Python uses assignment to specify that a value is to be stored in a variable. The = symbol is used to represent an assignment. For instance, here is how you would store the number 42113 in the variable patientid:

patientid = 42113

This also works for strings. For example, to assign the string Admitted to the variable status, use this:

status = "Admitted"

Note that the same variable can be used to contain either a number or a string, depending on what you assign to it. For instance, this Python code is perfectly valid:

patientinfo = 42113
patientinfo = "Admitted"

	This behavior differs from that of some other programming languages, which insist that you decide ahead of time what type of values can be stored in a particular variable.

You can assign the contents of one variable to another variable:

patientstatus = "Admitted"
admissionstatus = patientstatus

Because patientstatus contains Admitted, admissionstatus now also contains Admitted. Note that these are two separate copies of the value. For instance, suppose that you copy the value of one variable into another, and then change the value of the first variable:

patientstatus = "Admitted"
admissionstatus = patientstatus
patientstatus = "Waiting for results"

Here, patientstatus now contains Waiting for results, but admissionstatus still contains Admitted.

You can assign a value to more than one variable at once. For example, the following assigns 42113 to three variables:

labid = hospitalid = patientid = 42113