PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J., SEPTEMBER 10, 2012–To help spread awareness of healthcare IT issues during National Health IT Week, the Smart Card Alliance has released two educational resources, a smart card technology for healthcare FAQ and a biometrics brief.

The Seventh Annual National Health IT Week is being held this week through September 14th. The Smart Card Alliance Healthcare Council supports this initiative, which aims to create a collaborative forum where public and private healthcare constituents will work in partnership to educate industry and policy stakeholders on the value of health IT for the U.S. healthcare system.

“Our Council’s goals are in line with National Health IT Week–to provide education as the U.S. healthcare industry moves toward a solid identity management infrastructure, and meaningful use of electronic health records,” said Michael Magrath, Gemalto, and chair of the Healthcare Council. “We are happy to have the opportunity to add our guidance and resources on strong authentication and smart card technology for healthcare professional and patient identity applications to the educational mix.”

Details about the Healthcare Council’s new healthcare IT resources, all available for free download, are on our Healthcare ID Resources page:

• Smart Card Technology in U.S. Healthcare FAQ
  The FAQ is an easy-to-use resource for readers to understand how smart card technology is used for healthcare applications. The comprehensive FAQ answer general questions about smart card technology, as well as the role smart cards can play, and the benefits they can provide, in the healthcare ecosystem, and with patients, healthcare providers, and payers.

• Smart Cards and Biometrics White Paper
  The white paper, ”Smart Cards and Biometrics in Healthcare Identity Applications,” was developed to provide an overview of smart card and biometric technologies, discuss the key considerations for selecting biometric and smart card technology for identity verification, and describe the benefits of combining smart cards and biometrics for identity applications.

The Healthcare Council also provided input to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) on the trust framework for the Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN). The Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN) is a set of standards, services and policies that enable secure health information exchange over the Internet. The network will provide a foundation for the exchange of health information across diverse entities, within communities and across the country, helping to achieve the goals of the HITECH Act. In this input document, the Smart Card Alliance Healthcare Council offered responses to several questions that pertain to identity, authentication, patient matching and digital certificates that are within the Council’s area of expertise.

“These resources are a great addition to Healthcare IT Week, and to the already substantial amount of materials the Healthcare Council has delivered regarding identity, technology and security considerations for the healthcare industry,” said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance.

Next, the Healthcare Council will head to Washington, DC, for a panel on healthcare IT at the 11th Annual Smart Card Alliance Government Conference, being held November 28-30. For more information, visit http://www.cvent.com/d/1cq1q9.

Resource Contributors

Participants involved in the development of the “Smart Card Technology in U.S. Healthcare: FAQ” document included: ABnote Group; CSC; Eid Passport, Inc.; Gemalto; LifeMed ID, Inc.; Oberthur Technologies; OTI America; RM Industries; SafeNet Inc.; SecureKey Technologies; Watchdata Technologies Pte Ltd; XTec Incorporated.

Smart Card Alliance Healthcare Council members involved in the development of the “Smart Cards and Biometrics in Healthcare Identity Applications” white paper included: ABnote Group; CSC; Gemalto; LifeMed ID, Inc.; Oberthur Technologies; OTI America; Watchdata Technologies USA; XTec Incorporated.

About the Smart Card Alliance 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 how smart cards can be used 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.securetechalliance.org.