Systems and methods for managing a master patient index including duplicate record detection

• US 9,129,046 B2
• Filed: 02/21/2014
• Issued: 09/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: 4Medica, Inc.
• Original Assignee: 4Medica, Inc.
• Inventors: Kuttalingam, Vannamuthu, Bess, Oleg
• Primary Examiner(s): Gilligan, Luke
• Application Number:
  US14/187,192
• Publication Number:
  US 20140244300A1
• Time in Patent Office: 564 Days
• Field of Search: 705 2- 3
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/22 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2365 Ensuring data consistency and integrity
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/245 Query processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records

Abstract

A system for managing a master patient index is described. The master patient index database is constructed using inverted indices. The inverted index formulation enables faster, more complete and more flexible duplicate detection as compared to traditional master patient database management techniques. A master patient index management system including a remote user interface configured to leverage the inverted index formulation is described. The user interface includes features for managing records in an MPI database including identifying, efficiently comparing, updating and merging duplicate records across a heterogeneous healthcare organization.

Claims

1. A method of managing electronic protected healthcare information comprising:

receiving, by a processor, a plurality of healthcare records having electronic protected healthcare information wherein each healthcare record is configured with a plurality of different fields each field configured to receive at least one value, the plurality of different fields including a first name field, a last name field, a date of birth filed, a sex field, a housing address field and

at least one field associated with a personal identification instrument wherein the healthcare record is configured to store information related to a plurality of different personal identification instruments and wherein the plurality of health care records is at least ten thousand;

generating a master patient index database in an inverted index format, wherein, in the inverted index format, a set of values is determined which is inclusive of all values appearing in the first name field, the last name field, the date of birth field, the sex field, the housing address field and the at least one field of the at least ten thousand healthcare records such that each value in the set of values is mapped to one or more of the plurality of healthcare records;

determining and storing, by the processor, physical locations of each of the plurality of the healthcare records in a memory device;

outputting to a display an interface which includes areas where search terms values that are input are displayed;

receiving, via an input mechanism communicatively coupled to the processor, one or more search input terms;

based upon the one or more search inputs terms, generating, in the processor, a search query and searching, using the search query, the set of values inclusive of all values appearing in the first name field, the last name field, the date of birth field, the sex field, the housing address field and the at least one field of the at least ten thousand healthcare records in the inverted index format of the master patient index database to identify a subset of values in the set of values which match the search query;

determining, by the processor, using the inverted index format of the master patient index database, a set of healthcare records associated with each of the subset of values;

determining, by the processor, for each of the subset of the values, a contribution to a duplicate probability score

wherein information is stored with each personal identification instrument which indicates that the personal instrument is active or inactive and wherein the contribution to the duplicate probability score depends upon whether each personal identification instrument which is matched to the search query is indicated as active or inactive;

based upon the determined contributions to the duplicate probability score and the set of the healthcare records determined to be associated with each of the subset of the values, determining, by the processor, for two or more healthcare records in the set of healthcare records identified via the search query a total duplicate probability score;

retrieving, using the physical locations for the two or more healthcare records, values associated with the two or more healthcare records; and

outputting, by the processor, to the display the total duplicate probability score and electronic protected healthcare information for each of the two or more healthcare records including the values associated with the first name, the last name, the date of birth, the sex, the housing address and the at least one field.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, based upon the total duplicate probability scores, determining, by the processor, the two or more healthcare records are duplicate health records.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving scoring thresholds associated with the total duplicate probability score and based upon the scoring thresholds, categorizing two or more healthcare records.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one category is an indication of a match.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of values is inclusive of all values appearing in a plurality of different fields of the healthcare records.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a new healthcare record;

determining a first value in the at least one field of the new healthcare record matches a second value in the set of values; and

updating the second value in inverted index format of the master patient index database so that the second value points to the new healthcare record.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the new healthcare record is received as a part of a registration of a new patient.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a new healthcare record,

determining a first value in the at least one field of the new healthcare is not one of the set of values; and

updating the set of values in the inverted index form of the master patient index database so that the first value is added to the set of values and the first value points to the new healthcare record.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

deleting one of the plurality of healthcare records;

determining a first value in the at least one field of the deleted healthcare record matches a second value in the set of values; and

updating the second value so that it no longer points to the deleted healthcare record.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

determining the second value only points to the deleted healthcare record and deleting the second value from the set of values.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one field is selected from the group consisting of a last name, a first name, a nickname, a facility identifier, a personal identification instrument, a sex, a date of birth, a social security number, a first address, a second address, a city, a state, a postal code, a phone number, an e-mail address and a race.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein a type of the personal identification instrument is stored with each of the personal identification instruments, said type selected from a plurality of different types, and wherein the contribution to the duplicate probability score depends on the type of the personal identification instrument which is matched to the search query.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one field is associated with an e-mail address and the healthcare record is configured to store a plurality of different e-mail addresses.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein information is stored with each e-mail address which indicates that the e-mail address is active or inactive and wherein the contribution to the duplicate probability score depends upon whether each e-mail address matched to the search query is active or inactive.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one field is associated with phone number and the healthcare record is configured to store a plurality of different phone numbers.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein information is stored with each phone number which indicates that the phone is active or inactive and wherein the contribution to the duplicate probability score depends upon whether each phone number matched to the search query is active or inactive.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one field is associated with a housing address and the healthcare record is configured to store a plurality of different housing addresses.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein information is stored with each housing address which indicates that the housing address is active or inactive and wherein the contribution to the duplicate probability score depends upon whether each housing address matched to the search query is active or inactive.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising

receiving a plurality of different search queries each associated with a different user;

determining a custom set of scoring parameters for each user used to determine the contributions to the duplicate probability; and

determining the total duplicate probability score for each search query using the custom set of scoring parameters determined for each user

wherein the inverted index format of the master patient index database is used for each of the search queries.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of healthcare records includes a first portion of the healthcare records and a second portion of the healthcare records wherein a first set of scoring parameters is used to determine the contributions to the duplicate probability score for the first portion of the healthcare records and a second set of scoring parameters is used to determine the contributions to the duplicate probability score for the second portion of the healthcare records.

21. A method of managing electronic protected healthcare information comprising:

receiving, by a processor, a plurality of healthcare records having electronic protected healthcare information wherein each healthcare record is configured with a plurality of different fields each field configured to receive at least one value, the plurality of different fields including a first name field, a last name field, a date of birth field, a sex field, a housing address field and

at least one field associated with an e-mail address wherein the each healthcare record is configured to store a plurality of different e-mail addresses and wherein the plurality of health care records is at least ten thousand;

generating a master patient index database in an inverted index format, wherein, in the inverted index format, a set of values is determined which is inclusive of all values appearing in the first name field, the last name field, the date of birth field, the sex filed, the housing address field and the at least one field of the at least ten thousand healthcare records such that each value in the set of values is mapped to one or more of the plurality of healthcare records;

determining and storing, by the processor, physical locations of each of the plurality of the healthcare records in a memory device;

outputting to a display an interface which includes areas where search terms values that are input are displayed;

receiving, via an input mechanism communicatively coupled to the processor, one or more search input terms;

based upon the one or more search inputs terms, generating, in the processor, a search query and searching, using the search query, the set of values inclusive of all values appearing in the first name field, the last name field, the date of birth field, the sex field, the housing address field and the at least one field of the at least ten thousand healthcare records in the inverted index format of the master patient index database to identify a subset of values in the set of values which match the search query;

determining, by the processor, using the inverted index format of the master patient index database, a set of healthcare records associated with each of the subset of values;

determining, by the processor, for each of the subset of the values, a contribution to a duplicate probability score

wherein information is stored with each e-mail address which indicates that the e-mail address is active or inactive and wherein the contribution to the duplicate probability score depends upon whether each e-mail address matched to the search query is active or inactive;

based upon the determined contributions to the duplicate probability score and the set of the healthcare records determined to be associated with each of the subset of the values, determining, by the processor, for two or more healthcare records in the set of healthcare records identified via the search query a total duplicate probability score;

retrieving, using the physical locations for the two or more healthcare records, values associated with the two or more healthcare records; and

outputting, by the processor, to the interface on the display, the total duplicate probability score and electronic protected healthcare information for each of the two or more healthcare records including the values associated with the first name, the last name, the date of birth, the sex, the housing address and the at least one field.

22. A method of managing electronic protected healthcare information comprising:

receiving, by a processor, a plurality of healthcare records having electronic protected healthcare information wherein each healthcare record is configured with a plurality of different fields each field configured to receive at least one value, the plurality of different fields including a first name field, a last name field, a date of birth field, a sex field, a housing address field and

at least one field associated with phone number wherein the healthcare record is configured to store a plurality of different phone numbers and wherein the plurality of health care records is at least ten thousand;

generating a master patient index database in an inverted index format, wherein, in the inverted index format, a set of values is determined which is inclusive of all values appearing in at least one field of the at least ten thousand healthcare records such that each value in the set of values is mapped to one or more of the plurality of healthcare record;

determining and storing, by the processor, physical locations of each of the plurality of the healthcare records in a memory device;

outputting to a display an interface which includes areas where search terms values that are input are displayed;

receiving, via an input mechanism communicatively coupled to the processor, one or more search input terms;

based upon the one or more search inputs terms, generating, in the processor, a search query and searching, using the search query, the set of values inclusive of all values appearing in the first name field, the last name field, the date of birth field, the sex field, the housing address field and the at least one field of the at least ten thousand healthcare records in the inverted index format of the master patient index database to identify a subset of values in the set of values which match the search query;

determining, by the processor, using the inverted index format of the master patient index database, a set of healthcare records associated with each of the subset of values;

determining, by the processor, for each of the subset of the values, a contribution to a duplicate probability score

wherein information is stored with each phone number which indicates that the phone is active or inactive and wherein the contribution to the duplicate probability score depends upon whether each phone number matched to the search query is active or inactive;

based upon the determined contributions to the duplicate probability score and the set of the healthcare records determined to be associated with each of the subset of the values, determining, by the processor, to the interface on the display, for two or more healthcare records in the set of healthcare records identified via the search query a total duplicate probability score;

retrieving, using the physical locations for the two or more healthcare records, values associated with the two or more healthcare records; and

outputting, by the processor, to the display, the total duplicate probability score and electronic protected healthcare information for each of the two or more healthcare records including the values associated with the first name field, the last name field, the date of birth field, the sex field, the housing address field and the at least one field.

23. A method of managing electronic protected healthcare information comprising:

receiving, by a processor, a plurality of healthcare records having electronic protected healthcare information wherein each healthcare record is configured with a plurality of different fields each field configured to receive at least one value, the plurality of different fields including a first name field, a last name field, a date of birth filed, a sex field and

the at least one field is associated with a housing address and the healthcare record is configured to store a plurality of different housing addresses and wherein the plurality of health care records is at least ten thousand;

generating a master patient index database in an inverted index format, wherein, in the inverted index format, a set of values is determined which is inclusive of all values appearing in at least one field of the at least ten thousand healthcare records such that each value in the set of values is mapped to one or more of the plurality of healthcare records;

determining and storing, by the processor, physical locations of each of the plurality of the healthcare records in a memory device;

outputting to a display an interface which includes areas where search terms values that are input are displayed;

receiving, via an input mechanism communicatively coupled to the processor, one or more search input terms;

based upon the one or more search inputs terms, generating, in the processor, a search query and searching, using the search query, the set of values inclusive of all values appearing in the first name field, the last name field, the date of birth field, the sex field and the at least one field of the at least ten thousand healthcare records to identify a subset of values in the set of values which match the search query;

determining, by the processor, using the inverted index format of the master patient index database, a set of healthcare records associated with each of the subset of values;

determining, by the processor, for each of the subset of the values, a contribution to a duplicate probability score

wherein information is stored with each housing address which indicates that the housing address is active or inactive and wherein the contribution to the duplicate probability score depends upon whether each housing address matched to the search query is active or inactive;

based upon the determined contributions to the duplicate probability score and the set of the healthcare records determined to be associated with each of the subset of the values, determining, by the processor, for two or more healthcare records in the set of healthcare records identified via the search query a total duplicate probability score;

retrieving, using the physical locations for the two or more healthcare records, values associated with the two or more healthcare records;

outputting, by the processor, to the display, the total duplicate probability score and electronic protected healthcare information for each of the two or more healthcare records including the values associated with the first name field, the last name field, the date of birth field, the sex field and the at least one field.

24. A method of managing electronic protected healthcare information comprising:

receiving, by a processor, a plurality of healthcare records having electronic protected healthcare information wherein each healthcare record is configured with a plurality of different fields each field configured to receive at least one value, the plurality of different fields including a first name field, a last name field, a date of birth filed, a sex field and a housing address field wherein the plurality of health care records is at least ten thousand;

generating a master patient index database in an inverted index format, wherein, in the inverted index format, a set of values is determined which is inclusive of all values appearing in at least one field of the ten thousand healthcare records such that each value in the set of values is mapped to one or more of the plurality of healthcare records;

determining and storing, by the processor, physical locations of each of the plurality of the healthcare records in a memory device;

outputting to a display an interface which includes areas where search terms values that are input are displayed;

receiving, via an input mechanism communicatively coupled to the processor, one or more search input terms;

based upon the one or more search inputs terms, generating, in the processor, a search query and searching, using the search query, the set of values inclusive of all values appearing in the first name field, the last name field, the date of birth field, the sex field and the housing address field of the at least ten thousand healthcare records in the inverted index format of the master patient index database to identify a subset of values in the set of values which match the search query;

determining, by the processor, using the inverted index format of the master patient index database, a set of healthcare records associated with each of the subset of values;

determining, by the processor, for each of the subset of the values, a contribution to a duplicate probability score;

based upon the determined contributions to the duplicate probability score and the set of the healthcare records determined to be associated with each of the subset of the values, determining, by the processor, for two or more healthcare records in the set of healthcare records identified via the search query a total duplicate probability score;

retrieving, using the physical locations for the two or more healthcare records, values associated with the two or more healthcare records;

outputting, by the processor, to the display the total duplicate probability score and electronic protected healthcare information for each of the two or more healthcare records including the values associated with the first name field, the last name field, the date of birth field, the sex field and the housing address field;

receiving a plurality of different search queries each associated with a different user;

determining a custom set of scoring parameters for each user used to determine the contributions to the duplicate probability; and

determining the total duplicate probability score for each search query using the custom set of scoring parameters determined for each user

wherein the inverted index format of the master patient index database is used for each of the search queries.