Verify Patient identity

Know Your Patient process is not only a requirement but also an obligation, which makes it mandatory for the healthcare sector to incorporate digital solutions.

Regarding digital transformation, industries of all kinds are undergoing modification. Similarly, the healthcare sector is also in line to adopt digital methods to facilitate genuine patients and verify their identities first. However, the question remains stagnant: how can medical facilities or healthcare centers ensure they assist legitimate patients? This is why the healthcare industry is the most prone to fraudulent identities and medical history breaches.

The healthcare industry stores patients’ personal information, medical histories, treatment types, transactions, and insurance details. This makes it clear why criminals are the most attracted to the healthcare sector. Therefore, the industry needs robust digital Know Your Patient (KYP) solutions. This way, they can prevent illegitimate access to information and avail of medical benefits. To make this a reality. Also, it can deliver required treatments to patients without physically verifying their identities.

Identifying Patient Process – Steps and Requirements

The patient identity verification process provides seamless accuracy and is less time-consuming. And to authentically verify patients’ identities, the system asks for several details and documents to run verification scans. Sometimes, the healthcare centers ask for case histories alongside identity proof. This ensures that the service provider targets the right patients and that an imposter does not manipulate assistance. For incorporating digital ways of verification, healthcare providers employ services that involve various steps:

1. In the first step, patients are asked to fill in their personal information, including date of birth, full name, and proof of address.
2. After submission, patients are asked to provide genuine government-issued identity documents not older than three months. These are the supporting evidence, such as ID cards, green cards, passports, and driver’s licenses for identity proof and utility bills, rental agreements, ownership agreements, and insurance details for proof of address.
3. After scanning and uploading, patients are asked to upload a real-time video or selfie for liveness detection. 
4. The AI-powered services extract the required details in this step by employing OCR technology. They also create a face map for facial recognition and cross-check it with the documents.
5. The system then authenticates documents by scanning them for tampering or fraudulent changes.
6. Lastly, digital services conduct ID verification for pharmacies, complete identity verification, fetch results, and display them in front of end users.

Prominent Use Cases of Patient Identity Verification

With advancements and health-related concerns, the healthcare sector is also trying to make verification seamless and digital. This ensures legitimate patient targeting, authentic verification, and fraud prevention. Moreover, digital services are accurate, cost-effective, and take less time. It has several use cases, among which the note-worthy ones are listed below:

●     Fraud Prevention

Alongside other healthcare providers and affiliates, pharmacies are also adopting digital methods—for instance, online prescribing and purchasing of medicines. Doctors are also assisting patients online as visiting facilities physically can sometimes raise health concerns. All these transformations have eased the processes and prescribing; on the contrary, this has exposed patients to various risks. This includes prescription fraud, identity theft, and financial exploitation.

Therefore, pharmacies and other medical institutes need encrypted and reliable services to verify patients. They should also restrict minors from getting their hands on age-restricted drugs and supplements. This way, the healthcare sector can ensure regulatory adherence and minimize the risks of hefty fines.

●     Patients’ Information Security and Privacy

As per the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) guidelines, industries are mandated to abide by some standards. These include identifying patients and keeping their data secure and away from breaches. Hence, healthcare institutions can not leave compliance unattended. Moreover, they can use digital methods to keep the information secure and prevent it from getting manipulated. This information includes transactions, medical case histories, identity, and treatment details. Furthermore, healthcare providers can monitor and update patients’ data to keep track of their patients. Furthermore, non-compliance can lead to hefty fines and privacy violations.

In a Nutshell

Know Your Patient (KYP) verification is changing how the healthcare sector works. It is mandatory for pharmacies, healthcare centers, service providers, and other affiliates. Criminals are readily taking advantage of mistyped information and other loopholes to overtake data. To combat such menaces, central regulatory authorities have mandated the healthcare industry to abide by verification protocols.