National Policy on Patient Identity Standards for IHI Matching officially published on HSE Repository.

The publication of HSE’s National Policy for Individual Health Identifier (IHI) Data Standards marks a significant milestone in support of the Digital for Care 2030 strategy. Published last month, the policy sets out best-practice guidelines for healthcare and administrative staff when entering patient identity data, supporting the successful matching of each patient to their unique IHI. The IHI is a unique number assigned to each individual receiving healthcare in Ireland, designed to improve safety and efficiency by enabling accurate and reliable patient identification.

The IHI - a unique identifier assigned to every individual receiving healthcare in Ireland - is critical for patient safety, enabling accurate identification and seamless connection of health records. However, inconsistent or incomplete data entry at registration weakens IHI matching. This new policy addresses the issue by setting national standards for patient identity data, closing critical gaps and ensuring every patient can be reliably matched to their IHI.

At its core, the policy serves two major objectives. Firstly, it mandates minimum standards for patient identity data fields for successful IHI matching in all new system procurements. Secondly, it underpins a soon to be launched national consumer training and education programme on HSeLanD aimed at upskilling front-line staff and ensuring consistent practices at the point of registration to impute data to successfully return an IHI. The introduction of these standards supports the message that the IHI is the foundation for consistent patient identification and the seamless exchange of health information across the healthcare ecosystem.

At the heart of the policy are three key enablers designed to improve the capture of accurate patient identity data and drive higher IHI match rates:

• Consistent, high-quality entry of core identity fields across all existing patient systems to ensure accurate patient re-staff with the skills and knowledge to consistently enter identity data that enables successful IHI matching.
• Mandatory IHI matching data fields for all new digital health system procurements, ensuring systems are built to support accurate patient identification from the outset.
• National front-line training, delivered via a forthcoming HSELanD education programme, to equip registration staff with the skills and knowledge to consistently enter identity data that enables successful IHI matching.

Released to the HSE 3PG National Central Repository in April 2025, the policy was commissioned by the HSE National HIDS Steering Committee. Input was gathered from internal and external stakeholders to support a consistent and standardised understanding of what successfully matching to the IHI delivers for patient safety. Internal stakeholders included clinical services, Technology and Transformation teams, project leaders, and data management specialists. External stakeholders comprised regulatory bodies, educational platforms, and standard setting organisations such as HIQA, the Department of Health, and GS1.

To ensure lasting impact, the policy will be backed by targeted communications, training materials, and a feedback loop that uses audits to continuously improve data quality. The message is clear - accurate patient registration and IHI matching are foundational to digital health delivery – and this national policy provides the blueprint to “Get it right first time”.

Link to the Policy on the 3PG NCR is HERE.