Intermountain Healthcare – along with electronic record pioneers Geisinger Health System, Kaiser Permanente, Mayo Clinic, and OCHIN – comprise the CCC and hold the vision that by connecting all medical information in any individual electronic health record (EHR) system would help to improve health care for all Americans.

In a recent news release, Eric Heflin, chief technology officer for The Sequoia Project and co-author of the paper, said, “Patient matching continues to be one of the largest impediments to nationwide health data sharing.” Heflin explains the challenge lies in matching a person’s health record from one EHR to another.  This disconnect reduces the effectiveness of care, increases costs, and can negatively impact the patient experience. “We need an approach that delivers the best possible means to match patients, and the paper released today clearly illustrates that it's possible and within reach, even without a curated national identifier."

The full paper, including details about the study and the proposed framework for how to implement the findings nationally, are available for public use and comment at the Sequoia Project website.