The MATCH IT Act of 2025 aims to improve patient matching in healthcare by establishing standard definitions, data sets, and incentives to reduce patient misidentification and promote interoperability.
Mike Kelly
Representative
PA-16
The MATCH IT Act of 2025 aims to improve patient matching in healthcare by establishing a standard definition for patient match rates, developing a minimum data set for accurate patient identification, and incorporating these standards into health IT certification requirements and Medicare programs. The Act also creates incentives for healthcare providers to achieve high patient match rates through a voluntary bonus program and anonymous data submission, with the goal of reducing medical errors, protecting patient privacy, and lowering healthcare costs associated with patient misidentification.
MATCH IT Act Aims to Fix Patient Record Mix-Ups with New Health IT Standards
The "Patient Matching And Transparency in Certified Health IT Act of 2025," or MATCH IT Act, sets out to tackle a persistent headache in healthcare: accurately matching patients to their electronic health records. It directs federal health agencies to establish uniform standards and definitions for patient matching within certified health IT systems, aiming to improve safety and potentially lower costs.
The High Cost of Getting It Wrong
Right now, the system isn't foolproof. The bill highlights findings that patient-to-record match rates can dip as low as 80%, meaning potentially one in five patients might not have all their records correctly linked. This isn't just an administrative issue; it leads to real problems. Think duplicate tests because your previous results weren't found, or worse, medical errors if treatment decisions are based on incomplete or incorrect information (SEC. 2). These mix-ups carry a hefty price tag, estimated at nearly $2,000 per mistaken inpatient stay and over $6.7 billion annually for the healthcare system due to denied claims and repeated care (SEC. 2). There are also privacy risks, like your information ending up in someone else's file (an "overlaid record").
Standardizing the Digital Handshake
So, what's the plan? The MATCH IT Act mandates several key steps (SEC. 3):
- Define "Good Matching": Within 180 days, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) needs to create a standard definition for "patient match rate," considering issues like duplicate or overlaid records.
- Create a Data Checklist: The National Coordinator for Health IT will identify a minimum set of data points (like name, birth date, etc.) crucial for achieving a high matching accuracy (aiming for 99.9%) within 180 days, and adopt standards for this data set within a year after that.
- Update the Tech Rules: This minimum data set must be incorporated into health IT certification criteria within 180 days after it's finalized. Think of this as updating the required features for electronic health record (EHR) systems.
- Link to Medicare: Within 24 months after the certification update, these data standards will become part of Medicare program requirements, adding significant weight to their adoption.
Essentially, the bill aims to ensure different healthcare systems are collecting and using the same core information in the same way to identify you, making it much harder for records to get lost or mixed up.
Nudging for Accuracy
Beyond setting standards, the Act introduces ways to encourage better performance (SEC. 3):
- Medicare Bonus: A voluntary bonus measure will be added to the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program for eligible hospitals and doctors who demonstrate at least a 90% accurate patient match rate. This kicks in within 24 months after the standards hit Medicare requirements.
- Anonymous Reporting: A voluntary program will allow providers to anonymously submit their patient matching accuracy data to HHS, helping track progress without public penalty.
- Annual Review: HHS will review the reported rates yearly to see if the 90% target needs adjustment.
The focus is on standardizing the technical side of patient identification and using Medicare incentives to encourage providers and hospitals to improve their matching processes. The goal is a healthcare system where your complete, correct medical history is reliably available when and where it's needed.