INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indianapolis hospital system is using a new registration and billing system after the wrong Rafael Sanchez received a 6News' reporter's medical bill.

Rafael Sanchez, an attorney at Bingham McHale, called the station in December after he was mailed a $2,051.45 bill from Methodist Hospital intended for 6News' reporter Rafael Sanchez, in violation of federal law.

The invoices he received were for real medical care Sanchez the reporter received after he collapsed outside court while covering a mass murder trial on Dec. 10.

Clarian Health investigated the incident, and its facilities are now using a new system intended to minimize billing errors, especially for patients with similar names.

"We certainly place a high priority on not only pre-eminent care, but also on confidentiality and maintaining the confidentiality of our patients," said Isadore Rivas, vice president of finance for Clarian.

To avoid mistakes at registration, Rivas said each facility will generate a daily patient report, indicating if there may be potentially similar information in name, address or other demographic information.

That information will be passed along to billing, where employees will make additional comparisons of information to ensure they have the right patient, Rivas said.

"Our people can now use the information on the medical records and compare that with what is to be included in the billing," he said. "We do, in essence, additional comparisons of information to ensure that we have the right patient, the right information, including the address."

Clarian issues about 4 million bills annually, and said in a statement that errors are rare.

"Clarian's commitment to privacy goes beyond (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). It includes employee privacy and that of other generally confidential information," the statement reads.

Federal privacy rules dictate that all medical information must be kept private, including invoices sent to individuals.

Methodist spokesman Gene Ford said a coding error led to the billing of the attorney, though records show he had not been at a Clarian Health hospital in nine years.

Sanchez the reporter has since recovered.