Know Your Patience holds great importance when it comes to combating data breaches, medication misuse, medical identity theft, and other fraudulent actions in the healthcare industry. Most crucially, a digital Know Your Customer (KYC) approach may facilitate the onboarding of patients for any healthcare company, preventing unauthorized individuals from utilizing stolen credentials or personal data to get access to healthcare services.
An Overview of “Know Your Patient”
Similar to Know Your Customer (KYC), Know your patient (KYP) is a patient verification method used in the healthcare industry. Medical staff utilize this approach to confirm patient’s identification and gather pertinent information about them to provide safe, effective treatment. Now that many hospitals and clinics offer online registration and forms, this is more important than ever. Furthermore, identifying patients lessens the chances of medical identity theft and other forms of data abuse.
Significance of Verifying Patients
The proper patient, not a fraudster, receives their medical records, test results, and prescriptions when pharmacies and hospitals use Know Your Patient (KYP) verification mechanisms. Improved quality and efficiency in patient healthcare delivery is another benefit of this initiative.
That’s why businesses need to implement a KYP process. Nevertheless, the following are some reasons why understanding a patient’s identity matters:
- Log all patients in remotely
- Move current in-person patients to digital mediums like apps and websites
- Protect the honor of healthcare provider
- Protect sensitive information and ward off criminals
Nevertheless, verification is a need in the healthcare business because of the large number of stakeholders involved in patient care who have different data needs, such as hospitals, physicians, pharmacies, government agencies, etc. The fact that many groups may need to work together to treat a single patient with a particular ailment adds another layer of complication.
Standardized Know Your Patient (KYP) Procedures
The risk of cyberattacks and data breaches may be reduced if hospitals, pharmacies, labs, and other healthcare providers do KYP checks on their patients. In addition, healthcare providers must identify patients to meet the requirements of their respective governments. Severe fines and punishments are imposed for non-compliance.
However, countries and regions have other Know Your Patient (KYP) regulations for healthcare businesses to verify patient identities. Here are a few illustrations:
United Kingdom
The protection and processing of personal data, including health information, in the United Kingdom is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. If a healthcare provider has to verify a patient’s identification while keeping their medical records safe, they will need a legitimate basis for that purpose.
United States of America
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 sets federal guidelines for the confidentiality of medical records in the United States. While HIPAA does not directly demand patient identity verification, it requires healthcare institutions to establish administrative controls to preserve the security and integrity of protected health information (PHI).
How does Patient Verification Work?
A digital and fully automated Patient Data Verification is possible. The patient uploads an official form of identification for use in the Know Your Patient (KYP) check. Nevertheless, the patient checks operate as follows:
- The client snaps a snapshot of themselves and their identification papers.
- The patient’s identifying information is read from the ID document and cross-referenced with the information entered into the form by the automatic KYP verification program.
- To prevent fraudulent activities like deepfakes and guarantee precise results, the system employs liveness detection technology to conduct biometric authentication.
- The patient’s date of birth may be cross-referenced with government databases to ensure they are of legal age to receive care.
Major Types of Know Your Patient (KYP) Verification
Initial Identity Verification
During the first stages of enrolling a new patient, their identification will be checked for the first time. Patient information such as name, DOB, address, SSN, and insurance details are collected by the healthcare provider. Information undergoes KYP verification to confirm its validity by means such as those already described (verification of government-issued IDs, document verification, etc.).
Reverification of Patients
Existing patients go through re-authentication when their identities are again checked to make sure it’s them. In lower-risk situations, a streamlined KYP verification approach may be employed instead of the document verification procedure. Biometric selfie verification, as one example, is ideal for this kind of simplified procedure. It helps companies to establish an efficient procedure and validate the patient’s identification using fewer steps, increasing the experience for the patient.
In A Nutshell
In order to safeguard patient data and guarantee that medical records are received by the appropriate person, Know Your Patient (KYP) verification is essential in the healthcare sector. Healthcare providers can conveniently enhance the standard and efficacy of patient treatment while preserving patient confidentiality and upholding their professional reputation by instituting an automated and digital KYP process and adhering to applicable rules.
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