LifeMed ID has announced that Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in New York City has commenced the distribution of the secure Medical Information Smart Cards to its patients in so far the largest U.S. implementation of smart card-based patient IDs. These smart cards hold portable medical information of the patient that can easily and safely be accessed by healthcare providers and emergency first responders. In addition to providing authenticated access to patient’s medical information, these smart cards also aid in securing the identities of patients.
In a release, Rajiv Garg, Wyckoff's CEO and a former head of Global Risk Management, who understands finance and technology, said that, “It's a win-win. Delivering quality healthcare is a precise balance. We want to make sure that we provide our patients with the most sophisticated technical care and best practices known while creating technical efficiencies throughout our healthcare community. We believe that we are striking the right balance here with the LifeMed Identity Smart Card and fully expect our patients to embrace this technology completely -it's a win-win for Wyckoff and our patients.”
All HIPAA compliant hospital information systems are provided with secure access to the patient’s medical information protected by highly advanced encryption algorithms through a small microchip on the smart card. The paperless check-in and registration processes provided by the LifeMed ID System tremendously reduce patient wait times.
The LifeMed ID System relieves the patient from the tedious processes involved in hospital check-in such as signing numerous registration sheets, showing photo identity cards at each new department and frequent verification of insurance information. Instead, by simply swiping the LifeMed ID Medical Smart Card and entering an optional PIN or biometric identifier for authentication, the patient would at once be signed in all over the organization inclusive of all clinics, departments and providers.
The smart card based identity cards assist the
healthcare providers in eliminating costly administrative errors through its simple and secure method for efficient patient identity management including identity verification and uninterrupted connectivity to the patient’s medical information in addition to complying with the HIPAA dual authentication requirements.
Calvin Azuri is a contributing editor for HealthTechZone. To read more of Calvin’s articles, please visit his columnist page.Edited by
Jennifer Russell
