Which step is essential to verify patient matching when a CCDA is received?

• A. Rely on the document title to determine identity.
• B. Ignore identifiers and match by name.
• C. Verify the patient identifiers in the CCDA against the patient record.
• D. Compare the CCDA file size to ensure matching.

Answer: (C)

The essential step is to verify the patient identifiers embedded in the CCDA against the patient’s existing record. This is the reliable way to confirm you’re matching the right patient, because CCDA documents include identifiers such as local medical record numbers or other assigning authorities. Names, document titles, or even file size do not reliably prove identity—names can be similar or misspelled, titles are not unique, and file size tells you nothing about who the data belongs to. By cross-checking the CCDA’s identifiers (and demographic details like date of birth) with the patient record in your system, you ensure that the data you import or merge goes into the correct chart and reduces the risk of data from one patient being attributed to another.