Healthcare watchdog calls for unique patient identity numbers

EVERYONE in Ireland should have a unique patient identification number so they get the safest health care possible, the State’s health services watchdog has urged.

The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has called for the immediate introduction of new health identification numbers to reduce medical error, simplify the use of electronic medical records and increase efficiency.

Currently, there is no reliable method of tracking a patient through the healthcare system, with services relying on matching names, addresses and birth dates, none of which are reliable or recorded in a standard format.

The authority’s director of health information, Prof Jane Grimson, said it was essential that patients could be identified uniquely and clearly in order to provide high-quality and reliable healthcare. “Our primary concern is patient safety and this is one area where immediate action is needed.”

A report by the authority recommends the introduction of a unique health identifier, or UHI, and describes its absence as the most single most important deficiency in Ireland’s health infrastructure.

“It is clear from recent reports that tragedies could have been averted, if only the health and social care services had a clearer sense of the contacts between the family and state services and a better, safer use of information about such patients,” said Prof Grimson.

In addition to more effectively identifying patients, a UHI can reduce repetition of tests, reduce unnecessary cost and resource expenditure in the health service.

The authority has recommended to Health Minister Mary Harney that a number be developed and implemented across all health and social care settings.

Since receiving the report, which puts the cost of developing a number identifier at between €16m and €114m, the minister has established a group representing interested parties and chaired by the department to finalise policy on the issue.

Research by the authority found that 94% of people wanted their medical information to be accessible by emergency medical staff and a further 86% wanted joined-up health information right across the system.

The authority assessed the current personal public service number (PPS) and found it could not deliver the benefits of a UHI and, in the longer term, would lead to increased costs.

Also, the use of the PPS number without the appropriate structure would result in an unsafe system leading to increased risk of misidentification.

HIQA found that the UHI would be more cost-effective than an enhanced PPS number and the capital cost could be recovered in the first few years of operation, if it was applied universally throughout the healthcare system.

Virtually all countries that have recently introduced or are planning to introduce a UHI have opted for one that is healthcare-focused and confined to the healthcare sector. The main exception to this are Scandinavian countries that have been using the social security number for many years.