Data record matching algorithms for longitudinal patient level databases

1 . A method for assigning longitudinal linking tags to de-identified patient data records, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) acquiring a de-identified patient data record, the data record having data fields corresponding to a positive number of data attributes from a designated set of data attributes;

(b) matching a subset of the data field values with a reference data record that is associated with a linking tag; and

(c) in response to a positive match at step (b), assigning the linking tag to the de-identified patient data record.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the designated set of data attributes comprises encrypted data attributes.

3 . The method of claim 2 wherein the encrypted data attributes comprise at least one of Record Number, CardHolder ID, Date of Birth, and Patient ID attributes

4 . The method of claim 2 wherein the designated set of attributes further comprises non-encrypted data attributes.

5 . The method of claim 1 wherein step (b) further comprises matching a plurality of subsets of the data fields with the reference data record that is associated with the linking tag.

6 . The process of claim 5 wherein the plurality of subsets of data fields are organized in an hierarchy of levels, and wherein step (b) comprises level-by-level matching with the reference data record that is associated with the linking tag.

7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising in response to a negative match at step (b), repeating steps (b) and (c) with another reference data record that is associated with another linking tag.

8 . The method of claim 7 wherein the another reference data record is one of a plurality of reference data records stored in a reference database.

9 . The method of claim 8 when all of the reference data records in the reference database are exhausted without a positive matching result, further comprising step (d) of generating a new linking tag and assigning the new linking tag to the data record.

10 . The method of claim 9 further comprising updating the reference database with the new linking tag and matched data field values.

11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising assembling a longitudinal database by longitudinally linking the data records by their assigned linking tags.

12 . Computer readable media comprising instructions for performing the method of claim 1 .

13 . A matching algorithm for assigning longitudinal linking tags to de-identified patient data records incoming from multiple data suppliers, the matching algorithm comprising:

a definition of a designated set of data attributes at least some of which are included in the incoming de-identified patient data records by each of the multiple data suppliers;

a definition of a hierarchy of levels of subsets of the designated set of data attributes; and

the steps of:

(a) matching the incoming data records with reference data records that are associated with known longitudinal linking tags, wherein each matching comprises hierarchal level-by-level comparison of the data attribute subsets;

(b) assigning the longitudinal linking tags associated with successfully matched reference data records to the incoming data records; and

(c) when no reference data records are successfully matched to an incoming data record, generating and assigning new linking tag to the incoming data record.

14 . The matching algorithm of claim 13 , when an incoming data record is successfully matched at step (a) to a plurality of known reference data records at one level of matching, further comprising the step of:

(d) comparing the incoming data record and successfully matched reference data records at higher levels of the data attribute subsets, whereby the incoming data record may be matched with a single reference data record

15 . Computer readable media comprising instructions for performing the algorithm of claim 13.