By Todd Goughnour, MBA, RHIA — SVP, Health Information Management, e4health
When we think about hospital operational performance, we often spotlight labor costs, payer contracts, or tech consolidation. But an overlooked and compounding risk threatens all of it: poor patient data quality.
From rising denial rates to patient safety breakdowns, mismanaged data—particularly unresolved duplicate records and misidentifications—is causing massive financial harm across U.S. health systems.
🧾 The CFO’s Blind Spot: When Dirty Data Becomes a Financial Drain
- $1.5M–$2.5M/year in claim denials tied directly to inaccurate patient information. (Fierce Healthcare)
- Up to $2,000 per inpatient stay lost from repeated tests, delayed care, and poor documentation.
- 95% of medical malpractice claims involve some form of patient misidentification.
- Estimated 100,000 deaths annually from misidentified patients, with total cost approaching $20B/year. (StatPearls / NIH)
🚫 Why This Is Not an IT Problem
Most EHR vendors assume clean data will be delivered to them. They may provide guidance on technical mapping or data structure—but they won’t take accountability for resolving duplicate records, overlays, or fragmented legacy data. Without dedicated cleanup and governance, your hospital is building its digital infrastructure on unstable ground.
💡 The Smart Fix: Staff Augmentation for Identity Cleanup
At e4health, we’ve seen how tackling patient identity management with skilled HIM staff and focused governance produces real savings. That’s why we created this free eBook:
📘 No Data Left Behind: Why Staff Augmentation is the Smart Way to Tackle Patient Identity Management
Inside, you’ll find:
- How a health system reduced 87,000 duplicate records and saved millions
- Why staff augmentation is the most efficient way to scale MPI cleanup
- How better identity management improves denial rates, safety, and migration ROI
🧠 A Better Strategy, Backed by Real ROI
Don’t wait until a go-live or M&A event exposes hidden identity gaps. Proactive investment in patient data integrity:
- ✅ Increases first-pass claim rate
- ✅ Reduces malpractice exposure
- ✅ Improves clinician satisfaction
- ✅ Lowers IT burden during system migrations
📆 Schedule a Strategy Session
We’re working with CFOs and HIM executives nationwide to model the real cost and opportunity of better data quality.
🎥 Watch the Webinar: A New Model for Identity Management
📩 Or Book a session with our HIM experts to assess your current state and risk profile.