EXTENSION INC. is planning to start a group to advocate the issuance of smart card IDs for health care, says Todd Plesko, CEO at the Fort Wayne, Ind.-based company.

With the push to deploy electronic medical records underway there needs to be a way to properly identify patients while also keeping the information secure. Plesko says smart cards are a way to do that. “This is a very well-proven technology that works in every other corner of the world,” he says. France and many other European countries use smart cards for patient identification.

EXTENSION INC. has a system that would cost health care providers $6 per patient, Plesko says. “It’s a very low-cost solution to a series of high cost issues,” he says.

The proposed consortium is still in the planning stages, Plesko says. He’s hoping to get around 12 high-profile companies to join the group that would educate providers and government officials on how smart cards can be used in health care.

---

Related articles:

Health Care’s Identity Crisis Smart Health Cards: HIPAA and Beyond Card technology in healthcare: HIPAA and beyond