Enhancing Patient Safety in Telehealth with Biometric Identification

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The healthcare industry worldwide experiences a significant financial toll due to patient misidentification. This not only impacts the financial health of the industry but also compromises the safety of millions of patients. However, a beacon of hope has emerged in the form of biometric technology. With the bourgeoning telehealth services, the need for accurate patient identification has become more crucial than ever. RightPatient, a leading touchless biometric patient identification solution, is revolutionizing the landscape of patient identification in telehealth, emphasizing both patient safety and data security.

Telehealth’s popularity has been on an exponential rise, largely due to the global pandemic. However, the transformation to digital has not been without its challenges. The most prominent among these is the daunting task of patient identification. Misidentification can lead to severe medical errors, security breaches, and fraud, putting patients’ lives at risk and draining valuable resources.

Biometric technology has emerged as a reliable and potent solution to accurate patient identification. Advanced technology enables biometric patient identification systems like RightPatient to accurately identify patients, even when they are unconscious. This feature is particularly crucial in emergency situations where every second count. RightPatient not only offers swift identification but also gives paramount importance to patient privacy, strictly adhering to HIPAA guidelines. It ensures the safe and secure processing and transmission of health data, thereby adding an extra layer of security.

A case in point is the International Health Management, a Bangladeshi NGO. They integrated RightPatient’s web-based fingerprint biometric ID system into their healthcare service, which significantly reduced patient misidentification, duplicate records, and medication errors, serving approximately 5,000 patients across five locations. RightPatient not only streamlined their operations but also elevated the patient experience by ensuring speedy and accurate identification.

The success of RightPatient with International Health Management is a testament to its capabilities in delivering unmatched patient identification. It paves the way in our increasingly digital healthcare world, proving that accurate patient identification in telehealth is not just possible, but a reality.

In conclusion, with the continued evolution of telehealth, biometric technology like RightPatient will remain integral in ensuring accurate patient identification. RightPatient is not merely an identification solution; it’s a commitment to safety. Experience the future of telehealth with RightPatient, your dependable partner in touchless biometric patient identification. Schedule a demo today and witness the difference we can make. For more details, visit https://www.rightpatient.com/ and for inquiries, navigate to https://www.rightpatient.com/contact/.

How to Use RightPatient

  1. Understand the Importance: Recognize the financial toll due to patient misidentification and the role RightPatient plays in mitigating it.
  2. Explore the Technology: Learn about the biometric technology that powers RightPatient and how it ensures accurate patient identification.
  3. Integrate into Your Healthcare Service: Follow the example of International Health Management and integrate RightPatient into your healthcare service. Read the case study to understand how it can streamline operations and elevate the patient experience.
  4. Ensure Patient Privacy: Understand how RightPatient gives paramount importance to patient privacy and strictly adheres to HIPAA guidelines.
  5. Schedule a Demo: Experience the future of telehealth with RightPatient by scheduling a demo today. Witness the difference it can make in ensuring accurate patient identification.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is RightPatient?
    RightPatient is a leading touchless biometric patient identification solution that ensures patient safety and data security. It is particularly useful in telehealth services where accurate patient identification is crucial.
  • How does RightPatient work?
    RightPatient uses advanced biometric technology to accurately identify patients, even when they are unconscious. This feature is particularly crucial in emergency situations where every second counts.
  • What are the benefits of using RightPatient?
    RightPatient not only offers swift identification but also gives paramount importance to patient privacy, strictly adhering to HIPAA guidelines. It ensures the safe and secure processing and transmission of health data, thereby adding an extra layer of security.
  • Has RightPatient been used successfully in the healthcare industry?
    Yes, RightPatient has been successfully integrated into the healthcare service of International Health Management, a Bangladeshi NGO. It significantly reduced patient misidentification, duplicate records, and medication errors, serving approximately 5,000 patients across five locations.
  • How can I get more information about RightPatient?
    For more details, visit RightPatient and for inquiries, navigate to Contact Us.

Leveraging Biometrics for Enhanced Data Security in Digital Healthcare

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In the digital era, healthcare systems worldwide are actively embracing the power of technology to revolutionize the way they deliver care. However, this digital transformation is not without its challenges. Among these, the heightened risk of data breaches and identity theft is causing significant concern. According to recent projections, the cost of healthcare data breaches is estimated to reach a staggering $4 billion by 2020. This startling statistic underscores the urgent need for robust data security measures in the healthcare sector. RightPatient, a leading biometric patient identification solution, is at the forefront of addressing this critical need.

The RightPatient solution leverages advanced biometric technology to provide secure access to Protected Health Information (PHI), significantly mitigating the risk of data breaches and identity theft. Its state-of-the-art identification system ensures that only the right individuals have access to sensitive health information, thus preventing unauthorized access and ensuring the privacy and security of the patients’ data.

But the effectiveness of RightPatient extends beyond data security. The solution also plays a crucial role in enhancing patient engagement. By providing secure access to their PHI, RightPatient empowers patients to be more actively involved in their healthcare journey. This fosters a collaborative environment conducive to better patient outcomes and propels patients to take ownership of their health.

The value of RightPatient was significantly demonstrated when it was integrated into the healthcare system of International Health Management, a reputable NGO in Bangladesh. The organization was grappling with challenges such as incorrect patient identification, leading to issues like duplicate records, errors in medication distribution, and fraud. The introduction of RightPatient’s secure and efficient fingerprint biometric identification system in 2014 effectively eradicated these problems, benefiting about 5,000 patients across five distinct locations in the country. This real-world application underlines the potential of RightPatient in boosting data security and patient engagement in the digital health realm.

As we look to the future of digital health, the importance of biometrics cannot be overstated. RightPatient is more than just a solution to today’s digital challenges in healthcare; it’s a future-ready platform equipped to handle upcoming trends and innovations. It offers a smooth, safe, and hygienic way for patients to connect with their healthcare providers, positioning it at the forefront of digital health trends and innovations.

Experience the RightPatient difference in securing your digital health landscape – schedule a demo today. It’s time to embrace the digital health movement with the confidence of biometric technology. With RightPatient, healthcare providers can confidently integrate digital systems into their care delivery without compromising safety or privacy. Experience the power of biometrics, and secure your healthcare data with RightPatient.

How to Secure Your Healthcare Data with RightPatient

  1. Understand the Importance of Biometrics: Read our blog post on the importance of biometrics to understand how biometric technology can revolutionize healthcare data security.
  2. Explore the RightPatient Solution: Learn about the leading biometric patient identification solution and how it leverages advanced biometric technology to secure PHI.
  3. Schedule a Demo: Experience the RightPatient difference by scheduling a demo. This will give you a firsthand experience of how RightPatient can secure your healthcare data and enhance patient engagement.

FAQs

  1. What is RightPatient?
    RightPatient is a touchless biometric patient identification solution designed to enhance data security and patient engagement in the digital health landscape.
  2. How does RightPatient enhance data security?
    RightPatient employs advanced biometric technology to provide secure access to Protected Health Information (PHI), significantly reducing the risk of data breaches and medical identity theft.
  3. How does RightPatient foster patient engagement?
    By providing secure access to their PHI, RightPatient empowers patients to take an active role in their healthcare journey, fostering a collaborative healthcare environment.
  4. What makes RightPatient a future-ready platform?
    RightPatient is equipped to handle upcoming trends and innovations in the digital health realm. It offers a seamless, safe, and hygienic way for patients to connect with their healthcare providers, positioning it at the forefront of digital health trends and innovations.
  5. How can I experience the RightPatient difference?
    You can schedule a demo to experience the RightPatient difference in securing your digital health landscape.

Leveraging Multi-Modal Biometric Identification for Enhanced Patient Care

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The healthcare sector is continually evolving, and the advent of innovative technologies has been reshaping patient identification processes, enhancing data integrity, and improving overall patient care. This transformation is driving a shift from single modality identification systems to a more comprehensive and effective multi-modal biometric identification system like the RightPatient® system. Such a system can accurately identify patients across various touchpoints, from bedside healthcare services to home health, emergency rooms, or mobile environments. It’s not just a vision of the future; it’s a reality that is being progressively shaped by technological advancements and the pressing need for accurate patient identification.

These systems, relying on a single form of patient identification, such as fingerprints or iris scans, have struggled to adapt to the rapidly changing healthcare environment. This inability to keep pace has led to a multitude of problems, including patient misidentification, duplicate records, and issues related to medical identity theft.

Multi-modal biometric identification systems like RightPatient®, on the other hand, harness the power of cutting-edge voice and facial recognition technologies. They offer a robust solution to the issues plaguing single modality systems. RightPatient®’s extensive capabilities to authenticate patient identities across various touchpoints make it a beacon of hope in an increasingly complex healthcare landscape.

A practical example of the effectiveness of the RightPatient® system is seen in the case of International Health Management, a well-respected NGO that runs healthcare projects in Bangladesh. After dealing with numerous issues related to incorrect patient identification, the organization integrated RightPatient® into their healthcare framework. The results were dramatic, with the system accurately identifying approximately 5,000 patients across five different locations within the country. This example not only showcases the effectiveness of RightPatient® in improving patient identification but also highlights its adaptability to different patient touchpoints, demonstrating the system’s flexibility, scalability, and integrity.

RightPatient® is not just a solution for the present; it’s future-ready, compatible with any biometric form, including fingerprint, finger vein, palm vein, iris, facial, and voice recognition. This broad compatibility makes it an ideal choice for institutions planning to evolve their patient identification touchpoints in the future.

In conclusion, as healthcare touchpoints continue to diversify, the need for multi-modal biometric identification systems like RightPatient® becomes increasingly evident. They offer more than just functionality — they guarantee the highest levels of patient engagement, safety, and long-term value. These systems are not just the future of patient identification; they’re the present, reshaping the healthcare industry and ensuring improved patient care and data integrity. For more information about RightPatient®, visit https://www.rightpatient.com/ or contact us at https://www.rightpatient.com/contact/.

How To

  1. How to Integrate RightPatient® into Your Healthcare Framework
    RightPatient® integrates seamlessly with the healthcare workflow. For a smooth setup process, follow the instructions provided by our team. For more insights, check out our blog post on Why We Offer a Choice of Hardware Modalities for Biometric Patient ID.
  2. How to Leverage RightPatient® for Accurate Patient Identification
    RightPatient® uses voice and facial recognition technologies for patient identification. Learn more about these technologies in our blog post on Improving Mobile Patient Identification with Wireless Technology.
  3. How to Future-Proof Your Patient Identification Process with RightPatient®
    RightPatient® is compatible with any biometric form, making it a future-proof solution. Read our blog post on Why Experience Matters When Selecting a Biometric Patient Identification Solution to understand how to make the most of this feature.

FAQs

  1. What is RightPatient®?
    RightPatient® is a multi-modal biometric identification system designed to accurately identify patients across various healthcare touchpoints.
  2. How does RightPatient® differ from single modality identification systems?
    Unlike single modality systems that rely on one form of patient identification, RightPatient® leverages cutting-edge voice and facial recognition technologies to offer a robust solution to patient misidentification, duplicate records, and medical identity theft.
  3. Is RightPatient® adaptable to different patient touchpoints?
    Yes, RightPatient® has proven its adaptability across different patient touchpoints, including bedside healthcare services, home health, emergency rooms, and mobile environments.
  4. Is RightPatient® future-ready?
    Yes, RightPatient® is compatible with any biometric form, making it an ideal choice for institutions planning to evolve their patient identification touchpoints in the future.
  5. Where can I get more information about RightPatient®?
    For more information about RightPatient®, visit https://www.rightpatient.com/ or contact us at https://www.rightpatient.com/contact/.
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4 Common Challenges in Clinical Trials – How Are You Addressing Them?

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We’ve talked at length about the challenges in hospitals, health systems, telehealth, and other aspects of the U.S. healthcare system. Today, let’s take a step back and look at challenges in clinical trials – invaluable studies without which there would be no advances in healthcare.

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Preventing professional patients is an overlooked issue in clinical trials.

Clinical trials in a nutshell

Clinical trials have been around since ancient times. In fact, the first clinical trial can be traced back to biblical times – in 500 B.C.! Since then, there have been many changes and updates to how these trials are carried out as well as standards that have to be followed to ensure they are ethical.

Clinical trials are conducted to develop drugs, devices, or procedures that can improve human health. These trials mainly help identify whether the drugs are safe, have any side effects, and can be used by the general population. 

While clinical trials used to be a very niche topic, its popularity skyrocketed due to the pandemic. Since the novel virus hit the world, virtually everyone has been asking the same question – when will there be a vaccine? Unfortunately, everyone skips over the challenges in clinical trials and they aren’t discussed as much as the vaccine itself. However, that’s exactly what we’ll look at today – some common challenges faced by organizations to carry out these complex, expensive trials.

4 common challenges in clinical trials

Clinical trials are not at all easy – they’re quite complex, lengthy, and are required to follow several rules and regulations to ensure compliance with different standards. Before starting a clinical trial and while running it, organizations face a number of challenges.

Slower patient recruitment than required

One of the biggest challenges is faced just before starting clinical trials, and it’s all about patient recruitment. Moreover, this is the stage that often determines whether the clinical trial will successfully commence or not as around 80% of these studies are either halted or even closed due to low patient recruitment. One of the reasons for this is the specific requirements of the trial. For instance, the trial requires patients to have a particular condition, but patients have other conditions as well which might lead to complications – finding the right patients proves to be quite a challenge indeed.  

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RightPatient addresses one of the overlooked clinical trial challenges – preventing professional patients.

One way many sponsors deal with this is by setting realistic expectations and assuming the fact that not all of their sites will attract the desired number of patients. Another way sponsors tackle the challenge is by outsourcing recruitment since there are several organizations available that specialize in doing so.

Compliance with several rules and regulations

Overcoming the patient recruitment challenge is just the beginning as there’s another herculean task. Ensuring compliance with the rules and regulations has to be ensured throughout the duration of the trial, as it cannot be completed successfully unless the trial conforms to the rules and regulations to a T.

Since trials are full of complex activities, involve human subjects, untested drugs, devices, and procedures, ensuring compliance becomes mandatory to ensure patient safety as well as maintaining ethics of the trials. Usually, institutional review boards (IRBs) have to approve the processes, and that can be time-consuming as there are many factors to consider, which often create a bottleneck.

Managing multiple sites

While clinical trials usually occur over multiple sites to involve diverse patients, more sites mean more vendors, procedures, diverse compliance requirements, and coordination efforts, leading to more complexities down the line. 

Creating a robust policy of how to deal with multiple sites and coordinate with one another is one of the only ways forward. Moreover, ensuring accurate patient records and properly managing patients is an absolute must to prevent mix-ups, inconsistencies, and ensure compliance. 

Preventing professional patients

Professional patients, or duplicate subjects, are an overlooked but significant issue that hampers clinical trials and threatens the integrity of the trials they participate in. Professional patients sign up for multiple trials either simultaneously or consecutively, which seriously affects the clinical trials. They can even lead to skewing overall data which might render promising drugs unusable since the data shows that the drugs are not effective enough.

Not only do professional patients harm themselves, but they cause billions of dollars in losses or delays in approvals from pharmaceutical regulatory agencies. As a result, preventing professional patients is a must – something which RightPatient can help with. 

RightPatient is a leading touchless biometric patient identification platform that ensures patients are accurately identified across the care continuum – several hospitals and health systems are already using it. Fortunately, it can prevent professional patients in clinical trials as well by validating that the patients’ identities and checking whether they are currently participating in other active trials or not. Not only can RightPatient help reduce significant losses, but it also helps protect the integrity of clinical trials – reducing errors and preventing professional patients from participating.

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Improving Patient Outcomes Relies on Identifying Patients Even During COVID-19

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Healthcare in the US has always had its fair share of troubles. Price transparency issues, medical identity theft, data breaches, denied claims, and interoperability issues are just some of the many issues plaguing it. However, it is having arguably one of the worst times it has ever faced due to COVID-19. To date, over 14 million American citizens have been infected with the infamous virus, whereas over 270,000 people have lost their lives battling it. Due to the spike, hospitals are shutting down, health systems are closing their emergency departments, elective surgeries are being canceled, and healthcare staff members are being pushed to their limits once again. It feels like a particularly bad déjà vu. While healthcare providers are doing whatever they can to help with improving patient outcomes, many are facing a critical issue that has been an impediment to quality healthcare for years – patient identification errors.

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Having said all that, let’s focus on: 

  • why patient identification errors are a big deal even during the pandemic
  • what healthcare providers are doing to address it
  • how a tried and tested solution ensures patient safety and quality healthcare, improving patient outcomes in the process

Patient misidentification is nothing new

Anyone who knows anything about the US healthcare system has heard at least one story about patient misidentification or something related to it, such as duplicate medical records, patient mix-ups, incorrect surgeries, medical errors, etc. It has been occurring for years, leading to delayed patient care, detrimental patient outcomes, repeated lab tests, among other consequences. While many caregivers have been facing all these challenges for quite some time, a large number of them didn’t pay much attention to the problems. Everything changed with the pandemic – let’s see how.

Improving patient outcomes is difficult due to existing issues

COVID-19 pushed everything to its limits, especially the healthcare providers, and they were forced to face the issues that significantly hamper patient outcomes. One of the more prevalent issues was, and still is, patient misidentification.

HIMSS VP of Government Relations, Tom Leary, said that public health response efforts can be significantly impacted by inaccurate patient data, and that’s exactly what happened during the first wave. Since patient identification was erroneous in most healthcare facilities, this led to improper data sharing, delayed test results, sending results to the wrong patients, and more. Nurses even tried to google patients so that they could send them the test results!

Improving-patient-outcomes-relies-on-patient-identification

COVID-19 is an unprecedented situation that requires prompt responses that can help save lives, and issues such as patient identification errors significantly hamper the efforts put forth by frontline teams. So, what are healthcare providers doing to address it?

Healthcare providers are urging for the UPI

The US healthcare system was supposed to get a unique patient identifier (UPI) years ago, but a bill had restricted state funding to create one. Since then, most healthcare providers have been struggling to identify their patients accurately. Each year, experts come together and urge the ban’s abolishment, but their requests get rejected every time – for almost two decades. Even if the mythical UPI is made, it won’t be enough to solve such a huge problem by itself.

However, not every hospital is struggling with patient identification errors – many forward-thinking ones are using RightPatient.

Improving patient outcomes is possible with RightPatient 

RightPatient is a touchless biometric patient identification platform that is the most feasible solution currently, given the pandemic. It uses the characteristic that cannot be stolen, lost, or transferred, patients’ faces, to verify identities. However, the part that makes RightPatient ideal for the pandemic is that it is entirely touchless, ensuring infection control and reducing hospital-acquired infections.

By locking medical records with patients’ photos, RightPatient protects patient data and accurately identifies patients. Moreover, it is versatile enough to be used across any touchpoint within a healthcare facility, starting from appointment scheduling.

After scheduling an appointment successfully, patients receive an SMS or email, and they are required to provide selfies as well as a photo of their driver’s license. The platform compares the photos for a match, ensuring remote authentication. If these are new patients, RightPatient provides them with new biometric credentials – making it a hassle-free experience. 

Within healthcare facilities, patients only need to look at the camera – the platform compares the live photo with the saved one. After finding a positive match, RightPatient provides accurate medical records within seconds. This helps prevent patient mix-ups, duplicate medical records, medical errors, denied claims, and patient safety incidents – improving patient outcomes. Moreover, it can also prevent medical identity theft in real-time, as it red-flags fraudsters who try to assume patients’ identities. 

RightPatient can enhance healthcare outcomes, improve patient safety, and reduce significant costs – something which is extremely crucial for hospitals right now in order to survive.

Contact us now to learn how we can help you improve your bottom line.

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Protect Patient Information During Telehealth Visits by Addressing 7 Issues

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The pandemic has been spreading like wildfire, and its effects on the US have been devastating – over 12 million people have been affected by it. Hospitals barely kept up with the pandemic’s effects when it first hit the country. Now that the winter has arrived, COVID-19 cases are increasing rapidly. One of the previously overlooked aspects of healthcare, known as telehealth, has gained much attention during this period. As it ensures that non-critical patients could receive healthcare services without the risk of contracting the virus, officials were quick to redirect such patients to telehealth. As a result, telehealth usage surged and it finally got the attention it deserved. However, like everything else, it also has pros and cons, and healthcare providers must address the risks associated with telehealth to protect patient information, improve healthcare outcomes, and enhance patient safety – let’s explore.

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7 issues healthcare providers must consider regarding telehealth

Cybersecurity risks

Since telehealth requires the internet, hackers are always working on new and innovative ways to steal patient data and sell it to unethical individuals, who will later assume the identities of the victims to use the healthcare services fraudulently.

Phishing attacks

One of the most common tools used by hackers is phishing, and while simple, it is quite effective. Hackers pose as officials and lead the unassuming healthcare employees to click on the links they provide. As a result, hackers gain access to the targets’ accounts and can access or steal information. 

While these attacks happened prior to the pandemic, telehealth is at huge risk as well now. Phishing tactics that are currently used rely on social networking, and it might lead to users being victims down the line. Moreover, there are many instances where hackers posed as credible organizations like Microsoft.

Hackers

Hackers have been constantly trying to access patient information to steal or use it for themselves, and the sudden growth of telehealth makes it much easier for them. If telehealth sessions are done using unsecured networks, hackers can just add themselves to the session and steal patient information. They are now targeting providers using obsolete systems that have security issues and vulnerabilities, as that will be much easier to gain access to.

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Uncertainty regarding rapidly changing rules

As the situation surrounding COVID-19  is evolving, the rules are being constantly updated. Thus, it is quite crucial to ensure that providers are up to date regarding the changes surrounding telehealth usage in order to ensure telehealth services are delivered in a manner that can protect patient information.

Fraudulent activities

There’s a much broader scope for fraud in telehealth than inpatient visits – such as kickbacks, charging for services that weren’t actually provided, misrepresentation, and so on. Even CMS is closely monitoring in order to reduce such risks. Providers must ensure that they are not being charged falsely by having all the required documentation on hand at all times.

Patient misidentification

An issue that can be commonly seen during inpatient visits, patient identification errors may very well bleed over to virtual sessions as well. The premise is just the same – misidentification at the front-end due to issues such as duplicate medical records, overlays, or human errors leading to medical record mix-ups. All of this ultimately leads to delayed care, detrimental outcomes, and compromised patient safety. Thus, accurate and secure patient identification is crucial.

Medical identity theft

One can safely assume that medical identity theft is the end result of most of the concerns listed above. Let’s explore why it is so prevalent and how it takes place.

Well, the hackers aim to steal patient information from healthcare providers, and the ones who are high-risk are the ones that have vulnerabilities such as keeping patient data unencrypted or using unsecured means to transmit or receive it. After stealing the information, they sell it to hackers for steep prices – up to $1000!

This information is available on the black market, and fraudsters buy it to pose as the victims. Armed with the credentials of the victims, they can easily pass themselves off as the patients and have access to healthcare services, expensive medical equipment, prescription drugs, and more. That’s not all – the victims will be fraudulently billed for the services used by the impostors.

Experts are predicting that such cases will transpire with telehealth visits too, and with the issues listed above, it won’t be that hard. Fortunately, RightPatient can prevent medical identity theft and protect patient information.

RightPatient can protect patients during telehealth visits

RightPatient is a touchless biometric patient identification platform that uses patients’ faces to verify their identities. While data breaches might seem inevitable, RightPatient can mitigate its losses by preventing medical identity theft in real-time.

Patients are required to take a selfie and submit a photo of their driver’s license after registration. The platform automatically compares the photos for a match and verifies patients’ identities remotely, making it ideal for telehealth sessions as well. Fraudsters are red-flagged whenever they try to use the platform and pass themselves off as the patient. RightPatient helps protect patient information, enhance patient safety, and accurately identify patients across the care continuum.

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Hospital Readmission Prevention is a Must as CMS Fines Half of Hospitals

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The US healthcare system is in an unfortunate state – it just can’t seem to catch a break. While it was already coping with a number of issues – such as medical identity theft, the lack of price transparency, interoperability issues, and healthcare data breaches, among others – COVID-19 hit it hard. As a result, healthcare providers across the US are facing huge losses. With increasing COVID-19 cases across the States and with experts predicting even more during the fall, healthcare providers received yet another blow. CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) will fine about half of hospitals due to readmissions of Medicare patients, although this is for the pre-pandemic period and therefore COVID-19 cannot be held accountable for the lower payments. Let’s take a look at the numbers, how this will affect the hospitals further, and how hospital readmission prevention can be achieved with a proper patient identity verification platform.

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CMS will lower payments

While it’s already been quite a harsh year for healthcare providers, it’s about to get worse. Many caregivers are resorting to cost-cutting strategies by laying off employees, furloughing them, or even shutting down; however, the lowered payments will only add to the unprecedented costs.

Some numbers surrounding the penalties

During the fiscal year 2021, CMS will fine 2,545 hospitals due to increased Medicare patient readmissions that occurred within 30 days. The penalties were based on patient data ranging from July 2016 through June 2019. A staggering 83% of the hospitals received penalties, and they will be facing payment cuts as high as 3% per Medicare case during 2021. 39 caregivers will face the maximum penalty next year, which is an improvement over this year, when the number of hospitals hit with the maximum penalty was 56. However, with the pandemic disrupting everything, hospitals will lose more than ever. As a result, hospital readmission prevention becomes a topmost priority.

Why is the program important?

This is the ninth year of the Hospital Readmissions Reductions Program, and it has been created to improve patient care quality while lowering overall costs. As previously mentioned, it takes into account the readmissions of Medicare patients that occur within 30 days. While CMS is considering a suspension of the penalty program due to COVID-19, the penalties are still in effect this year.

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Some exceptions

Congress has exempted 2,176 hospitals out of the 5,267 from penalties due to a number of reasons. The hospitals exempted are either:

  • Critical access hospitals,
  • The only inpatient facility in the area,
  • Hospitals specializing in long-term care, children, veterans, or psychiatric patients.

What the industry thinks about hospital readmission prevention

While many participants within the US healthcare system have voiced disapproval regarding the penalty program, others have said that, while not perfect, the Hospital Readmissions Reductions Program is useful – it pushes caregivers to find innovative solutions to provide better quality care. 

The penalties will further increase hospital losses

Moreover, as healthcare providers are already facing huge losses due to the pandemic, they need to ensure hospital readmission prevention if they want to survive in the long run. Several hospitals are heavily relying on CMS reimbursements, and if they can reduce readmissions, it might help them survive the pandemic’s financial strain. By improving patient safety and quality of care, hospitals can significantly lower readmissions. Fortunately, RightPatient can help with that.

RightPatient enhances hospital readmission prevention

RightPatient has been helping leading healthcare providers with its touchless patient identification platform for years. It ensures improved healthcare outcomes by eliminating one of the most overlooked problems within hospitals: patient misidentification.

Patient misidentification leads to duplicate medical records and overlays, jeopardizing patient safety. Moreover, it provides the wrong medical records to caregivers, resulting in negative healthcare outcomes. Naturally, these are the patients who are readmitted within hospitals frequently. So, how does RightPatient help?

It locks the medical records of the patients using their photos during registration. Patients receive an SMS/email after they schedule appointments, and they are required to provide a personal photo and a photo of their driver’s license. RightPatient compares the photos for a proper match, eliminating any chance of misidentifications. All of this is done without requiring the patients to touch any foreign objects, eliminating infection control issues – something that is crucial during and after the pandemic.

Reduce patient readmissions, improve healthcare outcomes, and ensure patient safety with RightPatient – contact us now to learn how we can help you.

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Wrong Patient Identification Errors Lead to Several Issues – Are You Preventing Them?

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Patient identification has always been hit or miss within the US healthcare system. Wrong patient identification errors cause a plethora of serious issues for not only healthcare providers but also patients. Patient mix-ups, patient safety issues, medical identity theft, duplicate medical records, and overlays are just some of the many issues that can be traced back to patient identification errors. These issues have been popping up even more during the pandemic, leading many experts to demand a patient identifier. While we’ve talked about all of that in previous articles, let’s take a look at a very recent patient mix-up, its consequences, and how positive patient identification can prevent such cases.

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Another one added to the list of wrong patient identification

The mix-up took place back in August at Washington-based Sacred Heart hospital. Interestingly, the person with whom the hospital mixed up the information was a former patient of the healthcare provider. 

For simplicity’s sake let’s call the actual patient Samantha and the former patient (who got the call) Rebecca.

Back in August, Rebecca’s daughter was called and she was informed that her mother was hospitalized due to a critical injury. However, the daughter responded that Rebecca was right in front of her and fine, but the staff at the hospital was adamant and said that her mother was injured and admitted. Understandably, Rebecca was quite worried about the real patient, Samantha.

Rebecca and her daughter reportedly informed the healthcare provider that they had a case of mix-up on their hands – she said that she didn’t know who was being treated under her name or why. In response, she was told that the hospital would rectify the issue. However, that was only the start.

What happened down the road?

Since Rebecca was a former patient of Sacred Heart, she checked her records to see if it was fixed or not. Unfortunately, the wrong information was still present, and to make things worse, other irrelevant materials were added, such as $3,000 worth of bills. Moreover, the provider also tried to bill her old insurer, which naturally didn’t work. Subsequently, the provider attempted to help her get insurance.

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The actual patient was safe

Rebecca heaved a sigh of relief when she found out that Samantha was out of danger – she kept in contact with the hospital over the phone. When this was over, Rebecca was also relieved that she didn’t receive the wrong bills as a result of the mix-up.

Wrong patient identification errors are quite common

While this case didn’t have any adverse consequences, not everyone is as lucky. Wrong patient identification errors occur every day and most are not identified until it’s too late. Not only are they problematic for patients, but they create issues for caregivers as well.

Patients face delays in treatment, incorrect procedures, and repeated lab tests – ultimately hampering patient outcomes as well as jeopardizing patient safety in the process. Moreover, they receive shocking bills for medical procedures or treatments they never received. The lucky ones can have them written off as denied claims, but this is still a huge cost for the providers. 

On the other hand, healthcare providers face unwanted attention, loss of goodwill, denied claims, lower scores, and might even risk losing CMS reimbursements (as they are tied to patient safety). 

All of this is leading to healthcare experts and leaders rallying for a state-funded patient identifier. While this appeal has been denied for over two decades, forward-thinking hospitals and health systems are not waiting for it, and have taken the initiative themselves to eliminate issues related to wrong patient identification errors.

Leading providers are using RightPatient

RightPatient is the industry’s leading touchless patient identification platform trusted by providers such as Grady Health, Catholic Health of Long Island, Terrebonne General Medical Center, and University Health Care System. Using the photos of patients, it prevents patient identification issues like mix-ups, duplicates, medical identity theft, denied claims, and more.

After successfully scheduling an appointment, patients receive an SMS or email, after which patients are required to provide a personal photo and a photo of their driver’s license. RightPatient matches the photos automatically and verifies the identity of the patients remotely. 

Be a responsible healthcare provider and prevent mix-ups and the issues associated with patient misidentification by deploying RightPatient.

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Patient Matching and Interoperability Are Ineffective Without Positive Patient Identification

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The U.S. healthcare system has been inundated with several issues even before the pandemic. The lack of price transparency, medical identity theft, duplicate medical records, high costs, medical errors, and patient safety issues are just some of the issues plaguing providers. However, today’s focus is on another problem – the lack of interoperability. Many providers are thinking that interoperability will get a significant boost due to changes such as the 21st Century Cures Act and the CMS Interoperability and Patient Access Final Rule. While that might be true, many are overlooking the fact that it needs a particular component to work immaculately – patient matching. While some might believe that it is just a cog in the wheel, everything in healthcare heavily relies on accurate patient identification – without it, everything will go wrong.

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Let’s take a closer look at the rules, how they will boost interoperability, and why patient identification is crucial for interoperability to work.

The 21st Century Cures Act and Patient Matching

What it means

Several healthcare experts are quite content with the Cures Act, believing that it will usher in the era of true interoperability. In a nutshell, the implementation of certain provisions within the act will enhance interoperability and also support accessing, exchanging, and using electronic health information. What all this means is that patient data can be easily shared among caregivers, leading to better, more personalized care, as well as enhanced healthcare outcomes – but that’s only one side of the coin.

Interoperability requires more than the Cures Act

While the Act is a step in the right direction, interoperability won’t be successful solely because of it – other factors need to be considered. The most important factor is patient matching.

Imagine a scenario where a healthcare provider is abiding with the Act and has taken all the necessary measures to do so. However, due to issues like patient misidentification or duplicate medical records, matching patients to their proper EHRs will become nearly impossible. As a result, the wrong medical record will be sent to the wrong caregiver – jeopardizing patient safety and adversely affecting coordinated care efforts along the way. Thus, proper patient matching is an absolute must to make sure that the patient data exchanges are successful and error-free. Healthcare providers can do so by ensuring accurate patient identification across the care continuum by using solutions like RightPatient – more on that later.

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The Interoperability & Patient Access Final Rule

We’ve already talked at length about this rule and how it will enhance interoperability as well. In a nutshell, healthcare providers using EHR or EMR systems need to enable e-notifications support so that they can receive and send out real-time notifications during ADT (admission, discharge, and transfer) events with the patients’ other caregivers. While this rule has been established to boost interoperability and coordinated care efforts, this also requires proper patient matching. If a patient is misidentified, the caregiver will send out false alerts, jeopardizing the care coordination efforts. It will also put the provider’s CMS reimbursements at risk.

Thus, patient identity matching must be accurate at all times, if the providers want to ensure CMS compliance and abide by the 21st Century Cures Act. This is where RightPatient can help caregivers ensure accurate patient identification – and more.

RightPatient can improve patient matching 

RightPatient has years of experience with reputed healthcare providers such as Terrebonne General Medical Center, Community Medical Centers, and University Medical Center. It is a touchless patient identification platform that identifies patients with the element that cannot be copied or stolen – their face. Right from appointment scheduling, the platform ensures remote patient authentication – patients are asked for a selfie and a photo of their driver’s license. RightPatient matches the photos and ensures that patients are identified accurately – ensuring positive patient identification.

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3 Patient Safety Measures Hospitals Must Take in a Post-Pandemic World

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COVID-19 has changed reality for us – it has changed the way we lead our lives. Sanitizers, masks, and social distancing have become quite integral parts of our daily lives now. Wherever we go, social distancing practices are encouraged for a safer environment. However, it has shaken the healthcare systems of the world to their core, especially that of the U.S. With the highest number of cases in the world (as of now), hospitals are slowly opening their doors for regular patients. Keeping that in mind, hospitals must take patient safety measures while they are opening to ensure that patients receive care in a safe and hygienic environment. Let’s take a look at some common steps hospitals can take to prevent patient safety issues.

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Some insightful statistics

According to a survey by Sage Growth Partners, 24% of the respondents (healthcare professionals) believe that issues such as disparate EHRs and lack of actionable data at the point of care lead to patient safety issues.

Improving patient safety is also among the top three priorities of the respondents, besides delivering high-quality care and increasing efficiency and reducing costs – all of which can be done by ensuring accurate patient identification (more on that later). 

Let’s explore what kind of patient safety measures will help hospitals enhance patient care.

Patient safety measures that can help enhance patient care

Planning everything well in advance

While many might think that everything is slowly returning to normal, it’s quite the opposite. Working from home is still being utilized by most organizations, social distancing is still being practiced, and wearing masks and sanitizing regularly are still highly encouraged.

Since hospitals are opening slowly, they should plan every step carefully along with contingencies while keeping worst-case scenarios in mind. Hospitals need to plan the opening days and rather than opening the whole facility at once, they should open in phases. This will help reduce the risk of any mass outbreaks of COVID-19 – managing a mass outbreak at a single location will be much easier than managing outbreaks at all the facilities.

Also, hospitals should decide at what capacity will they operate and the duration for that testing phase. If all goes well, they can slowly increase the capacity of patients they will be serving. 

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Finally, the inventory required for all of the above needs to be planned to ensure that the necessary materials are available at all times. For instance, PPE has become quite critical, and these should be ordered well in advance before the stock runs out within the facilities. Thus, instead of reordering the materials when they’re at 30%, they should be reordered at, say, 45% – these are essential materials, after all.

Enforce safety measures for everyone

It goes without saying that every individual must practice a minimum level of social distancing to help themselves and others stay safe from the novel coronavirus. Sadly, not everyone follows that. Thus, the hospitals must enforce that everyone within the facility must follow the social distancing rules to a T. Not only is this one of the most common patient safety measures, but it also enhances safety for the physicians, nurses, and every other healthcare staff. 

Keep brightly colored posters in places where they will catch everyone’s attention. Place stickers on the floor with six feet between them to show where patients or caregivers must stand, especially in busy places like registration desks. Make sure that everyone is wearing masks and that sanitizers are available everywhere. Keeping the facilities hygienic is crucial to enhance patient safety.

Ensure accurate patient data

One of the most crucial factors that make or break patient safety is patient data, as the former is heavily reliant on the accuracy of patient data. Imagine this, if the patient is treated based on inaccurate patient data, they will face delayed or incorrect medications, leading to poor healthcare outcomes. One of the most common ways patient data gets corrupted is via duplicate records. 

If a patient has multiple records, there are high chances that the registrar will select the one with inconsistent or fragmented data, leading to adverse outcomes. Thus, ensuring that patient data integrity is maintained at all times is crucial for improving patient safety. Fortunately, RightPatient does all that – and more.

RightPatient is the leading patient identification platform used by healthcare providers like Terrebonne General Medical Center, Grady Health, and Catholic Health of Long Island. With a robust photo-based engine, it ensures that the patients are identified accurately at all times across the care continuum, helping patient data integrity by avoiding duplicate medical records. Moreover, it ensures that the patients are who they say they are and not impostors, preventing medical identity theft in real-time.

Finally, a platform like RightPatient is critical in a post-pandemic world because it is entirely touchless. Thus, it helps caregivers and patients operate in a hygienic environment by preventing infection control issues.

Use RightPatient now and enhance patient safety at your facilities, prevent medical identity theft, and prevent duplicate medical records – enhancing patient data integrity along the way.