Germany is poised to introduce its next generation e-health card in 2006. The new version, set to replace the existing insurance card – holding only the patient’s name, address and insurance number – will be the latest example of smart card technology to hit the market in Europe. It will be able to store prescription information and might even be used as the standard card for a digital signature – the key to modern eGovernment applications.
Germany’s Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft unveiled the technology solutions behind the country’s much-discussed project to introduce next-generation electronic medical passes. Coinciding with the recent international CeBIT technology fair, scientists close to the project stressed the special data security features in the new smart cards.
Germans already carry slightly ‘dumb’ smart cards that hold key health insurance information, such as their name, address and insurance number. Now the government plans to introduce a new e-health card which, in addition to holding personal data, could also store emergency data, including the holder’s blood group, known allergies to drugs and so on.
To cut red tape and streamline the health system, the Germans decided to include prescriptions on the card, which can store several A4 pages of typed text. No final decision has been taken whether the e-health card, which will have all the security features of today’s smart card technology, could also carry a digital signature – a fundament of modern eGovernment applications, including filing tax declarations electronically.
Smart cards are not new to Germany, or Europe for that matter. Mobile telephony introduced the use of ‘smart security’ systems – personal identification numbers (PIN) that safeguard the owner’s account details – to the masses. Credit card companies are also putting smart technology in their cards to cut out the huge problem of fraud.
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, a leading European research organisation, unveiled the proposed technology and architecture behind the new e-health card to the German Federal Ministry of Health and Social Security, which commissioned the research. The unveiling took place during a special press conference at the CeBIT technology event in Hannover (DE). Fraunhofer researchers explained the structure and significance of the core technology underpinning the smart card, which the government plans to introduce by next year.
Special emphasis was put on its data security functions. Part of the ‘architecture’ ensures that only health professionals, such as doctors, dentists or pharmacists, would be able to access patient records using a special ‘health professionals’ pass. This principle is already employed in France’s Sesam heath card system.