The current time demands the hospital industry to think about providing their patients more than just medical assistance and it means ensuring patient privacy and securing their data. The growing problem with literally every industry these days is the scam/manipulation/fraud or whatever you want to call it. Interestingly, it is somewhat similar to almost every business. The fraud called “identity theft” is causing serious problems for businesses, causing them to face losses worth millions of dollars. The facial recognition is no exception to this when it comes to facing fraud. The recent American Medical Certification Association (AMCA) data breach revealed that almost millions of patients’ records have been used by fraudsters to fulfill their evil aims. Therefore, it is not wrong to say that the need for patient verification is increasing with time.
Also as the world is becoming more digitized the need to have a record of this digitization is necessary. Because of these swift changes, compliance professionals have also become concerned regarding patients’ rights and the delivery of services to the right persons.
Medical Identity Theft: More than what you think
Medical identity theft reflects the process in which imposters deliberately deploy the patients’ medical information to perform scams. The main aim of fraudsters behind this fraud is to get free health facilities, free drugs, insurance advantages or simply to misuse the financial credentials of patients.
A lot of doctors from around the world are considering this not only an anomaly but they are calling it a crime because the medical record is more valuable than credit or debit card data. Therefore, patient verification is the only way towards avoiding medical identity theft.
Aftermath of Medical Identity Theft
Lack of identifying patients’ protocols may lead to stolen medical identity which consequently causes the patient to lose their life. Because when a fraudster makes use of the stolen medical credentials to acquire free services, the medical data is changed for his personal history, which definitely does not match that of the medical credentials of the victims. Or it may destroy the reputation of the hospital that took patients with forged identities.
Mostly, people just ignore and let go of the negligence shown by the hospitals but there are people who sue the hospitals for such carelessness. That will surely cost them monetary and reputational damages. Therefore, it is better for hospitals to perform patient verification that would only take a few seconds.
Know your patient (KYP) – What is it Actually?
Know your patient is a term that correlates to Know your customer in the case of financial industries. These identity measures are performed to fulfill the identity verification and due diligence processes. Each party of the healthcare is required to perform patient verification in order to know they are treating the right person.
Why Patient verification is Imperative for Hospitals?
Healthcare is a huge yet delicate industry where human life is so vulnerable. This is the reason why doctors and other paramedical staff spend years in medical schools, hospitals, and laboratories learning the smart tricks to save a life. At times, there are people who swear on having the necessary skill sets to be life savors but in reality, they are just liars. The paramedical staff is also liable to undergo identity screening measures. Not only the patient verification but digital verification of medical staff is also important which would take only a few seconds but would save the hospitals from facing significant losses.
Patient Age Verification before delivering Prescribed Drugs
UK’s online pharmacies are required to undergo patient verification under the guidance of GPC (General Pharmaceuticals Council). Following these laws is important to safeguard patients’ and the drug sellers’ interests. At times, children deploy the prescription of adults to acquire drugs that are not suitable for them. Misuse of these drug prescriptions leads children to become drug addicts and the excessive intake of drugs by children may cause them to lose their life. So it is imperative to perform patient verification before giving them any drugs.
On the other hand, compliance professionals are not careless of the data gathered by the hospitals. In the U.S for example, HIPPA is implemented. These security measures are practiced to ensure patient verification in order to avoid harsh consequences in case of medical record theft.
In a Nutshell,
It is high time when hospitals give attention to saving online Facial Recognition and ensuring that minors do not get access to drugs prescribed for adults only. Patient verification is necessary for hospitals to secure their patients’ data and also save them from facing any negative consequences. It saves them from facing heavy penalties and reputational damages.
