Your Kno2 Connected™ app supports querying across two discrete networks: Carequality and CommonWell. These networks allow providers to retrieve patient records on demand from participating organizations. The information below covers frequently asked questions about querying these networks, as well as the process for reporting and resolving patient matching discrepancies.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Carequality? What is Commonwell?
These are networks that allow for the retrieval of patient information on demand. Each network has Implementers. For example, Epic is an Implementer of Carequality while athena is an Implementer of CommonWell (NOTE: Not all of their customers may be connected to these networks).
Where can I find if a clinic or health system is part of the query network?
Carequality has a search capability to find orgs that are live: https://carequality.org/active-sites-search/
NOTE: CommonWell also has a search on their website, but CommonWell members must opt in to connect through CommonWell to Carequality. If a group is live on CommonWell and opted in for Carequality, they will be searchable on Carequality’s website.
I searched for a group that I know has Epic (or another Carequality or CommonWell Implementer), why can’t I find them?
A group may be part of an Implementer’s customer base, but that does not mean that all of their customers are connected yet. In addition, a CommonWell group must opt-in to connectivity to Carequality.
What if I find a group on CommonWell, but I cannot find them when I try to query?
While CommonWell is an Implementer of Carequality, CommonWell members must opt-in to connectivity to Carequality.
Why am I not finding the hospital that I am searching for?
Be sure that the parent organization is being searched for as opposed to an individual hospital. Some EHR vendors currently only publish organizations (e.g. Mission Hospital is part of Providence Health System) to the Carequality directory. Carequality is pushing for individual facilities within an organization to be listed, but the work is not yet complete.
Do I need to have the patient sign a release of information in order to search for their information?
No-this consent should be built into the documentation that the patient signs for the Carequality/CommonWell participating organization. They should be given an opt-out option if they do not want the information to be shared.
Do I need all of the patient demographics in order to complete a Query?
Name, DOB and gender are required to send a query. However, this may not be enough information for a result to return.
The more information that is completed, the better chance that a successful match is made. Each piece of information is given a “score,” if you do not hit a certain threshold with the “score,” it will result in “No Match.”
Example: A search for Michael Smith may return hundreds of results and therefore the system does not have enough information to narrow the response to a particular patient. Since a response will only contain one patient match, the response would be “no match.”
What if I have all of the information entered correctly and can’t find a match?
If access to multiple “Purpose of Use” values exists, ensure that Treatment was selected
Patient might reside in a system but have different demographics, so a match cannot be made-some systems are set up to look for matches based on different spellings of the same names, or common nicknames, while others are not and it must be an exact match
Duplicate patients might exist, so it can't find one unique match
The patient might require consent or be opted out
Potential Solutions
Attempt searching another health system in the area or send a broadcast query using the Search HRR option.
If the patient is present for treatment and records are a necessity for Treatment, the best solution is to call the hospital and confirm that they know the patient. If the hospital can confirm the patient and provide the demographics they have registered, querying again with those exact demographics may find a match.
The reason a match was not made can only be determined with information provided by the responding network partner.
When will searches beyond the reason of Treatment be required?
The Federal Government is proposing to require additional purposes beyond Treatment, but there's no timeline on when any of that will actually be finalized.
What if I have an EHR? Can I use Kno2 Connected™ for Query?
At this time, Kno2® offers Carequality to paper-based providers (you must not have an EHR), EMS agencies, or any of our partners that have integrated the Carequality functionality. If you have an EHR that is not query-capable, we can work with them to get it integrated.
Patient Matching Discrepancy Support Process
When a potential patient mismatch is identified during a query—where returned demographics, documents, or other clinical data do not appear to belong to the patient queried—follow the steps below to contain and report the issue.
Process Steps
Step | Activity | Description |
1 | Detect | Querier identifies a potential patient mismatch where returned demographics, documents, or other clinical data do not belong to the patient queried. |
2 | Contain | Querier removes, quarantines, or suppresses the mismatched data from use and instructs any downstream recipients to do the same, if applicable. |
3 | Report to Kno2 HCNS Team | Submit the suspected incident to carequality@kno2.com or qhinsupport@kno2.com and provide the required information as detailed below. Please be aware that sensitive information should be shared securely. Do not send PHI via standard email or chat functionality. |
4 | Kno2 HCNS Team Review | The Kno2 Healthcare Network Services (HCNS) team reviews transaction details, validates the mismatch, determines whether the issue originated with the responding organization or implementer, and coordinates follow-up as needed. |
5 | Root Cause & Resolution | The Kno2 HCNS team communicates findings, corrective actions, and any remediation timeline to the reporting partner. |
Please include the following details in any support requests
IMPORTANT! Share securely as this is sensitive information.
Timestamp of query
TraceParent ID or CF Ray ID
Queried patient demographics
Returned patient demographics
Initiating organization / OID
Responding organization / OID
Confirmation that mismatched data has been removed
The Kno2 HCNS team will:
Review information provided for reported mismatch
Engage the responding organization and/or implementer when necessary
Communicate findings and corrective actions back to the reporting partner
Follow-up Consideration (Recommended)
All queriers (as part of an API integration or manual portal queries) are encouraged to either run a reverse-match check on returned demographics as a second layer of validation, or visually review if querying manually. Below are common practices as outlined in our developer documentation and included in training for portal users.
Do not rely solely on matchConfidencePercent. This value is calculated by the responding system using its own patient matching methodology and is not standardized across networks.
Compare returned demographics to your local patient record. Review demographic information returned by the responding organization and confirm alignment with the queried patient.
Consider using your organization's patient matching rules or validation process as a secondary check before retrieving or ingesting documents.
Present demographic information for review (API consumer). Where feasible, display returned patient demographics to users so they can verify the match prior to document retrieval or reconciliation.
Investigate discrepancies before proceeding. If returned demographics do not reasonably align with the queried patient, do not assume the match is valid and report the issue following the patient mismatch process.