Verato recently hosted an engaging focus group with CHIME, bringing together healthcare executives to discuss the evolving challenges of patient identity, data interoperability, and the future of AI in healthcare.
Our conversation underscored a central truth: Robust data governance, management, and strategy are imperative to health system operations today and are driving the innovation of tomorrow: powering everything from patient safety to AI-driven efficiencies and improved care delivery.
Below are three key areas that health system CIOs are prioritizing as they lay the foundation for future innovation while addressing operational efficiencies required today.
1. The Identity Challenge: Continued Focus on Addressing a Persistent Pain Point
A recurring theme in our discussion was the ongoing struggle with patient identification. Without a national patient identifier, organizations continue to face high error rates that impact patient care, operational efficiency, and even billing accuracy. Leaders emphasized that misidentified patients receiving incorrect treatment is one of the most pressing safety concerns in healthcare today.
One executive shared their hierarchy of identity challenges, beginning with the need to eliminate misidentification errors before focusing on more advanced personalization initiatives. Another leader from a system with a large Hispanic patient population noted the complexities of managing multiple middle and last names, making accurate identity resolution even more critical.
2. AI Innovation: Finding a Balance Between Automation and Human Oversight
As AI and automation become more embedded in healthcare operations, some leaders voiced concern that greater automation could reduce necessary human intervention. While AI-powered governance was seen as a promising solution for standardizing identity data across disparate systems, there was a consensus that healthcare must find the right balance between automation and human oversight to ensure patient safety and trust.
3. Supercharging Digital Transformation and Patient Engagement
Executives agreed that the concept of Customer 360 is evolving. Many were enthusiastic about a consolidated, intelligent approach to identity, particularly in interoperability, digital engagement, and clinical data management. Some organizations are integrating identity across multiple systems, while others are exploring AI-powered data governance and enrichment to enhance patient data quality. A few noted that while they’ve made strides in interoperability, they are still working toward the intelligence layer that enables actionable insights across all patient and provider data.
Key Takeaways: Moving Forward with Identity Intelligence
- Identity resolution remains a fundamental challenge, and a critical priority for improving patient safety and operational efficiency.
- AI-powered governance has potential, but healthcare organizations need clear, specific applications rather than broad AI marketing claims.
- Interoperability is progressing, but true identity intelligence, where data is not just connected but enriched and actionable, is still the next frontier.
- The right balance of automation and human oversight is essential to maintain trust and accuracy in patient identity management.
As the industry moves forward, identity intelligence will be the key to unlocking seamless digital transformation in healthcare. At Verato, we’re committed to helping organizations achieve a complete and trusted 360-degree view of their patients, members, and providers: because when you know who is who, everything else becomes possible.
