HIMSS asks Congress for patient identity system—again

For the second year in a row, the Health Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS) has urged Congress to support the establishment of a national patient identity system to make it easier to exchange healthcare information between disparate facilities. This year, HIMSS is asking Congress to commission a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) so that the political branch can make informed choices. But HIMSS still has the same objective, said Richard M. Hodge, senior director of congressional affairs for the organization.