The ACC has joined 47 other leading health care organizations in encouraging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to share its views with Congress on the benefits of lifting an "antiquated" ban that currently prevents the use of federal funds to promulgate or adopt a national unique patient identifier (UPI).

The UPI funding ban has been included in every Labor-Health and Human Services (HHS) Appropriations bill since 1999, before the focus on broad adoption and implementation of electronic health records. This past June, the House of Representatives voted to remove the ban from the Labor-HHS FY '20 Appropriations bill (HR 2740).

According to the letter, the ban currently prevents appropriate health information flow. Removing it "would assist in transitioning the U.S. to a health care delivery system that focuses on high value, cost-effective, and patient-centered care." Additionally, lifting the ban would "provide HHS the ability to evaluate a range of patient identification solutions and enable it to work with the private sector to explore potential challenges and identify a solution that protects patient privacy and is cost-effective, scalable and secure."

The ACC will continue to work with health care stakeholders and CMS to support lifting the ban as Congress continues to move forward with FY '20 Appropriations. Stay tuned to the ACC Advocate newsletter and follow @Cardiology on Twitter.

Read the full text here.

Keywords: ACC Advocacy, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S., Privacy, Electronic Health Records

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