Simple Workflow Changes Enable Effective Patient Identity Matching in Poison Control.

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Public Health
• Data Management

Background:

• U.S. poison control centers (PCCs) face unique patient identity matching challenges due to limited data collection.
• Effective patient identification is crucial for health information exchange and care coordination.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance patient identifier documentation at the Utah Poison Control Center (PCC).
• To improve the success rate of automated patient identity matching for health information exchange.

Main Methods:

• Adapted documentation practices to ensure more complete and consistent collection of patient identifiers.
• Implemented staff training programs focused on improving the collection of essential patient data.
• Utilized Health Level Seven Consolidated Clinical Document Architecture (C-CDA) for data exchange.

Main Results:

• Achieved a 27% increase in birth date collection for cases referred to healthcare facilities compared to the previous year.
• Observed improvements ranging from 0-8% in the collection of other patient identifiers.
• Successfully matched patient identities for 77% of the C-CDA documents exchanged.

Conclusions:

• Modified documentation and training protocols can significantly enhance patient identifier collection in PCC settings.
• Existing patient identity matching processes may need adjustments to accommodate the specific needs of PCC data.
• Successful health information exchange relies on accurate and complete patient identification.