While the healthcare industry increasingly turns digital, the presence of paper identification cards may seem amiss. CMS has received proposals to replace paper Medicare cards with electronically readable cards, which could be beneficial for a number of purposes but would also present some logistical obstacles.
The Government Accountability Office conducted a study reviewing the potential uses of electronically readable cards for Medicare beneficiaries and providers.
The study determined such cards could be beneficial in three key areas: authenticating beneficiary and provider presence at the point of care, electronically exchanging beneficiary medical information and electronically confirming and conveying beneficiary identity and insurance information to providers.
The electronically readable cards could be in a number of formats, including cards with magnetic stripes like credit cards, cards with bar codes or smart cards, which would contain a chip that can store and process data.
The use of such cards could help reduce certain types of Medicare fraud by verifying both patient and provider presence at the point of care, but the GAO indicates that scope is limited, as Medicare is likely to pay claims whether or not a card was present because patients could have legitimate reasons for not having the card with them and because they would not want to limit a beneficiary's access to care by not paying claims.
The GAO report also said these types of cards are not part of federal efforts to advance data exchange, so the industry may run into some issues with interoperability.
Additionally, introducing electronically readable cards would require the industry to update its claims processing systems to verify the cards at the point of care as well as other administrative tasks, such as issuing cards and developing standards and procedures for card use.
However, electronically readable cards could auto-populate fields in IT systems, thereby reducing reimbursement and medical record keeping errors.
The report said the cost savings of such a program are still unclear.
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