Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/731691
122 Executive Briefing was erroneously created and orders redundant or unnecessary medical tests, hospitals are responsible for the bill, as insurers will not cover this cost. When patient identification errors occur, hospitals must go through the expensive process of cleansing the inaccurate pa- tient records from the EHR. According to Ms. Drake, it typical- ly takes registrars many hours to perform this manual process. Accounting for the human labor and time involved, the cost to cleanse a single duplicate medical record tops $1,000, accord- ing to Imprivata. If a duplicate medical record is created for a patient, merging those records is an "incredibly tedious process" that has to be performed manually in most cases, said Ms. Drake. This process involves comparing information, such as surgeries and medica- tions, in the patient's medical history to ensure all information is merged into the final record. Reducing Patient Identification Errors with Bio- metric Authentication To reduce problems caused by duplicate medical records and patient misidentification, some hospitals have invested in bio- metric patient identification technology, which uses one-of-a- kind biological identifiers to match patients with their unique medical identification number. Many hospitals and health systems are using palm-vein biomet- ric authentication for patient identification, as patients typically find this technique less intrusive than other biometrics, such as fingerprinting. This biometric of choice takes a scan of a pa- tient's palm vein pattern. Since no two palms are the same, any misidentification issues are eliminated. Health systems across the country, including Scripps Health, Charlotte, N.C.-based Carolinas HealthCare System and Tampa, Fla.-based BayCare Health System, have successfully reduced patient identification mistakes using Imprivata PatientSecure™. This tool integrates a palm vein recognition scanner with ad- vanced patient matching software. The solution is installed at more than 65 health systems comprising more than 350 hospi- tals across the nation. Ms. Drake, formerly of Scripps, said the system saw immedi- ate improvement after implementing biometric authentication. "Scripps' patient identification error rate dropped by 30 percent after switching to biometrics," she said. According to Ms. Drake, staff acceptance of the new technology was high, as most em- ployees were glad to be given a tool that not only helped with patient identification but also sped up the registration process. Ms. Drake said most patients were happy with the switch as well. With growing concerns over medical identity theft, patients were pleased they no longer had to provide personal informa- tion, such as their Social Security number, in a public area and weren't bothered with showing ID. Patients at BayCare's facilities were also concerned about the risk of identity theft and were uncomfortable sharing demo- graphic information in a public space. That concern prompted the 14-hospital system to implement palm-vein biometrics. In addition to eliminating patients' worries about their informa- tion being stolen, BayCare also saw a substantial reduction in duplicate records after switching to biometric authentication. Within one year of implementing the technology, the system reduced its cases of duplicate medical records by 42 percent. Since Imprivata PatientSecure provides interoperability be- tween facilities and hospital IT systems, Carolinas HealthCare deployed palm-vein scanners at registration desks throughout its hundreds of locations. Like other systems, Carolinas Health- Care saw its rate of patient identification errors and duplicate medical records drop significantly — from about 10 percent to .01 percent — after implementing biometric authentication. That is about 80 times better than the national average of 10 percent. The system also reduced patient check-in times by 70 percent after the switch, thereby boosting patient satisfaction. Once a system invests in palm-vein biometrics, the technology can be implemented quickly across all facilities. Ms. Drake said training is simple with Imprivata PatientSecure. "It takes about 15 minutes to train someone to use it," she said. Although biometric authentication is typically used on the front- end, nurse managers and physicians are also using it, according to Mr. Miri. He said hospitals are deploying this technology in in- novative ways, such as to identify patients before administering medications and to identify unconscious trauma patients who arrive in the emergency department. Time to Invest in Biometrics The broad reimbursement changes in healthcare make it critical for hospitals to focus on improving quality of care, efficiency and patient satisfaction, as the three areas are becoming increasing- ly intertwined. Implementing biometric authentication such as palm vein recognition can help achieve all three of these goals, according to Mr. Miri. "I convey to hospital CFOs and others that it would be remissive to not invest in technology that can improve quality, reduce the overall burden of care for the patient, has a quick return on in- vestment and will help increase HCAHPs," he said. n Imprivata delivers best in class solutions that optimize clinical workflow efficiency and enhance care delivery. Impriva- ta OneSign offers single sign-on, authentication management, biometric identification and virtual desktop roaming enabling fast, secure No Click Access to clinical applications and patient information, anytime, anywhere and from any device. Imprivata Cortext enables clinicians to securely collaborate across care teams and organizations. Impriva- ta Confirm ID is the fast, secure signing solution for e-prescribing of controlled substances. Imprivata PatientSecure is a positive patient identification solution that uses palm vein recognition biometrics to accurately identify patients at any point of entry to care.