Understanding Differences Between V1 and V2

During migration, it is common to compare reports, analytical outputs and data extracts between iPCV V1 and iPCV V2.

In some scenarios, differences will be observed between the two versions. These differences are not necessarily indicative of defects. Many are the result of intentional improvements introduced in V2 to improve consistency, traceability, data quality and alignment with source data.

This page explains the types of differences customers may observe during validation and when those differences are expected outcomes of documented V2 changes.

What Differences Should I Expect?

Expected differences generally fall into two categories.

Differences That May Affect Record Counts

• Patient populations that are slightly larger or smaller than those returned by V1.
• Clinical record counts that differ due to changes in patient inclusion, consent handling or record processing.
• Different active patient classifications.
• Different registered patient classifications.
• Different deceased patient classifications.
• Different consent or opt-in/opt-out outcomes in specific scenarios.

See Why Might Results Differ below for the underlying causes.

Differences That Do Not Affect Record Counts

• Additional identifiers and UUIDs becoming available.
• Additional audit and traceability information.
• Improved linking between related records.
• More consistent handling of deleted records.
• Additional record lifecycle information becoming available.
• Information being consolidated into shared models rather than duplicated across multiple models.

Why Might Results Differ Between V1 and V2?

Many of the differences observed between V1 and V2 are the result of intentional improvements to consistency, traceability, data quality and alignment with source data.

Patient Registration and Status

V2 introduces improvements to how patient registration, active status and patient lifecycle events are determined. This may result in some patients being classified differently when compared to V1.

Active and Inactive Patients

Improvements to active patient identification help ensure patient status is represented more consistently. This may result in differences to patient populations used within reports and analytics.

Consent and Opt-Out Processing

Updates have been made to the way consent and opt-out information is processed, including specific National Data Opt-Out (NDOP) scenarios. This may affect whether some patients or records are included in analytical outputs.

Merged Patient Handling

V2 includes improved handling of merged patients to provide a more consistent representation of patient history and activity. This may affect patient counts and associated records in some scenarios.

Deceased Patient Identification

Improvements to deceased patient processing may result in differences to patient classifications and associated reporting outputs.

Record Lifecycle and Deletion Handling

V2 introduces a more consistent approach to handling deleted, historical and lifecycle-related records. As a result, some records may appear differently when compared to V1.

These changes are intended to improve consistency, determinism and alignment with the underlying source data whilst maintaining the overall purpose of the models.

What Should I Do If I See Differences?

When differences are identified between V1 and V2:

1. Review the relevant domain change pages in the model documentation.
2. Review Cross-Domain Changes.
3. Identify whether the behaviour is described within the migration documentation.
4. Raise a support request if the observed behaviour cannot be explained by the documented V2 changes.

Many of the changes introduced in V2 are intentional improvements to consistency, traceability and data quality rather than defects.