New MATCH IT Act Takes Aim at Curbing Critical Patient Data Errors

Patient matching continues to be a major challenge in healthcare's journey towards true interoperability and improved patient care. Patients with inaccurate matching to their health records lead to medical errors, repeat testing, unauthorized disclosures, and increased costs. 

A new bipartisan bill introduced in Congress aims to finally move the needle on patient matching through standards, incentives, and reporting. The "Patient Matching and Transparency in Certified Health IT Act of 2024," or MATCH IT Act, would:  

• Require HHS to establish a uniform definition and metrics for patient match rates within 180 days (about 6 months). This would standardize how patient matching accuracy is calculated across healthcare. 

• Identify a minimum number of data necessary to achieve 99.9% accuracy in patient matching and incorporate it into interoperability standards and health IT certification requirements. 

• Incentives for providers who voluntarily achieve a 90% patient match rate. 

• Create a voluntary reporting program for anonymous submission of patient matching metrics. 

• Allow CMS to adjust patient match rate benchmarks over time based on submitted metrics. 

The legislation has received praise from healthcare industry groups. The President of AHIMA stated the bill would help decrease misidentification rates and improve privacy through data standardization. A leader from CHIME emphasized the bill's focus on standardizing patient information to improve matching. The CEO of HIMSS applauded the continued leadership on tackling patient misidentification.

While the MATCH IT Act focuses on standards and incentives, long-term success will also rely on advances in technology like biometric identification and high-integrity identity proofing. Passing this legislation could provide momentum for additional actions across government, healthcare, and health IT to finally move the needle on accurate patient data matching. 

You can read the full bill HERE.

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