Counting Sheep

Only 20% there, and a deadline looming:

Though it's not an imminent problem, the compliance deadline for adoption of the national provider identifier -- a numbering system required under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 -- is now less than a year away, and, given the enormity of the task, industry experts are warning it should already be on the "to do" lists of healthcare executives and technology professionals.

By law, all electronic transactions should be tagged with these discrete, government-generated provider numbers by May 23, 2007.

Not that difficult, and better done now.