The idea has been around for decades. Supporters say it would benefit patients and health providers by connecting them in what some have called a "fragmented healthcare system."
But Twila Brase, RN and president/co-founder of Citizens' Council for Health Freedom (CCHF), is not in that camp. She thinks a national patient identifier system could, among other things, lead to an invasion of privacy.
"For probably two decades now, there has been a ban on the national patient ID, which is officially known as the unique patient identifier," she notes. "Right now with the Democrats in charge, we do not know for certain whether or not that ban will be retained."
As AFN has reported, her organization has been working to make sure that this number never happens. CCHF recently sent a letter asking members of the Senate Appropriations Committee to keep the ban.
"That's one of the things that we're trying to stop, and we're working with Senator Rand Paul's (R-Kentucky) office to stop the national patient ID," Brase adds.
Senator Paul's father, former Representative Ron Paul (R-Texas), was instrumental in the delay of a national patient ID during his time in office.
