Misidentification is costing lives and millions in lawsuits, according to new research, and many see biometrics as the best answer.A report by Imprivata, a healthcare IT security company, reveals that, as the healthcare industry has transitioned to digital health records, patient misidentification has become “rampant”.In a survey of 503 top-level healthcare executives and care providers across the U.S, the report found that according to 64 percent of respondents, a patient is misidentified in the typical healthcare facility very frequently or all the time, amplifying prior studies that show that 0.6 percent of patients experience an adverse event due to misidentification.Not only is the patient misidentification crisis is costing the average clinician 28.2 minutes in wasted time per shift, an average healthcare facility loses $17.4 million per year in denied claims and potential lost revenue due to patient misidentification alone.”Patient misidentification is a longstanding and unfortunately growing issue facing hospitals nationwide,” said Mollie Drake, former Corporate Director of Access Management at Scripps Health, a leading nonprofit integrated health system based in San Diego, California. “Clearly, misidentification can cause inconvenience, and even harm for patients, but this report shines a spotlight on what many people don't see – that it also has unfavorable effects on clinician productivity and the hospital's revenue cycle.”Of the technologies available to prevent patient misidentification, survey respondents focused on biometrics as an effective solution for preventing financial loss and improving the patient experience. Nearly three-quarters of respondents believe that positively identifying a patient at registration through biometrics could improve cash flow for their hospitals. Additionally, three-quarters of respondents said that positively identifying a patient at registration through biometrics could reduce denied claims by an average of 25 percent.
