PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J., Dec. 17, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Smart Card Alliance Health and Human Services Council is expanding its educational efforts on secure identity practices in healthcare and human services with a new FAQ series and a full-day symposium at the HIMSS14 Annual Conference and Exhibition. The Health and Human Services Council promotes the adoption of smart cards in U.S. health and human services organizations and within the national health IT infrastructure.
"These educational initiatives are intended to outline and help solve the identity management and authentication problems faced by health and human services organizations today," said Michael Magrath, Gemalto and chair of the Health and Human Services Council. "Through these and future resources, we are aiming to help the U.S. architect a safe, secure, and interoperable IT infrastructure for the health and human services industries."
Smart Cards in Healthcare FAQ Series
Released today, the Council developed this FAQ series to answer questions about how smart card technology is used to manage patient identity and protect a healthcare consumer's personal information, and the overall benefits the technology can provide. Focused FAQ documents have been created on the technology, its use in healthcare, and for each stakeholder group - patients, providers and payers.
The five FAQs in the series, which can be downloaded at http://www.smartcardalliance.org/pages/publications-smart-card-technology-in-healthcare-series, are:
- About Smart Cards
- Smart Cards and the Healthcare Ecosystem
- Smart Cards and Patients
- Smart Cards and Healthcare Providers
- Smart Cards and Payers
HIMSS14 Preconference Symposium
The Health and Human Services Council has been selected to host a full-day educational symposium, "Privacy and Security: Challenges and Opportunities in Healthcare Identity," on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014 at the HIMSS14 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Orlando, Fla. Registrants will receive continuing education credit for attending.
The symposium will include practitioners from several hospitals and leaders from national healthcare associations to present examples of how organizations are successfully meeting the challenges of healthcare identity management. Each session will take attendees through a real-life use case where the presenter will describe a different aspect of the identity challenge, explain the issues they were facing, and illustrate the approach they took to solve the problems, including specific steps taken and lessons learned.
Symposium sessions and speakers include:
- Patient Identity and How it Plays a Critical Role in Healthcare. Barry Runyon, Gartner, Inc.
- Vision for Patient and Physician Identity Solutions and Impact on Healthcare Organization. Roderick Bell, Resolute, an Innovation Center for Vanguard Health; and Wes Wright, Seattle Children's Organization
- Overview of Identity Systems and Identity Technologies. David Batchelor, LifeMed ID; Scott Mace, HealthLeaders Media; and Michael Magrath, Gemalto
- Patient Safety and Risk to Rising Healthcare Costs Panel. Nancy Farrington, CHAM, Main Line Health System; Robert Halder, MD, Rear Admiral USN, Executive Medical (Retired); and Robert Tennant, MA, Medical Group Management Association
- Patient Identity, Privacy and Policy Panel. Bill Barr, Medical Identity Fraud Alliance; Barry Hieb, MD, Global Patient Identifiers Inc.; Deven McGraw, JD, MPH, LLM, Center for Democracy and Technology; and William A. Yasnoff, MD, PhD, FACMI, Health Record Bank Alliance
- Identity in Critical Care. Daniel Chavez, San Diego Regional Healthcare Information Exchange; and Eric Epley, Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council for Trauma
- Best Practices - Panel of End Users. Lawrence Carbonaro, Memorial Hospital; Paul Brian Contino, New York City Health & Hospitals Corporation; and John Stoy, LifeMed ID
"The HIMSS Annual Conference is a leading event and an ideal platform for the Health and Human Services Council to provide education on privacy and security considerations for healthcare identity," said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. "Attendees will leave with a sound understanding of identity management technologies and best practices that they can take and use in their own organizations."
Separate registration is required for HIMSS14 preconference workshops. Early discounts are available until January 27. Register at http://www.himssconference.org/Registration/Index.aspx?navItemNumber=22272.
Medicare CAC Card
The Health and Human Services Council recently announced its endorsement of the Medicare Common Access Card Act of 2013 (H.R. 3024). The Act aims to establish a pilot program to develop a secure Medicare card using smart card technology to protect seniors' personal information, prevent fraud and speed payment to doctors and hospitals.
For more information on the Health and Human Services Council and to view up-to-date educational resources, visit http://www.smartcardalliance.org/pages/activities-councils-health-and-human-services.
About the Smart Card Alliance Health and Human Services Council
The Smart Card Alliance Health & Human Services Council brings together human services organizations, payers, healthcare providers, and technologists to promote the adoption of smart cards in U.S. health and human services organizations and within the national health IT infrastructure. The Health & Human Services Council provides a forum where all stakeholders can collaborate to educate the market on the how smart cards can be used and to work on issues inhibiting the industry.
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.smartcardalliance.org.
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