One of the primary goals of data exchange in healthcare is to locate patient records.
Redox offers multiple options for finding patients:
How to search | Matching logic | Best for... |
|---|---|---|
Direct to EHR system | Partial matching | Finding patients within a single EHR system based on partial demographic data. |
Data on demand | Exact matching | Queries to your data on demand repository when you need to find a specific patient with precise criteria. Learn more about data on demand. |
Network Onramps | Probabilistic matching | Finding patients within a nationwide clinical network based on advanced algorithms. Results are returned if a patient record likely matches the search criteria. |
Redox EMPI powered by Verato | Probabilistic matching | An EMPI solution to link patient records within and across multiple disparate data sources. Use FHIR® to match patients, and talk to a Redoxer to learn more. |
Review more details about a few of these options below.
When you query an EHR system directly, the returned results are typically based on partial matching. That means the results match at least one demographic point provided in the search criteria.
Let’s say you search with a patient’s:
- name
- birthdate
- gender
- phone number
The EHR system locates a patient with the same name, birthdate, and gender, but there’s a different phone number listed. Based on partial matching, the EHR system still returns the record, along with any other records that match at least one data point.
For a direct search, you want to include as much demographic information as possible so that you’re more likely to find your patient. Review other best practices for direct patient searches:
When you query data on demand to search for a patient, the returned results are based on exact matching. This means that all fields must match your search criteria exactly.
Let’s say you search with a patient’s:
- name
- birthdate
- gender
- phone number
The EHR system locates a patient with the same name, birthdate, and gender, but there’s a different phone number listed. Based on exact matching, no results are returned.
It becomes problematic if patients have different phone numbers, email addresses, or nicknames throughout different systems. Or, if different systems use nonidentical formats for any of these fields (e.g., 555-555-0000 instead of (555) 555-0000 for a phone number) then they still won’t match.
Depending on your configuration, you could receive these kinds of results with exact matching:
Number of results | Scenario | Notes |
|---|---|---|
One | An exact match is returned. | |
A list of two or more | More than one exact match is found. | This can happen when: a) Two patients’ demographic data match (i.e., Two patients have the same name, birthdate, and gender). b) One patient has duplicate records in an EHR system due to a data entry error or unmerged record. |
No results | No exact matches are found. | If using the Data Model API, the Patient[] array is empty. If using the FHIR® API, the search response bundle is empty. If this happens, we recommend the “less is more” philosophy. Take out extraneous demographic data and search for the patient with the most critical data points. |
A broader option for locating patient records is searching clinical networks. Learn about Network Onramps.
Searching a clinical network is a little different. The search method and possible results vary among networks. For example, Redox relies on our record locator service to find the patient you’re looking for within the Carequality Interoperability Framework. Whereas, CommonWell serves as its own record locator service.
Overall, clinical networks rely on advanced algorithms to find probable matches from multiple sites for one patient.
Review our how-tos for searching different with Network Onramps: