Patient Matching Criteria

Patient Matching Criteria

Description

The TouchWorks interface uses specific criteria in order to complete a patient match. This article explains the necessary requirements and is valid as of TouchWorks v11.1. The standard criteria is available in all versions of TouchWorks. In v11.1 there are new, "extended" matching criteria, which are optional and must be setup in your interface(s). Please see the "Extended Matching Criteria" below for more information.

In order to match properly, TouchWorks relies on the Last name, First name and two of the following three items: MRN, DOB, SSN. A more detailed description is shown below.

Regardless of matching used (Standard or Extended v11.1+ Matching), a single match is required. Let's say you are using the Extended Matching available in v11.1+ and there are two patients with the same Full Name and DOB, a match will not occur.

Fields

Last Name

This element is required and TouchWorks uses the first 5 letters of the last name for matching purposes.

First Name

This element is required and TouchWorks uses the first 3 letters of the first name for matching purposes.

Medical Record Number

Also known as the MRN, this field is optional, but two of the three optional fields must be present to match. See Matching Scenarios below.

Date of Birth

Also known as DOB, this field is optional, but two of the three optional fields must be present to match. See Matching Scenarios below.

Social Security Number

Also known as SSN, this field is optional, but two of the three optional fields must be present to match. See Matching Scenarios below.

Matching Scenarios

• Test #0.1: XID Matching
• Test #0.2: MRN and Org - File Patient Only
• Test #1: Name, MRN, DOB and Org
• Test #2: Name, MRN, SSN and Org
• Test #3: Name, DOB, SSN
• Test #4: Name, DOB, Insurance / PBM Match

Extended Matching Criteria and Scenarios

This extended matching was added in TouchWorks v11.1. There are six new optional Tests/Scenarios for matching. These require additional setup in each interface that plans to utilize the new matching.

• Test #5: Name, DOB, Driver License
• Test #6: Name, DOB, Phone Number
  • This is Home Phone in File Patient, and the specified Phone in other File routines
• Test #7: Name, DOB, Address Line 1
• Test #8: Name, DOB, Mothers Maiden Name
• Test #9: Full Name (all characters of first and last names), DOB, Sex
  • Getting in to matches of last resort - use with caution
• Test #10: Full Name (all characters of first and last names), DOB
  • Last resort - use with caution

Other Considerations

In shared multi-org environments where there can be multiple practice management systems, the MRN may not be available as matching criteria because the patient could exist in mulitple orgs with different MRN's. This becomes a problem if SSN is not available. Some patients refuse to give out their SSN at registration, and some PM systems only store the last 4 digits. The use of an Empi can solve this problem by linking a patient that exists in multiple systems to a single MRN which becomes the primary identifier in the EHR.

Merged and Deactivated Patients

Merged: Matching will not occur on patients who have been merged "from". If the Patient Merge Tool (aka CMS Patient Merge Tool) has been used to merge two patients, the patient that was Deactivated will not be considered for matching. These are patients that cannot be seen in the Patient Lookup screen, even when the Inactive check box has been checked.

Deactivated: Patients that haven't been merged from, but have been deactivated in the Practice Management System, will be considered during matching; however, if they are found as the match, they will not be allowed to match. You will see a "-103 Patient is inactive" error.

Patient Matching Logic Spreadsheet

Here is another representation of the information in this Wiki article. Patient Matching in TouchWorks is often times confusing and the hope is a different view into the logic may help make it more clear.