Digital IDs Streamline Secure Patient Access To Online Rx

The pandemic accelerated digital shifts across every industry. Healthcare experienced one of the most dramatic transformations, with both patients and providers embracing virtual care. Security risks, however, have reached an all-time high, making it urgent for healthcare providers to adopt strong digital identity verification solutions.

In the January Digital Identity Tracker®, PYMNTS examines the pandemic-driven challenges healthcare providers face and how digital identity is being leveraged to help secure patients and their personal information. 

Around the Digital Identity Space

Various jurisdictions worldwide have expanded digital identity and verification with many different implementations, ranging from proof of vaccination to pre-employment verification. With no current plans for a federal digital vaccine pass in the United States, individual states are rolling out solutions to provide residents with digital proof of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. As major cities, including Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, San Francisco and Philadelphia, have announced plans to require proof of vaccination for dining out or attending cultural events, several states have considered adopting a digital health card or app, which may become the standard proof of vaccination status in the U.S.

In the United Kingdom, the pandemic made routine rental and pre-employment verification checks difficult, prompting the government to implement a digital identity solution. This new process will allow employers, landlords and others to easily check identities online. This is intended to accelerate onboarding processes and enhance security; the technology is also designed to simplify identifying fraud or inaccuracies in identity documents. The U.K. government intends to roll these new processes out in early 2022.

For more on these and other digital identity headlines, read the Tracker’s News and Trends section.

Mend on the Benefits of Robust Remote Digital Identity Verification for Healthcare Organizations

Many healthcare organizations were caught entirely off-guard when the pandemic started, throwing their administrative processes into disarray. However, some technology-forward virtual healthcare organizations had already begun verifying and authenticating patients remotely long before the pandemic started. Mend, a patient engagement and telehealth platform headquartered in Orlando, Florida, was one of these organizations. Matt McBride, founder and CEO of Mend, spoke with PYMNTS about how digital identity verification can sustain an organization while eliminating administrative processes and creating efficiencies.

PYMNTS Intelligence: How Telemedicine Is Driving Digital Identity Verification Adoption in Healthcare

The pandemic prompted swift digital transformation in the healthcare space, with virtual care becoming the norm for routine medical appointments. However, healthcare organizations that adopt this trend must also be prepared to adopt strict authentication rules and procedures, as remote appointments pose their own brand of security risks. How can organizations be certain that the person on the other side of the screen or end of the phone is who they say they are? This month, PYMNTS examines how remote care has increased the need for digital identity verification measures in healthcare services, and the solutions that can address the challenges presented by a virtual care setting.

About the Tracker

The Digital Identity Tracker®, a PYMNTS and Jumio collaboration, examines the latest developments in the digital identity space from across the globe.