By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    photo of hands with blue veins
    8 Proven Tips on Finding Difficult Veins
    November 12, 2021
    tips for getting over the pandemic blues
    4 Proven Ways to Get Over the Pandemic Blues
    February 22, 2022
    medical industry innovations
    How is CNC Machining Transforming the Medical Industry?
    June 2, 2022
    Latest News
    Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
    May 16, 2025
    Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
    May 16, 2025
    Choosing the Right Supplement Manufacturer for Your Brand
    May 1, 2025
    Engineering Temporary Hospitals for Extreme Weather
    April 24, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Doctors on Google: Manhattan Research Survey 2012
    July 23, 2012
    HealthCare’s Need for Transparency Goes Far Beyond Pricing
    December 10, 2012
    Medicare Payments to Providers Are Carved, Sliced and Chopped by Sequestration
    March 25, 2013
    Latest News
    Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
    May 18, 2025
    The Critical Role of Healthcare in Personal Injury Recovery: A Comprehensive Guide for Victims
    May 14, 2025
    The Backbone of Successful Trials: Clinical Data Management
    April 28, 2025
    Advancing Your Healthcare Career through Education and Specialization
    April 16, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Techniques for Matching Patient Record Data Across Disparate EHRs and Other Systems
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > eHealth > Medical Records > Techniques for Matching Patient Record Data Across Disparate EHRs and Other Systems
Medical Records

Techniques for Matching Patient Record Data Across Disparate EHRs and Other Systems

ShahidShah
Last updated: February 10, 2012 9:35 am
ShahidShah
Share
9 Min Read
SHARE

 

 

Some of the most frequent questions I receive these days surround data interoperability and integrating multiple health IT systems. One of the biggest problems in connectivity is matching patient record data and ensuring that the same patient data in different systems is linked properly. Given how many times this topic comes up, I reached out to Cameron Thompson, Acxiom Healthcare Group Managing Director. Acxiom has an interesting method of patient data matching, called persistent links, and when I saw what they were doing for matching consumer records in non-healthcare settings (e.g. marketing) I thought some of you might want to learn about it. Here’s what Cameron had to say about the various techniques for matching patient data:

The promise of secure and seamless exchange of patient healthcare information is powerful. As payers, providers, Health Information Exchanges (HIXs) and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) move rapidly toward the full deployment of electronic medical records, healthcare IT professionals are grappling with a fragmented network of systems and data silos. These disparate systems and databases often house redundant copies of patient medical data in multiple formats, which limits the ability to see a true 360-degree view of the patient. The benefits from connected patient data are many, including:

More Read

Keeping Patient Data Secure in a Digital World
Reduce Claim Denials and Recoup Lost Revenue: 7 Steps
LifeNexus Launches Electronic Personal Health Card With Payment Card Functionality for Health Savings Accounts
Finding the Solutions to Big Data Security Concerns
Patient-Generated Health Data: a Shift in Care Delivery?
  • Reductions in inaccurate coverage determinations.
  • Intelligent information sharing for clinical decision making.
  • Honoring patient consents and preferences consistently and accurately.
  • Minimizing risks of data breach with a unique health identifier that allows the transfer of patient information but NOT personally identifiable information such as name and address.
  • Reduction in time and effort in administrative processes including billing or claims inaccuracies.
  • Avoiding costly duplication or unnecessary testing.

To reduce these inefficiencies and solve the underlying problem, the new healthcare ecosystem needs an accurate means of identifying and matching patient record data to the correct individual across internal and external healthcare systems, including collaborative care delivery models.

Multiple systems across the healthcare enterprise produce duplicate patient records that are not easily recognizable as matches. Recognizing that Mary Jane Smith at 123 Elm Road in the 2009 clinical laboratory system is also Mary Collins of 78 Oak Street in the 2011 patient registration system is a challenge for any organization. Identifying a solid method for distinguishing patient information across multiple data systems and combining the data accurately will be pivotal to the effective adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and successful implementation of Health Information Exchange (HIE).

As organizations take on this challenge, several methods have been identified and considered to recognize an individual. Three leading methods can to be explored to achieve your business goals of continuity and cost reduction. These are:

1. Algorithm or String-Based Matching

An organization can develop an algorithm with string-based matching using identifiers in the existing data to uniquely identify individuals. The benefits of string-based matching include:

  • Recognizable practice – This is a well-known practice and resources capable of creating these programs are plentiful.
  • Options for processing – Algorithms can be created internally and run without sending data outside the organization or an external organization can be identified to conduct the match on the organization’s behalf.

Some of the challenges with this strategy include:

  • Inherent challenges in string-based matching – String-based matching relies on consistencies in reported names and addresses, which tend to change often.
  • Ensuring the accuracy of the data used in the algorithm – Manually entered names and addresses are often laden with inexactness. This makes string-based matching more difficult.
  • Absorbing the costs to develop and enable this identifier across systems – Costs would need to be incurred to develop, maintain and put the identifier into use across systems.

2. State-Issued Number

An organization can use another state-Issued number such as a state of issuance and birth certificate number. Benefits of this method include:

  • Development cost savings – using existing assigned identifiers would save costs on development of a new identifier.
  • Availability – an organization could select an identifier that is already available in many systems.

Some challenges with this strategy include:

  • Inconsistent data fields and record lengths – if state issued numbers are of different lengths this could create difficulty for the programmer creating the data field.
  • Protecting personal information from fraudsters – using a state-issued number could raise concern over identity theft with the proliferation of stolen Social Security numbers. Whether real or perceived, this information being made available opens the door for fraudsters to invade an individual’s privacy.

3. Persistent Links

Healthcare organizations should consider the use of highly accurate match technology that delivers knowledge-based persistent linking. This match technology delivers a set of persistent links a company uses to recognize their patients across a fragmented network of systems and data silos. Persistent Link match technology is regarded as the most precise match technology available to accurately resolve patient identity (such as AbiliTec, the linking technology offered by my company, Acxiom). The link provides a consistent, client-specific ID, across data variations, and it can be applied at all touch points and databases within an organization. 

The use of persistent links, created from knowledge-based match technology, can provide:

  • More accurate patient recognition and identity resolution.
  • Greater control and governance around the patient data because each healthcare entity receives a dedicated set of encoded links, specific to their enterprise. This facilitates link transactions, minimizing the amount of personal identifiable information exchanged, aligning with the need for HIPAA compliance. Further, when multiple entities interact (e.g. an Accountable Care Organization between provider and payer) a unique link reconciliation can be processed by the provider in batch or real time.
  • A minimized amount of personal information that a healthcare entity needs to store as they use encoded links to integrate data and recognize patients.
  • Eliminate an upfront investment to develop and maintain identifiers. The first two options I mentioned – algorithms/string-based matching and state-issued numbers – require healthcare entities to develop and maintain the identifiers.
  • · Creation of a refresh cadence based on specific business needs, say monthly or quarterly, reducing non-matching exposure to the cadence latency.

There are also some challenges related to using persistent links:

  • Persistent link application and maintenance will be more costly and an organization needs to be willing to look at the investment in higher quality.
  • The healthcare organization needs to be willing and able to transmit records with personally identifiable information in a privacy compliant manner, such as encryption.

As healthcare organizations move forward by adopting technology to improve patient experience they will find that the accuracy of the data will drive their success. Organizations should consider each of these methods for recognizing patients, each have their benefits and select the method that best meets specific organizations needs.

The foundation of an effective provider and payer relationship depends on recognizing the patient throughout the continuum of patient care. If the healthcare community can provide accurate patient information, billions of dollars can be captured yearly and patient healthcare would become much more efficient, inevitably leading to improved outcomes.

TAGGED:Connectivityinteroperability
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Clinical Expertise
Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
Health care
May 18, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Health
May 15, 2025
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Health
May 15, 2025
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction heart treatment
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction
Cardiology
May 13, 2025

You Might also Like

Collaborative Governance

February 12, 2012

A Garden of HealthCare Phone Apps – Watch it Grow

July 27, 2011
Clinical Coding
BusinesseHealthFinanceHospital AdministrationMedical RecordsTechnology

The Cost of Resistance: Clinical Coding Optimization

April 21, 2014
Health careMedical Records

Patient Misidentification: Just How Damaging Is It?

August 2, 2019
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?