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How to Prevent Your Medical Information from Misuse

November 18, 2016/6491 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Guest Blog Posts, Medical Identity Theft, Patient Safety /by John Trader

The following guest post on protecting your medical information from misuse was submitted by Christine DiGangi.

When it comes to personal information, your health records are about as personal as it gets. And while it may not seem as immediately damaging as someone hacking into your bank account, medical identity theft can seriously threaten your physical and financial health.

Medical identity theft can seriously threaten your physical and financial health.

How a Thief Might Misuse Your Medical Information

Think of all the information you’ve handed over at a doctor’s office: Name, birth date, address, Social Security number, insurance information, family medical history — these are all things someone can use to impersonate you. This makes health care providers targets for hackers. What can they do with your medical data? Plenty. They can open fraudulent financial accounts, commit crimes (besides identity theft), file a fraudulent tax return (and get the refund), buy prescription drugs with your insurance (and maybe sell them, which goes back to the crime problem), claim federal benefits like Social Security, use your insurance to get medical care and countless other things, all in your name. The results of such fraud can end up on your criminal record, medical history or credit report.

Say someone got their hands on your medical information and they used it to get medical treatment. That person’s health data could end up in your medical history and affect your future care. What if that person maxed out your insurance coverage, leaving you without the coverage you need? What if medical expenses that person generated don’t get paid? That could result in a collection account on your credit report and cause your credit score to drop until you dispute the error or resolve the identity theft. There’s a lot at stake. We asked identity theft expert Adam Levin, co-founder of Credit.com and author of “Swiped: How to Protect Yourself in a World Full of Scammers, Phishers, and Identity Thieves,” for his top tips on preventing your medical information from misuse. Here’s what he said.

You Don’t Have to Share Everything

A lot of people provide their Social Security number and other sensitive details to their healthcare provider without asking if it’s necessary, Levin said. Just because they ask for it doesn’t mean they need it.

“Find out how they intend to secure it,” Levin said. “Remember, they already have your medical insurance information and often require a credit card.”

When You Do Share Sensitive Information, Do It Carefully

Once you hand over your information, you no longer control it, so think about the way you’re providing your doctors with records. Levin said you should never send medical information to someone you don’t know unless you’re the one who contacted them.

“Know precisely to whom you are communicating and confirm that their requests are reasonable,” he said. “Remember, you should never send sensitive information by way of email or text. Only fax if you know who is standing next to the machine as you are faxing.”

Use Common-Sense Security

Lots of health care providers have gone digital, meaning you can access your records or pay your bills through an online account. While password security is important for all online accounts, it’s especially crucial when you’re setting your credentials for a medical website. And if you do end up with physical paperwork that includes details on your health, insurance or any other personally identifiable information, keep it in a safe place. If you want to discard it, use a cross-cutting shredder, Levin said.

More Resources on Medical Identity Theft

Until a fraud has been corrected (which can take months or even years), you may suffer some credit damage, which is another reason to try and prevent the fraud from happening and act quickly as soon as you detect it. While working toward a resolution, you’ll want to focus on what you can control, like practicing the safety tips we just described or improving other aspects of your credit. For example, you could work on making on-time payments and paying down debt, which are good things for your credit scores. If you’re having trouble accessing credit because of identity theft, getting a secured credit card might be able to help you keep your credit file active, because a secured card generally does not require a credit check.

Monitor your credit reports for unfamiliar collection accounts and other signs of identity theft, in addition to keeping an eye on your mail and insurance for bills regarding care you didn’t receive. The Federal Trade Commission has a guide on how to request and review your medical records for accuracy, as well as how to resolve identity theft.

Christine DiGangi is a reporter and the social media editor for Credit.com, covering a variety of personal finance topics. Her writing has been featured on USA Today, MSN, Yahoo! Finance and The New York Times International Weekly, among other outlets. You can find her on Twitter @writingbikes.

3 Ways Iris Recognition On Smartphones Will Change Patient ID In Healthcare

October 4, 2016/10101 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Data Integrity, Future of Biometrics, Health Care, Iris Recognition, Medical Identity Theft, Mobile, Patient Identification, Patient Matching, Patient Safety, Photo Biometrics /by John Trader

The following post on iris recognition for patient ID in healthcare was submitted by Brad Marshall, Enterprise Development Consultant with RightPatient®

Smartphones as the “future of medicine”

In case you may have missed the news, last month Samsung released the Galaxy Note 7, making it the first commercially available smartphone that features iris recognition biometric identification technology. The recent recall of this phone because of a faulty battery that could catch fire notwithstanding, the ability for consumers to now leverage iris recognition on their smartphones promises to continue the rapid evolution of adopting more secure patient identification technology on digital devices in healthcare.

Iris recognition for patient ID on smartphones will increase patient and provider confidence in using a smartphone for mhealth data access and services.

Many say that the future of medicine is on our smartphones and with good reason. Both patients and providers are rapidly gravitating to these devices for myriad reasons including administering routine medical tests, sharing data, and ensuring medication adherence. However, despite the tremendous potential for the smartphone to radically alter healthcare delivery, serious issues remain about hacking and personal privacy which inhibits more widespread use of these devices because many on both sides of the healthcare aisle still aren’t convinced that sensitive protected health information (PHI) is adequately protected and kept secure.

The healthcare industry was buoyed by the introduction of iris recognition as a security measure to protect access and keep PHI secure. Here are 3 reasons why iris recognition on smartphones will significantly improve patient ID and help fuel the rise in the use of these devices in healthcare:

Accuracy: Iris recognition is widely considered to be the most accurate and hygienic form of biometric identification. Smartphones are playing a more prominent role in healthcare on both sides of the spectrum with patients increasingly using the devices to access protected health information through patient portals, share information with providers, for telehealth, and to make appointments and order prescriptions. Providers like smartphones because of their portability, accessibility, and mobility. The ability of iris recognition to replace less reliable and less accurate methods of biometric authentication on smartphones (e.g. fingerprints) will help increase and sustain the momentum of their use in healthcare. This bodes well for the industry wide push to establish fluid interoperability based on clean data because it lends confidence that PHI is accurate providing healthcare providers the confidence to participate in health information exchanges on both a regional and national scale.
Eligibility expansion: As of 2015, 68% of American adults owned a smartphone, and 62% of smartphone owners had used their phones to look up information about a health condition (source: http://bit.ly/2dGZ0kQ). The question isn’t whether smartphone use will rise in healthcare, it’s how fast it will rise and how many people will continue to adopt it. Unlike other biometric technologies such as fingerprints that have previously been used on smartphones and rely on skin integrity to work effectively which automatically rules out a certain percentage of the population due to ethnicity, age, climate, and skin condition, iris recognition can be used by virtually anyone dramatically increasing the eligibility of those that are eligible to use it. (And, sorry Network World but your assertion that iris recognition “can’t be used as a verification feature for the blind or people with cataracts…” is inaccurate). We know for a fact that iris recognition does work with blind people and patients with cataracts because dozens of hospitals that use our iris biometric patient identification solution have used it successfully in these cases.
Patient Experience: Among the many benefits ushered into our lives from the digital healthcare revolution, increased transparency and accountability is fundamentally improving the provider/patient relationship. Mhealth apps and patient portals have played a key role to help increase patient engagement and accountability for their health but a broad range of privacy concerns remain that have inhibited their widespread use across the healthcare landscape. Iris recognition on smartphones promises to significantly improve patient confidence that their medical identity is protected before they begin to use apps and portals and provides peace of mind that healthcare providers are deploying the most accurate biometric identification technology available in an effort to ensure privacy and security. There is a strong argument that the use of iris recognition on smartphones will improve the patient experience in healthcare.

Conclusion

There is little doubt that smartphones will continue to be a rising conduit for access to data and healthcare services in the future. The introduction of iris recognition on smartphones will only help to instill confidence in patients that their privacy and medical identities are protected and help providers to ensure their databases are clean and accurate thereby boosting participation in mhealth as a viable channel in healthcare.

Have you used iris recognition to verify your identity on a smartphone prior to accessing an mhealth app, telemedicine, or perhaps another digital health tool? How was your experience and do you feel more confident that your medical identity is better protected? Share your comments with us below.

Brad Marshall is an 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.

The Importance of Maintaining Patient Data Integrity

September 21, 2016/9007 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Data Integrity, Guest Blog Posts, Health Care, HIM /by John Trader

The following guest post on patient data integrity in healthcare was submitted by Gabriel Tedde Cabot.

While all physicians, care providers and practices understand the importance of keeping accurate files and records for maintaining patient data integrity, the unique challenges and concerns of a digital file system may pose a greater risk than many practitioners might realize. From the struggle to keep patient records coherent and to maintain unified files across multiple applications and programs to the issues that may be caused by a data breach, today’s practices would be wise to assess the effectiveness of their records and data processes. Loss of data integrity may result in any number of potentially serious consequences, ranging from HIPPA violations to compromised patient care.

Patient data integrity is important to maintain in healthcare. Learn more about how to protect it in the evolving world of digital healthcare.

Creating and Maintaining the Right Digital Infrastructure

The first step towards ensuring digital information can be created, stored and accessed with greater accuracy is also one of the most important. Creating and maintaining the right digital infrastructure can streamline all processes that may involve patient records and ensure that inconsistencies within a file system are less likely to occur. Applications that can be linked more easily and databases that provide cross-platform support are often crucial assets for reducing errors, oversights and optimizing the efficiency of staff and associates.

The Importance of Staff and Employee Training

Having the right digital working environment is only one step in the process for ensuring more effective and accurate record-keeping, one that may be of little practical benefit when employees are not properly trained. Properly training all employees who access or use database systems, patient records and similar applications can help to minimize problems caused by user error. Assessing the current skill level, understanding and overall computer literacy of existing staff can also be quite helpful in identifying any areas that may require attention or improvement.

Failing to provide ongoing training for their staff is a mistake common to both small practices and larger facilities. Updated software, the addition of new applications and changes to the daily operational process of a clinic, practice or healthcare facility often entails the need to train and educate employees who may not yet be comfortable or even familiar with new systems or tasks. Ongoing training also provides a chance for associates to brush up on any skills or concepts that may have gone unused for too long.

Performing Periodic Assessments or Audits to Ensure Accuracy

Quality assurance can go a long way, both towards ensuring that established resources and operational processes are being utilized correctly and for identifying smaller issues before they have a chance to grow into larger and more serious problems. Assessing the accuracy of past records and ensuring that patient data integrity is being maintained effectively is not a concern that should be left to chance. Further assessments should also be performed whenever new operational policies go into effect or when changes are made to the software, systems and applications used by employees.

Protecting Patient Information in the Digital Age

From instituting a more effective password policy to utilizing secure virtual data rooms, there are numerous ways for organisations to ensure all patient data and information is able to be kept safe and secure. Damage caused by unauthorized access to data, files and electronic information may be considerable and practitioners who fail to make online security a priority may be placing themselves and their patients at greater risk of breach or other security issue. Malware or unauthorized users who are able to gain access to electronic records may result in the loss of vital data or files and records that no longer be considered secure.

While even basic measures to enhance digital security can make a considerable difference, more effective may be achieved by organisations who elect to make use of the right resources. Contracting with third-party IT department or security specialist may provide a more cost effective solution for smaller practices that lack the financial resources needed to expand their staff. Investing in secure virtual data rooms used to store and distribute information in a safer manner can also ensure that medical organisations are not placing patient data or information at greater risk. Finding and selecting the services, resources and solutions that make it possible to reduce or even eliminate many of the most common and costly digital security risks is always a worthwhile undertaking.

An effective way of ensuring patient data integrity is by using solutions that protect patient data by preventing medical identity theft, duplicate records, and mix-ups. Solutions like RightPatient do so by ensuring accurate patient identification across the continuum of care. By ensuring that the accurate medical records are identified every time patients use healthcare services, mix-ups and duplicates are prevented easily. Moreover, it prevents medical identity theft in real-time by verifying patients’ identities using their faces. Several healthcare providers are already benefiting from using the platform and are maintaining patient data integrity.

Staying Up to Date With Changing Technology and Emerging Trends

With new applications, digital services and innovations continuing to shape and change the industry, practitioners and medical organizations can no longer afford to fall behind the times. Failing to learn more about new potential security risks or electing to overlook the latest security resources and solutions could prove to be nothing short of a disaster. When it comes to maintaining patient data integrity, staying up to date with the latest technology or learning more about the most recent threats and security concerns is of paramount importance.

Gabriel Cabot is a digital marketing strategist from London who enjoys reading, writing and learning about new technologies, programming, health and the Internet.

Healthcare Records: How to Protect Patients’ Sensitive Information

August 18, 2016/5939 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Data Integrity, Guest Blog Posts, Health Care /by John Trader

The following guest post on protecting sensitive healthcare record data was submitted by Rachelle Wilber.

The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 requires that any entity that is privileged to collect or store sensitive patient healthcare information keep the information secured and protected against unauthorized access or use. A violation of the HIPPA law has serious implications to any healthcare practitioner or facility. By being vigilant and taking these action steps, you can help to protect the sensitive information of the patients who visit your healthcare facility.

The explosion of online sensitive healthcare data now available online must be secured to protect patient privacy and advance data integrity.

Cloud Encryption
Cloud-based data storage and applications service providers are allowing healthcare organizations to use their own encryption keys. These keys are unique to your facility and your own information technology officers can create them. By using these customized encryption keys for data that your healthcare facility uploads to the cloud, you can reduce the risk of unauthorized users gaining access to usable information. If a hacker did get into your database, they would be unlikely to be able to break the encryption key.

Coding Sensitive Data

In addition to encrypting data, you can also code it as it is entered. For example, if a patient has HIV, that condition could be given a numeric code rather than the name of the virus. Only authorized users at your facility would know what the code means.

Healthcare Administration

When you are ready to further your healthcare career and learn more techniques on coding and encryption of sensitive data, consider enrolling in one of many healthcare administration master’s programs that many universities offer. These accredited programs help you to master all aspects of administration that are essential to running a productive, efficient and compliant doctor’s office, clinic or hospital. You will learn about data administration as well as coordination of services, billing, communications and data analysis.

Physical Security

The physical security of patient information is also important. If your facility uses or still has any paper medical charts, they should be kept under lock and key and signed in and out when they are used. Laptops, tablets and other electronic devices should be password-protected. The computers and tablets should also be locked and put away when they are not in use.

By employing these measures in your healthcare facility, you can protect the sensitive patient data that you collect. Maintaining the security of the data helps to keep you compliant with the law. These measures also show to your patients that you care and respect their rights to privacy.

Rachelle Wilber is a freelance writer living in the San Diego, California area. She graduated from San Diego State University with her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Media Studies. She tries to find an interest in all topics and themes, which prompts her writing. When she isn’t on her porch writing in the sun, you can find her shopping, at the beach, or at the gym. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook: @RachelleWilber; https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009221637700

University Health Reaps Benefits of Photo Biometrics for Patient ID

August 17, 2016/6617 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Facial Reciognition, Health Care, Infection Control, Iris Recognition, Patient Identification, Patient Matching, Photo Biometrics /by John Trader

University-Health-Care-is-using-RightPatient-for-patient-ID

Augusta, GA based University Health Care implemented photo biometrics for patient ID to increase patient safety.

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

Biometric Patient ID No Longer a Movie Prop

It wasn’t so long ago that the term “biometric patient ID” wasn’t even in the lexicon of healthcare providers as a reliable means to improve patient safety, eliminate duplicate medical records, prevent medical ID theft, and increase patient data integrity. In fact, just a few years ago, many providers had never even heard of biometrics used to accurately identify patients and those that did know about the technology could only relate to what they had seen on the movie screen or read in a science fantasy novel.

Today, the use of biometrics for patient ID in healthcare has sharply risen as more healthcare organizations realize the technology’s potential to better protect individuals from the perils of misidentification and better understand the ability of select biometric patient ID solutions to be seamlessly integrated into EHR workflow.

However, what stands as a true testament to the rising use of biometrics for patient identification in healthcare is the ability of the technology to demonstrate realized return on investment (ROI) against the goals set forth prior to implementation. In other words, the true “proof in the pudding” of biometrics for patient ID can be benchmarked through multiple objectives — how significant was the reduction in duplicate medical records and chart corrections? What percentage of patients are opting into the biometric patient ID system? Has investment in biometrics for patient ID streamlined patient registration? Is the technology effective in reducing cases of fraud and medical ID theft?

University Health Deploys Photo Biometrics for Patient ID

In most cases, biometric patient identification deployments must mature to a certain level in order to measure the impact on improving patient safety and the additional aforementioned goals and objectives. In other words, beyond restricting medical ID theft and healthcare fraud at the point of service, it’s impractical to expect immediate results after deploying biometrics for patient ID. The system must be in place for a certain period of time before healthcare providers can expect to reap additional benefits — categories such as patient acceptance and enrollment and reduction of duplicate medical records for example.

Augusta, GA based University Health Care System is a classic example of a healthcare organization that had clear goals and objectives in mind prior to implementing biometrics for patient ID and are now realizing benefits from their choice of photo biometrics over other hardware alternatives. University Health officials have been pleased of the simplicity of photo biometrics where patients take their photo and are instantly identified followed by the retrival of their correct medical record in the Epic EHR system. With over 99% of patients choosing to enroll in the biometric patient ID solution, University quickly amassed a database of 50,000 patients to participate and the numbers keep increasing each day.

Perhaps equally important is the fact that since implementing RightPatient®, University Health has seen nearly a 30% decrease in chart corrections, defined as the health information management (HIM) department’s need to go back into a chart and correct any data entry errors during the patient registration process. RightPatient® has also been instrumental to eliminate write–offs directly related to patient fraud — in one case a patient attempted to commit healthcare fraud by using multiple aliases in the ED to illegally obtain prescription drugs. Photo biometrics quickly caught the patient by revealing they had previously enrolled under a separate identity and University Health officials were able to quickly notify on-site authorities who sprang into action.

Conclusion

University Health made a conscious choice to implement photo biometrics for patient ID after carefully evaluating the characteristics and limitations of fingerprint and palm vein. They concluded that photo biometrics was the most accurate, hygienic, and versatile solution available with strong potential for future deployment at additional patient touchpoints including mobile devices, patient portals, and telehealth — touchpoints along the care continuum that fingerprint and palm vein just do not have the ability to address.

Learn more about University Health’s use of photo biometrics for patient ID and stay tuned for more posts on what benefits our end users realize after investing in photo biometrics for patient ID.

Achieving Higher Patient Data Integrity Requires a Multi-Layered Approach

February 15, 2016/7276 views / 1 Comment/in BLOG, Data Integrity, Patient Identification, Patient Matching /by John Trader

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

Patient Data Integrity and Duplicate Medical Records

It is a well known fact that inaccurate or incomplete data within a patient’s medical record can be a catastrophic risk to patient safety, not to mention a serious hospital liability. As a result, many hospitals and healthcare organizations across the industry are closely examining the integrity of their health data and taking steps to clean it, most by using third party probabalistic and deterministic de-duplication matching algorithms (often directly from their EHR providers) that search and identify possible duplicates for an automatic or manual merge.

Improving patient data integrity in healthcare requires a multi-layered approach that addresses both data matching and more accurate patient identification.

Several key players in the healthcare industry including CHIME, AHIMA, HIMSS, and major EHR providers are beating the drum to improve patient identification and patient data matching, all important catalysts for the push to improve patient data integrity.

If you are a hospital or healthcare organization that is knee deep in the middle of a health IT initiative to help increase patient data integrity (especially in the context of prepping for participation in a local or regional health information exchange), you may want to stop and reassess your strategy. The rush to cleanse “dirty data” from EHR and EMPI databases is often addressed by relying on an EHR vendor’s de-duplication algorithm which is supposed to search and identify these duplicate medical records and either automatically merge them if similarity thresholds are high, or pass them along to the HIM department for further follow up if they are low.

This could be a very effective strategy to cleanse an EMPI to ensure patient data accuracy moving forward, but is it enough? Is relying on an EHR vendor’s de-duplication algorithm sufficient to achieve high levels of patient data integrity to confidently administer care? It actually isn’t. A more effective strategy combines elements of a strong de-duplication algorithm with strong patient identification technology to ensure that patient data maintains its integrity.

Duplicate Medical Record Rates are Often Understated

The industry push for system-wide interoperability to advance the quality and effectiveness of healthcare for both individuals and the general population has been one of the main catalysts motivating healthcare organizations to clean and resolve duplicates but it also has revealed some kinks in the data integrity armor of many different medical record databases. Most hospitals we speak with either underestimate their actual duplicate medical rate, or do not understand how to properly calculate it based on the actual data they can access. An AHIMA report entitled “Ensuring Data Integrity in Health Information Exchange” stated that:

“…on average an 8% duplicate rate existed in the master patient index (MPI) databases studied. The average duplicate record rate increased to 9.4% in the MPI databases with more than 1 million records. Additionally, the report identified that the duplicate record rates of the EMPI databases studied were as high as 39.1%.”
“High duplicate record rates within EMPI databases are commonly the result of loading unresolved duplicate records from contributing MPI files. EMPI systems that leverage advanced matching algorithms are designed to automatically link records from multiple systems if there is only one existing viable matching record. If the EMPI system identifies two or more viable matching records when loading a patient record, as is the case when an EMPI contains unresolved duplicate record sets, it must create a new patient record and flag it as an unresolved duplicate record set to be manually reviewed and resolved. Therefore, if care is not taken to resolve the existing EMPI duplicate records, the duplicate rate in an EMPI can grow significantly as additional MPI files are added.”
(AHIMA report, “Ensuring Data Integrity in Health Information Exchange” http://library.ahima.org/xpedio/groups/public/documents/ahima/bok1_049675.pdf)

Clearly, the importance of cleansing duplicate medical records from a database cannot be understated in the broader scope of improving patient data integrity but relying on an EHR vendor’s probabilistic matching algorithm as the only tool to clean and subsequently maintain accurate records may not always be the most effective strategy. Instead, healthcare organizations should consider a multi-layered approach to improving patient data integrity beyond relying exclusively on an EHR vendor’s de-duplication algorithm. Here’s why.

Why Patient Data Integrity is a Multi-Layered Approach

Often not clearly explained to healthcare organizations, EHR de-duplication algorithms allow end users to set matching thresholds to be more or less strict, which comes with trade-offs. The more strict the threshold is set, the less chance of a false match but the higher chance of a false reject. The less strict the algorithm is set, the lower the chance of a false reject but the higher the chance of false acceptance.

Translation: Often times hospitals who say they have a low duplicate medical record rate might have a strict false acceptance rate (FAR) threshold setting in their de-duplication algorithm. That may mean that there could be a significant amount of unknown duplicate medical records that are being falsely rejected. Obviously, this is a concern because these databases must be able to identify virtually every single duplicate medical record that may exist in order to achieve the highest level of patient data integrity.

So, what can healthcare organizations do to ensure they are not only holistically addressing duplicate medical record rates, but also adopting technology that will maintain high patient data integrity levels moving forward? One answer is to implement a stronger de-duplication algorithm that has the ability to “key” and link medical records across multiple healthcare providers on the back end, and deploying a technology such as biometrics for patient identification on the front end to ensure that not only is care attribution documented to the accurate medical record, but a provider has the ability to view all patient medical data prior to treatment.

For example, many credit bureaus offer big data analytics solutions that can dig deep into a medical record database to better determine what identities are associated with medical records. These agencies are experts in identity management with access to sophisticated and comprehensive databases containing the identification profiles for millions and millions of patients — databases that are reliable, highly accurate, and secure with current and historical demographic data.

Once data is analyzed by these agencies, they are able to assign a “key” to match multiple medical records for the same patient within a single healthcare organization and across unaffiliated healthcare organizations to create a comprehensive EHR for any patient. Offering a unique ability to augment master patient index (MPI) matching capabilities with 3rd party data facilitates more accurate matching of medical records across disparate health systems and circumvents the problem of MPIs assigning their own unique identifiers to individual patients that are different than unaffiliated healthcare organizations that have their own MPI identifiers.

Benefits of using a third party big data analytics solution that has the ability to “key” medical records for more accurate patient data matching at a micro level include:

More accurate identification of unique patient records resulting in a more complete medical record and improved outcomes
Prevention of duplicate medical records and overlays at registration reduces the cost of ongoing MPI cleanups
Medical malpractice risk mitigation
Reduced patient registration times
The ability to more accurately link the most current insurance coverage patient information for more accurate billing

On the marco level, benefits include:

Positive patient identification for eligibility verification, billing, coordination of benefits, and reimbursement
Improved care coordination
Information and record keeping organization
Linkage of lifelong health records across disparate healthcare facilities
Aggregation of health data for analysis and research
Accurately aggregating patient federated data via a HIE

Conclusion

We have long championed the idea that improving patient data integrity can never be achieved in the absence of establishing patient identification accuracy or relying on EHR vendor de-duplication algorithms as the single resource to clean an MPI database. Hospitals and healthcare organizations that are truly committed to cleansing duplicate medical records from their databases and preventing them from reoccurring through more accurate patient identification must consider deploying stronger front and back end solutions that have the ability to more comprehensively identify and resolve these dangers to patient safety. Why not leverage the clout and reach of these big data analytics solutions to more effectively improve patient data integrity instead of putting all of your eggs in an EHR vendor’s de-duplication algorithm?

What other strategies have you seen as effective methods to increase patient data integrity in healthcare?

David 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.

Healthcare Scene Blab Tackles Patient Matching and Patient Identification

January 25, 2016/5713 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Health Care, Patient Identification, Patient Matching /by John Trader

Healthcare Scene’s John Lynn hosts a blab conversation on the topic of patient matching in healthcare with Michael Trader and Beth Just.

Our President Michael Trader was grateful for opportunity to discuss patient matching and patient identification in healthcare with Beth Just from Just Associates during John Lynn’s blab session earlier today. The discussion covered a wide range of topics including:

— How big is the patient identification problem in healthcare?
— The continuing problem of duplicate medical records in healthcare and strategies to improve and sustain patient data integrity
— Describing the availability and measuring the success of existing patient identification solutions in healthcare
— Would a national patient identifier help or would the existing challenges still apply?
— Why can’t the current solutions get to 100% patient matching?
— How does the CHIME $1 million National Patient ID Challenge work?Is this challenge achievable?

What materialized was an excellent discussion on patient identification in healthcare with both Michael and Beth offering intelligent insight on the problems that exist, solutions built to address the problems, and what it truly means to achieve 100% patient ID accuracy. Take a moment to watch the blab session here:

Special thanks to John Lynn and Healthcare Scene for hosting the discussion!

What are your top concerns surrounding the issue of achieving 100% patient matching in healthcare? Please share them with us in the comments below.

AHIMA Survey on Patient Matching Illustrates HIM Burdens, Frustrations

January 7, 2016/6085 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Comments On Recent Biometric News Stories, Health Care, Patient Identification, Patient Matching, Patient Safety /by John Trader

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

AHIMA Sheds Light on Patient Matching Problems in Healthcare

The American Health Information Management Society (AHIMA) released details of a survey yesterday that revealed over half of Health Information Management (HIM) professionals still spend a significant amount of time reconciling duplicate medical records at their respective healthcare facilities. The survey went on to reveal some very interesting statistics on patient matching and linking patient records, illustrating the burden that duplicate medical records have not only on HIM staff, but the dangers care providers face who increasingly rely on access to accurate, holistic patient data to provide safe, quality care. One particular stat that jumped out at us was:

“…less than half (47 percent) of respondents state they have a quality assurance step in their registration or post registration process, and face a lack of resources to adequately correct duplicates.”

A recent survey of HIM professionals by AHIMA illustrates the problems that duplicate medical records have on accurate patient matching in healthcare.

This is an area of particular concern due to the fact that our research has shown that many healthcare facilities spend tens, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars per year reconciling duplicate medical records but very few have technology in place to prevent duplicates in the future. It’s encouraging that accurate patient matching in healthcare seems to finally be getting the attention it deserves, due to the digitization of the industry, the shift change from fee-for-service to a value based payment system and a burgeoning healthcare ecosystem laser focused on improving both individual outcomes and population health. AHIMA’s survey supports this assertion by stating:

“Accurate patient matching “underpins and enables the success of all strategic initiatives in healthcare…”

Equally concerning is the fact that less than half of HIM professionals surveyed have any type of patient registration quality assurance policy in place and only slightly over half of survey respondents could accurately say what their duplicate medical rate actually is. Not to mention the fact that HIM professionals spend entirely too much of their time reconciling duplicate medical records, with 73% reporting that they work duplicates “at a minimum of weekly.”

As more healthcare organizations and facilities begin to understand that accurate patient matching has a major impact on other downstream activities, it is encouraging that the issue is finally getting the attention it deserves helped in part by the efforts of AHIMA, and CHIME’s national patient identification challenge which is scheduled to kick off this month. It’s clear that the healthcare industry is slowly coming to the realization that many new initiatives borne from the HiTech Act and Meaningful Use (e.g. – population health, ACOs, health information exchanges, interoperability) don’t really have any hope to succeed in the absence of accurate patient identification.

Duplicate Reconciliation Unnecessary Burden on HIM?

Early last year, we wrote a blog post on How Accurate Patient Identification Impacts Health Information Management (HIM) which highlights the exorbitant amount of time HIM spends reconciling duplicates and the opportunity cost this brings. For example, time spent on duplicate clean up and reconciliation could instead be allocated to coding for reimbursement and preparing, indexing, and imaging all paper medical records – a critical component in the effort to capture and transfer as much health data as possible to a patient’s EHR.

The fact of the matter is that as health data integrity stewards and medical record gatekeepers, HIM professionals are better served spending their time ensuring proper and accurate reimbursement and medical record accuracy then reconciling duplicates which should have never been created in the first place. HIM staff perform one of if not the most critical functions in healthcare by ensuring health data integrity, especially in light of the increasing reliance of often disparate healthcare providers need to access a complete medical record that includes as much information as possible.

As we noted in the post last January:

“…many hospitals have expanded responsibilities vis-à-vis Meaningful Use, EHR implementation, and meeting Affordable Care Act requirements, and it has become disadvantageous to continue devoting any time at all to duplicate medical record and overlay reconciliation. Biometric patient identification solutions open the door to re-allocation of HIM FTEs to more critical functions such as coding, reimbursement, and reporting. Simply put, implementing biometrics during patient registration is opening the door for HIM departments across the industry to provide a larger and more productive support role to meet the shifting sands of reimbursement and address the need to move towards quality vs. quantity of care.”

Conclusion

We could not have summed up the issue of duplicate medical record creation and reconciliation and inaccurate patient matching in healthcare more succinctly than this quote from AHIMA in the survey summary:

“Reliable and accurate calculation of the duplicate rate is foundational to developing trusted data, reducing potential patient safety risks and measuring return on investments for strategic healthcare initiatives.”

Trusted data. Isn’t this the backbone of the new healthcare paradigm? Certainly we can’t expect to achieve many of the purported advances in healthcare in the absence of clean, accurate health data. It’s time to eliminate duplicate medical records forever, and establish cohesive, quality assured patient matching in healthcare.

What are your biggest takeaways from the AHIMA report on accurate patient matching in healthcare?

New Podcast Addresses Importance of Single Sign-On (SSO) Tech in Healthcare

December 1, 2015/5724 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Podcasts, SSO /by John Trader

The proliferation of data breaches along with the rising pressure to more effectively safeguard protected health information (PHI) in healthcare is fueling growth in the adoption of single sign-on (SSO) solutions. Designed to relieve the burden of password management while providing a more convenient mechanism for users to access their computer or to the network, SSO solutions offer distinct advantages over traditional passwords including:

Providing an air-tight security mechanism to authenticate users gaining access to network resources
Reducing IT support costs associated with password management and help desk overhead
Minimizing the risk and cost of enterprise data theft from users inside the firewall
Supporting regulatory compliance (HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, etc.) with improved security
Leveraging existing network infrastructure for faster deployment
Allowing users to quickly lock and unlock their computers with a single proximity card swipe or biometric scan

Our latest podcast with Ray Madril from Healthcast discusses the importance of adopting single sign-on (SSO) technology to increase patient safety and patient data security in healthcare.

To dig a little deeper into the importance and urgency of adopting SSO solutions in healthcare, we contacted Ray Madril of Healthcast and scheduled a podcast session to tap into his knowledge and covered the following topics:

An overview of the current health IT data security landscape and why establishing a secure single-sign-on credential is now considered mission-critical for the healthcare industry
The impact data breaches have on the healthcare industry and how a strong SSO solution prevents breaches and their damaging effects
How the implementation of an SSO solution impacts provider workflows and why is this important to patient safety
E-prescribing is changing healthcare by demonstrating that health IT has become a critical component for the efficient delivery of medicine and cost-effective patient treatments. What role does a secure SSO solution have to support efficient and secure EPCS?
The different form factors for SSO solutions and the impact of using biometrics such as a fingerprint with an SSO solution to ensure patient safety
How a successful SSO implementation increases patient safety

Healthcast is RightPatient’s exclusive SSO partner and we recently joined forces to help increase patient safety and provider stronger patient data access security.

Download a copy of the SSO in healthcare podcast and listen to it on the go! Have a friend or colleague that you feel would benefit from the podcast on adopting SSO for stronger data security in healthcare? Please forward them the link.

Have an idea for a podcast? Submit your entry to: jtrader@rightpatient.com along with a suggested guest for the topic.

Why Telemedicine Needs Secure Patient Identification

November 9, 2015/7857 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Data Integrity, Facial Reciognition, Future of Biometrics, Health Care, Patient Identification, Patient Safety /by John Trader

Telemedicine/Telehealth is growing….fast

It’s difficult to call telemedicine the shiny new object in healthcare, mostly because it’s origin can be traced back to the first half of the 20th century. In fact, the first people to use video communication for medical purposes were clinicians at the University of Nebraska who in 1959 established a two-way television setup to transmit information to medical students across campus, and five years later linked with a state hospital to perform video consultations. (source: http://evisit.com/history-of-telemedicine/)

The rising use of telemedicine services in healthcare demands a more holistic approach to accurate patient identification.

Since then, telemedicine has rapidly evolved as a trusted source of care, particularly for patients living in rural areas who traditionally have limited access to healthcare, and the industry is expected to reach 7 million patients worldwide by 2018, fueling an 18 percent growth rate by 2020. This is good news for a wide swath of key players in healthcare, especially providers who are already laser focused on advancing healthcare’s “triple aim” – improving the patient experience, improving population health, and reducing the per capita cost of care, plus telemedicine has proven to be a strong tool to increase patient engagement. Patients stand to benefit handsomely from advances in telemedicine too for its convenience and accessibility, quickly latching on to the “care when and where you want it” mantra of the technology.

Yet, for all it’s convenience and increased accessibility, healthcare providers should take caution on procedures in place to identify patient identities prior to administering telemedicine services. Advances in telemedicine combined with an influx of newly insured patients under The Affordable Care Act have undoubtedly spawned opportunities for patients to commit fraud by stealing or swapping identities to receive services they aren’t eligible for. Undoubtedly the issue of limited reimbursement continues to be a major barrier to the expansion of telehealth — shouldn’t providers pay more attention to adopting technology that establishes a concrete and indisputable audit trail for telemedicine services?

What can telemedicine healthcare providers do to increase patient identification accuracy and adopt a strategy that has the capability to address the need to ensure a patient is who they claim to be?

Telemedicine patient ID laws murky, differ from state to state

As is the case with administering a lot of other digital health tools in healthcare, rules and regulations are fragmented and differ from state to state. Some states like Maryland, Virginia, and New Mexicohave laws and regulations that facilitate the greater use of telemedicineyet others such as Texas are actively seeking to pass laws that restrict telemedicine services to only those patients who have previously seen a doctor.

Regulating telemedicine is a tricky endeavor in healthcare. Most healthcare providers (especially those in medically underserved, rural communities) want to see the expansion of telemedicine because of the potential gains in individual and population health plus increasing the convenience of healthcare delivery helps build patient loyalty and speciality physician access. Think about how much good will is built with chronically ill patients who don’t have to make a painful journey to the doctor’s office to receive care!

However, the potential risks of fraud and medical identity theft by telemedicine patients because of the apparent ease of assuming another person’s identity threatens to jeopardize patient safety and compromise patient data integrity which is essential to maintain in an era of increased interoperability and data sharing. Perhaps Alison Diana, formerly of Information Week, summed it up best by saying: “With multiple organizations providing their well-meaning suggestions, states following their own rules, and insurers taking various strategies, telehealth adoption is hampered by fear, uncertainty, and doubt.”

What’s clear is that telemedicine is yet another tool in a provider’s toolbox that deserves the same patient identification scrutiny and caution given to a face-to-face encounter. Health data security is an issue in healthcare that has evolved beyond brick and mortar identification scenarios and expanded to any point along the care continuum where a patient has access to data or care services. As President and CEO Russell Branzell and Board Chair Charles Christian of CHIME said, “As data exchange increases among providers, patient data matching errors and mismatches will become exponentially more dangerous and costly.” (source: http://www.globalmed.com/telehealthanswers/telehealth-data-security-and-a-national-patient-id/)

With the number of employers increasing employee telemedicine service offerings and the number of people now eligible for these services now estimated to be in the tens of millions, the healthcare industry has a vested interest to ensure 100% accurate patient identification.

Holistic patient identification is the new norm

The digital age of medicine has created a host of new patient touchpoints along the care continuum that require healthcare providers to reassess their patient identification policies to ensure that patients are safe, treatment is accurate, protected health information is attributed to the correct medical record and fraud does not cause medical errors that could increase provider liabilities. The conundrum for healthcare providers is identifying a patient identification technology that has the capability to provide accurate patient identification no matter where a patient is along that care continuum and can flexibly be used at ANY touchpoint, regardless if it’s virtual or physical.

What’s interesting about the explosion of these new patient touchpoints and accessibility is that provider focus (justifiably) is usually targeted on technology, compliance, and reimbursement — all important components to ensure success. For example, articles prognosticating about what telemedicine needs to succeed rarely address adopting stricter patient identification technology to protect both patient and provider. However, our field research demonstrates that healthcare providers are increasingly paying closer attention to perhaps the most essential element of any digital health tool, the absolute necessity of ensuring accurate patient identification prior to administering care.

When it comes to accurate patient identification, telemedicine should not be treated any differently than, say, access to a patient portal or a physical trip to a doctor’s office. Holistic patient identification accuracy protocols that have the flexibility to be used in different capacities but ultimately to achieve the same purpose — ensuring patient identification accuracy and patient data integrity no matter when or where a patient seeks access to medical information or services.

Photo biometrics a perfect fit for patient ID in telemedicine

One patient identification technology surging to meet the demand for holistic patient identification in healthcare is biometrics. The use of biometrics for accurate patient identification in healthcare offers immediate, sustainable benefits (increases in patient safety, reductions of duplicate medical records, elimination of fraud) but what often goes unnoticed are broader, tangential advantages that can be applied to new patient touchpoints along the care continuum.

For example, a healthcare provider using photo biometrics for patient identification in healthcare can ensure accurate patient identification at the point of service then have the ability to verify that same patient’s identity through a portal, or prior to a telemedicine session using facial recognition. Hospital re-admission reduction provides an excellent example of a tangential benefit biometrics delivers to the healthcare industry. By ensuring the accuracy of a patient’s identity during a home health visit or telemedicine session (key components to reduce re-admits), healthcare providers can administer accurate, timely patient care that helps reduce the possibility of a re-admission which significantly adds to the cost of care and can result in Medicare reimbursement reductions.

Biometrics for patient identification offers another distinct advantage to telemedicine — an indisputable audit trail. Healthcare providers can rest assured that they now have a concrete list showing which patient accessed telemedicine services and what day and time they received the services. In this era of shifting regulations and evolving legislation, healthcare providers who implement photo biometrics for patient identification are at a distinct advantage over those that may rely on more antiquated methods to verify patient identities.

Although the use of photo biometrics for holistic patient identification across the care continuum is a new concept in healthcare, more providers understand its value and are exploring the use of this technology.

Is patient identification for telemedicine services a concern for you? What specific challenges do you face?

Leave us a comment below!

Posts

How to Prevent Your Medical Information from Misuse

3 Ways Iris Recognition On Smartphones Will Change Patient ID In Healthcare

The Importance of Maintaining Patient Data Integrity

Healthcare Records: How to Protect Patients’ Sensitive Information

University Health Reaps Benefits of Photo Biometrics for Patient ID

Achieving Higher Patient Data Integrity Requires a Multi-Layered Approach

Healthcare Scene Blab Tackles Patient Matching and Patient Identification

AHIMA Survey on Patient Matching Illustrates HIM Burdens, Frustrations

New Podcast Addresses Importance of Single Sign-On (SSO) Tech in Healthcare

Why Telemedicine Needs Secure Patient Identification

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