National Solution for Accurate Patient Identification Appears Within Reach
ANN ARBOR, MI, June 1, 2016 – Concepts ranging from the use of quantum physics to multi-faceted biometric technologies are among those being suggested as methods for ensuring accurate patient identification.
More than 113 innovators from around the world submitted entries for the CHIME Healthcare Innovation Trust National Patient ID Challenge’s Concept Blitz Round. Following a thorough review by a panel of five independent judges, 23 proposals were selected as semifinalists and eight submissions were chosen as finalists. Today, CHIME named two Concept Blitz Round winners for submitting concepts that are well positioned to meet criteria for a national patient ID solution. Both will receive a $30,000 prize. The winning submissions are:
- Michael Braithwaite, whose proposal promises to tap into enhanced biometric technology to create an easy-to-implement and scalable solution.
- Mark Schroeder, whose proposal relies on HL7-approved standards for data exchange to enable demographic and biometric data to be utilized for patient identification
The other six finalists were:
- Shawnnah Castillo
- Kathryn Elaine
- Mathematica Policy Research (team)
- Spiral Nebula (team)
- RightPatient (team)
- Bon Sy and Ayman Zeidan
“One of the most encouraging aspects of the Concept Blitz Round is the fact that so many ideas seem to leverage technology that already exists and won’t require wholesale disruption of our information technology systems. This reinforces CHIME’s position that we can find a solution that can be deployed regardless of provider type, size or location,” said CHIME Board Chair Marc Probst, vice president and chief information officer, Intermountain Healthcare.
Launched last January, the CHIME Healthcare Innovation Trust’s National Patient ID Challenge encourages innovators to develop a way for healthcare providers in the United States to accurately, privately and safely identify patients 100 percent of the time. Finding a viable solution will help to reduce healthcare costs, accelerate information exchange and, importantly, improve patient safety.
“The ECRI Institute ranked patient misidentification as its No. 2 patient safety concern for 2016,” said CHIME President and CEO Russell Branzell. “Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine recently named medical errors as the third leading cause of death in the United States. We know that somewhere, right now, a patient is being harmed due to misidentification. We owe it to our patients to solve this problem once and for all. The solutions coming forward in this challenge are pointing us to a real solution. We look forward to seeing even more compelling and innovative ideas in the Final Innovation Round.”
| The challenge now moves into the Final Innovation Round, which is open from June 1 to November 10. Innovators must register by July 12 to be eligible for the ultimate $1 million prize. Innovators were not required to participate in the Concept Blitz Round in order to enter Final Innovation Round.
Simultaneous to this initiative, CHIME continues to advocate for lifting the decades-old ban that greatly limits the Department of Health and Human Services from exploring options for a national patient identifier. “As patients increasingly seek care across the continuum, and data moves from one care setting to another, it is vital that we ensure patients are accurately identified and matched to their records,” Probst said. “Enabling HHS to work with the private sector to find and implement a patient identification solution will boost our efforts to improve patient safety and reduce costs.” |
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About CHIME
The CHIME Healthcare Innovation Trust is an organization formed under the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) to sponsor and administer the CHIME National Patient ID Challenge. CHIME is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 1,900 CIO members and over 150 healthcare IT vendors and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit chimecentral.org.
Contact
Matthew Weinstock
Director of Communications and Public Relations, CHIME
734.249.8917
[email protected]