MALVERN, PA – In an effort to reduce the tens of billions of dollars lost each year in medical fraud and billing errors, Siemens Medical Solutions has introduced a “smart card” solution.
The CardOS Health 2.0 Patient Health Card Solution, which has been in development for the past couple of years, is a chip-embedded, 64-kilobyte, photo identification card capable of storing up to 30 pages of data and images.
Used in conjunction with card readers and issuance stations, the program allows patients to swipe their cards and have their identity and medical records authenticated during registration.
Aaron Zitzer, Siemens’ senior marketing manager, says the technology isn’t new - Siemens and others have been working with smart cards for years - but the business plan is. In fact, he said, Siemens officials at first didn’t know whether to consider this a communications device or a medical device.
“Incomplete medical information is the leading cause of nearly 100,000 deaths that occur each year due to medical errors in the U.S.,” said Joe Camaratta, vice president of Global Solutions at Siemens. “The Siemens Patient Health Card will help streamline workflow for administrators and provide a convenient, secure means to access critical and timely patient data.”
According to Zitzer, cardholders are given a private identification number upon registering. The card is unlocked once the patient’s PIN is entered into a card reader. At the time of registration, cardholders are asked if they would allow medical personnel, using special card readers, to override the system in case of emergency – for instance, if a patient is unconscious.
The Siemens solution includes a set of applications designed to integrate with hospital information systems, allowing for quick access to a patient’s electronic medical record.
The solution has been tested at Mount Sinai Medical Center and Elmhurst Hospital, both in New York City, since 2003. The two hospitals are part of a 10-hospital pilot program that will see 100,000 cards issued in the next two years. Eventually, the network of 45 hospitals and healthcare providers in the New York-New Jersey area plans to issue about 1.2 million patient health cards.
Siemens officials say it would cost a large hospital about $3 million to establish the program. Card readers cost $12 to $20 and can be plugged into a USB port of a PC, while the cards themselves cost about $8 apiece.
While the program’s goal at the outset is to reduce fraud and medical errors and streamline administration costs, Zitzer sees the card becoming a universal health card, with payers being brought into the mix to enable patients to pay their bills through the card.