Ambulance: Facial Recognition Used To Identify Patients

Duality Health, a face biometrics patient identification software provider, and Acadian Ambulance, one of America’s largest privately-held medical transportation companies, have recently partnered to transform healthcare using AI-powered facial recognition technologies.

Complexities in syncing patient records across healthcare organizations have raised safety concerns and have resulted in significant financial losses for ambulance services, hospitals, and health systems. In a 2020 Black Book survey, approximately 35 percent of all denied claims stemmed from inaccurate patient identification or information, costing the average provider $2.5 million annually and the U.S. healthcare system over $6.7 billion.

“The increasing amount of healthcare data has led to challenges in identifying and reconciling patient records due to disparate systems and duplication. By utilizing Duality’s facial biometric patient identification software, Acadian seeks to enhance record matching, improve patient care and satisfaction, increase efficiency, and reduce costs,” says Benjamin Swig, director of healthcare innovation and strategy at Acadian Ambulance.

Duality’s software uses face biometrics to create unique identifiers linked to patients’ medical record numbers. This approach ensures over 99.96 percent accurate patient identification, promoting better health data exchange between healthcare organizations, according to the announcement.

“By accurately identifying and matching patients across EMS and hospitals, we seek to minimize treatment delays, improve revenue cycle efficiency, and streamline information sharing,” says Clayton Saliba, CEO and co-founder of Duality Health.

Upon linking the patient’s face biometrics to their medical records, Duality integrates healthcare provider and Health Information Exchange data into an EMS summary screen via HL7 FHIR, an API-focused standard for health information interoperability. Duality’s software is also integrated within the hospital’s electronic health record system, leveraging Substitutable Medical Applications and Reusable Technologies (SMART on FHIR) for private and secure access.

“We are excited to partner with Duality Health,” says Acadian Ambulance Chairman and CEO Richard Zuschlag. “Through strategic partnerships, we strive to enhance patient care and optimize cost-efficiency for all involved. We are dedicated to being at the forefront of the next generation of EMS and are excited to continue shaping the future of healthcare.”

Acadian provides ambulance services in most of Louisiana, a large area of Texas, and three counties between Tennessee and Mississippi.

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