The subject of Unique Patient Identifiers pops up with clockwork regularity in the healthcare discourse. A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) titled Has the Time Come for a Unique Patient Identifier for the U.S.? points out that HIPAA initially mandated patient identifiers. Reason prevailed and the requirement was abandoned. The article goes on to list, correctly, all the issues related to duplicates and split records and their dire consequence from financial costs to potential loss of life. Just a few short years ago the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) issued a petition calling for unique patient identifiers citing much of the same issues and making a proposal for a voluntary solution. That effort also failed to get much traction either. While the problems cited are very real, it is not at all clear how a unique identifier would solve the problem, in spite of the very bold claims.

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