2011 HFMA Region V Dixie Institute

It was our privilege to provide the conference ID badges for the most recent Region V conference of the Healthcare Financial Management Association.  The conference was held in Nashville, TN this year and was attended by more than 500 individuals from all over the southeast.

There were more than 50 solution providers in attendance offering cutting edge information on everything from patient VIP card solutions to revenue cycle management and consulting services.  For more information on the conference and additional information about this year's sponsoring organization (the Tennessee HFMA) please follow this link:

Tennessee HFMA and the Dixie Institute

Here is a photo of our booth at the conference.  Thanks again for keeping in touch.

Aspects of a Quality Agency ID Card Program (with or without NIMS, PIV, or HSPD12)

Identification is no longer a piece of cardstock you can stick in the back of your wallet or purse never to be seen again. With increasing concerns related to safety and homeland security, a growing emphasis is being placed on properly identifying and certifying personnel. With this comes the responsibility of not only giving all of your personnel durable, unique identification cards, but also verifying an individual’s validity to receive it. Whether you choose to utilize ID cards with barcodes, magnetic stripes, or smartcards with embedded chips, you must be able to integrate them into your organizational and incident management systems.

With the advent of initiatives like NIMS and PIV (Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12) the production and utilization of ID’s has changed dramatically in the last few years. What once was a simple piece of plastic or paper that signified that the bearer belonged to a particular group is now the key to managing the most valuable resource you have, trained personnel.

A quality ID program that meets the needs of your agency as well as adhering to emerging regulatory standards should consist of several components:

• Enrollment into the system should include collection and verification of demographic information, a digital photo image, and possibly biometric information. This is the first link in the “chain of trust” that guarantees the integrity of your system.

• Data preparation/storage must be secure. Authenticity must be maintained with measurable confirmation that sensitive information is protected from misuse. At the same time, collected data must be stored in a format that facilitates easy exchange with other data structures.

• Production of ID cards must be controlled and secure. ID cards must contain a quality digital photo image, as well as basic demographic information about the carrier. Whether you chose to utilize barcodes, magnetic stripes, smartcards, or a combination of any of these, every ID should contain a computer readable, identifying component specific to the carrier. The ID card is the most visible component in the image of trust that we bring to the public. The design of all ID credentials should include components that make it extremely difficult to forge or duplicate.

• IDs must be integrateable. IDs should be integrated into a variety of your everyday systems such as physical access to buildings, logistical access to networks, and human resource accountability. When in the field, IDs should be the key component in incident command and control. Whether it is site access control, physical asset accountability, or personnel asset accountability, your ID must integrate effectively. This integration is not only important within your own agency or county, but is vital on a state and national level to facilitate the effective sharing of assets and personnel during catastrophic events. Homeland Security, National Capital Region’s First Responder Partnership Initiative (FRPI) is an excellent example of an effective ID system that efficiently utilizes technology and cooperation among regional counterparts.

There are a myriad of ways to design, produce, and distribute identification credentials to your personnel. No matter how you chose to go about your ID program, you must ask yourself a few basic questions:

1. Are my IDs prepared and produced in a secure fashion?
2. Can my IDs be easily forged, altered, or duplicated?
3. Am I including ALL pertinent information or access to it on my IDs related to department, rank, clearances, certifications, etc?
4. Do my IDs integrate with my systems both in the office and in the field?
5. Do my IDs integrate with state and national systems
6. Do my IDs need standards outlines by state and national regulations?
7. Do I have an incident management system in place that effectively utilizes my agency IDs and the IDs of surrounding counterpart agencies?

I you require assistance with implementing a quality ID card issuance program, please contact me via the comment form at the bottom of this blog.  Finally, thanks for taking the time to read my best practices blog.

Patient Authentication Loyalty (PAL) Cards

Benefits Summary

Patient Authentication Loyalty (PAL) cards can be used for admissions, insurance verification, payment settlement, marketing, and many other patient/customer related areas in your facility.  PAL cards improve quality of service for patients and reduce administrative costs for health care institutions.  At one time, this type of technology was difficult to implement and cost prohibitive.  Patient identification concerns, like HIPAA, have driven a movement towards end-to-end solutions that are more user friendly and less dependent on already stretched IT resources.  Also, in recent years the cost of equipment, software, and supplies has been trending downward, reducing the time for return on investment.

An effective PAL card solution allows for the storage of vital patient information and for electronic access to a health care provider’s patient database using either a pre-issued plastic card or a patient’s driver’s license. 

Justification by the Numbers

• Industry estimates suggest there are 5-15% duplicate medical records in a database of 500,000-1,000,000.
• Direct cost to detect and correct duplicate records is estimated at $20 per duplicate, up to several hundred dollars.
• Using an example of a database of 500,000 records, a duplicate rate of 10%, and a cost of $20 each to correct, the total cost of duplicate records is $1,000,000!
• Studies estimate that 50-90% of claim denials could be prevented by securing accurate patient information at registration.
• Accurate and non-duplicated records are vital as the industry moves toward Electronic Health Records.
• Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) anticipates future $2.2 billion per year savings for compliant, machine readable cards.
• Healthcare identity theft and fraud is a multi-billion dollar problem.

How It Works

A patient comes to your facility to register.  If they already have a PAL card, they swipe their card at a card reader terminal.  A medical record number, name, or other data stored on the card accesses the correct patient record in your patient database.  The registration process takes less time, and the possibility of creating a duplicate medical record is greatly reduced.  On their computer screen, personnel can review the information retrieved from the database, update any pertinent information, and then proceed efficiently through the remainder of the admissions process.

In the event that a regular patient arrives without their PAL card, the patient’s state issued driver’s license can be scanned for their name/birth date for the retrieval of patient records in your database.  If the person is a first time patient, information from their driver’s license can be scanned to begin the registration process, and the remaining required information can be entered manually.

PAL cards can either be issued on-demand within the admitting department, or any other department in your healthcare facility.  Inexpensive plastic cards pre-printed with your institution’s logo and other marketing signage can be quickly personalized and handed over the counter to your patients within seconds.  A PAL card is a powerful marketing tool (basically a pocket sized billboard) and a patient identification card.  Cost justifiable due to increased efficiencies and image justifiable due to greater market presence for your provider network; a PAL card solution gives your organization a strategic competitive advantage over other healthcare providers. 

For more information please contact me using the form at the bottom of this blog.


Here Is A Front and Back Card Example

Quality ID Cards for First Responders

Identification is no longer a piece of cardstock you can stick in the back of your wallet or purse never to be seen again. With increasing concerns related to safety and homeland security, a growing emphasis is being placed on properly identifying and certifying personnel. With this comes the responsibility of not only giving all of your personnel durable, unique identification cards, but also verifying an individual’s validity to receive it. Whether you choose to utilize ID cards with barcodes, magnetic stripes, or smartcards with embedded chips, you must be able to integrate them into your organizational and incident management systems.

With the advent of initiatives like NIMS and PIV (Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12) the production and utilization of ID’s has changed dramatically in the last few years. What once was a simple piece of plastic or paper that signified that the bearer belonged to a particular group is now the key to managing the most valuable resource you have, trained personnel.

A quality ID program that meets the needs of your agency as well as adhering to emerging regulatory standards should consist of several components:

• Enrollment into the system should include collection and verification of demographic information, a digital photo image, and possibly biometric information. This is the first link in the “chain of trust” that guarantees the integrity of your system.

• Data preparation/storage must be secure. Authenticity must be maintained with measurable confirmation that sensitive information is protected from misuse. At the same time, collected data must be stored in a format that facilitates easy exchange with other data structures.

• Production of ID cards must be controlled and secure. ID cards must contain a quality digital photo image, as well as basic demographic information about the carrier. Whether you chose to utilize barcodes, magnetic stripes, smartcards, or a combination of any of these, every ID should contain a computer readable, identifying component specific to the carrier. The ID card is the most visible component in the image of trust that we bring to the public. The design of all ID credentials should include components that make it extremely difficult to forge or duplicate.

• IDs must be integrateable. IDs should be integrated into a variety of your everyday systems such as physical access to buildings, logistical access to networks, and human resource accountability. When in the field, IDs should be the key component in incident command and control. Whether it is site access control, physical asset accountability, or personnel asset accountability, your ID must integrate effectively. This integration is not only important within your own agency or county, but is vital on a state and national level to facilitate the effective sharing of assets and personnel during catastrophic events. Homeland Security, National Capital Region’s First Responder Partnership Initiative (FRPI) is an excellent example of an effective ID system that efficiently utilizes technology and cooperation among regional counterparts.

There are a myriad of ways to design, produce, and distribute identification credentials to your personnel. No matter how you chose to go about your ID program, you must ask yourself a few basic questions:

1. Are my IDs prepared and produced in a secure fashion?
2. Can my IDs be easily forged, altered, or duplicated?
3. Am I including ALL pertinent information or access to it on my IDs related to department, rank, clearances, certifications, etc?
4. Do my IDs integrate with my systems both in the office and in the field?
5. Do my IDs integrate with state and national systems
6. Do my IDs need standards outlines by state and national regulations?
7. Do I have an incident management system in place that effectively utilizes my agency IDs and the IDs of surrounding counterpart agencies?