Which date-related information should be included in a patient profile?

• A. Age
• B. Social Security Number
• C. Date of birth
• D. Driver's license number

Answer: (C)

Date-based identifiers in a patient profile are used to determine age and verify identity over time. The date of birth is the exact date that defines a person’s age at any point and is essential for tracking development, planning care, and verifying eligibility for procedures or vaccines. Because age is derived from the birth date, keeping the birth date as the source value ensures you can compute the correct age for any encounter, whereas reporting just the age leaves room for error if it isn’t updated. The other items listed are not dates or are sensitive identifiers not about date information; a social security number or driver’s license number may be collected in certain contexts but they’re not date-related data and require extra privacy handling. In short, the birth date is the appropriate date-related detail to include in a patient profile.