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Positive patient identification refers to being able to identify patients accurately and find their appropriate medical records across the care continuum. This might seem very easy, but it is quite tricky within the US healthcare system.

The importance of positive patient identification

Positive patient identification is crucial for providing value-based care, ensuring patient safety, care coordination, as well as improving a hospital’s finances. However, there are a lot of impediments to accurate patient identification – the most common one is duplicate medical records. Sometimes, patient matching errors can even cause the loss of the lives of patients.

These identification errors cause major issues for healthcare providers, mainly denied claims, repetitive tests, wrong treatments, reporting errors, loss of reputation, and unwanted media attention – all of which result in financial losses. For instance, denied claims cost almost $5 million on average for any hospital and this loss of revenue can lead to a hospital closing down.

Some statistics

A survey conducted in 2019 has shed light on the issues which hamper positive patient identification. 66% of the participants stated that data entry errors are the main culprit. The survey also states that the lack of entry of a single medication or test can lead to severe adverse effects for a patient, hampering patient safety, as it will lead to wrong decisions regarding the treatment. Thus, the importance of positive patient identification cannot be stressed enough.

46% of the respondents stated that improper, or the lack of an effective patient identification algorithm is another reason for patient identification errors. 35% of respondents said that the lack of an industrywide standard hampers effective patient identification.

How to ensure positive patient identification

One of the best ways to ensure positive patient identification is by using innovative solutions that not only boost accurate patient identification but also ensure a hygienic environment. That’s exactly what RightPatient does. It locks the medical records of the patients with their photos – once the patient registers, all the patient has to do is look at the camera, and the accurate medical record is presented in seconds during hospital visits. RightPatient can also identify patients right from appointment scheduling by matching their photos - ensuring patient identification right from the start.

Source: The Importance of Positive Patient Identification and how it affects Hospitals