Study suggests patient privacy could be better safeguarded

In the Los Angeles Times (10/20) Booster Shots blog, Susan Brink wrote that "concerns about privacy and security...have stalled efforts to" create "a unique patient identifier -- a number carried by each American linking patients to their individual health records." Currently, the majority of "hospitals and health systems...rely on what's called statistical matching, based on multiple personal attributes, such as name, address, birth date, gender, and Social Security number, to accurately match a given patient with his or her...records or medical history," thereby exposing patients to privacy risks and possible identity theft. But, according to a RAND Corporation study released online on Oct. 20, it may be "easier to safeguard patient privacy with a records system that makes use of a unique health ID, rather than a system that uses statistical matching." Implementation of such a system "would cost up to $11 billion. But, once implemented, [it] would save about $77 billion in increased efficiency and reduced errors." Such a system would provide "no Social Security number, name, or other identifying information," so hackers "wouldn't be able to steal" anyone's identity.