Match rules

Match rules are set by a system administrator for each source subscription. These rules use varying levels of confidence, from fuzzy Matching that is not exact; a comparison of similar values (for example Smith/Smyth) depending on match rules set by the customer administrator. to strict, to determine which fields in a record are considered a possible match. Together they define the threshold at which a match is considered suspect.

Specifically, match rules might allow slight variations in names, nicknames, or specialties, while insisting on exact matches for key identifying information, such as a license number.

Match considerations

A number of scenarios apply when name matching takes place:

Scenario	Description	Applies to	Example
Misspelled names	Matches will consider potential misspellings as a result of additional or substituted letters.	HCP	Smyth/Smythe, Phillip/Philip, Stephen/Steven
Transposed letters	Matches will consider typos as a result of transposed letters.	HCO, HCP	Hopsital/Hospital, Stacey/Stacye
Initials	Matches will allow initials used for the first name or middle name, as well as for nickname initials.	HCP	James E Gardner/James Elliot Gardner/JE Gardner
Titles and honorifics	Matches will occur regardless of titles or honorifics.	HCP	Dr James Gardner/James Gardner, Ms E Spenser/E Spenser
Missing names	Matches will occur regardless of middle name inclusion.	HCP	Emily Anne Spenser/Emily Spenser
Varied segmentation	Matches will consider segmentation, including names that may or may not include a space or hyphen between them.	HCP	Mary Lou/Mary-Lou/MaryLou
Generation	Matches are considered less likely if a generation indicator is not the same, or is omitted. Names with numeric indicators (for example, "the 2nd" or "II") are also considered.	HCO, HCP	Fred Smith Jr/Fred, Smith/Fred Smith Jnr, King George Hospital/King George V Hospital
Double names	Matches are considered for names that consist of two components but are not always shown.	HCP	Jean-Claude Decloux/Jean Decloux/Claude Decloux
Abbreviations	Matches consider abbreviations in an organization's name.	HCO	GSK/GlaxoSmithKline
Truncated names	Matches consider names that may have been truncated.	HCO	Baptist Medical Center/Bapt Med Ctr
Place abbreviations	Matches consider place names that have been abbreviated.	HCO	Pennsylvania Hospital/Penn Hospital/PA Hospital
Extraneous information	Matches distinguish between an organization's name and potentially extraneous information, such as a specialty, in the name.	HCO	Sick Kids Toronto - Surgery/Sick Kids Toronto

The following scenarios are considered for address matching:

Scenario	Description	Applies to	Example
Street address similarity	Matches consider slight variations in street names, including spelling differences and directional information.	HCO, HCP	Main Street/Main Street E/Main Street West
Country specifics	Matches consider rules specific to the country to which the address belongs. Information such as postal code or house number would be considered particularly important for matching in certain locales.	HCO, HCP	-

The following scenarios are considered for identifier matching:

Scenario	Description	Applies to	Example
Exact matches	Matches are required to have an exact match for certain identifiers, with potentially minor differences.	HCO, HCP	-
Transposed numbers	Matches will consider identifiers with minor instances of transposition.	HCO, HCP	1234567/1234657
Identifier type	Matches will consider only matches for identifiers against other identifiers of the same type.	HCO, HCP	NPI vs NPI, AMA vs AMA