Six Reasons Your EHR is Not an Adequate Patient Identity Solution
Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are invaluable tools for managing patient healthcare information within a healthcare organization. However, they have limitations when it comes to achieving positive patient identity – ensuring that you correctly identify each patient consistently across different systems and encounters. Why?
Data Inconsistencies: EHRs may contain duplicate or inaccurate patient records due to data entry errors, variations in naming conventions, or outdated information. These inconsistencies can lead to misidentification or fragmentation of patient data.
Limited Interoperability: EHR systems from different vendors may not seamlessly exchange patient information, which can hinder the creation of a comprehensive patient identity across your healthcare system. This is especially problematic when patients seek care at multiple facilities or when healthcare organizations merge.
Data Silos: EHRs can serve as data silos within healthcare organizations. They often lack the capability to reconcile patient identities across different departments, facilities, or even external healthcare providers.
Patient Matching Challenges: EHRs generally rely on basic demographic data (e.g., name, date of birth, and social security number) for patient matching. However, these identifiers are not always unique, and matching accuracy can be compromised, leading to potential identity mix-ups.
Data Governance: Maintaining data integrity and governance is complex when using EHRs alone. Ensuring that patient data is consistently accurate and up to date across various systems and providers requires a more comprehensive approach.
Scalability and Flexibility: As healthcare organizations grow or change, their EHR systems may struggle to scale and adapt to evolving needs, making it difficult to maintain a robust patient identity solution.
To address these limitations and achieve positive patient identity across healthcare ecosystems, many organizations implement Enterprise Master Patient Index (EMPI) solutions like SmartIX. EMPIs are specifically designed to reconcile and manage patient identities across multiple systems, providing a comprehensive and accurate view of patient information while ensuring data integrity and privacy compliance.