Contrary to the previous disruptor, this one seems pretty simple to achieve in principle, but the devil is in the details and edge cases. Now that both DoD and VA are moving to the Cerner EHR backend, there is a need to have one authoritative source of a service member or Veteran’s identity. Unfortunately, over the years, both VA and DoD have come up with different ways to identify a service member or Veteran. The Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS), authoritative identity source for the DoD, uses the electronic data interchange personal identifier (EDIPI) as a unique identifier. This applies to active duty service members, reservists, and beneficiaries. VA, on the other hand, has a variety of identifiers, as it has identified Veterans over the years. The ICN is the general identifier used to identify all Veterans, and it is informed by the Veterans Health ID Card (VHIC) number, as well as VistA-specific identifiers like DFN, or identifiers for MyHealtheVet (IEN) and Beneficiary Identity and Record Locator System (BIRLS) numbers… Read the full article here.
Source: 2018: A Health IT Odyssey By Mike Farahbakhshian – January 15, 2018, FedHealthIT
