Mount Sinai Deploys CLEAR for Secure Identity
The Mount Sinai Health System in New York City announced a collaboration with the secure identity company CLEAR. Mount Sinai will be the first health system in the city to use the company's technology to create a more seamless and secure experience for both employees and patients. The deployment is aimed at simplifying identity verification processes within the health system.
- Patient misidentification is a significant cause of medical errors, with some studies indicating it accounts for approximately 70% of adverse patient outcomes. Inaccuracies in patient identification can lead to incorrect treatments, medication errors, and duplicate or unnecessary testing. - For employees, secure identity verification can streamline access to sensitive data and restricted areas like operating rooms or pharmaceutical storage. This technology helps mitigate the risk of hiring staff with falsified credentials and strengthens compliance with regulations like HIPAA. - CLEAR's technology integrates with Epic's MyChart and EpicCare Link, which is relevant for health systems like Memorial Hermann that use Epic. This integration allows for a more seamless, secure, self-service process for patient account creation and recovery, reducing administrative tasks. - The technology aims to address the "wicked problem" of patient misidentification, which costs hospitals an average of $17.4 million annually in denied insurance claims. By improving patient matching, which can be as low as 80% accurate within a single healthcare setting, biometric verification can reduce these financial losses. - Beyond patient check-in, CLEAR's platform is being used for provider identity verification during account creation and password recovery, replacing manual processes. This is part of a broader push for a reusable, interoperable digital identity that follows a patient or provider across different healthcare systems. - Health systems such as Wellstar, Hackensack Meridian Health, and Tampa General Hospital have also partnered with CLEAR to improve patient check-in and access to medical records. Wellstar, an early adopter of CLEAR integrated with Epic, saw a five-fold increase in digital check-in adoption and freed up over 1,500 staff hours in six months. - The use of biometrics in healthcare raises privacy concerns, as compromised biometric data, unlike a password, cannot be changed. There's also a risk of patient reluctance to use what they may perceive as invasive technology, such as retinal scans. - This initiative aligns with federal efforts, including those by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), to "kill the clipboard" and create a more digitally connected, patient-centric healthcare system. CLEAR is a participant in the CMS Health Tech Ecosystem initiative.
