Secure Health ID for Payers, Patients, and Providers

British Patients Association rallies around smart card implementation

Thursday, March 11, 2010

After the recent violation of patients medical records, the Patients Association in the UK is campaigning for a medical smart card deployment.

The patients are concerned about their safety and the confidentiality of their records after hearing that their medical records are being put online without their consent, according to the British Medical Association. Additionally it is claimed that the database system is easily open to hacking.

The smart card would work a portable medical record that compiles all a patient’s information onto a single device.


The card would replace the need for an online database that people find unsafe and easily susceptible to hackers. The Department of Health said that the smart card solution was considered however it was thought that people would not always remember to carry their details with them. The need to have a patients record on hand is crucial in times of emergency and they did not want to risk a card being misplaced or forgotten. Therefore they opted for the giant database solution.

No reports of hacking have been reported thus far, view the full story here[end] 

SimplexGrinnell and GuardRFID have executed a distribution agreement that formally provides SimplexGrinnell access to GuardRFID’s products and solutions.

This new relationship will allow SimplexGrinnell to expand offerings to its health care customers. It will enable them to offer features such as GuardRFID’s TotGaurd system, and the wander prevention and asset locating systems to more healthcare facilities.

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Members of the Stow Fire Department in Ohio are praising the effect their enrollment in MyChoice, a Web-based service that allows medical personnel access to patient records when patients submit a biometric sample, is having on the emergency medical service personnel’s ability to effectively do their job when called to an emergency, according to an Urgent Communications article.

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In an effort to promote and strengthen security solutions among law enforcement agencies in California, Entrust hosted an event in Los Angeles that detailed more specific security strategies these institutions could be implementing. Outlined topics included strong authentication and smart card credentialing.

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ClearCount Medical Solutions, a Pittsburgh-based provider of patient safety products for the operating room, has closed its $5 million series B financing round.

The company intends to use the funds to further research and development of its RFID-based solutions for operating rooms. ClearCount has already developed the first FDA-cleared sponge counting and detection solution.

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SmartMetric, a developer of portable biometric solutions, has announced that its biometric activated data card can now be used to contain full medical history and health records on the individual. The card, called the SmartMetric Data Card, is a standard sized card that has the capability of holding multiple pages of data as well as being inaccessible without the holder first scanning his fingerprint on the card itself.

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An e-health smart card is in the works and scheduled to be implemented in Australia by Victoria’s Department of Health. The card, HealthSMART, is meant to monitor and secure access to Victorian public health sector applications with two factor authentication technology.

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