A group of healthcare organizations wrote a letter to Congressmen requesting they rectify legislation that stops HHS from working with the private sector on bettering patient identification tools, according to healthcare informatics.
Here are five insights:
1. Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, and Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies, received the letter.
2. The following organizations, among others, signed the letter:
• American Health Information Management Association
• American Medical Informatics Association
• College of Health Information Management Executives
• EHR Association
• Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society
• Health IT Now
3. Congressional language has stopped HHS from utilizing funds to collaborate on patient matching solutions because of privacy concerns for the "potential misuse of a unique patient identifier," according to healthcare informatics.
4. The letter notes: "The absence of a national strategy for accurately identifying patients has resulted in significant costs to hospitals, health systems, physician practices and long-term post-acute care facilities as well as hindered efforts to facilitate health information exchange."
5. The American Health Information Management Association CEO commented the collaboration between the public and private sectors will create an open discussion to "foster a solution that is cost effective and scalable while ensuring that appropriate privacy controls are in place to protect patient privacy."
