Advocacy - Focus Areas
My Health Record Is My Story. Protect It.
Every patient record tells a story. And every time a patient gets matched to the wrong record, errors can occur, sometimes with serious consequences.
This is something our HI community understands deeply. It’s also why AHIMA helped found the Patient ID Now coalition, a group of leading healthcare organizations working together to make healthcare safer and more accurate.
The goal? To improve patient safety for all by ensuring everyone gets matched to the right records every time.
AHIMA and the Patient ID Now coalition are working together to advance HR 2002, the Patient Matching and Transparency in Certified Health IT (MATCH IT) Act of 2025.
The bill would create an industry standard definition for the term “patient match rate,” which would:
- Allow measurement of patient match rates across the healthcare system
- Improve standardization of patients’ demographic elements entered into certified health IT products to help ensure patients are accurately matched with the correct medical record
We can’t do it alone. We need your voice.
Participate in Patient ID Week, May 11–15, 2026, to help raise awareness about patient misidentification and solutions like the MATCH IT Act.
Here are four easy steps you can take now to get started:
- SEND letters to your congressional leaders with our ready-to-use “Support the MATCH IT Act” email template.
- SHARE your own Patient ID or misidentification story to help humanize the “why” behind supporting the MATCH IT Act.
- RAISE AWARENESS with AHIMA’s Patient ID Week toolkit. Post on social media and share with leaders across your organization to help spread the word to make Patient ID Week even more impactful.
- POST this powerful video to your social media channels.
Better patient care starts with accurate data, effective policy, and your voice. Speak up. Be heard. Let’s make a difference together!