I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7379 

To amend title XXX of the Public Health Service Act to establish standards 

and protocols to improve patient matching. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2024 

Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania (for himself and Mr. FOSTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title XXX of the Public Health Service Act to 

establish standards and protocols to improve patient 

matching. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Patient Matching And 

5 Transparency in Certified Health IT Act of 2024’’ or the 

6 ‘‘MATCH IT Act of 2024’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Ensuring accurate patient identification and 

2 matching is key to achieving the interoperability 

3 within the health care system called for by Congress 

4 in the 21st Century Cures Act and the Health Infor5 mation Technology for Economic and Clinical 

6 Health (HITECH) Act. 

7 (2) There is currently no national strategy to 

8 ensure patients are accurately matched with their 

9 medical records. 

10 (3) There is no standard definition across the 

11 health care system of ‘‘patient match rate’’ to ensure 

12 the ability to accurately measure patient matches 

13 and patient misidentification. 

14 (4) The patient match rates that are available 

15 can vary widely, with an estimate from CHIME not16 ing that matching within facilities can be as low as 

17 80 percent–meaning that one out of every five pa18 tients may not be matched to all his or her records. 

19 (5) Patient misidentification within the United 

20 States health care system is a threat to patient safe21 ty, patient privacy, and a driver of unnecessary costs 

22 to patients and providers. 

23 (6) The inability of clinicians to ensure patients 

24 are accurately matched with their medical record has 

25 caused medical errors, and even lives lost. Patient 


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1 misidentification has been named a recurrent patient 

2 safety challenge in multiple years by ECRI. 

3 (7) Patients must undergo unnecessary re4 peated medical tests because of the inability to en5 sure accurate matches to their medical record. 

6 (8) The expense of repeated medical care due to 

7 duplicate records costs an average of $1,950 per pa8 tient inpatient stay, and more than $1,700 per 

9 emergency department visit. Thirty-five percent of 

10 all denied claims result from inaccurate patient iden11 tification, costing the average hospital $2.5 million 

12 and the United States health care system more than 

13 $6.7 billion annually. 

14 (9) Overlaid records, caused by merging mul15 tiple patients’ data into one medical record, may re16 sult in unauthorized disclosures under the Health 

17 Insurance Portability and Accountability Act 

18 (HIPAA), as well as the risk of a patient receiving 

19 treatment for another patient’s condition. 

20 (10) This Act would decrease the prevalence of 

21 patient misidentification by further promoting inter22 operability, thereby protecting patients and address23 ing high costs driven by this issue. 


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1 SEC. 3. STANDARDS AND PROTOCOLS TO IMPROVE PA2 TIENT MATCHING. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title XXX of the 

4 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300jj–51 et seq.) 

5 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 3023. STANDARDS AND PROTOCOLS TO IMPROVE PA7 TIENT MATCHING. 

8 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHING A UNIFORM DEFINITION FOR

9 PATIENT MATCH RATE.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

11 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec12 retary shall, in consultation with health care pro13 viders, vendors of electronic health records and 

14 health information technology, patient groups, and 

15 other relevant stakeholders, develop a definition and 

16 standards for accurate and precise patient matching 

17 to track patient match rates and document improve18 ments of patient matching over time. The Secretary 

19 shall ensure that such definition and standards for 

20 patient match rate account for— 

21 ‘‘(A) duplicate records; 

22 ‘‘(B) overlaid records; 

23 ‘‘(C) instances of multiple matches found; 

24 and 

25 ‘‘(D) mismatch rates within the same 

26 healthcare organizations and provider systems. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REVIEW AND UPDATE.—In consultation 

2 with health care providers, vendors of electronic 

3 health records and health information technology, 

4 patient groups, and other relevant stakeholders, the 

5 Secretary shall review and update the definition and 

6 standards developed under paragraph (1), as appro7 priate, not less frequently than once every 3 years 

8 to ensure that such definition and standards are 

9 consistent with updates and improvements in tech10 nologies and processes. 

11 ‘‘(b) DEVELOPMENT OF A STANDARD DATA SET TO

12 IMPROVE PATIENT MATCHING.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

14 after the date of enactment of this section, subject 

15 to paragraph (2), the National Coordinator shall re16 view the current data set in the United States Core 

17 Data for Interoperability and identify, define, and 

18 adopt the minimum data set needed to support the 

19 adoption of patient matching by entities, including 

20 health care providers, developers of health care in21 formation technology or certified health IT, or 

22 health information networks of exchange, at a rate 

23 of 99.9 percent. The National Coordinator shall in24 clude such minimum data set in the United States 

25 Core Data for Interoperability. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT OF DATA STANDARDS IN

2 UNITED STATES CORE DATA FOR INTEROPER3 ABILITY.—For purposes of improving interoperable 

4 health exchange, not later than 1 year after defining 

5 the minimum data set described in paragraph (1), 

6 the National Coordinator shall create, update, or 

7 adopt data standards for the data elements identi8 fied in the minimum data set and incorporate such 

9 standards into the United States Core Data for 

10 Interoperability. 

11 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—In identifying 

12 and defining the minimum data set described in 

13 paragraph (1) and creating, updating, or adopting 

14 data standards described in paragraph (2), the Na15 tional Coordinator shall consult with— 

16 ‘‘(A) health care providers; 

17 ‘‘(B) vendors of electronic health records; 

18 ‘‘(C) vendors of health information tech19 nology; 

20 ‘‘(D) patient groups; 

21 ‘‘(E) Federal agencies, including the Na22 tional Institute of Standards and Technology, 

23 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 

24 the Department of Defense, the National Insti25 tutes of Health, the Department of Veterans 


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1 Affairs, the Social Security Administration, the 

2 Indian Health Service, and the Office for Civil 

3 Rights; 

4 ‘‘(F) public health authorities within State, 

5 local, territorial, and Tribal; and 

6 ‘‘(G) any other stakeholders the Secretary 

7 determines appropriate. 

8 ‘‘(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

9 this subsection shall be construed to require an enti10 ty to meet a minimum patient match rate of 99.9 

11 percent.’’. 

12 (b) INCORPORATING THE MINIMUM DATA SET FOR

13 PATIENT MATCHING INTO CERTIFICATION REQUIRE14 MENTS.—Section 3004(b) of subtitle B of title XXX of 

15 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300jj–14(b)) is 

16 amended by adding at the end the following new subpara17 graph: 

18 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE.— 

19 ‘‘(A) INCORPORATION OF MINIMUM DATA

20 SET INTO HEALTH IT CERTIFICATION REQUIRE21 MENTS.—Notwithstanding paragraph (3), the 

22 Secretary shall incorporate and adopt the min23 imum data set for patient matching established 

24 under section 3023 into the certification criteria 


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1 adopted under this section not later than 180 

2 days after such data set is finalized. 

3 ‘‘(B) INCORPORATION OF MINIMUM DATA

4 SET INTO MEDICARE INTEROPERABILITY PRO5 GRAM REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 24 

6 months after the incorporation of the minimum 

7 data set for patient matching into the certifi8 cation criteria as required in subparagraph (A), 

9 the Secretary shall incorporate and adopt such 

10 minimum data set for patient matching estab11 lished under section 3023 into program require12 ments to promote the interoperability of cer13 tified EHR technology for entities participating 

14 in the Medicare program under title XVIII of 

15 the Social Security Act.’’. 

16 (c) ADDITIONAL INCENTIVES TO PROMOTE INTER17 OPERABILITY.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 24 months 

19 after the incorporation and adoption of the min20 imum data set for patient matching into the pro21 gram requirements to promote the interoperability of 

22 certified EHR technology for entities participating 

23 under the Medicare program under title XVIII of 

24 the Social Security Act as required in subparagraph 

25 (B) of section 3004(b)(4) of title XXX of the Public 


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1 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300jj–14(b)), the Ad2 ministrator of the Centers for Medicare and Med3 icaid Services shall, through rulemaking, establish a 

4 voluntary bonus measure within the Medicare Pro5 moting Interoperability Program for eligible pro6 viders who meet an accurate patient match rate (as 

7 defined under section 3023 of subtitle C of title 

8 XXX of the Public Health Service Act) of at least 

9 90 percent or the rate determined under paragraph 

10 (4) to voluntary attest to and receive a payment ad11 justment for meeting such measure. 

12 (2) SPECIAL RULE.—In establishing the vol13 untary bonus measure described in paragraph (1), 

14 the Administrator shall— 

15 (A) ensure that the total score for incen16 tive payments or status as an eligible provider 

17 will not be negatively impacted if the eligible 

18 provider does not attest to an accurate patient 

19 match rate; and 

20 (B) ensure that the voluntary attestations 

21 regarding patient matching rates shall not be 

22 publicly disclosed. 

23 (3) VOLUNTARY REPORTING PROGRAM.—The 

24 National Coordinator, along with the Centers for 

25 Medicare and Medicaid Services and other Federal 


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1 agencies determined appropriate by the Secretary, 

2 shall develop a voluntary reporting program for eligi3 ble providers to anonymously submit patient match4 ing accuracy data to the Department of Health and 

5 Human Services. 

6 (4) ANNUAL REVIEW OF PATIENT MATCH

7 RATE.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Utilizing the patient 

9 matching accuracy data described in paragraph 

10 (2) and any additional data sources available, 

11 the Administrator of the Centers of Medicare 

12 and Medicaid Services shall review and evaluate 

13 the patient match attestation rates annually to 

14 determine if such rate should be adjusted. 

15 (B) ADJUSTMENT.—The Administrator 

16 may adjust the patient match rate described in 

17 paragraph (1) if the Administrator determines 

18 that the patient match attestation rate should 

19 be adjusted to further incentivize the voluntary 

20 reporting of accurate patient match rates. 

Æ 


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