Intermountain Healthcare working on national patient ID strategy: 4 details

Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare has partnered with several health IT organizations to develop a nationwide patient identification strategy.

Four things to know:

1. The initiative, dubbed Patient ID Now, is pushing Congress to repeal laws that prevent HHS from working with the private sector to develop a nationwide patient identification strategy. The group feels the lack of a strong patient ID system puts patients at risk because providers can't always accurately match patients to their data.

2. Other coalition members include the American Health Information Management Association, Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, American College of Surgeons and Premier Healthcare.

3. Data from the Ponemon Institute shows an average of 35 percent of denied claims occur due to inaccurate patient identification or incomplete patient information, which could cost the healthcare system $1.2 million per year.

4. The coalition is holding a virtual Capitol Hill briefing July 7 with an open invitation to Congress members and staff.

"The inability to accurately match patients with their records not only has severe financial implications, but also impedes health information exchange, and most importantly, impacts patient safety, including loss of lives," said HIMSS President and CEO Hal Wolf. "We must act now and remove the ban."

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