ENGLEWOOD, CO -- The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) has launched an aggressive industry-wide effort calling on health insurers, vendors and health care providers to initiate processes to adopt standardized*, machine-readable patient ID cards by Jan. 1, 2010. MGMA publicly invites insurers, vendors and providers to visit www.SwipeIT.org for more information and to pledge their commitment to helping advance the use of this technology.

"We're launching Project SwipeIT because the adoption of this technology is long overdue," said William F. Jessee, MD, FACMPE, president and CEO of MGMA. "Our health care system wastes billions each year on redundant, wasteful administrative tasks -- such as manually entering patient ID information -- and the cumulative effects of that waste are staggering. We're challenging the industry to help us save $1 billion a year by making standardized, machine-readable cards a priority."

Most patient ID cards currently in use have no machine-readable elements. Health care providers must typically photocopy the cards for their records. This process is prone to human error, since employees in a doctor's office or hospital must re-enter demographic and insurance information into their computer systems. Many cards are inconsistently designed and feature photos, illustrations and dark backgrounds that make legible photocopying difficult.
Machine-readable cards, linked to providers' computer systems via a card reader, would automatically enter patient information correctly and cost-effectively. MGMA estimates that machine-readable patient ID cards could save physician offices and hospitals as much as $1 billion a year by eliminating unnecessary administrative efforts and denied claims. A machine-readable card compliant with the mandates of the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange costs about 50 cents --just a fraction more than the non- standardized, plastic or paper cards that most insurers now use. The savings that insurers will see from reduced provider inquiries, claims reprocessing and labor will far exceed this expense.

"MGMA looks to public and private insurers to lead the charge to adopt standardized patient ID cards. A critical mass of patients walking into waiting rooms with these cards is an important first step toward eliminating administrative waste," Jessee said. In addition to working with insurers, MGMA is calling on the vendor community to offer affordable card-reader interfaces to work with standardized patient ID cards by Jan. 1, 2010. Providers, medical associations and medical societies should also get involved by making widespread use of standardized patient ID cards and machine-readable technology a priority

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