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Butler Health System Conquers Patient Matching Challenge

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Automated matching solution by LexisNexis® Risk Solutions links more than 1 million records in months not years

ATLANTA – July 11, 2018 – Butler Health System (BHS) successfully reached a 97 percent matching accuracy using solutions provided by LexisNexis® Risk Solutions and Occam Technologies. Pennsylvania-based BHS needed help linking 1.3 million patient records across its seven-county system – a 296-bed hospital, 36 ambulatory locations and more than 50 physician offices, so it turned to Occam and LexisNexis.

Using the Occam enterprise Master Patient Index (eMPI) platform and the LexisNexis LexID® solution, BHS matched the records for 740,000 unique patients contained in six different electronic medical records systems (EMRs). The process involved layering the LexID technology on top of Occam’s eMPI deduping platform. The success was a core step in Butler’s enterprise analytics and patient safety initiatives and helped increase efficiencies for the BHS staff.

The top issues BHS needed to address that drove the need for more accuracy in its patient record matching:

  1. Patient Safety – correct records are a must for proper diagnosis and treatment
  2. New information system – plans set for replacement in 2018
  3. Future acquisitions – specifically area physician practices that join BHS
  4. Payment reform – switch to value-based system from fee-for-service

“We were preparing to launch a population health initiative to help us meet quality requirements for value-based care and MACRA, but this would not have been possible without having patient records properly matched,” said Dr. Thomas McGill, vice president quality and chief medical information officer, Butler Health System. “To meet our objectives, we needed data integrity. Our health system has been experiencing rapid growth and when faced with the challenge of bringing together information from six disparate EMRs, we needed an efficient solution to link and match patient records and resolve duplicates. Manually trying to match more than a million records would have taken years.

Butler Health Conquers Patient Matching Challenge

When the data does not support an automated match, Occam then layers the LexID proprietary linking technology into its platform. LexID, similar to the much proposed national patient identifier, gives each patient a non-social security number unique identity. This combination of solutions helped BHS to reach the 97 percent matching accuracy. Such accuracy helps to save BHS time, money and resources. And, it helps to improve patient safety.

“Our projects can’t wait for months or years of manual research, so we chose LexisNexis,” said Lee Prosch, CEO, Occam Technologies. “Building the LexID technology into our eMPI platform enabled our clients to put their data to work much faster. The automated decision making saved thousands of hours.” “Without the confidence that comes from knowing the data is accurate, we would not have been able to properly allocate resources to effectively manage the health of our patients,” added McGill. “Using the Occam eMPI layered with the LexisNexis LexID has helped us get a lot closer to 100 percent accuracy with our patient records.”

For more information, please visit www.risk.lexisnexis.com and www.relx.com