New research aimed to assess organizational readiness for identity-driven digital transformation indicated that while regulated industries generally lose customers due to poor experiences, healthcare organizations fail to keep patients at crisis levels.
According to a Verato report, 90% of leaders in such industries, including healthcare, say fragmented data prevents them from providing seamless customer experiences. This lack of a unified view leads to poor patient experiences and a loss of trust, prompting some healthcare providers and payers to invest in master data management and real-time identity technologies.
WHY IT MATTERS
Although slow-to-evolve organizations are generally undergoing digital transformation, most leaders in healthcare, financial and public sector services reported that fragmented identity data prevents them from offering seamless customer experiences, Verato said in an announcement.
Most of the hundreds of healthcare leaders surveyed or interviewed for the analysis said their health systems regularly see patients defect their organizations due to poor experiences, and none was "very confident" in their 360-degree view capabilities, according to Verato's “The Identity Intelligence Imperative: Bridging Gaps in Customer, Patient, and Constituent Experiences” report.
Identity is the cornerstone of connected, high-quality care, the identity management and cloud services vendor said, because siloed data limits regulated organizations' operational efficiency, impedes trust in their brands and lowers customer satisfaction.
About 30% of healthcare leaders involved in the study said they were confident their data ecosystem supported a 360-degree view of patients and members. But these leaders generally agreed that fragmented or siloed identity data impedes coordinated, personalized experiences.
The critical disconnect, according to Verato, is that nearly all leaders from healthcare organizations recognize the value of experiences, yet few possess the unified identity infrastructure necessary to personalize theirs. Further, identity management is the key to better care outcomes and reimbursements in healthcare.
Boards strategize how to deliver care personalization at scale; build transparency and trust in the outcomes of analytics, artificial intelligence and automation; drive operational efficiencies; and improve their data security, Verato said in the report.
Of note, 57% of leaders across all three sectors surveyed or interviewed are actively planning master data management investments, and 38% said they will be doing so within 12 months.
To establish a trusted, real-time view of every individual, healthcare providers and payers are investing in system-wide MDM and real-time identity resolution to unify and maintain accurate patient and member data across all platforms, the report found.
With operational synchronization and the ability to enrich patient data with clinical and socioeconomic insights, these organizations can better identify high-risk populations, improve care coordination, and support value-based reimbursement and retention, according to the study's findings.
Verato said In90group Research analyzed web-based surveys and qualitative in-depth telephone interviews with hundreds of senior IT, data and experience leaders who oversee or have insight into the data management of their operations. QuestionPro conducted the surveys and interviews earlier this year.
THE LARGER TREND
An Accenture study looking at patient loyalty in healthcare last year found that patients are six times more likely to switch providers, and 41% say a poor digital experience alone is enough to make them leave, Verato noted in the new report.
Fast forward to this year's Accenture annual TechVision report, and hospitals and health systems are working to build a digital core that can better integrate data and support AI that improves decision-making and patient experiences.
That report emphasized "AI's increasing role in automating and augmenting healthcare processes, driving efficiency and enhancing patient interactions," said Andy Truscott, Accenture's global health technology lead.
Implementing AI to transform healthcare delivery hinges on patient trust, he told Healthcare IT News earlier this year on an episode of HIMSSCast.
ON THE RECORD
"Organizations are sitting on goldmines of consumer and customer data, but without a trusted identity framework, it is trapped in silos across disconnected systems, making it impossible to share and consume to have a complete, trusted 360-degree view of the customer journey," Clay Ritchey, Verato's CEO, said in the statement.
Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.
