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ICW Master Patient IndexThe Basis of Patient-Centered Care

UniqueIdentification

ICW Master Patient Index

Powerful, probabilistic Matching AlgorithmThe ICW MPI is designed to compare patient records

from multiple information sources and to deter-

mine if they belong to the same patient. The MPI

creates a single most accurate record, a so called

“Golden Record”, with the patient’s most up-to-date

demographic and contact information and a new

enterprise identi� er (EID).

For accurately linking patient records the ICW MPI

utilizes probabilistic matching, based on well-

established statistical methods, which calculate

the likelihood that two records belong to the same

patient. The probabilistic matching approach is

both highly flexible and guarantees reliable patient

identi� cation. Compared to the more common, but

less accurate deterministic matching, probabilistic

algorithms can accomplish much lower error rates,

leading to signi� cant savings from avoided medical

errors and less sta� dealing with patient identi� ca-

tion.

Another patient identi� cation problem that many

health care organizations face is the variation in

data quality. Depending on the information system,

the admission sta� , the shi� and many other factors,

there are hundreds of possible variations in spel-

ling a patient’s name or a street address. The ICW

MPI uses sophisticated comparison algorithms to

evaluate incomplete or di� erently formatted � elds,

typos and transposition errors, alternative spel-

lings and nicknames or abbreviations.

Based on the similarity scores that the probabilistic

matching algorithm produces, the MPI can identify

if records are a reliable match or clearly unique.

The di� cult cases are flagged as potential match

Your patients are unique! Why manage them as duplicates.

ICW Master Patient Index (ICW MPI) solves your patient identity issues and facilitates the exchange of health information across your organization. A single top-level patient identity bene� ts all other sys-tems handling patient related data: administration, analytics, management and monitoring of health trends, as well as case and disease management.Correctly identifying patients among disparate health care information systems is a continuing challenge.

Duplicate or incorrectly cross-linked records can lead to errors that impact a patient’s treatment and impede

e� orts to manage and monitor the patient health status. Inadequate patient identi� cation is a patient

safety issue as well as a cost driver in health care delivery. When organizations share patient information

across Health Information Exchanges (HIE) or Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) accurate patient

identi� cation becomes even more challenging. Unique patient records are essential for providing e� ective

patient-centered care.

The ICW MPI achieves the goal of one unique, central patient identity for all collaborating health care

organizations and across system boundaries. It is the foundation of any modern HIT strategy and key to all

forms of care collaboration.

ICW Master Patient Index

The Functions of ICW Master Patient Index

for manual review by a data steward. The MPI also

includes specific rules that can override the

similarity-based automatic decisions, to avoid

problems with twins, fathers and sons with similar

demographics, and other exceptional situations.

High Degree of Transparency and Improved Matching QualityThe ICW MPI o� ers a graphical data stewardship

interface. It can be used for monitoring the

matching results and handling of records which

were flagged for manual review. Data stewards can

compare patient records in detail and manually link

them to a proposed unique patient identity. They

can also decide which source to use for updating

the “Golden Record”. When changes are made to

local records a� er they have been matched, the

data steward can review the associated records

and, if necessary, correct the mapping. Users can

assign tasks to di� erent work lists using intelligent

workflow mechanisms. This makes coordination of

tasks in a team more e� cient.

Continuous Quality Control For continuous veri� cation as well as improvement

of data and matching quality the ICW MPI provides

valuable information on patients, potential matches,

distribution of similarity scores, least similar matches,

and e� ciency of the matching algorithm as a whole.

Filterable lists allow data stewards to retroactively

review automatic and manual matches.

Adaptable, Flexible, Individual As every organization is unique the ICW MPI can

be con� gured according to the prevalent charac-

teristics of the patient demographics. All parame-

ters of the matching process, the � elds used in the

algorithm, the comparison methods as well as the

matching thresholds can be customized to suit the

individual scenario.

Smooth integration based on International eHealth StandardsICW MPI integrates easily into any system landscape.

It provides a flexible interface engine and supports

the international health care standard HL7. Systems

that don’t have real-time messaging can use a batch

interface that is also useful for the initial loading of

patient records. A variety of IHE integration pro� les,

such as “Patient Identi� er Cross-referencing” (PIX),

“Patient Demographics Query” (PDQ) or “Cross

Community Patient Discovery” (XCPD) makes the

ICW MPI ready for next generation health care

interoperability.

ICW Master Patient Business Logic

Hospital 1 Hospital 2

William Smith,

Medical Record Number =1

Bill Smith,

Medical Record Number = 23

William Smith, MRN =1

Bill Smith, MRN =23Golden Record

William Smith, Enterprise Identi� er (EID) = 84, MPI

• Source of accurate, consistent patient demographics and all identi� ers of a patient across organization and system boundaries

• Automatic matching of patient records

• Powerful, highly con� gurable matching algorithm

• Reliable recognition of local duplicates and twins

• Query services for enterprise identi� ers and demographic data via standard-compliant interfaces

• Subscription-based noti� cation services about changes to the “Golden Record”

• Browser-based data stewardship interface for monitoring matching results and for manual decisions in di� cult cases

• Data analysis tool for � ne-tuning the matching process

• Operational reports and performance statistics

Core functions

Customer referenceBlue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Blue KC)

“With implementation of healthcare reform regulations in full swing, the accurate identi� cation of

patient information across multiple systems is essential to providing e� ective care and lowering the

cost of healthcare in the US. The ICW solution has enabled Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City

(Blue KC) to create a holistic picture of our members throughout their lifetime that spans the new

health information landscape.”

Je� Shipley, VP and CIO, Blue KC

Side-by-side com-parison of patient records

Bene� ts

Bene� ts for HIEs

• Unambiguous patient identi� cation within and across HIEs

• Enables the creation of a longitudinal patient record across all participating organizations

• Manufacturer-independent interoperability and data exchange between disparate systems

• E� cient integration of standard-compliant systems through comprehensive support for

both HL7 and IHE Integration pro� les

Bene� ts for hospitals and health systems

• Higher data quality and consistency

• Ability to locate patient records in multiple systems across the enterprise

• Reduced costs through prevention of multiple registrations and automatic detection of du-

plicate records

• Improved coding quality through a uniform view of patient diagnoses and procedures

• Reduced administrative costs through more e� cient patient admission

• Prevention of redundant examinations and therapies, especially in risk-based contracting

• Increased quality of care by preventing patient mix-ups, medication errors, etc.

• High investment security through support for future collaborative care scenarios

Bene� ts for medical service providers (e.g. labs, imaging centers, …)

• Automatic matching of inbound electronic order requests to the service provider’s patient

identi� er

• Reduced manual e� ort for identifying and consolidating patient records

• Return electronic results with the patient identi� er from the requesting organization

• Management of various identi� er namespaces

• Improved results interpretation through access to the patient‘s entire medical history

• Prevention of redundant examinations, especially in risk-based contracting

• Support of cross-clinic, web-based results delivery

Comprehensive longitudinal records in HIEs:Building a Health Information Exchange requires accurate cross-linking of patient identities from across a variety of ambulatory

and inpatient EHR systems. The highly scalable, IHE-compliant ICW MPI is the ideal foundation for an integrated, uniform view of

relevant patient information across system boundaries.

Patient ID management within a Health System or an ACO:Organizations who manage the full continuum of care - such as ACOs or Health Systems - must align their service o� erings across

their network to leverage synergies. They o� en need to integrate service providers, such as imaging centers or labs. ICW MPI

enables seamless data exchange between members of the network (patient data, encounters, electronic order requests, reports

and images) by acting as an “invisible ID manager”. It transparently replaces patient identi� ers in request and result messages,

avoiding changes to the sending and receiving systems, without incurring the cost of additional duplicates.

Application Scenarios

Healthcare Information

System (e.g. LIMS, RIS,...)

Healthcare Information

System (e.g. EHR, Portal,..)

ICW MPI

ICW PXS Search and query

documents and data

ID Request

Provide and register

documents and data

ID Request

Patient

Identity

Feed

Hospital Service Provider

Patient ID Translation

Healthcare Information

System

Healthcare Information

System (e.g. LIMS, RIS,...)

(e.g. EHR, Portal,..)

Report Report

Externe ID

ID 1 ID 2

Electronic

Order Request

Electronic

Order RequestICW MPI

MPI ID

Linked Patient

Records

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Do you have further questions?

Then give us a call!

InterComponentWare AGAltrottstraße 31

69190 Walldorf (Baden)

Tel.: +49 (0) 62 27 385 100

Fax: +49 (0) 62 27 385 199

info@icw-global.com

www.icw-global.com

InterComponentWare Inc.630 Freedom Bus Center Drive

King of Prussia, PA 19406

Phone: +1 (610) 768-7738

info@icw-global.com

www.icw-global.com

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