Providers, Payers, Not Totally Confident in Their Demographic Data

Only 37% of payers and 58% of healthcare providers are very confident that their member/patient demographic information is correct.

Although the pandemic has highlighted the need for payers and providers to be able to effectively reach and communicate with the populations that they serve, gaps in data accuracy may make that a challenge, finds a TransUnion survey of payers and providers.

The survey showed that only 37% of payers and 58% of healthcare providers are very confident that their member/patient demographic information is correct.

The pandemic "really highlighted the importance of being able to engage with your populations, whether as a patient or as a member of an insurance company," John Yount, vice president of go-to-market enablement and product marketing for TransUnion's healthcare division, tells HealthLeaders.

Having correct data is important not only for tasks like insurance verification and billing, but also to let patients know that it's safe to return to a healthcare facility.

Yount notes other research showing that patients are continuing defer care and choose alternate care locations, such as retail clinics and urgent care facilities.

For instance, TransUnion data from earlier this year showed that ED visits were down 30% compared to pre-COVID-19 volumes during the week of December 13, 2020.

These findings should serve as a "call to action" for revenue cycle leaders to beef up their patient demographic data to better enable communications.

"If I'm responsible for revenue and expenses in an organization, [it] is really important to me to understand how I engage those populations so that they understand the services that I can offer them," he says.

Correct data is also important for facilities to engage with populations that are historically underserved or disadvantaged.

"It would be in the best interest of healthcare organization to figure out how they would be better positioned to engage those populations proactively to ultimately drive down costs, automate, [and] be more efficient," Yount says.

The survey also found:

• 63% of providers and 53% of payers ranked improving efficiencies in their top three business priorities.
   
• 51% of providers and 51% payers ranked positive patient/member experiences in their top three business priorities.