[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2002 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2002
To amend title XXX of the Public Health Service Act to establish
standards and protocols to improve patient matching.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 10, 2025
Mr. Kelly of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. Foster, and Mr. Moulton)
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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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 2025'' or the ``MATCH IT Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(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 Information 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 noting that matching within
facilities can be as low as 80 percent--meaning that one out of
every five patients 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 safety, 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 misidentification has been
named a recurrent patient safety challenge in multiple years by
ECRI.
(7) Patients must undergo unnecessary repeated medical
tests because of the inability to ensure accurate matches to
their medical record.
(8) The expense of repeated medical care due to duplicate
records costs an average of $1,950 per patient inpatient stay,
and more than $1,700 per emergency department visit. Thirty-
five percent of all denied claims result from inaccurate
patient identification, 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 multiple patients'
data into one medical record, may result 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 interoperability,
thereby protecting patients and addressing high costs driven by
this issue.
SEC. 3. STANDARDS AND PROTOCOLS TO IMPROVE PATIENT 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 PATIENT 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 Secretary shall, in
consultation with health care providers, 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 improvements 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.
``(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
appropriate, not less frequently than once every 3 years to
ensure that such definition and standards are consistent with
updates and improvements in technologies 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 review 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 information technology or
certified health IT, or health information networks of
exchange, at a rate of 99.9 percent. The National Coordinator
shall include such minimum data set in the United States Core
Data for Interoperability.
``(2) Development of data standards in united states core
data for interoperability.--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 identified 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 National Coordinator shall consult with--
``(A) health care providers;
``(B) vendors of electronic health records;
``(C) vendors of health information technology;
``(D) patient groups;
``(E) Federal agencies, including the National
Institute of Standards and Technology, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of
Defense, the National Institutes of Health, the
Department of Veterans 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 entity to meet a minimum
patient match rate of 99.9 percent.''.
(b) Incorporating the Minimum Data Set for Patient Matching Into
Certification Requirements.--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 subparagraph:
``(4) Special rule.--
``(A) Incorporation of minimum data set into health
it certification requirements.--Notwithstanding
paragraph (3), the Secretary shall incorporate and
adopt the minimum data set for patient matching
established under section 3023 into the certification
criteria adopted under this section not later than 180
days after such data set is finalized.
``(B) Incorporation of minimum data set into
medicare interoperability program requirements.--Not
later than 24 months after the incorporation of the
minimum data set for patient matching into the
certification criteria as required in subparagraph (A),
the Secretary shall incorporate and adopt such minimum
data set for patient matching established under section
3023 into program requirements to promote the
interoperability of certified EHR technology for
entities participating in the Medicare program under
title XVIII of the Social Security Act.''.
(c) Additional Incentives To Promote Interoperability.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 24 months after the
incorporation and adoption of the minimum data set for patient
matching into the program 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 Health Service
Act (42 U.S.C. 300jj-14(b)), the Administrator of the Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services shall, through rulemaking,
establish a voluntary bonus measure within the Medicare
Promoting Interoperability Program for eligible providers 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
adjustment for meeting such measure.
(2) Special rule.--In establishing the voluntary bonus
measure described in paragraph (1), the Administrator shall--
(A) ensure that the total score for incentive
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 agencies determined appropriate by the Secretary,
shall develop a voluntary reporting program for eligible
providers to anonymously submit patient matching 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.
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