Accurate search and match software has to be a critical component of any system claiming to give healthcare organisations a single and accurate view of their patients. If the system does include leading-edge search and match technology, it will almost certainly deliver this so-called Holy Grail.
That`s the strong opinion of Bateleur Software`s Lizette Sander, who explained that identity data always suffers from unavoidable error and variation. Unfortunately, it is this identity data - be it the names, addresses or other attributes - that health organisations the world over rely on to populate their databases and provide them with a single view of their patients.
Only software products that significantly enhance the ability of computer systems to find, match, screen, group and investigate identity data can ensure the Holy Grail will be achieved; that is, give the organisation a single view of its patient.
Sander explained: "Over the course of his or her life, a patient interacts with numerous healthcare professionals - general practitioners, perhaps emergency personnel at a hospital, radiologists and radiographers, pathologists and so on. Each of these professionals maintains records of that interaction but - in order to offer the holistic care governments are promising their citizens - this information must be collated and organised in an effective manner.
"This task would be simple, if the patient always used her identity number as a reference. Often, this is not the case, nor does she give the same name and address each time she fills in a form. In fact, Mrs CA Murray 6317230027081 could be the same person as Cathy Murray, Catherine Ann Murray and even C Murry 6317230027082.
"Only by deploying software that significantly enhances the ability to search, find, match and group identity data within computer systems and network databases, will governments and healthcare organisations achieve that key deliverable of `a single and accurate view of the patient`."
Identity Systems, represented in South Africa by Bateleur Software, is the leader in this sophisticated search and identity field. Its products have the flexibility to work with different classes of identity data, in differing states of quality and with differing risk factors. They provide quick online response time, even when applied to large or extreme volumes of data, while delivering the highest quality match rate.
Within the healthcare sector, Identity Systems` expertise has been put to work to, among other things:
* Find the records of patients, doctors, donors, and other persons of interest quickly by their name, despite the error and variation either in the search or file data, and the ability to rank the search results by other attributes such as address and date of birth, allows systems to operate confidently even when no identification numbers are available.
* Effectively manage a child immunisation programme as reliable records of immunisations allow healthcare authority to mail reminders and manage risk of disease outbreaks.
* Minimise fraud by supporting the discovery of links and groupings between identities in databases and file systems; for example identifying instances of misuse such as over quoting in a national health system or inputting multiple applications for the same rebate.
* Tracking the development of disease over time using, for example, the data from regular pathology tests or medical reports, that system must be able to link present and past records of a person despite the variations that appear in the data.
"As South Africa strives to compile a national healthcare database for its citizens, it will need to harness state-of-the-art search and identity software like this to rapidly and reliably search and match identity data," urged Sander.
Share