Case Study: Sentara Healthcare achieves improved patient identification and reduced duplicate medical records with Imprivata PatientSecure

Enhancing the patient experience with positive patient identification

Sentara Healthcare, a 130‑year‑old health system based in Norfolk, VA (12 hospitals, 3,739 beds), faced growing patient‑identification risks as mergers and multiple EHRs increased duplicate and overlaid records, identity-theft exposure, and misidentification—especially in fast‑paced areas like registration and the ED. Leadership recognized the need to maintain a low duplicate rate while changing staff and patient behavior to protect safety and improve the patient experience.

Sentara implemented Imprivata PatientSecure palm‑vein biometrics in 2013 alongside strong top‑down change management, staff coaching, patient outreach (“Give us a hand”) and an ED “pivot process” that pairs registration and triage. Enrollments jumped from 92,000 to 540,000 (2013–2017) and annual uses grew from ~38,000 to nearly 2 million; the solution has been rolled out to eight hospitals (two more planned), helped prevent identity theft, enabled rapid ID of unresponsive patients, and streamlined registration while reducing duplicate records.

Sentara Healthcare

Tara Slone

IT Operations Manager