Data management remains a major issue for healthcare organizations as the amount of data generated and stored by them is growing rapidly, making it difficult to manage this information with accuracy and efficiency. Many CIOs are looking at how well their current identity solutions are tackling the challenge. In fact, a survey by PatientID Now found more than half of respondents have already implemented new identity management processes or are planning to do so in the next 12 months.
Your data management difficulties are growing with you
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
One of the main challenges of healthcare data management is the complexity of managing and maintaining patient, consumer, and provider identities across the enterprise and beyond, especially as your organization grows organically and through partnerships and acquisition. Data for each person or organization is typically created and/or stored in an increasing number of fragmented systems. And as the customer and provider base grows, so does the complexity of managing identity data. For example, as organizations grow to include a larger service area, more of their patients will share important identifying information such as names or birthdates. In fact, according to PatientID Now, the most common patient name in an organization is shared by 6% of the patient census on average. And in any large population, address and name changes—which can also complicate the process of accurately resolving and managing data—are also more common.
Healthcare M&A deals, which averaged 400 per quarter in 2022, and EHR migrations can also cause problems with patient identity. On average, 24% of a healthcare organization’s patient records are duplicates, and the challenge is exacerbated when consolidating records across multiple EMRs. According to PatientID Now, 77% of organizations reported that EHR migrations or facility acquisitions have contributed to patient identity issues or duplication issues.
Additionally, data spread across disparate systems makes it more and more difficult to achieve a complete view of every person in a healthcare organization. EHRs are not the only systems that store and create identity data—claims, labs, imaging, marketing, third-party, and other sources contain additional pieces of information. Only by connecting these fragments using a master data management strategy can organizations achieve a 360-degree view of every person across their enterprise.
One example that highlights the need for linking data sources is Walgreens investing $5.2 billion in value-based primary care provider VillageMD. Such integrations, which bring together primary care and virtual care, will create new data that needs modernized, healthcare-focused master data management that can provide a holistic view of a patient across these data sources.
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
Your digital front door is also letting in incomplete data
The explosion of new digital health technologies designed to boost customer access and satisfaction is critical to success for today’s healthcare organizations. Many organizations have dozens of new applications installed to reduce friction for healthcare consumers and create better experiences for patients and providers A ubiquitous example is that more than 90% of healthcare organizations have patient portals and 84% of physicians offer virtual visits. To use the new apps, patients often have to self-register—and often as they are rushing to join a telehealth visit or view test results. Understandably, a large majority of health systems report that these initiatives can thereby contribute to an increase in duplicate records and identity issues.
As large technology companies enter the healthcare space with the goal of innovating the industry, data management will continue to become more complicated. One example is Amazon’s $3.9 billion acquisition of One Medical. This deal signals the start of large technology corporations acquiring care delivery organizations, leading to an explosion of data. As a result, cloud-based, healthcare-focused master data management solution to span across patient, provider, household, and consumer identities and link these identities in a consumer-patient-provider journey, will be needed.
Healthcare organizations need to keep an eye on the future
To address these challenges, healthcare CIOs must be proactive in addressing patient identity and data management issues that arise from market consolidation and digital front door initiatives. As 77% of health executives are investing in enhanced portals and mobile apps, it is important to implement a solution that will effectively manage patient, consumer, and provider information and prevent duplicates and identity issues.
Managing healthcare data in 2023 will require a renewed effort from CIOs. With the growing complexity of identity management and the challenges posed by market consolidation and digital front door initiatives, it is essential to implement a solution that will effectively manage patient information and prevent duplicates and identity issues. By acting now, healthcare organizations can improve data accuracy, boost customer satisfaction, and achieve their strategic goals in 2023 and beyond.
Photo: smartboy10, Getty Images
Joaquim Neto is Chief Strategy Officer at Verato. He has decades of experience in information management and master data management technologies across industries, with a particular expertise in healthcare and in master patient index (MPI) and health information exchange (HIE) solutions. He has consulted and delivered solutions for healthcare providers and payers of all types—from Fortune 500 health systems to community hospitals. Prior to Verato, Joaquim worked at Initiate Systems and IBM. Joaquim is a fan of the outdoors and is an avid runner, biker, and fisherman.
Jessica Welch is Segment Manager at Verato. She has a particular interest in public health and supporting communities. She has previous experience in health and wellness wearables before joining Verato, the identity experts for healthcare. The Verato Universal Identity™️platform introduces the industry’s first hMDM, the next generation MDM for healthcare, to enable a complete and trusted single source of truth for consumer, patient, and provider identity.
