Author: Dr. Sean Kelly, MD, Chief Medical Officer and VP Customer Strategy, Healthcare at Imprivata and Attending physician, Beth Israel Lahey Health, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, part-time, Harvard Medical School
The moment a patient walks into a hospital and checks in for an appointment is the moment their care journey begins. Ensuring that patient is accurately and efficiently identified is critical to ensuring they receive the appropriate care and have a good experience at the hospital. Yet, while accurate identification may seem simple, it relies on manual identifying information like addresses and birthdates – which can be difficult to rely on when hospitals see hundreds of thousands of patients every year. And to make things worse, the implications of misidentification can be deadly.
Fortunately, biometric technology, particularly facial recognition, has the power to revolutionize this process while improving both patient safety and the patient experience. While healthcare remains focused on innovating care processes through digital transformation, it’s critical to recognize that care is only effective when it is administered to the right patient – a process that starts from the moment that patient walks in the door.
The Crisis of Patient Misidentification
Accurate or positive patient identification is challenging due to the reliance on non-unique identifiers like names and birthdates, especially in larger populations where many individuals may share the same or similar names and birthdates. Additionally, the accuracy of manual identification heavily depends on patients providing correct and up-to-date information, which is not always guaranteed.
The lack of interoperability between healthcare systems and recent mergers and acquisitions further complicates data exchange, taking away from the patient experience and increasing the risk of misidentification and associated dangers. These issues can lead to incorrect treatments or medical errors from the creation of duplicate records or misfiled medical information – which is increasing significantly year over year following the pandemic, as an average of 24% of a hospital’s patient records were found to be duplicates, according to a 2021 study. This far exceeds AHIMA’s previously reported industry average of 10%, indicating that this a compounding problem.
Misidentification not only jeopardizes patient safety but also imposes financial burdens, as research reveals that incorrect patient identification contributing to 35% of denied claims, costing hospitals an average of $2.5 million annually.
Enhancing Patient Safety with Facial Biometrics
Facial biometrics technology offers a promising solution to these challenges. By capturing and analyzing unique facial characteristics such as the distance between the eyes and the shape of the nose, this technology can generate a unique identifier for each patient. This identifier is then linked to the patient’s electronic health record (EHR), ensuring that medical staff access the correct records. This method significantly reduces the risk of misidentification and the occurrence of duplicate records, thereby enhancing patient safety. The implementation of facial biometrics in patient identification systems eliminates the need for manual entry of demographic information, which is often prone to human error. Moreover, it provides a touchless, hygienic method of identification that is particularly valuable in healthcare environments.
Improving Patient Experience
Facial biometrics not only enhances patient safety but also improves the overall patient experience. The technology streamlines the check-in process, reducing wait times and minimizing the stress associated with medical visits. Patients can benefit from a more seamless and efficient registration process, without the need to repeatedly provide personal information verbally or through filling out forms. In emergency situations where patients are unable to communicate, facial recognition technology can quickly identify the patient and provide healthcare professionals with access to their medical history, allergies, and other critical information, facilitating immediate and appropriate care.
Privacy and Security Considerations
While the benefits of facial biometrics in healthcare are clear, it is crucial to address privacy and security concerns. Healthcare organizations must ensure that biometric data is stored securely and that access to this data is strictly controlled. Compliance with privacy regulations such as HIPAA is essential to maintain patient trust and protect sensitive information. To foster acceptance of this technology, healthcare providers must be transparent about the use of facial biometrics, including how data is collected, stored, and used. Educating patients about the benefits and privacy considerations of facial biometrics is crucial for patient acceptance and participation.
The Future of Biometrics in Healthcare
As technology advances, the potential of biometrics to improve healthcare outcomes becomes increasingly apparent. Facial biometrics, in particular, is poised to play a crucial role in the future of healthcare by providing a reliable, secure, and efficient method of patient identification. The integration of facial biometrics with other digital health technologies could further enhance patient care. For example, linking biometric data with telehealth platforms can facilitate remote patient identification, making virtual consultations more secure and efficient.
As healthcare leaders navigate the path to a safer and more efficient future for patients, positive patient identification can be compared to setting the correct coordinates in a navigation system before starting a journey. Just as accurate coordinates are crucial to reaching the correct destination safely, precise patient identification ensures that each patient's medical journey is on the right path from the outset, avoiding potential detours and errors in treatment. Manual identification methods aren’t cutting it. Healthcare needs innovation to solve a lot of today’s security and IT problems – and biometrics offers a promising solution to improve both experiences and patient safety, let’s face it.