Bulgaria deploys Gemalto' smart cards to secure access to personal health records for military personnel

Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, today announced that Bulgaria has started deploying its smart cards to secure access to personal health records for the country’s military personnel and their family.

“Gemalto’s European Standard-compliant IAS solution ensures trust and confidence and enables smoother, more efficient interaction between patients and healthcare professionals.”

Gemalto has vast experience in providing solutions for eHealth, and has proved itself as a strong and reliable partner in Slovenia, Germany, France, Finland, the UK, Gabon, Algeria, Mexico, etc.

In Bulgaria, Gemalto delivered double-slot readers and smart cards with the associated middleware to KIM-2000, a local company specialized in eHealth projects. KIM-2000 acts as prime contractor for the electronic health record system commissioned by the Military Medical Academy. This innovative system optimizes medical treatments, simplifies and modernizes procedures and increases security for accessing health information.

The Gemalto card is compliant with the Identification Authentication Signature (IAS) European standard to ensure the highest level of security for accessing personal electronic health records. The patient and the healthcare professional simultaneously insert their own card into the double-entry Gemalto reader and type in their PIN code to enable viewing or modifying of the medical file, which is stored on a highly secure IT infrastructure. The patient can also view their personal data online, using the Gemalto reader and card to authenticate themselves.

The personal electronic health record is a complete electronic archive of the patient’s medical history. It stores all existing medical documentation, including laboratory tests and results, X-ray pictures, all visual tests, electronic prescriptions, etc. It also contains the patient’s blood group, allergies and genetic predisposition to diseases, health check ups, surgical interventions and all useful medical information. The personal electronic health record enables healthcare professionals to immediately access a patient’s medical data and therefore, make more accurate decisions, especially in emergency situations, for which there is a special section in the electronic health record, containing the most important relevant information.

“For securing our system, we needed a smart card that meets the stringent requirements of international and European standards,” commented Kalcho Hinov, Chairman of the Board, KIM-2000. “Gemalto’s European Standard-compliant IAS solution ensures trust and confidence and enables smoother, more efficient interaction between patients and healthcare professionals.”

“The implementation of an electronic health record system is a highly innovative project and Gemalto is proud to contribute to this venture alongside KIM-2000,” added Ari Bouzbib, Senior Vice President Identity and Government Programs at Gemalto. “Through this initiative, Gemalto’s digital security technology proves to be a key enabler to next-generation eHealth programs. These are intended to deliver optimized treatment for each patient with utmost security, while protecting the privacy of personal data.”