Duplicate patient records put care & finances at risk

Clinicians today can access large volumes of patient data owing to the widespread usage of electronic health records (EHRs), patient record exchange systems, and wearables. However, unless the data is complete, accurate, relevant, and timely, you cannot rely on it. 

And poor-quality data, especially involving duplicate records, is a major concern in healthcare. In fact, some organisations struggle with a staggering 30% duplication rate. 

And the effects of data duplicity range from missed appointments, delayed diagnostics, and medical errors to administrative inefficiencies, financial losses, and compliance risks.  

Hence, to deliver safe, coordinated, and efficient patient care, explore what triggers duplicate records, their impact, and preventive strategies.

Duplicate patient records: Why they arise 

Record duplication happens when there is more than one profile against a single patient in the EHR or practice management system. And knowing about these common causes can help you take steps for effective prevention: 

• Manual Error during Registration: While registering patients, your staff might misspell names, misinterpret handwritten forms, or enter the wrong demographic details. Slight variations in names (shortened versions, initials) and language barriers (causing misunderstanding of information) can also lead to duplicate records.  
• Inconsistent Registration Process: If you don't have a standardised data entry process, your staff might record patient details differently across departments or visits. In the absence of consistent formats for names, contact details, etc., your record system cannot match patients reliably. Also, duplicates multiply without regular clean-ups and audits. 
• Self-Registration: While self-service kiosks and patient portals ease registration, they also augment the risk of record duplication. For instance, patients might enter nicknames instead of full names, mistype something, or enter names in a way that's different from before. Pairing self-registration portals with a de-duplication tool like the one from Melissa Data Corporation can help though.  

Patient safety risks due to duplicate records

In case of duplicate records, clinicians cannot view the complete list of medications for a patient or previous diagnoses and treatments. They miss crucial information on allergies or adverse drug-to-drug interactions. This not only affects the quality and continuity of care, but also patient safety. Incorrect treatments or delays can even cause fatalities and harm your reputation. 

Medical errors caused by incorrect identification 

If a clinician views the incorrect version of a patient's record and makes decisions based on the same, it can lead to inaccurate medication, dosage, or treatment. Miscommunication across different care teams and administration of redundant tests are other serious consequences. Medical errors destroy a patient's trust in your practice too. 

Non-clinical impact of duplicate patient records 

Beyond the clinical realm, data duplication affects the financial and operational aspects of your practice: 

Operational inefficiencies 

Your staff must work extra hard when dealing with duplicate records. They have to put in a lot of time looking for the right patient record, rectifying scheduled appointments, and reconciling patient data from different sources manually. Patient admission and discharges might get delayed too. 

Ineffective care coordination 

Unless there's one accurate record for every patient, care coordination isn't effective. This is especially true in case of multiple providers contributing to a patient's care. Simply put, unless all providers can access the same, complete, and accurate record, they see only a part of the patient's medical history. This hampers consistent information exchange, collaboration, and outcome tracking, even endangering the patient's life. 

Unnecessary consultations and tests  

As mentioned before, in case of duplicate patient records, clinicians are unable to view past diagnoses and treatments. And this can cause them to recommend additional or unnecessary consultations, tests, and care solutions. Hence, patients are inconvenienced and financially burdened while treatment is delayed or repeated.  

Compliance issues owing to duplicate records 

Operating in the healthcare space requires you to adhere to stringent regulations (like Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA). And when there's more than one record for a patient, it's challenging to determine which one is updated and accurate. 

Hence, patient data can be misused or accessed without authorization. Audits or quality reporting on healthcare services might also be affected by data duplicity. So, fragmented data poses compliance risks and exposes you to hefty fines.  

Financial impact of patient record duplication  

Sorting through duplicate patient records increases the administrative workload, which is a hidden financial drain. Moreover, when duplicate records negatively impact treatment, patients are dissatisfied and often seek advice from a different organisation. This means lost business for your practice. And if they share their experience with family and friends, you lose more prospective patients. 

In case record duplication worsens a patient's health outcome, you might end up facing expensive lawsuits too. In fact, the annual malpractice cost due to duplication is close to $1.7 billion. Also, if a patient is administered the wrong treatment, the cost of additional tests and care inflates your practice's financial burden. 

Preventing patient record duplication: Helpful strategies  

A mix of staff training, process discipline, and advanced technology can help you avoid duplication. So, consider these strategies: 

Standardise the process of data entry 

Establish clear protocols for patient registration and have robust rules and formats for fields like name, address, date of birth, phone, and email address. Train your staff thoroughly on the same, so data entry is accurate and consistent from the very beginning. Instruct them to avoid rushing the registration process or making assumptions about spellings.

Verify in real time at entry point

Make sure patient information is validated the moment it's entered. Your staff should conduct checks in real time against reference databases, so new records aren't unnecessarily created or don't contain incomplete or inaccurate data. 

Audit and cleanse databases regularly 

Auditing databases on a monthly or quarterly basis can help in spotting inconsistencies or duplicates early on and resolve the same. Hence, you will have a clean and accurate records system always. 

Empower patients 

Equip self-registration portals with clear instructions and data validation rules to reduce the errors patients usually make. Provide patients with prompts periodically too, so they can confirm or update details if required. 

Automate deduplication 

Leverage an automated deduplication tool from solution providers like Melissa to eliminate the inefficiency and mistakes associated with manual detection and correction. Such tools use pattern recognition, probabilistic logic, and fuzzy matching to spot and merge duplicate records. 

For instance, Melissa's solution can identify duplicates despite slight differences in fields, standardise and validate fields, and correct data and even enrich the same. Its matching logic can be aligned with healthcare-specific needs too.    

Address duplicate records to protect and scale your practice confidently

Duplicate records are much more than a bureaucratic annoyance for healthcare practices. They threaten patient safety besides hampering operational efficiency and compliance. You waste resources, struggle with decision-making, and risk financial and reputational losses.  

Fortunately, it's possible to prevent duplication by standardizing data entry, verifying information in real time, empowering patients, and cleansing databases regularly. Investing in an advanced deduplication tool, like Melissa's data deduplication solution, also helps you automate it all and save time and effort.

In an increasingly data-centric environment, maintaining clean and accurate patient records is a strategic move. You can protect patients, deliver superior care, and preserve their trust while scaling your practice.