From PoliticoPro:
Another day, another set of healthcare notables asking for a unique patient identifier. Today’s addition to the annals, which already include groups such as CHIME and the Health IT Policy Committee, came at a Capitol Hill event sponsored by the EHR Association. Today’s pleaders were executives at various provider organizations. “We need a unique patient identifier,” said Richard Milani, the chief clinical transformation officer at Ochsner Health System in New Orleans. Milani’s call was echoed by Fred Rachman of the Alliance of Chicago Community Health Services. Such an identifier, panelists said, makes it simpler to differentiate between patients who might share names. The wishlist grew longer from there. Milani asked for unique provider addresses, which he analogized to a phonebook for healthcare. It should be easy to share data among care givers, for care purposes, he continued — but that sharing data for non-clinical purposes should be curtailed. “There’s a fear that you’re mining data,” he said. “That’s inappropriate.” Others had their own additions to the list. Rachman and Brian Yeaman, chief administrative officer of Coordinated Care Oklahoma, called for a respite from regulation. “We need to let the dust settle,” Yeaman said, suggesting that backing off from some meaningful use measures and penalties would be helpful. The system needs to be “creative again,” not just “task-driven” in responding to dictates from the government, he said. — Darius Tahir
