Patent ID: 8266168

Claim:
A computer implemented method of linking a first record in a database to a second record in a database upon a determination that the first record and the second record correspond to a same individual, the method comprising: calculating a plurality of match probabilities using an iterative process, each of the plurality of match probabilities corresponding to a different field common to the first record and the second record; selecting a matching formula from the group consisting of a field weight matching formula, a field value weight matching formula, and a supplemental weight matching formula; calculating a match score based on a plurality of terms using the selected matching formula, each of the plurality of terms corresponding to a different field common to the first record and the second record, each of the plurality of terms comprising: (1) a probability that a field value in a corresponding field of the first record matches a field value in a corresponding field in the second record, and (2) a weight comprising a match probability, wherein the weight comprises a logarithm of the match probability, wherein the match probability comprises a probability that an arbitrary entity representation in the database comprises a particular field value, wherein the probability comprises a ratio of entity representations in the database that include the particular field value to a total number of entity representations in the database; determining, based on the match score and a size of a population associated with the database, whether there is a sufficiently high confidence level that the first record and the second record correspond to the same individual; and linking, in the database, the first record with the second record based on the determining.