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 fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a pe-
riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con-
sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend title XXX of the Public Health Service Act to 
establish standards and protocols to improve patient 
matching. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Patient Matching And 
Transparency in Certified Health IT Act of 2024’’ or the 
‘‘MATCH IT Act of 2024’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:27 Mar 01, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7379.IH
H7379
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS
(1) Ensuring accurate patient identification and 
matching is key to achieving the interoperability 
within the health care system called for by Congress 
in the 21st Century Cures Act and the Health Infor-
mation Technology for Economic and Clinical 
Health (HITECH) Act. 
(2) There is currently no national strategy to 
ensure patients are accurately matched with their 
medical records. 
(3) There is no standard definition across the 
health care system of ‘‘patient match rate’’ to ensure 
the ability to accurately measure patient matches 
and patient misidentification. 
(4) The patient match rates that are available 
can vary widely, with an estimate from CHIME not-
ing that matching within facilities can be as low as 
80 percent–meaning that one out of every five pa-
tients may not be matched to all his or her records. 
(5) Patient misidentification within the United 
States health care system is a threat to patient safe-
ty, patient privacy, and a driver of unnecessary costs 
to patients and providers. 
(6) The inability of clinicians to ensure patients 
are accurately matched with their medical record has 
caused medical errors, and even lives lost. Patient 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:27 Mar 01, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7379.IH
H7379
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS
misidentification has been named a recurrent patient 
safety challenge in multiple years by ECRI. 
(7) Patients must undergo unnecessary re-
peated medical tests because of the inability to en-
sure accurate matches to their medical record. 
(8) The expense of repeated medical care due to 
duplicate records costs an average of $1,950 per pa-
tient inpatient stay, and more than $1,700 per 
emergency department visit. Thirty-five percent of 
all denied claims result from inaccurate patient iden-
tification, costing the average hospital $2.5 million 
and the United States health care system more than 
$6.7 billion annually. 
(9) Overlaid records, caused by merging mul-
tiple patients’ data into one medical record, may re-
sult in unauthorized disclosures under the Health 
Insurance 
Portability 
and 
Accountability 
Act 
(HIPAA), as well as the risk of a patient receiving 
treatment for another patient’s condition. 
(10) This Act would decrease the prevalence of 
patient misidentification by further promoting inter-
operability, thereby protecting patients and address-
ing high costs driven by this issue. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:27 Mar 01, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7379.IH
H7379
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS
SEC. 3. STANDARDS AND PROTOCOLS TO IMPROVE PA-
TIENT MATCHING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title XXX of the 
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300jj–51 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 3023. STANDARDS AND PROTOCOLS TO IMPROVE PA-
TIENT MATCHING. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHING A UNIFORM DEFINITION FOR 
PATIENT MATCH RATE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec-
retary shall, in consultation with health care pro-
viders, vendors of electronic health records and 
health information technology, patient groups, and 
other relevant stakeholders, develop a definition and 
standards for accurate and precise patient matching 
to track patient match rates and document improve-
ments of patient matching over time. The Secretary 
shall ensure that such definition and standards for 
patient match rate account for— 
‘‘(A) duplicate records; 
‘‘(B) overlaid records; 
‘‘(C) instances of multiple matches found; 
and 
‘‘(D) mismatch rates within the same 
healthcare organizations and provider systems. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:27 Mar 01, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7379.IH
H7379
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS
‘‘(2) REVIEW
AND
UPDATE.—In consultation 
with health care providers, vendors of electronic 
health records and health information technology, 
patient groups, and other relevant stakeholders, the 
Secretary shall review and update the definition and 
standards developed under paragraph (1), as appro-
priate, not less frequently than once every 3 years 
to ensure that such definition and standards are 
consistent with updates and improvements in tech-
nologies and processes. 
‘‘(b) DEVELOPMENT OF A STANDARD DATA SET TO 
IMPROVE PATIENT MATCHING.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this section, subject 
to paragraph (2), the National Coordinator shall re-
view the current data set in the United States Core 
Data for Interoperability and identify, define, and 
adopt the minimum data set needed to support the 
adoption of patient matching by entities, including 
health care providers, developers of health care in-
formation technology or certified health IT, or 
health information networks of exchange, at a rate 
of 99.9 percent. The National Coordinator shall in-
clude such minimum data set in the United States 
Core Data for Interoperability. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:27 Mar 01, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7379.IH
H7379
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS
‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT OF DATA STANDARDS IN 
UNITED
STATES
CORE
DATA
FOR
INTEROPER-
ABILITY.—For purposes of improving interoperable 
health exchange, not later than 1 year after defining 
the minimum data set described in paragraph (1), 
the National Coordinator shall create, update, or 
adopt data standards for the data elements identi-
fied in the minimum data set and incorporate such 
standards into the United States Core Data for 
Interoperability. 
‘‘(3) CONSULTATION REQUIRED.—In identifying 
and defining the minimum data set described in 
paragraph (1) and creating, updating, or adopting 
data standards described in paragraph (2), the Na-
tional Coordinator shall consult with— 
‘‘(A) health care providers; 
‘‘(B) vendors of electronic health records; 
‘‘(C) vendors of health information tech-
nology; 
‘‘(D) patient groups; 
‘‘(E) Federal agencies, including the Na-
tional Institute of Standards and Technology, 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
the Department of Defense, the National Insti-
tutes of Health, the Department of Veterans 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:27 Mar 01, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7379.IH
H7379
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS
Affairs, the Social Security Administration, the 
Indian Health Service, and the Office for Civil 
Rights; 
‘‘(F) public health authorities within State, 
local, territorial, and Tribal; and 
‘‘(G) any other stakeholders the Secretary 
determines appropriate. 
‘‘(4) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
this subsection shall be construed to require an enti-
ty to meet a minimum patient match rate of 99.9 
percent.’’. 
(b) INCORPORATING THE MINIMUM DATA SET FOR 
PATIENT MATCHING INTO CERTIFICATION REQUIRE-
MENTS.—Section 3004(b) of subtitle B of title XXX of 
the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300jj–14(b)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subpara-
graph: 
‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE.— 
‘‘(A) INCORPORATION OF MINIMUM DATA 
SET INTO HEALTH IT CERTIFICATION REQUIRE-
MENTS.—Notwithstanding paragraph (3), the 
Secretary shall incorporate and adopt the min-
imum data set for patient matching established 
under section 3023 into the certification criteria 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:27 Mar 01, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7379.IH
H7379
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS
adopted under this section not later than 180 
days after such data set is finalized. 
‘‘(B) INCORPORATION OF MINIMUM DATA 
SET INTO MEDICARE INTEROPERABILITY PRO-
GRAM
REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 24 
months after the incorporation of the minimum 
data set for patient matching into the certifi-
cation criteria as required in subparagraph (A), 
the Secretary shall incorporate and adopt such 
minimum data set for patient matching estab-
lished under section 3023 into program require-
ments to promote the interoperability of cer-
tified EHR technology for entities participating 
in the Medicare program under title XVIII of 
the Social Security Act.’’. 
(c) ADDITIONAL INCENTIVES TO PROMOTE INTER-
OPERABILITY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 24 months 
after the incorporation and adoption of the min-
imum data set for patient matching into the pro-
gram requirements to promote the interoperability of 
certified EHR technology for entities participating 
under the Medicare program under title XVIII of 
the Social Security Act as required in subparagraph 
(B) of section 3004(b)(4) of title XXX of the Public 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:27 Mar 01, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7379.IH
H7379
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300jj–14(b)), the Ad-
ministrator of the Centers for Medicare and Med-
icaid Services shall, through rulemaking, establish a 
voluntary bonus measure within the Medicare Pro-
moting Interoperability Program for eligible pro-
viders who meet an accurate patient match rate (as 
defined under section 3023 of subtitle C of title 
XXX of the Public Health Service Act) of at least 
90 percent or the rate determined under paragraph 
(4) to voluntary attest to and receive a payment ad-
justment for meeting such measure. 
(2) SPECIAL
RULE.—In establishing the vol-
untary bonus measure described in paragraph (1), 
the Administrator shall— 
(A) ensure that the total score for incen-
tive payments or status as an eligible provider 
will not be negatively impacted if the eligible 
provider does not attest to an accurate patient 
match rate; and 
(B) ensure that the voluntary attestations 
regarding patient matching rates shall not be 
publicly disclosed. 
(3) VOLUNTARY
REPORTING
PROGRAM.—The 
National Coordinator, along with the Centers for 
Medicare and Medicaid Services and other Federal 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:27 Mar 01, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7379.IH
H7379
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS
agencies determined appropriate by the Secretary, 
shall develop a voluntary reporting program for eligi-
ble providers to anonymously submit patient match-
ing accuracy data to the Department of Health and 
Human Services. 
(4) ANNUAL
REVIEW
OF
PATIENT
MATCH 
RATE.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Utilizing the patient 
matching accuracy data described in paragraph 
(2) and any additional data sources available, 
the Administrator of the Centers of Medicare 
and Medicaid Services shall review and evaluate 
the patient match attestation rates annually to 
determine if such rate should be adjusted. 
(B) 
ADJUSTMENT.—The 
Administrator 
may adjust the patient match rate described in 
paragraph (1) if the Administrator determines 
that the patient match attestation rate should 
be adjusted to further incentivize the voluntary 
reporting of accurate patient match rates. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:27 Mar 01, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H7379.IH
H7379
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with BILLS