News: Patient misidentification cost hospitals thousands, study finds

Hospitals on average misidentify between 7% and 10% of incoming patients when registration staff search the electronic health record (EHR) database for patient records, according to Becker's Hospital CFO.

These errors pose a serious problem for patient safety during medical treatment, but it also has a quantifiable effect on hospital cash flow and can lead to reimbursement loss, administrative inefficiencies, resource drains, and liability concerns, says Becker's Hospital CFO.

Duplicate medical records occur when registration staff create multiple accounts for the same patient. This can happen when a patient changes their surname, address or insurance carrier, or uses a nickname at check-in. Between 8% and 12% of hospitals' medical records are duplicates, according to biometric identification provider RightPatient. 

The cost of repeated medical care due to duplicate records can average nearly $1,100 per patient and, since insurers typically reject duplicate medical procedures, hospitals have to cover these costs. Becker's Hospital CFO says rejected claims costs roughly $25 to rework. Once a duplicate medical record is discovered, merging and reconciling the records can incur another additional expense.

A study from Children’s Medical Center of Dallas found that it takes $1,000 to fix an inadvertently duplicated medical record. While some studies suggest EHRs lower costs and improve reimbursement, Becker's Hospital CFO says other studies—including one by the American Action Forum, a nonprofit think tank—make no direct connection between the use of an EHR and improved productivity.

Read the rest of the study on Becker's Hospital CFO’s website.