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SmartCard Applications |
HealthData Resources, Inc. has solutions to America's health care problems. We give health care payers and providers the ability to move routine medical transactions off line with smartcard technology. The advantages of doing this are so compelling that several European countries have already included smartcard technology as an essential component in their national health care reform efforts.
Smartcard Technology Can:
Choosing Smartcards
When a person travels, there are several transportation technologies to choose from. While planes, cars, and bicycles each perform the same basic function, they offer unique features; a traveler must decide which is best for a particular journey. Often two people taking the same trip may come to completely different conclusions about which to use.
So it is with smartcard technology and health care. Several types of smartcard systems are lowering transaction costs and improving care in medical applications around the world. But determining which is best for an application is not a simple process. The needs of prospective card issuers must be matched with a thorough knowledge of each available technology.
HealthData Resources, Inc. was formed by a medical application developer and a smartcard manufacturer to meet this need. Our customers benefit from an international design, support, and manufacturing capability unmatched in the industry. We have capabilites in all types of smartcard systems:
Our Unique Approach
Our one goal at HealthData Resources, Inc., is to enable our customers to receive the maximum benefits of smartcard technology. We do this by thoroughly assessing our customers needs, then recommending an approach that includes:
Integrating with the Customer's Current Software Systems.
We understand that the benefits of the technology can be lost when weighed against the cost of software replacement and retraining. So we work with health care professionals and medical software companies to create a seamless interface that allows systems to read and update smartcards with a keystroke. As our company grows, so does the ability of our smartcard systems to bridge the gap between different medical applications.
Incorporating Available Hardware Standards.
Most medical organizations of any size have had the experience of investing in a technology that quickly became nonstandard, or obsolete. We offer our customers confidence that won't happen with our systems. For most medical applications we recommend contact microprocessor chip technology adhering to the MasterCard, Visa, and Europay hardware standard.
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About Smartcards
Are smartcards really all that new? It seems that there was a lot of discussion about them some years back, but nothing ever happened. What's changed to make them top-of-mind again? You're right, eight or nine years ago, there was a lot of talk about smartcards in the U.S. During this time, France and other European countries were implementing national systems using smartcard technology. That interest, however, never gained much momentum in North America until recently. A number of things have occurred in recent years that have caused both industry and government in North America to renew their interest in smartcards. First, smartcard technology has matured considerably and its costs have come down to the point where the technology makes good economic sense in a variety of application areas. Second, the rapid increase in card-related fraud over the past few years has created the need for a level of security that smartcards are uniquely able to provide.
Finally, the convergence of various electronic technologies, together with a desire on the part of many industries to forge new alliances and offer enhanced services has established a role for smartcards as access keys to these new services.
Will chip cards allow "big brother" to know everything about you? No, chip cards may provide you with greater privacy because they have the ability to allow you to control who has access to the data you carry in your card.
I've heard that smartcards pose security and confidentiality problems. Is that true? Contrary to what some people believe, smartcards actually offer more security and confidentiality than other financial information or transaction storage vehicles. Unlike cards that rely upon a magnetic stripe to encode information, information stored on smartcards is stored on a micro chip, which can be secured in one of several ways. First, a card can have its own built-in security keys, such as PIN numbers that match the access code, much like an ATM card. Second, since the micro chip on a smartcard is embedded in the card, tampering with the card without destroying the chip is extremely difficult. Finally, many smartcard applications eliminate the need to manually enter an access code that could be viewed by an unauthorized person.
What about preserving the confidentiality of medical information? Medical records could be protected by PIN numbers, as mentioned previously. But to go one step further, medical records could be encrypted by a second key, known only to the physician or other medical personnel who needed access. Thus, a smartcard could offer two levels of security. The first level would give the card user control over accessing the card's data, and the second level would afford access only to parties who have a need to see the data.
What are the major benefits that smartcards offer consumers? The benefits, of course, depend on the application. But in general, applications supported by smartcards benefit consumers in a number of ways where their lifestyles intersect with information and payment-related processing technologies.
Some of these benefits include the convenience and security of not having to carry cash; the ability to mange or control expenditures more effectively; fraud reduction; reduced paperwork and elimination of the need to complete redundant, time-consuming forms; and the potential of having one card with the ability to access multiple services.
It's premature to state with certainty how many smartcard operating standards will ultimately exist. It is possible that several standards will emerge, keyed to major applications, such as telephony, financial services and healthcare. The important thing is not how many standards exist per se, but their interoperability across applications and borders.
It seems that Europe is very far ahead of the U.S. in applying smartcards. How did that happen? Europe's information and financial transaction processing infrastructure has evolved somewhat differently from the U.S. Europe developed smartcard technology as a cost-effective way of processing transactions associated with various retail, telephony and information retrieval applications. Telecommunications costs in Europe are high. Therefore, on-line authorizations for cards are expensive. Smartcards are attractive in Europe because they allow off-line authorizations thus reducing telecommunications costs.
In contrast, the U.S., with more extensive telecommunications networks that permit immediate and reliable transaction authorizations, elected to place a somewhat lower priority on smartcard applications, while keeping a watchful eye on European developments. In recent years, as the technology proved successful in various applications throughout Europe, and attention was focused on the value added potential of chips' superior memory capacity, it became clear that smartcards offered potentially attractive solutions to information processing needs in the U.S. as well. It was this realization, in part, that influenced the formation of the Smartcard Forum.
You will hear the terms "chip card," "integrated circuit card" and "smartcard" used to refer to a plastic card with a chip. Are these different types of technology? No, a chip card is the same as an integrated circuit card. There are three types of integrated circuit cards:
The term smartcard is used in different ways by different organizations but the Forum defines a smartcard as a card with a microprocessor.
What is a contactless card? There are two types of contactless cards. The first is a contactless proximity card, such as AT&T''s, in which the card is read by inserting it in a special reader. The second is a remote contactless card, in which the card can be read from a distance such as at a toll both.
How is a chip card different from the magnetic stripe cards that I carry in my wallet or purse? Existing magnetic stripe cards usually access an on-line data base. A chip card carries more information than can be accommodated on a magnetic stripe card. A chip card can make a decision; it has relatively powerful processing capabilities that allow it to do more than a magnetic stripe card, e.g. data encryption.
How many chip cards have been issued worldwide? We do know that more than 300 million chip cards were issued in 1993. The approximate breakdown is as follows: 260 million phone; 3-4 million GSM; 24 million health; 23 million bank; and 10 million pay TV.
What is the difference between a multiple application card and a card that can access multiple services? One of the "in" topics for those debating the benefits of chip cards is the multiple application card. We read articles on the DANMONT electrical purse system in Denmark and make the assumption that this is a multiple application card.
Multiple application cards, when they are developed, will probably support different types of applications, e.g., health care, financial services, transportation, loyalty programs and vending. Many of these applications will have very different specifications.
The DANMONT card is a single application electronic purse that can access multiple services because each of the service providers conforms with a single specification.
What is the cost of an average chip card? Trying to respond to this question is like asking the cost of a car without defining whether it is a used VW or a brand new Rolls Royce.
How are smartcards used in health care? Smartcards provide a convenient and secure medium for storing medical information. Medical applications of smartcards can be divided into six broad categories based on the type and amount of information being stored:
Where are medical smartcards being used today? Smartcard technology was invented in France, so it should come as no surprise that France and Germany are leading the way in health care applications. The two countries have national programs well under way. But they certainly aren't alone. In virtually every industrialized nation, medical applications of smartcards are being developed in both the public and private sectors.
How does the national programs of France and Germany work? While examples of every type of medical application can be found in both France and Germany, the national smartcard programs are currently focused on payment. Even though they share a common goal, the two countries have taken very different approaches in designing their systems. France has devoted the resources to create a sophisticated insurance payment system that assures data confidentiality, integrity, authentication, and security. It includes features that are only provided by smartcard technology, such as built in encryption and electronic signature abilities. They are currently piloting this microprocessor-chip smartcard system in four French cities.
Germany chose to develop a more basic system than France's. It uses very inexpensive 256-byte memory cards. Since theirs took less time to develop, the German system is now fully implemented, and the entire population of nearly 80 million Germans is carrying the cards.
The main concerns addressed by the German system are patient identification and the elimination of duplicate records. The data being stored on the German Health Insurance Card consists of the ID of the insurance and the insured person, his/her name and address, date of birth, and the status and date of expiration. This could have easily been done with magnetic stripe technology. Instead, Germany found that chip cards were less expensive when they considered how quickly the magnetic stripe card infrast ructure would have to be replaced or supplemented with the equipment necessary to communicate with smartcards. (See Dr. O. Shaefer, "Introduction of Chip Technology to Health Administration & Medicine in Germany." World Card Technology Magazine, Vol. 1, Issue 3, June 1995, pp. 16-17.)
If insurers and providers in the United States were as informed as Germany, every healthcare transaction automation system sold would also be based on chip card technology.
Doesn't putting medical information on smartcards create privacy concerns? Any time you store medical information electronically there is concern about patient privacy. While a security breach of a clinic using paper records might involve hundreds of records (i.e. all the information that a person might carry out), a security breach of electronic medical records might involve hundreds of thousands of records, and go unnoticed. However, Microprocessor chip smartcards offer unparalleled security features. The technology has been used in banking for many years; not one has ever been breached.
Even though HealthData Resources is offering the most secure storage devices ever invented, we know that our responsibility doesn't end there. We hold ourselves accountable to health care consumers by following three guidelines set forth in the 1993 Hastings Center Report: "Smartcards, smarter policy: medical records, privacy, and health care reform":
HealthData Resources will allow patients discretion in limiting access to portions of their most sensitive medical information, particularly where there is no compelling reason to allow access. Patients may obtain their medical records and will be notified how the health and medical information in it is used.
HealthData Resources will not engage in the marketing of personal health or medical data and supports legislative efforts to prohibit this practice.
What happens when a patient loses their card? Card backups assure that the smartcard system offers the same level of convenience as any other. If cards are lost or stolen, they can quickly be replaced. (And if a card is stolen, the thief can't use it or read any sensitive information from it because it is password protected.)
If data stored on the cards is also stored on line as a backup, why do you need smartcards at all? There is an enormous difference between relying on smartcards as the primary source for data, and relying on a remote on-line source. Since smartcard backup information is only accessed when cards require replacement, very high security measures can be put in place without affecting the flow of information in the system. There are many other benefits that come from the fact that backups in a smartcard system can be batch transmitted, minimizing system telecommunication costs.
For information on HealthData products and services, please send e-mail to webmaster@hdata.com, phone us at (512)306-1916, or FAX your request to (512)306-1926. Our main site is located at www.hdata.com. This page, and all contents, are Copyright (C) 1998 by HealthData Resources, Inc. All rights reserved.
HDR, INC 1998 VER 4.0
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