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Improving the patient experience is getting more attention than ever. Patients frustrated with manual, time-consuming, and antiquated workflows blocking their ability to access and share their own complete and accurate healthcare records are fueling new rallying cries to “kill the clipboard.” These rally cries are shining a new spotlight on the seminal need for trusted identity at every touchpoint across the care journey.
As the care delivery ecosystem becomes increasingly complex across joint venture partners, surgical centers, clinics, lab providers, and virtual care, it has become clear that exceptional patient experiences can only be realized with a comprehensive approach to achieving unprecedented identity intelligence.
Delivering on the mandate
To “kill the clipboard,” we must work together across the care continuum to establish both local and network-trusted identity data management capabilities that can unify patient data across fragmented data silos at both the database layer and the front-end digital and physical access layer.
This requires unprecedented identity intelligence:
Extraordinary identity resolution accuracy
Native attribute enrichment
Digital identity verification
In-context governance
In the past, these solutions would be cobbled together across multiple systems; however, today, next-generation master data management (MDM) solutions that are purpose-built for healthcare should be expected to deliver a comprehensive platform approach.
Making identity work
Next-generation MDM solutions unify and contextualize information across systems. Every consumer, patient, provider, and relationship should be represented in a single, trusted view. Its impact spans five critical dimensions:
Patient, consumer, and provider unification – Advanced identity resolution combined with digital identity verification unify data across systems of record (EHRs), systems of experience (CRM, portals), and systems of insight (cloud data platforms, data warehouses) to the correct individual, reducing duplicate charts, ensuring care teams see the whole history, and providing patients with a consistent identity across every touchpoint.
Provider and organization mastering – Connecting providers to facilities, networks, and patients helps ensure that referrals are not lost, increases credentialing velocity, and keeps directories current, so patients know which specialists, labs, or care sites are truly in-network.
Relationship management – Data on caregivers, dependents, and households is captured and maintained, reflecting the real-world web of care. That context helps clinicians and staff understand family dynamics, coordinate across caregivers, and support populations like pediatrics or elder care more effectively.
Consumer experience enablement – By unifying clinical and non-clinical data, organizations can personalize interactions — from remembering a patient’s communication preferences to preventing the frustration of being treated like a stranger at every visit.
Data foundation for AI and analytics – Trusted, unified data prevents duplicate errors, ensures predictive models correctly identify the right patient, and enables targeted interventions that address clinical and social factors shaping health outcomes.
Together, these dimensions elevate identity from an access function to enterprise infrastructure — the basis for continuity, accuracy, and personalization.
Turning identity into strategic value
Healthcare competition is more intense than ever. Patients bypass traditional entry points like the ED or primary care referrals and instead choose urgent care, telehealth, or retail clinics, and also do their own online research for specialists. Growth is no longer guaranteed solely by building facilities and having the best outcomes.
That shift makes identity a growth strategy, going beyond operational benefits of improved care outcomes and compliance. To deliver truly personalized care, leaders must treat MDM as an enterprise priority. It begins with identity resolution and enrichment, progressing to in-context data governance and leveraging digital identity verification in high-value workflows, such as provider password resets and secure patient digital front door access.
When organizations truly have identity intelligence, they can also combine enrichment data, such as SDOH and other consumer and behavioral information, with their existing data to create a more comprehensive and trusted view of the patient. This opens opportunities to use AI and advanced insights to drive strategic interventions. Consider a patient scheduled for a $70,000 surgery who never shows up because transportation fell through. Anticipating that risk and offering a $50 ride-share credit could protect revenue and keep care on schedule. But that kind of foresight is only possible when data is unified, enriched, and trusted.
The leadership imperative
Organizations that embrace the journey toward unprecedented identity intelligence will transform identity into a source of trust, insight, and enterprise value, positioning themselves to lead the next era of connected, data-driven healthcare.
Image: marchmeena29, Getty Images
Clay Ritchey is the CEO of Verato, bringing more than 20 years of experience driving growth and innovation in market-leading healthcare technology organizations.
This post appears through the MedCity Influencers program. Anyone can publish their perspective on business and innovation in healthcare on MedCity News through MedCity Influencers. Click here to find out how.
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