The German Government has selected SCM Microsystems to deploy 10,000 eHealth terminals to support the re-launch of the electronic health card program in Germany, the company has announced.
The eHealth200 BCS terminal is an advanced version of SCM's eHealth100 terminal, which has been in wide use in field trials since 2006. It adheres to the "eHealth BCS" specifications of the German healthcare oversight organization, gematik, which stipulate that the terminals must comply with the strict security requirements of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).
The German health insurance industry is subsidizing the purchase and installation of eHealth terminals for doctors and other healthcare professionals who order the devices between April 1 and September 30, 2011, to encourage participation in the program. The German eHealth card program began in 2009, and, after being suspended in 2010, was re-launched in April 2011.
“From the beginning, SCM has worked closely with the German security and healthcare industries to develop eHealth terminals that address the needs of doctors, patients and all others affected by the rollout of the electronic health card in Germany," said Dr. Manfred Mueller, chief executive officer of SCM Microsystems. "Now that the eHealth program is finally underway, we are ready to deliver products with state-of-the-art, certified technology.”
For meeting the strict security and performance requirements of the eHealth program, SCM's eHealth readers are certified by the German healthcare oversight organization (gematik) and the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). Providing the deployment of more than 80 million electronic health insurance cards to German citizens SCM has begun shipping both its eHealth200 desktop and eHealth500 mobile health card terminals for the program, the company stated in a press release.
In May 2007, the company gained the Principal membership of the Near Field Communication (NFC) Forum. The NFC Forum is a non-profit global standards development and advocacy group working for the promotion of NFC technology. It not only disseminates information about the technology but also advances its adoption through open specification development, interoperability testing and compliance facilities. Focused working groups of members carry out various activities of the forum.
Raju Shanbhag is a contributing editor for HealthTechZone. To read more of Raju’s articles, please visit his columnist page.Edited by
Rich Steeves
