ORGA Delivers Smart Cards to US Healthcare Project

PAOLI, Pa., Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- ORGA, a leading smart card specialist in the healthcare sector, will participate in a major trendsetting project in the U.S.: the ``Health Passport Project (HPP).'' This trial will demonstrate how smart cards can streamline healthcare and social service benefits for insurers and patients alike.

The goal of the project, which is being organized by the US states of Wyoming, North Dakota and Nevada, is to boost the efficiency of state health services and to provide independent authorities with patient data. ORGA won an order for the personalization and delivery of more than 30,000 multifunction microprocessor cards. These ``Health Passports'' will be issued primarily to women and small children who receive benefits from more than one national support program. The cards store personal and medical data, which is downloaded to the local HPP patient information system in a doctor's office or public health department. The card can also store food vouchers, which recipients use for cashless shopping.

The sophisticated security architecture guarantees that sensitive data is protected. The card owner is the only person who -- with PIN authorization -- can view all the data on the card at one of the kiosk terminals provided. The card owner can also specify which sensitive information is to be written on the chip and who is entitled to read it.

Service providers and public authorities can only access the information which is relevant to their particular field. Here, authorization is provided by Health Professional Cards, a PIN and a user ID.

The many advantages of the project are already apparent. Card users are now able to spend their benefits more discretely (e.g. via cashless payments). And being able to manage their own card data means that they take a more active role in their own healthcare. It is easier for public authorities to identify program participants and to check their benefit entitlement status, resulting in more efficient, cost-effective healthcare programs with fewer errors and incidences of misuse and duplicate benefits. Service providers in the healthcare sector profit from an improved information flow and from a reduced need for manual administrative intervention.

U.S. Business Contact: Gerry Smith
Tel.: 610-993-9810 EXT 241
Fax: 610-993-8641
E-Mail: 70752,[email protected]
U.S. Press Officer: Alex Goldsleger
Tel.: 610-993-8209
E-Mail: 103247,[email protected]

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Thanks Tim and Anna!

Thanks Kinetic!