Healthcare Identity Management Is Necessary First Step to Electronic Health Record Interchange, Says Smart Card

PRINCETON JUNCTION, NJ, Apr 01 (MARKET WIRE) --
Government policy makers are looking carefully at the best ways to
improve the efficiency of information systems in the healthcare industry.
But current plans that emphasize electronic health record exchange are
putting the cart before the horse, according to a new brief for
government policy makers and other healthcare stakeholders from
Healthcare Council industry experts at the Smart Card Alliance.

"Dependably accurate identification and authentication of patients seems
like something that should already exist in healthcare, but studies show
it is a major problem," said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the
Smart Card Alliance. "And if we are aiming for wider interchange of
information, there must be a way to uniquely and securely authenticate
that person across the healthcare system, including over the Internet, in
a secure and privacy sensitive way."

Efforts to reduce medical errors caused by mistaken identities, modernize
data exchange, reduce redundant testing and lower administrative costs
must start with accurately linking patients with their personal medical
information, while at the same time protecting their privacy according to
a new brief from the Smart Card Alliance. "Effective Healthcare Identity
Management: A Necessary First Step for Improving U.S. Healthcare
Information Systems" is a one-page, plain-speak brief that explains the
current problems with identity management in healthcare and its costs. It
also proposes solutions without reinventing the wheel by leveraging
existing standards developed for other federal identity programs,
including the FIPS 201 Personal Identity Verification of Federal
Employees and Contractors standard now being used for federal employee
identity programs.

"With the $17 billion federal government investment planned for healthcare
IT as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009, we
thought this was the right time to bring healthcare identity management to
the forefront," said Vanderhoof. "If you look at the problem from inside
the healthcare industry, identity management is an essential first step
that is not well understood today. The lack of the proper identity
management infrastructure will later undermine achieving the program's
goals."

The Healthcare and Identity Councils of the Smart Card Alliance, a
non-profit public/private partnership organization whose members include
healthcare providers, government users and technology providers, prepared
the brief. It is available online at
http://www.smartcardalliance.org/pages/publications-effective-healthcare-identit
-management.

About the Healthcare Council

The Smart Card Alliance Healthcare Council brings together payers,
providers, and technologists to promote the adoption of smart cards in
U.S. healthcare organizations. The Healthcare Council provides a forum
where all stakeholders can collaborate to educate the market on the how
smart cards can be used for healthcare identity management and to work
on issues inhibiting the industry.

Healthcare Council participation is open to any Smart Card Alliance member
who wishes to contribute to the Council projects.

About the Smart Card Alliance

The Smart Card Alliance is a not-for-profit, multi-industry association
working to stimulate the understanding, adoption, use and widespread
application of smart card technology.

Through specific projects such as education programs, market research,
advocacy, industry relations and open forums, the Alliance keeps its
members connected to industry leaders and innovative thought. The Alliance
is the single industry voice for smart cards, leading industry discussion
on the impact and value of smart cards in the U.S. and Latin America. For
more information please visit http://www.smartcardalliance.org.

Media Contact:
Deb Montner
203-226-9290
dmontner@montner.com
http://www.montner.com

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