根據一項研究結果，患兒相似的姓名和醫療檔案數量的增加，常常導致新生兒重癥監護室(NICUs)嬰兒誤認的可能大大增加。

這項研究發表在2006年1月的《兒科學》，研究人員研究了Beth Israse Deaconess醫學中心(Boston, MA, USA)1年內1,260例新生兒共計12,186天患者護理記錄。每例被調查的兒童平均在監護室中度過9天～10天的時間。1例患者日被認為面臨誤認的危險，當這個指標患者與當天NICU另外一個患者的姓氏相同、姓氏發音相似、或者醫療檔案號(MRN)相似。后續的MRNs分配結果在許多醫院意味著在相對較短的時間內進入NICU的患者具有相似的MRNs，而這會由于多次生育而產生的難題。

研究結果發現，沒有一天不存在患者身份誤認的危險。最常見的原因是相似的MRNs (44%患者日)。同樣的姓氏在34%的患者日中存在，發音相似在9.7% 患者日中存在。雙胞胎和三胞胎在NICU中在三分之一的患者日中存在。

Infants Often Mis-identified in Intensive Care
 
Similarities in patients’ names and medical record numbers lead to a high potential for infant mis-identification in neonatal intensive care units NICUs), according to a recent study.

In the study, published in the January 2006 edition of Pediatrics, researchers studied 12,186 days of patient care for 1,260 newborns at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston, MA, USA) during one calendar year. Each surveyed child spent an average of nine to 10 days in intensive care. A patient day was considered at risk for mis-identification when the index patient shared a surname, similar-sounding surname, or similar medical record number (MRN) with another patient cared for in the NICU on that day. The sequential nature by which MRNs are assigned in many hospitals means that patients who are admitted to the NICU within a relatively short time frame are at highest risk for sharing similar MRNs, a problem exacerbated by multiple births.

The results found that not a single day was free of risk for patient mis-identification. The most common cause of mis-identification risk was similar-appearing MRNs (44% of patient days). Identical surnames were present in 34% of patient days, and similar-sounding names were present in 9.7% of days. Twins and triplets contributed one third of patient days in the NICU.