Opinion: The House has OK’d a unique patient identifier. Here’s what should happen next
The long-standing ban on a unique patient identifier undermines medical record-keeping, puts patients at risk, and costs the health care system billions of dollars a year.
It isn’t every day that the House of Representatives takes bipartisan action to reverse a policy that’s been in place for two decades. But that’s what happened last month, when Democrats and Republicans alike voted for a measure designed to address a perennial problem that undermines medical record-keeping, puts patients at risk, and costs our health care system billions of dollars every year.
Specifically, the House a 21-year ban on funding for a national patient identifier — a unique number or code comparable to a Social Security number that would be assigned to each and every American. As envisioned, this identifier would make it easier for health
