[Info-vax] OT: Cerner patient ID question

[John Smith (not the one @ HP)]

Does anyone know/recollect how Cerner provides/generates the patient ID when 
a person is first added to the system?

Is it just an autogenerated number picked up from the underlying database 
and hence strictly monotonically sequential, or is there an ID 'generator' 
which checksums the patient ID?

If it is a checksum ID, do you know which algorithm is used?

Thanks.