This past fall, the Compliance Committee finalized a new policy, CL 1.21 Patient Identification, which applies to all clinical staff. This new policy aligns us with healthcare best practices focused on patient safety.
As the new policy states, identifying patients accurately and matching the patient’s identity with the correct treatment or service is a critical factor of patient safety. The practice of engaging the patient in identifying themselves and using two patient identifiers (full name, date of birth, and/or medical ID number) is essential in improving the reliability of the patient identification process.
Effective immediately, all clinical staff will use at least two patient identifiers whenever providing treatment or procedures. You may do this by matching the patient’s stated full name and date of birth with an ID band or the medical record. The patient’s date of birth has always been readily available in Clinicient and has been available in NetHealth since November of this year. Simply ask the patient to state their name and date of birth and confirm accuracy. Be sure you don’t state their name and date of birth and ask if what you stated was correct! If you have any concerns about the patient’s capacity to state their name and/or date of birth, please consult with others in the community who can confirm the patient’s identity.
You can find the policy here. And, as always, if you have any questions, please let us know by emailing INFCompliance@infinityrehab.com.
