Dive Brief:
- There is currently no standard process in place to notify patients if a failure occurs in a surgically-implanted medical device.
- Aetna has joined with with Pew Charitable Trusts, several health care systems, the FDA and others to push for unique device identifiers (UDIs) to be included in medical claims for implants.
- CMS is against the requirement, claiming it would be too costly and impose too many technical hurdles.
Dive Insight:
According to Aetna, this is an area of healthcare that is desperately in need of more transparency, which could improve quality and reduce unnecessary costs throughout the healthcare system. Aetna and its supporters say they understand that tracking UDIs would create an additional administrative step for hospitals, but they believe there are also benefits. In one pilot study that integrated UDIs into hospital inventory systems and patients' medical records, the change helped improve patient safety, enhanced quality of care and supported operational efficiencies.