The Smart Card Alliance Healthcare Council released a brief regarding the rising threat of medical identity theft emphasizing the need for a two-factor authentication with smart card technology as the optimum way to protect patient identities and information.
Ponemon Institute published the results of a study according to which 1.5 million Americans have been victims of medical identity theft amounting to a staggering $28.6 billion. This amounts to $20,000 per victim.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act or ARRA and the associated provisions under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health or HITECH Act both stress on the fact that patient information needs to be safeguarded for enhancing the privacy and security of the U.S. healthcare system.
In a release Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance said, “The individuals whose medical identities are stolen have to deal with lingering effects, like erroneous medical expenses, problems with insurance, and incorrect data on their medical records that can lead to potentially fatal medical errors.”
“To prevent this, patients need an unambiguous way to identify themselves to their healthcare provider when accessing patient records or requesting healthcare services, whether it is in person or over a network. This brief explains how two-factor authentication with smart cards can accomplish this, and decrease medical identity theft,” Vanderhoof added.
The SmartCard Alliance Healthcare Council highlights the capabilities of two-factor authentication with smart card technology which allows patients and providers to securely access personal health information. Smart card technology is used optimally in U.S. electronic passports and also used in the U.S. federal government’s employee ID cards that are give access to highly secure computer networks and facilities.
The technology features a tamper-resistant chip with security software that can be embedded into a card, token or mobile device like a mobile phone. The smart card is capable of protecting the patient’s medical identity using which they can securely store personal health information, authorize provider access to that information, and also securely transmit data to healthcare systems.
The Smart Card Alliance is a not-for-profit, multi-industry association which strives to promote the usage and widespread application of smart card technology. The Alliance has launched several projects like specific education programs, market research, advocacy, industry relations and open forums.
Shamila Janakiraman is a contributing editor for HealthTechZone. To read more of Shamila’s articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Patrick Barnard
