Duplicate search

Users may enter a case that shares the same data values with another case in the system. For instance, two purchase requests may have the same request date, the same items, or the same customer name. However, if a specific combination of data values match or a single field whose data values are typically unique matches, the new case is possibly a duplicate case.

For example, a health care services application handles requests to authorize insurance coverage for surgical procedures. A user enters a request for a specific surgeon to perform inpatient surgery on March 18 to replace a knee joint. Two days later, the patient health care provider discovers that the surgeon is not available on the specified date. The provider submits a new request for the same type of surgery, the same surgeon, and the same procedure but for a procedure date of February 26. Because three of the four data values — the surgeon, type of surgery, and procedure — match in both requests, the second request is likely a duplicate. To avoid double-booking the procedure, the user should not process the request with the new date. Instead, the user should consider modifying the procedure date of the existing case to February 26. Users must be able to identify duplicate cases so that they can process the correct case.

Pega Platform™ provides the search duplicate cases process to help users identify and resolve duplicate cases. This process is implemented in the case life cycle as a Search duplicate cases step. When a case enters the step, the system uses basic conditions and weighted conditions to compare specific property values with cases already present in the system.

In the following image, click the + icons to read how Pega Platform processes the Search duplicate cases step.

When users decide to resolve the current case as a duplicate, the default behavior is to resolve the current case. As a default, the system does not perform another action once the current case is resolved as a duplicate. You can customize the behavior to reopen the existing case in the system. For example, you can add a button to the user interface to allow users to switch back to the existing case after resolving the current case.

In the health care services application example, assume that the patient date of birth is the basic condition. The surgeon name, surgical type, procedure, and procedure date are the weighted conditions with a value of 25 each and a threshold of 50. The system displays the case entered on February 26th as a duplicate because the date of birth, surgeon name, surgical type, and procedure match the values in the original case, and the total weighted condition value is 75, exceeding the matching threshold of 50. The user decides that the second request is a duplicate and resolves the case as Resolved-Duplicate. The user then continues with the initial case and updates the procedure date.

In the following image, click the + icon to view the duplicate case analysis.