Duplicate search
A user may create a Case that has the same data values as another Case in the system. For example, two purchase requests may have the same request date and list of items, or the same customer name. In this scenario, where a specific combination of data values or unique identifiers match, the new Case may be a duplicate.
In another example, a health care services application handles requests to authorize insurance coverage for surgical procedures. A hospital administrator calls the insurance company to request an authorization code for a patient's knee surgery on March 18. The day before, the physician's assistant sent a fax requesting pre-authorization for the same patient, surgeon, and surgery date.
When the second request comes in by fax to the insurance company, the insurance company operator recognizes it as a duplicate and resolves it with a status of Resolved-Duplicate. The insurance company operator updates the original request and provides the hospital administrator with the existing authorization code.
Search duplicate Cases Step
Pega Platform™ provides the search duplicate Cases Process to help users identify and resolve duplicate Cases. This Process is implemented in the Case Lifecycle 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.
Match the numbers to the following image to read how Pega Platform Processes the Search duplicate Cases Step:
- Basic conditions: When a Case enters the Search duplicate Cases Step, the system evaluates the basic conditions, to limit the number of Cases that are checked as duplicates. Existing Cases must meet all basic conditions for the current Case to be considered a potential duplicate.
- Weighted conditions: If Cases are found that meet the basic conditions, the system continues to evaluate the weighted conditions: each condition has a value (between 1 and 100) to indicate the relative importance of a condition when making the comparisons.
For each condition that evaluates to true, the system adds the weighted value and if the total for a Case meets or exceeds the threshold value, the Case is flagged as a potential duplicate. - Step ends: If no matches are returned for the basic conditions, the Search duplicate Cases Step ends and the current Case continues to the next Step in the Process.
- Display potential duplicate Cases: Existing Cases that reach the duplicate threshold value are displayed for the user to review and decide whether one of them is a duplicate.
- Step ends: If no existing Cases reach the duplicate threshold value, the Search duplicate Cases Step ends and the Case continues to the next Step in the Process.
- Resolve current Case: The user may decide that the current Case does match one of the potential duplicates. The Case will then be resolved as a duplicate and processing ends.
- Ignore and continue: After reviewing the potential duplicates, the user may decide that the current Case is not a duplicate, and continue to the next Step in the Process.
Customizations to the search duplicate Step behavior
When a user decides the current Case is a duplicate they can resolve it with a Resolved-Duplicate status and processing of the Case ends. Processing can be customized to enable the user to open the original Case to make any necessary updates. Additionally, you can configure the view for a Search duplicate Case automation to add relevant information users need to make a decision on duplicate Case resolution.
Duplicate Case analysis
In the example of the health care services application, the patient date of birth is the basic condition. The surgeon name, surgical type, procedure, and procedure date are weighted conditions with a value of 25 each and a threshold of 50. The system displays the Case entered on March 18 as a duplicate because the date of birth, surgeon name, surgical type, procedure date, and procedure match the values in the original Case , and because the total weighted condition value is 100, 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 provides the hospital administrator with the original authorization code.
The following figure shows an example of the duplicate Case processing options and analysis:
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