MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new report published today by Verato and Sage Growth Partners sheds light on healthcare executives’ top concerns and strategic priorities in 2022. Most shockingly, 72% of respondents note that they are “concerned” or “extremely concerned” that siloed, inaccurate patient data negatively impacts care quality and the bottom line. Further, executives’ concerns with patient data accuracy are strongly attributed to low confidence in their current patient matching capabilities, with only 14% saying that they are “extremely satisfied” with the level of accuracy they can achieve with patient identity data.
This low satisfaction and confidence in the accuracy of patient data compelled the majority of executives (60%) to consider patient identity to be valuable to every function and initiative within the organization. When it comes to their organizations’ business goals and priorities, most executives noted that patient identity is a top criterion for executing their important strategic initiatives this year:
- 88% of respondents reported that patient identity is important to improving patient experience
- 75% say that patient identity is important to improving care management
- 73% view patient identity as critical to enabling the digital front door
“The data shows us that as healthcare organizations embrace digital strategies to improve patient experience, care management and population health, an overall lack of sophisticated patient identity tools has become an acute underlying problem that impacts nearly every aspect of healthcare operations,” said Clay Ritchey, CEO of Verato. “Verato is innovating with healthcare organizations to address this critical data gap by integrating next-generation referential matching capabilities with social determinants of health data to enable our customers to resolve identity at every step of the care journey, enabling interoperability across the modern complex digital health ecosystem with unprecedented accuracy, ease and time to value. We are proud that well over 90% of our customers report that they are extremely satisfied with our identity resolution solutions as compared to the 14% industry average found in the market report published today.”
An overwhelming 91% of respondents said that it’s either extremely or somewhat important to use social determinants of health to create a complete, comprehensive view of the patient. Another strong focus area and priority for executives this year is patient experience, with 42% of respondents ranking improving patient satisfaction as a top strategic priority in 2022. While 37% ranked digital transformation as a top priority, 83% of respondents identified improving patient access as the primary driver for digital solutions.
“Patient experience and access to care will play a crucial role in healthcare in 2022, especially as organizations evaluate their digital capabilities,” said Audrius Polikaitis, CIO and Associate VP of Health Information Technology at the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System. “There is a direct correlation between the strength of patient identity data and the efficacy of digital tools. Using a few basic matching criteria isn’t enough to create a complete patient record. If these solutions don’t use stronger matching algorithms or enrichment data like social determinants, it’s likely that data accuracy is low, which will have an impact on how well both new and existing digital solutions perform.”
Along with supporting patient experience and digital transformation, strong patient identity data is a critical component for other reported health system priorities this year, including expanding service lines (82.5%) and reducing patient leakage (66%).
This survey, commissioned by Verato and conducted by Sage Growth Partners, collected data from 100 healthcare executives through a series of 31 in-depth interviews. The majority of respondents were from health systems, with a small percentage representing short term acute care hospitals and academic medical centers. Learn more about the report and methodology here.
About Verato
Verato, the identity experts for healthcare, enables smarter growth, improved care quality and efficiency, and better population health by solving the problem that drives everything else—knowing who is who. Over 70 of the most respected brands in healthcare rely on Verato for a complete and trusted 360-degree view of the people they serve to accelerate the success of their digital health initiatives and fully understand consumers’ preferences, risks, and needs from the beginning and throughout their care journey. Only the Verato HITRUST-certified, next generation cloud identity platform enables interoperability across the complex digital health ecosystem with unprecedented accuracy, ease, and time-to-value. With an enterprise-wide single source of truth for identity, Verato ensures that you get identity right from the start. For more information, visit verato.com.
About Sage Growth Partners
Sage Growth Partners accelerates commercial success for B2B, B2B2C, and B2C healthcare organizations through a singular focus on growth. The company helps its clients thrive amid the complexities of a rapidly changing marketplace with deep domain expertise and an integrated application of research, strategy, and marketing. Founded in 2005, Sage Growth Partners is located in Baltimore, MD, and serves clients such as the National Minority Health Association, Progeny Health, Pyx Health, Philips Healthcare, U.S. Renal Care, Quest Diagnostics, Vocera, Livongo, Olive, iN2L, and Aperture. For more information visit sage-growth.com
