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By John Adams
Bank Technology News |
October, 2009
A major
Obama Administration initiative
connected to healthcare reform that’s
getting relatively less attention—bringing
healthcare transactions into the 21st
century from a tech perspective—has caught
the eye of the
Smart Card Alliance, which will focus on
making healthcare identity credential
recommendations in the coming year. It’s a
move that could effectively make it easier
and safer for financial institutions to
offer automated healthcare payments.
Of particular interest is the goal to
upgrade still largely paper-based health
records—an initiative that got a $20 billion
boost from the economic bailout package
earlier this year. That infusion is causing
some institutions to consider offering
electronic healthcare payments, a segment
avoided in past years because healthcare
transactions are more complicated—and less
automated—than most other transactions.
Randy Vanderhoof, the executive director
of the Smart Card Alliance, says automating
records could help an automated payments
industry emerge. But developing
authentication and ID protection standards
would ensure safer access to the large
amount of data that exists in healthcare
finance.
“Right now, there’s no clarity on the policy
side or technology side about how personal
identity management is going to be defined
for electronic health records,” he says.
“And folks in the Smart Card Alliance see
this as an opportunity for the entire
segment to get started on the right foot
when it comes to digital identity.”
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