Horn Memorial Hospital Requiring Photo Identification at Admission

Properly identifying patients is the first step in patient safety in any healthcare facility. Throughout the national healthcare industry, the improper identification of patients has resulted in medication errors, transfusion and testing errors, and wrong-person procedures.  Accurately identifying patients in healthcare facilities also reduces medical identity theft and insurance fraud.

Horn Memorial Hospital takes patient safety very seriously and has many systems in place to make sure that patients are properly identified from the point of admission to the time they are discharged.

The first opportunity to properly identify a patient is during the admission process.  “If you are a patient age 16 years or older, you will be asked to present photo identification during the admission process,” explains Carrie Arens, Horn Memorial Hospital Revenue Cycle Director. “If you do not have photo identification with you, we will continue with the admission process, and you will be asked to bring photo identification with you to your next visit.”  For patients unable to admit themselves, a family member will be asked to provide the patient’s photo identification and all other information required at admission.

Acceptable forms of photo identification include a state driver’s license, state identification card, tribal identification card, United States uniformed service identification card, a Passport, or a Permanent Resident Card (Green Card).  In addition to a photo, the identification card should include your first and last name, middle initial, and date of birth.  Any Iowa resident may request a photo identification card at the Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) service center; there is no age limit to apply for the card. Applicants will be asked to provide proof of name, identity and United States citizenship, as well as date of birth and social security number.

At Horn Memorial Hospital, once we have properly identified you during the admission process, the admitting staff will place an armband on your wrist. This armband includes unique patient identifying information such as: your name and date of birth, your admitting physician’s name, your unique medical record number, and the date of service.

The next step of proper patient identification occurs every time you come in contact with hospital personnel. The staff of Horn Memorial will ask your name and date of birth before administering any medical service or procedure, and before administering medications or blood products.

“We know that this process may seem cumbersome and unnecessary for a small town hospital, where we know so many of our patients,” says Arens. “However, the procedures are standard practices in all medical facilities throughout the country. The systems are in place to protect all patients and we train our staff to follow the steps with each and every person.”

“When you enter our hospital for services, be prepared to present your personal identification and be patient with our staff when they verify your identity throughout your care in our facility,” said Arens. “We strive to provide high quality, compassionate health care to all of our patients.  Patient safety is our highest priority.”

Horn Memorial Celebrates Hospital’s Overall Rating, Housekeeping Rating

The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems for Hospitals, or HCAHPS, is a series of patient surveys that focus on quality from the patient perspective.  Horn Memorial Hospital participates in the surveys because the feedback from patients and visitors is valuable and helps create programs and systems of care that better serve our patients.  Patients that are hospitalized are randomly chosen to participate in the surveys.  Horn Memorial has a 47% return rate, which is very strong in comparison to peers. 

There are many areas in which Horn Memorial outperforms its peers.  One such measure is the Overall Rating of Horn Memorial.  In 2015, 87% of patients surveyed rated Horn Memorial at a “9” or “10” on a 10 point scale, with “0” being the worst possible hospital and “10” being the best possible hospital.  In comparison, the state of Iowa’s hospitals collectively averaged 76%, and the national average was 72% for this measure.  Hospital CEO Chris Nichols comments, “This is a tremendous achievement and a credit to the entire HMH team.  It proves what we ALREADY know, that we provide great care to our patients.  But we’re also always looking for ways to improve what we do.  I think that commitment is why we stand out and will hopefully continue to do so.”

Another area where HMH stands out is the “cleanliness of the hospital environment.”  For that measure, so far in 2016, Horn ranks in the 98th percentile among its hospital peers.  Meaning, in the entire database of hospitals who use the same measurement tool (over 2000), Horn rated better than 98% of them.  There’s no doubt that the cleanliness of the hospital environment influences patient’s “overall” experience.  Visitors and vendors who do not frequent Horn on a regular basis often comment on the overall cleanliness of the facility.  The hospital is celebrating this achievement with a party for the entire housekeeping staff on September 14th.  Members of the HMH Environmental Services team as shown in the picture from the back row:  Zach Jepsen, Erin Hammond, Jessica Brown, Bev Roe; front row:  Kit Svendsen, Ingrid Ulven, Felisha Payne, and Kelly Harris.  Environmental Services staff who was absent at the time of the photo were Nona Engelke and John Burk.