Health care sector always talking, planning digital ID management. Too little ‘do’

Among the most troubling problems facing health care providers, patient identity has not significantly improved since the digitalization of facility records or the arrival of digital IDs. This is despite increasing use of biometrics in the sector.

And worse, all of the common tactics executives are examining in their efforts to stabilize the health care business model demand a concrete grip on patient identity.

A new vendor report on patient identity as a tool to improve patient care and experience, and a challenge make the case that almost 40 years after the world’s first electronic health record, digital identity management remains under-valued and mostly overlooked.

Overwhelming majorities of those in health care, according to the report, feel ID management is critical to enabling the so-called digital front door for modern health care organization, important to better case management and central to improving patient experience.

CEOs looking for a path to smaller losses and greater profits are considering mergers and acquisitions and digital engagement. The former might seem off topic, but it is not.

Merging and acquiring in health care is unique among business verticals. Systems differ business to business and sometimes facility to facility. And unlike wiper blades or even business consulting, there are few patient templates.

Generating the most sustainable revenue from patients requires collecting the most complete picture of a patient in the most secure data stores with the most transparency between all parts of the business.

Yet, the paper, published by patient digital ID management firm Verato, indicates almost three-quarters of respondents to a survey said they are concerned or extremely concerned that misses with personal data are hurting the quality of care and bottom line.

It is even more confounding when looking at the revenue being generated by the global health care biometrics market.

Numbers firm Zion Market Research last week published a market report for the sector, and it would seem to contradict portrayals of a soft industry focus on patient ID management.

Health care biometrics, according to Zion, pulled in revenue of $3.95 billion globally last year.

And its compounded annual growth rate is pegged at 25.1 percent — to $12.4 billion — between now and the end of 2028.

The segment picked to grow fastest is not surprising: multi-factor authentication. That is a common insight into most industries, but it is more important in health care than even finance for the value of data involved.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital ID  |  healthcare  |  identity management  |  market report  |  patient identification  |  Verato