Is there a patient identification crisis? These 4 statistics prove it
Positive patient identification is the process of matching the right patient to the right medical records; misidentification can lead to duplicate and incomplete records, billing confusion, incorrect diagnoses, and significant patient safety risks.
Patient misidentification — when a healthcare organization links the wrong information to the wrong patient — remains one of the most persistent threats to healthcare quality and patient safety. Misidentification can occur during patient registration, lab testing, imaging, or at any step where data is entered or exchanged. Manual entry errors, incomplete data, and similar demographics, such as two or more patients having the same or similar names, can easily result in mismatched or duplicate records.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), patient misidentification is among the leading causes of preventable harm in healthcare. A failure to correctly match a patient to the right medical history can cause treatment errors and delays, as well as financial losses and reputational damage.
The growing challenge of patient identity issues
In the complex landscape of US healthcare, patient misidentification has emerged as a critical issue, leading to significant risks to patient safety and financial losses. Here are four alarming statistics that underscore the urgency of this crisis.
1. High rates of patient misidentification
Matching patients to their medical records can be as low as 80% accurate within a single care setting, and drops to 50% accuracy among organizations that share electronic health information. These percentages demonstrate how inconsistencies between electronic health record (EHR) systems contribute to the patient identity crisis, as well as the urgent need for more reliable and consistent patient identification solutions across different healthcare settings. Delivering quality care is impossible without accurate patient information.
2. Financial impact of patient identity issues
The financial burden of patient misidentification is equally troubling, considering the resource constraints faced by hospitals across the nation. On average, healthcare organizations report spending $1.3M annually on patient identity resolution. Furthermore, hospitals face an average of $17.4 million per year in denied insurance claims due to inaccurate patient identification. Together, these costs represent a substantial financial burden that could be mitigated with better patient-to-record matching.
3. Medical errors due to misidentification
Patient identification failures have direct and dangerous consequences, such as medical errors resulting from prescriptions, test results, and more being linked to duplicate or wrong records. Alarmingly, research has found that patient identification errors account for approximately 70% of adverse patient outcomes.
4. Duplication of medical records
Duplicate medical records create confusion, waste time, and increase the risk of clinical and billing errors. Duplication rates in healthcare are alarmingly high, with some organizations experiencing rates as high as 30%, and 10% being common. This not only complicates patient care but also increases the workload and costs associated with maintaining accurate medical records.
How can we solve the patient identity crisis?
To prevent patient misidentification, healthcare organizations must strengthen verification processes where they begin — at registration. Implementing a biometric patient identification solution that accurately identifies patients and matches them with their correct records in the enterprise master patient index (EMPI) and EHR systems prevents patient misidentification and the creation of duplicate medical records.
Biometric technology offers one of the most promising ways to combat the patient identification crisis. Facial recognition and other biometric methods allow fast, noninvasive, identity verification that dramatically reduces errors. The right biometric solution can quickly retrieve accurate patient records to ensure patients are consistently matched to the right data and history.
Preventing patient identification errors with Imprivata
Imprivata Patient Access addresses the critical issue of patient misidentification by using biometric face-matching technology to link patients’ unique facial features to their health records. This quick and easy face authentication solution not only improves the precision of patient identification but also bolsters safety by helping reduce medical errors linked to identification mistakes.
Furthermore, this solution helps prevent medical fraud, streamlines the registration process for a better patient experience, and improves operational efficiency. By minimizing duplicate records and errors, Patient Access also aids in reducing denied insurance claims, thus improving the financial well-being of healthcare organizations.
Learn more about Imprivata Patient Access, and how it can strengthen trust between patients and providers by ensuring accuracy from the very first encounter.