Health 2.0

PRINCETON JUNCTION, NJ -- (Marketwire) -- 02/08/10 -- The Smart Card Alliance Healthcare Council will continue its focus this coming year on educating the healthcare industry on the need for a solid, secure identity management infrastructure, its newly elected officers said today.

The officers and steering committee that will lead the Council for the upcoming year are:

-- Chair: Paul Contino, Mount Sinai Medical Center*
-- Vice chair: Michael Magrath, CSCIP, Gemalto
-- Secretary: Dale Grogan, CSCIP, LifeMed / SMART Association
-- Ola Martins, Oberthur Technologies
-- Matthew Neuman, Giesecke  & Devrient

"This has been an important year for the healthcare industry, with the federal government ready to invest over $19 billion in healthcare information technology as a result of the ARRA HITECH Act*, and interest growing around the use of electronic medical records," said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. "The Healthcare Council has made a lot of progress this year, raising awareness of the need for a strong identity management infrastructure that is a necessary foundation for using electronic medical records, and introducing smart cards as a secure technology for healthcare applications."

This past year, the Healthcare Council partnered with the Secure ID Coalition on the healthcare IT briefing in Washington, DC, "Protecting Your Health Information: Raising Public Awareness of the Privacy and Security Challenges of Healthcare Information Management." The Council continued educational efforts by collaborating with the Smart Card Alliance Identity Council on two papers addressing healthcare identity management, "Healthcare Identity Management: The Foundation for a Secure and Trusted National Health Information Network," and "Effective Healthcare Identity Management: A Necessary First Step for Improving U.S. Healthcare Information Systems," and hosting the successful webinar, "Identity Management in Healthcare."

"As paper-based records become obsolete and we move to electronic methods of record keeping, we are moving into a juncture where identity and security are more important than ever. It is critical to put an infrastructure in place where we can securely and accurately identify and authenticate every individual that receives health services," said Paul Contino, chair of the Healthcare Council. "To this end, we will continue to advocate a healthcare infrastructure that supports strong identity and security controls, to comment on industry and government developments, and provide educational resources for the benefit of the industry."

The Smart Card Alliance Healthcare Council is currently developing a position paper on healthcare data breaches and identity theft. For more information on Council activities, visit http://www.smartcardalliance.org/pages/activities-councils-healthcare.

*American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

About the Smart Card Alliance Healthcare Council

The Smart Card Alliance Healthcare Council brings together payers, providers, and technologists to promote the adoption of smart cards in U.S. healthcare organizations and within the national health IT infrastructure. The Healthcare 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.

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. The Smart Card Alliance also offers the Leadership, Education and Advancement Program (LEAP) and Certified Smart Card Industry Professional (CSCIP) program for individuals who are involved in the smart card industry. For more information please visit http://www.smartcardalliance.org.

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