09/25/2019
Dear FHIMA Leadership and Members,
As you may have heard as part of Dr. Harris’ talk at House of Delegates last week, Tuesday, September 24 is Patient ID Day—a day where we are calling upon Congress to repeal the current ban on the use of federal funds to promote or adopt a unique patient identifier (UPI.)
Since 1999, Congress has prohibited the use of appropriated funds by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to "promulgate or adopt any standard for a unique health identifier until legislation is enacted specifically approving the standard." This limitation has been included in every subsequent appropriations bill since FY1999 and is a barrier to public-private sector collaboration in accelerating and scaling effective patient identification and matching solutions.
In June, the US House of Representatives adopted an amendment striking language in the House FY20 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education (Labor-HHS) Appropriations bill that prohibits HHS from using federal funds to promulgate or adopt a unique patient identifier. Striking this language will give HHS the ability to evaluate a range of patient identification solutions that protect patient privacy and are cost-effective, scalable, and secure.
Last week, the US Senate released the text of its FY20 Labor-HHS bill—as it stands, the ban remains in place in the Senate bill. While disappointing, our work is far from over.
We need to make sure that Congress rejects inclusion of the ban in the final spending package that Congress sends to the President to be signed into law. To do this, we need your help.
Tomorrow, during Patient ID Day, as leaders in your CSA, we encourage you to do the following:
• Share this message with your CSA - We cannot get this across the finish line on our own. I encourage you to share this message with other members of your CSA and others who share our concerns about patient misidentification.
• Head to AHIMA’s Advocacy Action Center—Tell Congress the time is NOW to address patient misidentification and to reject inclusion of the ban in the final spending package. To contact your elected officials, please visit AHIMA's Advocacy Action Center. To expedite correspondence, we have generated a message to your elected officials. Members must type in their zip code and personal information to express their support for removal of the ban.
• Follow, share and retweet AHIMA’s social media—AHIMA will be active on social media tomorrow. We encourage you to share these messages and use the hashtag to encourage others to contact their elected officials in Congress.
Your support is critical to addressing the nationwide problem of patient misidentification. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected]
Thank you for everything that you do for the HIM profession, AHIMA and FHIMA.
Lauren Riplinger, JD
Vice President, Policy & Government Affairs | Policy & Government Affairs
AHIMA | American Health Information Management Association
1730 M Street, NW, Suite 502 | Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 839-1218
[email protected]
Let us know if you have any questions: [email protected]
