Inclusion of Patient Matching Provision in COVID Relief Package Will Improve Quality Healthcare, Reduce Possibility for Medical Errors

WASHINGTON – Health industry leaders today applauded a bipartisan U.S. Senate working group for including in the COVID-19 relief package they are developing language from a Senate bill that will ensure electronic health records (EHRs) are matched to the correct patient.

The Healthcare Leadership Council (HLC) applauded senators working on compromise relief legislation for including language from the Patient Matching Improvement Act of 2020, cosponsored by Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH), in their measure. The Cassidy-Hassan legislation would utilize Postal Service address formatting tools in health information data exchange, better enabling healthcare providers to correctly match patients with their EHRs.

HLC president Mary R. Grealy said, “Giving providers the ability to better match patient information is an important step in delivering quality care.  The complex challenges surrounding treatment and vaccination with regard to COVID-19 require up-to-date information and this legislation will help with those challenges.”

HLC has been working with the federal government and other private sector organizations to promote health data interoperability and improvements in patient matching policies and practices.

For Immediate Release
December 15, 2020
Contact: Kelly Fernandez  202-449-3452