Morning Headlines 8/20/15

National patient identifier struggles for life

CIO.com covers the renewed public interest in establishing a national patient identifier, detailing several non-government efforts to establish an NPI infrastructure, including CHIME’s partnership with HeroX to back its National Patient ID Challenge with a $1 million prize.

$342B wasted each year due to government healthcare benefits data integration challenges

MeriTalk publishes a study estimating that $342 billion is lost each year due to poor integration between the benefits eligibility systems used by different HHS agencies.

Million Hearts Hypertension Control Challenge 2015

The CDC and HHS launch a competition among providers focused on improving hypertension control by recognizing organizations that demonstrate exceptional hypertension control rates achieved through the use of health IT, integrated team-based care delivery, and effective community outreach programs.