN1 segment (Name of Insured) and field 2 of the NK1 segment (Name).
This script calls a Python function named scrub_name(), which does the actual work of replacing the patient name with the string fff. The returned string is assigned to the value variable, which is a special variable that contains the value of the field.
In the next step of this tutorial, you will create a Global Inbound script that contains this scrub_name() function.