Registration-Associated Patient Misidentification in an Academic Medical Center: Causes and Corrections

Through an iterative process as implied in the PDSA cycle, registration-associated patient misidentification errors for established Johns Hopkins Hospital patients were dramatically reduced. A checklist is provided for other organizations to assess their vulnerability to registration-associated patient misidentification errors. The checklist suggests, for example, that organizations strive to develop a single master patient index and limit access to registration systems to staff with proper training and performance expectations.