Question

A new Health Information Department has purchased 200 units of 6-shelf files and plans to implement a terminal digit filing system. How many shelves should be allocated to each primary number?

Answer 1

In a terminal digit filing system, where there are 200 units of 6-shelf files, each primary number should be allocated 12 shelves, as the total number of shelves (1,200) divided by the number of primary numbers (100) equals 12.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question relates to how to allocate shelves using a terminal digit filing system, which is a method often used in health information management.

The terminal digit filing system uses the last digits of the number to organize files. In a case where we have 200 units of 6-shelf files, there are a total of 1,200 shelves available. The terminal digit filing system typically uses two sets of numbers: tens and ones. This creates 100 possible combinations (00-99).

To calculate the number of shelves per primary number, you divide the total number of shelves by the number of primary numbers in the filing system. Since there are 100 primary combinations possible with two digits, you divide 1,200 shelves by 100.

Thus, each primary number in a terminal digit filing system would be allocated 12 shelves (1,200 shelves ÷ 100 primary numbers).