Inside CHIME: Solving the Patient Identification Problem, Once and For All

Inside CHIME - header

russ branzell 1.7.16 by Russell Branzell, FCHIME, CHCIO
CHIME President and CEO

CHIME is poised to launch a $1 million global competition with the goal of a fixing one of healthcare’s most challenging problems.

There’s no doubt about it, we’ve made considerable progress implementing technology solutions that make our hospitals more efficient and patient care better — bar coding at the bedside to improve medication administration, portals that give both providers and patients greater access to medical records, remote monitoring for chronic disease patients and so much more.

But there’s one problem that we still struggle to overcome, one for which we have yet to find a universally agreed-upon solution: Knowing, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we can correctly identify every patient every time they visit a clinic, hospital or doctor’s office.

For years, we relied on manual processes to overcome the shortcomings in patient identification. As healthcare has become a largely digital environment, the problem has become more complicated.

Last spring, CHIME unveiled plans to embark on a global competition to solve the problem of patient identification once and for all. I am excited to announce that on January 19, at a Washington, D.C., press conference, we will formally launch the CHIME National Patient ID Challenge. The $1 million competition will hopefully inspire creative minds around the world to think of innovative ways to solve this problem.

We are fortunate to be partnering with HeroX for this competition. Co-founded in 2013 by XPRIZE CEO Peter Diamandis, HeroX has considerable expertise in inspiring innovation. In fact, it was a conversation with Peter at the CHIME14 Fall CIO Forum that really spurred us to take this on. Sitting backstage before his rousing keynote address, Peter asked a few of us what keeps CHIME members up at night. Patient identification quickly rose to the top.

We all have stories about the vast resources our organizations waste annually dealing with inaccurate patient identification, not to mention the limitations it causes in information exchange. CHIME Board of Trustees Chair Marc Probst estimates that as recently as five years ago, Intermountain Healthcare was spending between $4 million and $5 million annually on technologies and processes to try to ensure proper patient identification.

We know from a 2012 CHIME survey that a significant number of members can attribute adverse medical events to patient identification woes. Our patients deserve better. The nation deserves better.

Already, 200 innovators have expressed interest in following the challenge. In May, we’ll announce those who are moving on to the Concept Blitz Round. Finalists will be named in the fall and a winner of the $1 million competition will be honored at the 2017 CHIME/HIMSS CIO Forum.

The CHIME board and staff are fully committed to making sure this initiative is a success. It is an exciting time for CHIME, our members and our industry.

The press conference will be available via live stream on the CHIME website, January 19, from 12-12:30 pm (ET). For those in the D.C. area wishing to attend, please visit the event registration page. To find out more information, or see how you can get involved, visit the CHIME National Patient ID Challenge page.

More Inside CHIME Volume 1, No. 8: