According to HealthIT.gov, patient matching is “the identification and linking of one patient’s data within and across health systems to obtain a comprehensive view of that patient’s health care record. At a minimum, this is accomplished by linking multiple demographic data fields such as name, birth date, phone number, and address.”
It seems straightforward: a provider enters a patient’s demographic data and links the right patient to their care records across health systems. But what if a patient has multiple records with different addresses? Or is their last name misspelled? Or do the providers not use interoperable technology? Suddenly, connecting a patient to the correct record isn’t so simple, leaving room for patients to fall through the cracks.
The inability to link patients consistently and accurately with the correct health record can create many serious issues:
- Incomplete patient medical history
- Uncoordinated care
- Multiple patient records
- Unnecessary or improper testing
- Compromised treatment
- Lower patient confidence
- Increased time spent on troubleshooting, telephone, and fax workflows, dealing with duplicate lab tests, or fixing a patient record match.
Getting patient matching right is incredibly complicated and one of the most important aspects of HIPAA-compliant care coordination.
“The real question is, how many of your patients can you afford to miss? In order to follow up with a patient in or discharged from a skilled nursing facility, you first need to know that they’re in a skilled nursing facility. What happens if that patient falls through the cracks?”
– Sara Radkiewicz, Head of Product, CarePort®, powered by WellSky®
How CarePort®, powered by WellSky® can help
Patient matching is the most important thing a vendor in the care coordination space can do to power the right workflows. It provides insight into a population and when done correctly, aggregates multiple data sources correctly to better inform care coordinators. The more accurately patients are matched to their care records, the easier it is for providers to understand where their patients are in the care continuum.
CarePort solutions are powered by a best-in-class proprietary patient matching algorithm that identifies more patients for follow-up and avoids patients slipping through the cracks. How? By using a scoring mechanism to determine how similar two records are and whether they should be considered one patient or treated as separate patients. The scoring mechanism accounts for factors affecting matching like nicknames, abbreviations, manual errors, capitalization, previous known addresses, and utilization history. So, if Jane Doe recently changed their address, CarePort will account for that.
Additionally, CarePort has access to an incredibly robust network that encompasses data from sources like HIE partnerships, as well as thousands of post-acute facilities and home health agencies from across the CarePort and WellSky networks. The superior network coupled with the algorithm enables organizations to accurately match more patients with health records.
Key takeaway:
“A best-in-class patient matching algorithm is only as good as the network that supports it.”
– Sara Radkiewicz, Head of Product, CarePort®, powered by WellSky®
In conclusion, accurate patient matching is a top priority for organizations seeking complete visibility into the care continuum. When correct patient matching powers your care coordination workflows, you can lower costs, enhance clinical decision-making, and improve patient care and coordination. When you’re evaluating new technology vendors you must take into consideration a) their ability to successfully match patients and b) a robust network to support patient matching.
Learn more about how CarePort®, powered by WellSky® can help your organization avoid patients slipping through the cracks.
