RightPatient-beckers-hospital-review

Leaders of healthcare gather in Chicago for Becker’s Hospital Review Conference

RightPatient-beckers-hospital-review

Just as the cooler weather finally emerges in hot & sunny Silicon Valley, I was summoned to attend the Becker’s Health IT and Revenue Cycle Conference in the windy city of Chicago. Downtown Chicago is definitely one of the most beautiful destinations – I was excited. Mike (the co-founder) found a great apartment with the Airbnb app – a high-rise tower right next to the Whole Foods market and within walking distance to the venue for this year’s conference. I arrived a bit late that evening and most restaurants were closed by the time I was ready for some self-indulgence. So, I reluctantly grabbed some salad at a nearby sports bar and decided to enjoy the mesmerizing Chicago skyline as I walked back home – a great start.

RightPatient-beckers-hospital-review

Our booth setup was nice, although we wondered why some smaller sponsors got a better booth space than we did. We were shoved in the middle of many random companies when a bronze sponsor (and a “competitor”) was enjoying one of the most amazing locations – the benefits of the “circle of friendship,” I guess!

After learning a bit about how RightPatient prevents duplicate medical records and eliminates chart corrections in different EHR systems (just one of our many benefits), Walter R. Houlihan, the Senior Director of Health Information Management at Baystate Health spontaneously uttered, “yeah, I see the duplicates and record mix-ups all the time. My team is the one that fixes them.” Baystate Health needs our biometric patient ID product – please buy it!

RightPatient-patient-id-bob-osu

Bob LaFollette, COO and Senior Administrator of Urology from OSU

Another visitor, Bob LaFollette, COO and Senior Administrator of Urology from OSU was a charming and interesting individual. His first question to us was, “Guess what OSU stands for?” Between guesses of Oregon State University, Oklahoma State University and so on, we were corrected with the right answer – Ohio State University. He got a kick out of it!  Besides the fun and warm conversations, Bob was absolutely ecstatic with hearing how RightPatient helps with patient safety and how we automatically add patient photos into medical records. If Bob was the decision maker, I bet it would have been awesome for us.

 

 

RightPatient-Zero-gravity-skin

Towards the end of the second day, I made an effort to go around and meet other companies. I have never seen so many Revenue Cycle companies all in one place – looks like money collection is the game in healthcare! There was even a company that helps to collect & recover money from international patients! I couldn’t even begin to imagine what tactics and strategies they follow in certain countries but it can’t be anything better than tactics used by the bounty hunter. Another interesting company was called Zero Gravity. Their feature product on display was an LED-based anti-aging facial rejuvenation system. People had lined up for a free session – why not? It’s free.

RightPatient-Zero-gravity-skin

There were some awesome presentations, discussion, and workshops – I only attended one session by Ms. Murphy of the University of Chicago School of Medicine. It was amazing and I will write a separate post all about it. It was also great seeing the CrossChx team – once rivals, now we work together very closely. They focus on their Olive AI product while we provide biometric patient ID even to their clients.

rightpatient-mizan-sugar-ray-leonard-beckers-patient-id

To top off a great weekend, as we were preparing to wrap up, the boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard emerges seemingly out of nowhere to take pictures with everyone. Well, a great way to end the show with a lasting memory of the charming champion!

 

At the Becker's Conference, learn how RightPatient prevents patient fraud

At the Becker’s Conference, learn how RightPatient prevents patient fraud

At the Becker's Conference, learn how RightPatient prevents patient fraud

The Becker’s 2017 (and 3rd annual) Health IT & Revenue Cycle Conference is only a few days away! Needless to say, we’re excited, and it’s not just because George W. Bush and Sugar Ray Leonard will be there. The conference has a great lineup of speakers, presentations, and, ahem, vendors like RightPatient that will be providing a wealth of information on a variety of important topics.

The timing of this conference could not be better considering the recent Equifax data breach, which puts over 140 million Americans at risk of identity theft. This has serious implications for healthcare, but the good news is that patients and providers can mitigate their risk with RightPatient.

Since our inception, we have always recommended Photo Biometrics with RightPatient and have never deviated from that position. This didn’t come out of left field; we are, by far, the most experienced vendor in our market segment with 15 years of experience in biometric technology. We have worked with many biometric modalities, implemented our technology in projects around the world, built some massive biometric matching systems, and generally know this stuff inside and out. That’s why we always knew what was best for healthcare and had a vision of how Photo Biometrics would be used with our platform to transform the way that patients are identified.

 

RightPatient accurately identifies patients by simply capturing their photo. At provider locations, this is critical to prevent identification errors and medical record mix-ups that affect patient safety, revenue cycle, and data integrity. With 1,000 patients dying each day from preventable medical errors and hospitals writing off millions of dollars annually from denied claims and patient fraud, health systems should have an easy time justifying RightPatient.

But, for good measure, we now have the Equifax breach. Patient fraud was already a serious issue with 2-10% of patients showing up at the ED and providing false information (I’m looking at you, frequent flyers). We’ve heard countless stories from customers before they implemented RightPatient about frequent card sharing and outright fraud that was costing them millions in annual write-offs (RightPatient has since eliminated these issues). With the personal data of over 140 million Americans now compromised, how much easier will it be for someone to obtain care, access healthcare information, or gain a medical record release under a stolen identity?

Here’s the bigger question – why deal with any of these risks at all? For a small monthly fee, healthcare providers could implement RightPatient and solve these issues. When patients interact with their providers, RightPatient captures their picture and accurately identifies them. The service is contactless (ideal for hygiene/infection control), supports mobile devices (e.g. EMTs, unconscious patients, home health visits), and the patient photos that RightPatient simultaneously captures deliver unparalleled value in various ways.

If you have a chance, stop by our booth #1003 at the Becker’s Conference to check out why RightPatient is transforming patient ID in healthcare and to learn about our vision. We look forward to seeing you there!

patient ID in healthcare

The Top 6 Reasons to Visit us in Booth #1252 at 2017 HFMA ANI

patient ID in healthcare
The Top 6 Reasons to Visit us in Booth #1252 at 2017 HFMA ANI

Visit us in Booth #1252 at the 2017 HFMA ANI Conference and learn more about the benefits of biometric patient identification.

The following post was submitted by Brad Marshall, Senior Enterprise Development Consultant with RightPatient.

If you are heading to Orlando this weekend for the HFMA show, please take a moment while you are walking the Exhibit Hall to visit RightPatient in Booth #1252. We will be on hand offering demos of our biometric patient identification solution and Smart App that converts any smartphone or tablet into a powerful patient recognition device. Not convinced? Here are the top 5 reasons why RightPatient is a must stop while navigating the exhibit floor:

  1. See the RightPatient Smart App –  As we just recently discussed on this blog, the RightPatient Smart App provides healthcare organizations the ability to extend the power and reach of our patient identification solution to any smart device equipped with a camera. Using augmented reality and deep learning to identify patients, the Smart App is an ideal tool for clinicians to quickly and accurately identify unconscious patients, verify patients prior to medical procedures, improve patient safety, and securely capture and share clinical images. 
  2. Learn How to Humanize Health IT – As you may already know, the RightPatient patient ID solution captures a high resolution image of the patient’s face and then links that image to their medical record. Several of our existing customers have provided feedback on these patient photos via their clinicians who say that these pictures serve an important clinical purpose and are helping to improve the patient experience. These patient photos are helping clinicians feel more comfortable and better connected to the patient often serve as reminders about the clinical context of the patient. Learn how RightPatient is helping healthcare organizations across the country become more patient-centered than ever before.
  3. RightPatient is a Finalist in CHIME National Patient ID Challenge – We think this is kind of a big deal. Being named a finalist in this important initiative that could very well change the face of patient identification in healthcare as we know it, we recognize that being named a finalist is a true testament to the validity of our solution. It’s worth mentioning that of the finalists named, RightPatient is the only vendor that has a solution already being used in healthcare by many hospitals throughout the country. Stop by and learn why our solution was named a finalist in the Challenge. Go Team RightPatient!
  4.  Safeguarding PHI – Cybersecurity has become quite a hot topic in healthcare as we have witnessed one hospital system after another falling victim to attacks and rushing to bolster their security defenses. We are elated to see the increased emphasis placed on protecting networks but what about taking the same steps to protect data? Network security and data security are two separate areas and any upgrade to cybersecurity defenses simply must be met with commensurate upgrades to safeguard protected health information (PHI). After all, the digitization of healthcare has opened many new doors to access PHI (e.g. – patient portals, mHealth apps, telemedicine), shouldn’t healthcare organizations be proactively taking measures to implement patient ID solutions that can secure it?
  5. Learn about our SaaS model – With our software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, healthcare organizations can implement the patient ID platform for a small monthly fee that includes software, hosting, and support. And don’t worry. Our artificial intelligence system runs in the secure, HIPAA-compliant RightPatient Cloud to minimize deployment and IT costs. What could be better? Stop by the Booth to learn more.
  6. Accurate Patient ID Helps Revenue Cycle Management – Since revenue is a dominating theme of the conference, we thought we would mention that it is a proven fact that increasing patient identification accuracy will help prevent duplicate medical records, reduce denied claims, and improve the revenue stream. Stop by Booth #1252 and learn how you can improve revenue cycle management through an investment in RightPatient.

Skimming the agenda, the HFMA staff has again assembled a very compelling, highly informative conference packed with outstanding curriculum. Don’t forget that the Exhibit Hall is a treasure trove of education too, and we encourage you to take time and stop by to see why our patient identification solution is dominating the healthcare industry. 

Take a moment to watch this short testimonial video from George Ann Phillips, Administrative Director of Revenue Cycle for University Health System in Augusta, GA:

Drop us an email at: sales@rightpatient.com to pre-schedule an appointment or drop in and see us at your convenience. We can’t wait to see everyone in Orlando!

The Top 6 Reasons to Visit us in Booth #1252 at 2017 HFMA ANIBrad Marshall is a Senior Enterprise Development Consultant with RightPatient® With several years of experience implementing both large and small scale biometric patient identification projects in healthcare, Brad works closely with key hospital executives and front line staff to ensure project success.

Mary Mirabelli Thrive presentation at 2017 Northern CA HFMA Conference

Thrive: What Did I Take Away From The HFMA Northern California Spring Conference

Mary Mirabelli Thrive presentation at 2017 Northern CA HFMA Conference

I was staying in Silicon Valley for a few weeks when I realized my visit overlapped with the HFMA Northern California Chapter’s spring conference. I decided to join Mike and meet some interesting individuals, fluent in the language of healthcare, of course. Words cannot express how valuable that decision proved to be.

The weekend began effortlessly enough, as the drive from San Francisco was a mere hour and a half. I walked into the conference just in time to be greeted by a group of friendly and charming people, one of whom was a grinning and caffeinated Mike.

Our booth was decorated by stunning, new pop-up banners his team had designed to perfection.  So far, the stage was set for an unforgettable and impactful conference. I quickly learned how unforgettable it would truly be.

Thrive: What Did I Take Away From The HFMA Northern California Spring Conference

Mary Mirabelli, Vice President at Global Healthcare Services at HP as well as HFMA National Chairperson, took the stage at the show’s onset. As she began speaking, my mind raced with the sole thought of talking to her after her presentation about a potential partnership with HP (of course J). After giving an introduction and describing some of her accomplishments, Mary suddenly shifted to the topic of the show for this year – Thrive. What I imagined was a topic limited to “thriving” within the realm of healthcare suddenly took a turn to encompass a far more expansive and meaningful definition.

Mary shared her story with us – not the edited version, but the real one including life’s challenges and difficult moments. Taking the crowd through a short journey of her own life, she shared the impact of losing her parents at age 14 as well as being a double cancer survivor. Life had taken the craziest jabs at her, but her spirit never shattered. She always stood up and kept moving forward. I was surreally touched by this woman’s story, so much so that I requested to take a photograph with her to show my daughter.

 Thrive: What Did I Take Away From The HFMA Northern California Spring Conference

The day proceeded as well as it had began, with great insights from Dignity’s Head of Innovation, to a superb lunch with a side of fantastic conversation with Gary Krboyan from St. Mary’s Home Health Services. Gary is a numbers man, and provided a wise perspective on who RightPatent should target in the home health market. To add to all the fascinating conversation, Mike got to talking with Dignity and Sutter about our mobile app. Suffice it to say, the conference was an amazing experience.

Thrive: What Did I Take Away From The HFMA Northern California Spring Conference

Unfortunately, I had to head out of the conference early to meet a self-proclaimed “connected guy” for dinner at Fisherman’s Wharf.  As I was driving back to San Francisco through the rolling green hills to the left and never ending orchards to the right, I kept thinking about Mary and how she thrived regardless of the obstacles that stood in her way. As an entrepreneur, I experience my moments of extremes, as Vinod Koshla of Koshla Venture always mentions: “For entrepreneurs, highs are high and lows are low. It’s a lone journey.” Mary’s experience and tenacity inspires me today, and I hope it does the same for you – to always get back up and thrive.

patient identification for patient safety

HIMSS 2017 Recap and Announcing the Winner of our Booth Giveaway

patient identification for patient safety

For those that attended the 2017 HIMSS Conference in Orlando, welcome back to reality! Even though the show ended last week, the reverberations and excitement of the information, technology, and ideas shared, unveiled, and discussed will be around for years to come.

Each annual HIMSS conference presents a wealth of knowledge and showcases perhaps the most interesting and innovative healthcare technology in the world. If you are lucky enough to attend HIMSS, you know that it’s easy to get swallowed up in the Exhibit Hall by vendors competing for your attention and blinded by the flashing lights, spinning booth displays, and boisterous entertainment. Unless you map out a specific vendor path destination or have a pre-determined agenda scheduled, things can get rather dicey navigating the hordes of people congregating in the aisles.

HIMSS 2017 Recap and Announcing the Winner of our Booth Giveaway

The RightPatient team had a very successful 2017 HIMSS conference.

For those of you that took the time to stop by and visit us in the GA Health IT Pavilion (Booth #3015) to see how cognitive vision intelligence can improve patient safety and increase revenue though accurate patient identification, a sincere thank you. You were treated to not only our innovative and unique approach to solving the patient identity crises in healthcare through the use of photo biometrics, but you also were on hand to witness the unveiling of PatientLens™ – a human vision app to reduce medical errors and increase patient safety that turns any smart device into a powerful, intuitive patient ID tool.

You learned that PatientLens helps to identify unconscious patients in seconds and is an important part of an overarching strategy to reduce medical errors along the care continuum by positively identifying a patient prior to rendering services or distributing data. After all, it’s no longer feasible or realistic to define patient ID solely in the context of a physical visit to a healthcare organization. Patient identification must now be viewed as critical during each and every touchpoint along the care continuum – e.g. connected health apps, telemedicine, home health, and patient portals. Investing in a patient ID and patient data integrity technology that can only be used when a patient physically shows up for a visit is an antiquated and somewhat risky and dangerous approach. 

HIMSS 2017 Recap and Announcing the Winner of our Booth Giveaway

Another fantastic year at HIMSS! The exhibit floor was very busy.

The time is now to learn more about establishing a holistic approach to patient ID that addresses the positive identification of increasingly mobile patients with cognitive vision technology that saves lives, improves quality and reduces risk.

We would like to take a moment and announce that John Faust, VP of Health Informatics and Technology at Lifepont health was the winner of our Amazon Echo booth giveaway. Congratulations John!

We would also like to extend a thank you to the GA Department of Economic Development and the Atlanta Area Chamber of Commerce for the opportunity to share booth space and for making the entire logistical process smooth as silk. We are very grateful!

identifying the right patient in healthcare increases patient safety

Ensuring the Right Patient in Healthcare

identifying the right patient in healthcare increases patient safety
Ensuring the Right Patient in Healthcare

Joe Lavelle with IntrepidNow Healthcare recently interviewed our Co-Founder Michael Trader to discuss the current state of patient identification in healthcare. (Photo re-used with permission from IntrepidNow Healthcare.)

Our thanks to Joe Lavelle and his staff at IntrepidNow Healthcare for the opportunity to appear on his podcast to discuss the current state of identifying the right patient in healthcare. Although accurate identification in healthcare to determine the right patient at all points along the care continuum continues to surge as a focal point for organizations to increase patient safety and improve data integrity, there is still a lot of unanswered questions about how to develop and implement an industry wide solution that has the ubiquity and scale for use by everyone.

Additional topics covered during the podcast include:

  1. The importance of establishing remote patient identification for touchpoints along the care continuum beyond in-person visits such as patient portals, connected health apps, home health visits, telemedicine, and more.
  2. Why establishing a holistic patient identification strategy is now required in healthcare.
  3. Details on the RightPatient® cloud software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform.
  4. Why photo biometrics is hands down the most effective, secure, flexible, scalable, and hygienic solution to determine the right patient in healthcare.
  5. Updates on CHIME’s national patient ID contest.
  6. What additional elements are needed to advance discussion of accurate patient identification in healthcare to a congressional level.
  7. RightPatient®’s plans for the upcoming HIMSS conference in Orlando.

As we approach the annual HIMSS conference, it’s important to continue dialogue and advancing initiatives that show promise to resolving the patient identification crisis in healthcare. Identifying the right patient at the outset of each encounter with the healthcare system ensures the success for many other downstream activities and is the only true way to improve and maintain data integrity — the true linchpin for interoperability and health information exchange.

We invite you to visit RightPatient® in the GA Health IT Pavilion, Booth #3015 at the HIMSS conference to see firsthand how adding cognitive vision to a healthcare technology ecosystem improves revenue cycle management and secures a patient portal, among many other uses. 

Here is our Co-Founder Michael Trader’s conversation with Joe Lavelle from IntrepidNow Healthcare: 

Thank you again to Joe Lavelle and his staff for this opportunity!

RightPatient uses photo biometrics to accurately identify patients at any point along the care continuum

Visit RightPatient® at 2017 HIMSS Conference in the GA HealthIT Pavilion (Booth #3015)

RightPatient uses photo biometrics to accurately identify patients at any point along the care continuum
Visit RightPatient® at 2017 HIMSS Conference in the GA HealthIT Pavilion (Booth #3015)

Visit us in the GA HealthIT Pavilion (Booth #3015) at the 2017 HIMSS Convention to learn more about how to completely transform how you identify patients.

Join RightPatient in the GA HealthIT Pavilion in Booth #3015 at the 2017 HIMSS convention to learn more about the value of implementing cognitive vision to your technology ecosystem to completely transform how you identify patients. RightPatient® accurately recognizes patients at the hospital and when they login to a portal, or anywhere along the care continuum through any off the shelf device.

The RightPatient Cloud Platform solves the patient identification challenge by using the photo and unique biometric information of patients to accurately identify them during each encounter in both physical and virtual environments. Stop by booth #3015 at the 2017 HIMSS Convention in Orlando to learn more about:

— Why photo biometrics is the ideal technology and future of patient identification in healthcare
— How RightPatient® seamlessly integrates with all major EHR systems including Cerner®, Epic, Meditech, and McKesson
— The importance of implementing non-contact, hygienic biometric patient ID solutions
— Our affordable SaaS model
— How to improve patient safety and prevent duplicates with photo biometrics for patient identification

As part of the Georgia, USA Pavilion (Booth #3015) HIMSS17 Speaker Series, our President and Co-Founder Michael Trader will be presenting a special educational session on “The Rising Significance of Holistic Patient ID in Healthcare” on Tuesday February 21st at 1:30 p.m. Join us for Michael’s perspective on why it is critical to address accurate patient identification at each and every point along the care continuum instead of only the first stop at patient registration. 

Schedule a meeting with us by sending an email to: info@rightpatient.com or call us at 770-821-1729.

Pressed for time but still want to stop by and meet the RightPatient team? Join us for a beverage at the GA HIMSS Chapter reception. Sign up here: http://bit.ly/2knXCWm

We will have a daily drawing at our booth for an Amazon Echo for those who schedule an appointment!

(If you aren’t attending HIMSS 2017 but would still like to learn more about RightPatient® and see a demo, please contact us!)

Hope to see you in Orlando the week of February 19th!

review of biometric patient identification educational session at 2016 HIMSS conference

Takeaways on Biometric Patient ID from HIMSS 2016 Conference

review of biometric patient identification educational session at 2016 HIMSS conference
Takeaways on Biometric Patient ID from HIMSS 2016 Conference

Several educational sessions at the 2016 HIMSS conference were dedicated to patient ID in healthcare.

Like most who attended last week’s annual HIMSS conference in Las Vegas, I was a bit overwhelmed at the amount of information, activities, and traffic swirling around the Exhibit Halls and lecture rooms. It’s difficult to not get swallowed up among 40,000+ attendees and even more hard to block out the flashing lights and unbelievably cool technology on display in order to focus on what matters most, but I had a set agenda to follow and stuck to my plan. This was the third HIMSS conference I have attended and I continue to be amazed at the outstanding job that HIMSS staff does to pull off this event each year, which only seems to keep growing in size, scope, and complexity. Hat tip to HIMSS staff who work tirelessly on making this event successful!

Buried among the central themes of advancing interoperability, cybersecurity, population health, consumer and patient engagement, and connected health, there were a handful of educational sessions dedicated to patient identification in healthcare including a presentation by Dr. Raymond Aller, a Clinical Professor at the University of California entitled: “Patient Identification: Biometric or Botched?”

This was the only educational session at the conference that I could see which was 100% dedicated to the use of biometrics for patient ID in healthcare and it was well attended – I counted approximately 75 people who showed up for the session. 

Dr. Aller presented what I felt was a fair, unbiased analysis of the patient identification landscape in healthcare and a thorough analysis (including strengths, weaknesses, and deployment examples) of biometric patient identification modalities available to hospitals and health organizations. Here is a brief overview of Dr. Aller’s central themes, and what he presented:

  1.  Text based patient identification is simply no longer an efficient or safe way to ID patients: Dr. Aller began his presentation by listing the consequences of failing to properly identify a patient including the patient safety, legal, and liability issues and public relations nightmare misidentification can create. He then demonstrated the drawbacks and limitations of text based patient ID calling it “obsolete” and pointing out that in 2016, hospitals and healthcare organizations can no longer afford the risks associated with this form of identification. He even went so far as to question the viability of continuing to use a master patient index (MPI) as a patient data repository, calling it a “dangerous” and “obsolete” concept.
  2. Healthcare fraud and medical identity theft: Dr. Aller then explained the potentially catastrophic consequences of healthcare fraud, medical identity theft, and duplicate medical records from misidentifying a patient and the additional problems and risks that data merges pose stressing that too often, hospitals spend hundreds of thousands (sometimes millions) of dollars a year cleaning data and merging records without ever having the foresight to implement technology that will sustain patient data integrity in the future. Bottom line? Relying on names and dates of birth (“what you know”) and ID cards (“what you have’) to identify patients is simply no longer safe or sufficient. The patient identification industry is evolving to identify patients by “who they are.”
  3.  Biometric patient identification technology overview: The last third of Dr. Aller’s presentation centered on an overview of biometric patient identification technologies available including a detailed description of fingerprint, palm vein, and iris recognition (also referred to as “photo biometrics”). Although Dr. Aller left out some key points about these biometric patient identification modality options (for example, he did not mention the back end biometric matching technology behind each of these modalities and why this is important to understand), his review was fair and provided a relatively unbiased look at the strengths and limitations of using biometrics for patient identification. One interesting point that Dr. Aller made was the fact that in a clinical setting, the use of fingerprint and palm vein biometrics for patient identification creates questions about hygiene and supporting hospital infection control policies because a patient must physcially touch a device for identification – an attribute that is not a factor with iris recognition since it is contactless to the patient. 
  4. Conclusion: Dr. Aller concluded his presentation by further extolling on the strengths of biometrics for patient identification but cautioned the audience that biometrics are by no means a panacea due to select psychological, sociological, and physiological limitations. However, Dr. Aller did point out that his research indicated that when presented with the option of using biometrics to protect their medical identities and keep them safe throughout the care continuum, over 99% of patients opt-in to using the technology.
  5. Question and Answer session: Selected attendees asked some very interesting questions during the Q&A session including one woman from a neonatal hospital who lamented that it is very difficult to identify newborns with biometrics since neither palm vein or fingerprint biometrics can be used on children (photo biometrics can be used on any child 10 months or older). Another person asked what biometric technology could be used to verify patient identities over the phone when they call in requesting access to protected health information (PHI).

Several other educational sessions during HIMSS were centered on patient identification in healthcare with several common themes emerging:

  1. The healthcare industry is slowly shifting from credential based to identity centric patient ID.
  2. A central reason that more hospitals aren’t researching how to more effectively identify patients are competing priorities. Healthcare simply has to drop the “wait and see” attitude to more effective patient identification. 
  3. 198,000 deaths annually can be contributed to patient misidentification.
  4. Patient misidentification resulted in $77 billion Medicare and Medicaid fraud and improper payments.

If I had a crystal ball, I’d venture to say that patient identification will continue to be a hot-button topic in healthcare during 2016 and beyond, largely because so many other elements of care along the continuum are contingent upon it and so many back-end processes and functions (e.g. – revenue cycle management) depend on getting it right. 

What lessons did you take away from any of the HIMSS 2016 educational sessions dedicated to patient ID in healthcare?

RightPatient protects patient privacy and patient safety

Takeaways from the 2015 NE NAHAM Regional Conference – “Improving the Patient Experience”

RightPatient protects patient privacy and patient safety
Takeaways from the 2015 NE NAHAM Regional Conference - "Improving the Patient Experience"

David Cuberos, Enterprise Sales consultant with RightPatient®, poses with Bryan Marcotte from Baystate Health, winner of the gift card door prize at the 2015 NE NAHAM regional conference.

The following guest post was written by David Cuberos, Enterprise Sales Consultant with RightPatient®

The time that we spend meeting with patient access professionals in the field is important to us. It’s an opportunity for our team to better understand core patient access functions/workflow and how these critical front line staffers help mold the patient experience as a first point of contact in what can often be a long, complex journey through the healthcare system. Our strong support for the National Association of Healthcare Access Management (NAHAM) and their regional chapters is a key relationship — instrumental to our product and service design and the ability for us as healthcare software vendors to deliver a solution that meets the dynamic needs of these healthcare professionals and moves the patient safety needle in a positive direction.

Last week, we had the opportunity to meet with patient access professionals from the northeast region of the U.S. to discuss the patient access professionals’ impact on the patient experience. We learned a lot about challenges faced by patient access staff, how it impacts workflow, and what new technology solutions are available to help meet the shifting and often complex demands of this position. 

We also had the opportunity to discuss the ongoing conundrum of achieving accurate patient identification with show attendees and display our biometric patient identification solution that helps to increase patient safety and eliminate duplicate medical records/overlays and prevent medical identity theft and healthcare fraud. This was an ideal environment for us to not only help educate attendees on the value of implementing a patient identification solution, but it also provided us the opportunity to clear up misunderstandings about how this technology operates in a healthcare setting. As we do at all events, we learned a great deal about what types of questions healthcare professionals have about this technology and walked away with some key takeaways:

1. Retinal scanning and iris recognition are two different biometric technologies: This is a recurring misunderstanding we consistently see wherever we go. Due to the fact that both retinal scanning and iris recognition use the human eye for identification, most people believe that the technology is the same. In fact, the two are very different – explained in this blog post we wrote that breaks down the differences between iris recognition and retinal scanning.

2. Patient acceptance of iris recognition is extremely high: Some believe that using the iris as a unique identification credential can invoke patient trepidation to register their biometrics as a way to protect their identity and ensure accurate treatment throughout the care continuum. However, when healthcare staff observes the iris camera in person, they realize that it is perhaps the least invasive biometric modality because it simply takes a high-resolution digital photograph of the patient and can identify them in less than three seconds. Our field research supports patient acceptance of iris recognition for identification, with over a 99% acceptance rate.

3. Proper due diligence of biometric patient ID vendors is critical: Did you know that not all biometric matching types support the elimination of duplicate medical records or have the ability to prevent medical identity theft and healthcare fraud in real-time? Are you concerned about implementing a contact dependent biometric modality for patient identification that may jeopardize hospital infection control policies or require additional investments in a cleaning solution or wipes after each use? Does a biometric identification system seamlessly integrate with your electronic health record system to accurately authenticate patients from any touchpoint along the care continuum? Does your biometric patient identification solution have the ability to secure remote access to protected health information (PHI) from patient portals and/or mHealth apps

These are all important to ask when evaluating biometric patient identification vendors but our experience is that many hospitals aren’t asking the right questions. 

4. Hospital resources to resolving duplicate medical records are staggering: We continue to be amazed at the number of hospital staff dedicated to resolving duplicate medical records. In fact we spoke with a few attendees who mentioned that they have “teams of people” dealing with duplicate medical record clean-up. Although we can’t understate enough the importance of maintaining clean data, we have longed believed that implementation of modern patient identification technologies that have the ability to not only clean a master patient index (MPI), but sustain the integrity of the data moving forward. The key to preventing duplicate medical records is implementation of technology that can accurately identify patients no matter where they are along the care continuum.  

5. Patient experience can be boosted through the use of biometric patient identification technology: Patients pay close attention to their experience at a medical facility. Patient knowledge of the negative effects of duplicate medical records and medical identity theft has increased their empowerment to seek services at facilities where their identities are protected. Implementing a biometric patient identification solution to protect patient identities invokes the emotion that medical facilities care about safeguarding patient safety and privacy. 

Understanding how to improve the patient experience in healthcare requires careful examination of processes and workflow that bring convenience and demonstrate a genuine interest in protecting patient identities. We continue in our mission to provide the most comprehensive and holistic patient identification solutions available to help improve the patient experience in healthcare.

A special shout out to Bryan Marcotte from Baystate Health as the winner of the gift card door prize. Congratulations Bryan!

How can we help you to improve the patient experience at your medical facility?

biometric patient identification prevents duplicate medical recordsDavid Cuberos is an Enterprise Sales Consultant with RightPatient® helping hospitals and healthcare organizations realize the benefits of implementing biometrics for patient identification to; increase patient safety, eliminate duplicate medical records and overlays, and prevent medical identity theft and healthcare fraud.

free webinar on achieving accurate patient identification in healthcare

Free Webinar: The State of Patient Identification in Healthcare

free webinar on achieving accurate patient identification in healthcare

Accurate patient identification and data matching in healthcare to ensure patient safety along the care continuum is a complex challenge for most healthcare organizations. Common names, lack of proper ID, identity swapping, and the explosion of new patient touchpoints (mHealth apps, patient portals for example) to access personal health information (PHI) has created problems for organizations that still rely on antiquated methods of identifying patients and places them at a high risk of committing medical errors that could jeopardize patient safety.  

free webinar on achieving accurate patient identification in healthcare

The increased complexities of achieving accurate patient identification in healthcare raise questions about the most suitable strategies to implement. Join us on September the 10th from 1 – 2pm EDT for a free webinar on patient identification in healthcare.

Achieving accurate patient identification in healthcare is a key strategic goal of healthcare organizations across the industry as they continue to explore new technologies that have the ability to meet modern demands of the new digital health paradigm in the wake of the shift to a patient-centered wellness approach and a push to better understand the individual patient. Unified views of patient data across any care setting is a growing necessity despite the variability in data capture methods, systems, and a lack of patient identification industry standards.

In the absence of a unified view of patient data, healthcare organizations will continue to make medical errors with incomplete or inaccurate information. Access to accurate, complete PHI is one of, if not the most vital component to deliver quality, cost-effective care and the only way to accomplish this is to establish accurate patient ID at the point of registration/access so the patient’s entire medical history supports immediate care or a wellness event. Complete and accurate medical histories must be linked to any point along the care continuum to truly achieve patient-centered care.

Join us on September the 10th for a free webinar on the state of patient identification in healthcare and a comprehensive overview of strategies and technologies healthcare organizations can use  to improve and sustain accurate patient ID. Plus, we will address the growing use of biometrics for patient ID, explain how it’s being used, and what return on investment (ROI) hospitals have realized since implementing it at their facilities. 

Topics covered during the free one-hour webinar include:

• The current state of patient identification in healthcare
• Patient identification challenges
• Using biometrics for patient ID across the care continuum

Join us on September the 10th from 1pm – 2pm EDT as we explore the topic of patient identification in healthcare and offer an overview of how biometrics is a viable solution to increase patient ID accuracy and patient safety along the care continuum.

Tell a friend or colleague! This is your chance to learn from experts in patient identification, ask questions, and engage in the discussion. Have a question you would like to ask during the webinar? Please visit the webinar landing page to sign up and leave your question or write it in the comments below.

Looking forward to seeing you on September the 10th!