How Do You Handle False Positives from the Death Master File?

Death Audit false positives are defined as identifying a decedent who isn’t actually deceased. False positives result in unplanned organizational expense and incorrect payment stoppage. As a result, false positives can be painful to both those sending and receiving ongoing planned payments, e.g. pension plans/participants and beneficiaries, insurance companies/annuitants.

Minimizing false positives while maximizing number of decedents identified should be the goal of any Death Audit system. However, it is virtually impossible to avoid false positives which occur for any number of reasons, including: missing/incomplete/inaccurate participant census data (names, social security numbers, dates of birth), inaccurate matching source data (often attributable to incorrect social security numbers or dates of birth).

False positives are most commonly associated with decedents identified via obituaries because of the lack of a common death identifier, e.g. social security number, included in all obituaries. However, false positives occur even when a death data source – the Death Master File (DMF) – includes a common death identifier like a social security number. Not only do false positives occur with the DMF, they can occur on a relatively frequent basis.

Given that false positives occur via the DMF, it is important your Death Audit process include a method for accurately and efficiently identifying DMF false positives. CertiDeath is a full-service Death Audit solution and not just a Death Data system. As such, PBI Research Services reviews all DMF false positives and through a unique CertiDeath feature, the Revival Report, provides notification of any matching deaths previously reported. This enables you to proactively handle any false positives. With a Death Data system you may not be getting notified of DMF false positives. If you are notified, your organization will likely have to review all possible matches against previously identified deaths, costing time and money to your organization and those to whom payments might be due.

CertiDeath is a Death Audit solution, not a Death Data problem. To learn more about a risk-free way to evaluate CertiDeath, visit www.pbinfo.com/certideath/.