Indianapolis Emergency Medical Service and the Indiana Network for Patient Care: Evaluating the Patient Match Process

Abstract

In 2009, Indianapolis Emergency Medical Service (I-EMS, formerly Wishard Ambulance Service) launched an electronic medical record system within their ambulances and started to exchange patient data with the Indiana Network for Patient Care (INPC). This unique system allows EMS personnel in an ambulance to get important medical information prior to the patient’s arrival to the accepting hospital from incident scene. In this retrospective cohort study, we found EMS personnel made 3,021 patient data requests (14%) of 21,215 EMS transports during a one-year period, with a “success” match rate of 46%, and a match “failure” rate of 17%. The three major factors for causing match “failure” were (1) ZIP code 55%, (2) Patient Name 22%, and (3) Birth Date 12%. This study shows that the ZIP code is not a robust identifier in the patient identification process and Non-ZIP code identifiers may be a better choice due to inaccuracies and changes of the ZIP code in a patient’s record.