1. WHAT IS SMART CARD?
The wallet-sized medical smart card, embedded with a programmable computer chip, stores and transmits a cardholder's clinical, insurance coverage and biographical information. Smart cards differ along four main dimensions:
1. Memory: from 1 to 16 kb (there are currently prototypes with 64 kb);
2. Processor speed: from 4 to 16 MHz;
3. Interaction: physical contact, proximity (near-contact, but no wearout), and radio;
4. Software: card operating system and installed applications.
When fully deployed, smart cards will conduct many functions at the point of care, from claims submission to medical records updates in real time. Ultimately, the smart card will make the individual patient record and all clinical and economic
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In this regard, they are also safe because the cards can be easily replaced, and only the owner of the card know the pin number to access its stored value. This takes care of the problem with cash; once it is stolen it is nearly impossible to trace and recover it.
c) Double as an ID card
Smart cards also can provide complete identification in certain industries like healthcare. There are numerous benefits of using smart cards for identification. In circumstance like there is a patient who is brought in unconscious or unable to speak, these cards can be used by health professionals to identify him or her to give the appropriate treatments. Now, there’s smart health cards that can improve the security and privacy of patient information which can reduce healthcare fraud. They also support new processes for portable medical records and provide secure access to emergency medical information.
HOW DO SMART CARDS WORK
A smart card connects to a card reader either through direct physical contact or through a remote, contactless radio frequency (RF) interface. A typical smart card has a plastic card body, a chip embedded in the body, and a contact plate. The contact plate ( usually gold-plated) is visible on the surface of the card. (Figure
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The NHS Care Records Service (NHS CRS) and related Connecting for Health (CfH) project use NHS CRS smart cards that help control the authority and levels of access to NHS CRS. The NHS runs trials piloting contact-less smart card readers, which help avoid the physical presence of the patient at the point of care, thus reducing time and effort. Besides this, Occupational Health Smart Cards (OHSC) was introduced in the UK in 2001. These cards offer rationalized, reliable and secured means of occupational health data capture, storage and sharing, thus ensuring quality of healthcare
Portability can improve patient care. Patients no longer have to “tote” their cumbersome medical records around anymore. EHR’s give physicians and clinicians access to critical healthcare information in the palm of their hand, which ultimately leads to improved patient care outcomes. EHR’s also provide security to vital medical and personal healthcare information. Organizations like HIPPA defines policies, procedures and guidelines for preserving the privacy and security of discrete distinguishable health information (HHS.gov,
The placement of implantable chips into patients for the purpose of accurately identifying patients and properly storing their medical history records has become a subject of a strong debate. Making sure patients are properly identified before a procedure and storing their health history records for future use has been difficult, if not impossible. The idea of being able to retrieve accurate patient’s medical history for a follow up care without relying on patient’s memory is a challenging task for many healthcare organizations. Many ideas and technologies have been introduced over the years to help solve this problem, but unfortunately the problem is still not fully resolved. There are still many errors in the healthcare due in part by improper record keeping and inaccurate patient identification. One idea that has being in discussion to eliminate these problems for good, is the introduction of a chip or radio frequency identification (RFID) technology implanted into human for the purpose storing medical data and accurately identify patients. VeriChip Corporation is currently the maker of this implantable RFID chip. They are the only corporation cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make this implantable radio frequency transponder system for humans for the purpose of identifying patients and storing their health history information. The chip was first developed for the use of radar systems by Scottish physicist, Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt in 1935 just before World War II. (Roberti, 2007). This technology helps identify approaching planes of the enemy from mile away. Today, RFID has several uses. It is used for animal tracking. It is attached to merchandise in stores to prevent theft. It can be instal...
Advances in technology have influences our society at home, work and in our health care. It all started with online banking, atm cards, and availability of children’s grades online, and buying tickets for social outings. There was nothing electronic about going the doctor’s office. Health care cost has been rising and medical errors resulting in loss of life cried for change. As technologies advanced, the process to reduce medical errors and protect important health care information was evolving. In January 2004, President Bush announced in the State of the Union address the plan to launch an electronic health record (EHR) within the next ten years (American Healthtech, 2012).
Now let us step to the other side of the Merchant counter as a consumer and realize how RFID can benefit the average person. Have you ever felt impatient when standing behind someone in line at the grocery store who insisted on paying by check? Well, get ready to get agitated at the slowpoke of the future—the techno challenged person using a credit card. Contactless cards, already used in Asia for several transit and payment systems, have been introduced to the United States via pilot programs sponsored by American Express and MasterCard. Thes...
As we can see now-a-days, there are many replacements to card payments such as MOBILE PAYMENT options like Apple and Samsung Pay. Recently, Apple has launched finger print (TOUCH ID) payment option in its new Mac-book Pro. Almost every application has its own wallet to pay. But still, as we know that technology is any day not secured. It might not be vulnerable today. But, we cannot predict its non-vulnerability because one day or the other, it becomes vulnerable to any type of attack.
The well known ehealth sub-domains include mobile health (mHealth), telemedicine, electronic health records (EHR/EMR) and big data systems (Nuviun, 2015). Mobile health tools (mHealth) are health applications designed to utilize the functionality of mobile devices to provide the user with portable diagnostic and medical advice. Telemedicine involves the delivery of health services virtually via internet. The user teleconferences with a trained health professional using a web camera, communication device and software. Electronic health records (EHR/EMR) are the virtualization of patient medical records for the purposes of quick access, easy storage and timely dissemination. Big data systems are databases used to gather, store and data mine large volumes of patient information to find relevant patterns that could be used to enhance patient outcomes. In regards to market trends, the ehealth market is expected to grow from $96 billion in 2010 to $160 billion in 2015 representing an average growth rate of 12-16 percent (Nuviun, 2015). The factors facilitating the growth of the ehealth market include the decreasing cost in relevant technologies, increasing public participation, the aging population in developed countries and the continued rise in health care costs (Nuviun, 2015). The inhibitory factors include regulatory barriers involving privacy and security, interoperability issues, continued resistance from health professional and the high maintenance costs (Nuviun,
They were not used by patients due to this drawback, and it is important for a patient to understand his own records. Today, more and more institutions are storing their information electronically as EHRs, which made the information available to all with legal rights to access this information whenever and
Among the benefits, it is easy for healthcare professional to sign in (just using a smartcard and PIN number). Medication safety is also enhanced via a barcode scanner which checks the right drug is being administered to the patient who also has the barcode on their wristband.
Emerging technology is a big subject in any industry. Technology is part of marketing, it helps any industry to stay competitive and flexible. This does not change with health care. Health care needs technology to stay on top of diseases and their management. Technology is a great tool when dealing with providing quality patient care. The topic here is not if technology can improve health care delivery, but how we can continue to use technology safely. Meanning, tools that can ensure the use of technology without exposing ones patients. Health care organizations must remember that part of their responsibilities is protect their patient’s personal information. There are many reasons why this is very important,
Information technology has made important achievements to our world, namely in the medical industry. With the increased use of electronic medical records (EMR), and mobile technologies like tablets and smart phones, making health information available electronically when and where it is needed. physicians and patients are both seeing the benefits that these new medical technologies are bringing. Health information technology provides healthcare providers by accurate and complete information about a patient 's health, which enable the providers to give the best possible care. It provides information to help diagnose health problems sooner, and reduce medical errors. Finally, and not last, HIT provides the secure way to share information with
Studies have shown that there are ways and means of reading the information on the cards or passports. This can be done through a RFID scanner but also through an app that can be downloaded to a smart phone and easily accessible. With the app, you can read the information wirelessly which proves that you are at an even higher risk of advanced technology theft. According to the studies of David Skillicorn, the thief only has to be a few inches away in order to scan your card. Banks have stated that this is a huge financial risk.
Nowadays, digital electronic devices have been used to make a lot of things easier and better. Personal computers have been successful to help people in their works and to provide entertainment, thus it is not surprising if now people are thinking to make the electronic systems to be incorporated further into medical field, so that its service can be cheaper, easier to be accessed, and better in quality.
Some of the newer internet-based payment systems have e-wallets where value is transmitted through computers. E-wallets allow the holder to make small purchases both online and offline such as a meal. The payment is deducted from the cardholder’s online account immediately. E-wallets are typically set up in conjunction with a credit card or a debit card. When they contain an embedded computer chip, they are known as smart cards . One percent of the smart cards issued were in the U.S., while eighty-fiv...
The use of payment cards has increased dramatically in the last few decades due to their security and convenience of use.. However, there are some challenges associated with the use of these cards especially in the current times of the Internet. Addressing the challenges should enhance the payment cards industry and pass down the benefits to the users. Conversely, cooperation among the parties involved in this industry can really help addressing the current challenges and foreseeing possible challenges in the future as well as addressing them before their time. The continuous research and development can provide the solutions needed in the payment card industry to make it healthier and sustainable.
Before diving into the smart card technology and security I want to first address the question of what smart cards are. According to CardLogix Corporation (2010) “A smartcard, typically a type of chip card, is a plastic card that contains an embedded computer chip- either a memory or microchip type- that stores and transacts data.” The website continues on about how the data and information is stored and managed from within the card.