LifeMed ID, Inc. and Wyckoff Heights Medical Center Launched the First Patient Medical SmartCard Providing Secure Medical Data to New York Healthcare Providers and First Responders
Citrus Heights, CA, February 16, 2011–LifeMed ID announced today that Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in New York City has begun offering patients secure Medical Information Smart Cards in the largest U.S. deployment of smart card-based patient IDs to date. Wyckoff plans to provide more than 110,000 patients with Medical Smart Cards to help enhance continuity of care throughout the New York City region. These smart cards protect patients’ identities and healthcare records, provide secure authentication for any access to medical information, and contain secure, portable patient medical information that can be securely accessed in an emergency by authorized first responders and healthcare providers.
Smart cards contain a small microchip which secures access to any information on the HIPAA complaint hospital information systems. All information contained on the smart card is protected by sophisticated encryption algorithms.
The LifeMed ID System also provides a paperless check-in, patient registration process, and significantly decreases patient wait times. Instead of having to sign in on registration sheets, show a driver’s license at each new department when checking in, or verifying insurance information on each visit, the patient presents their LifeMed ID Medical Smart Card and simply swipe their card once, enters an optional PIN or biometric identifier, and instantly the patient is signed in throughout the entire organization, including multiple departments, clinics and providers.
The LifeMed ID System provides healthcare institutions with secure patient identity management using smart card-based identity cards that verify patient identities, meets dual authentication requirements for HIPAA privacy best practices compliance, and provides ongoing connectivity to the patients’ Medical records, ensuring accuracy and helping to avoid expensive administrative errors.
One LifeMed ID Customer, Memorial Hospital in North Conway, NH implemented LifeMed’s Patient Identity Management solution in 2008 because they wanted to create a higher patient satisfaction at first contact with the admissions desk. The program provided an immediate increase in patient satisfaction (10% Press Ganey increase the first 60 days), and a ROI within the first 8 months of implementing the LifeMed solution. Lawrence Carbonaro, director of admissions at The Memorial Hospital, found that after implementing the LifeMed solution within their existing system, admissions error rates, duplicate records and medical errors decreased from between 7 and 9% to less than 1%. They also saw a significant decrease in denied claims from insurance providers and a shorter turn around on reimbursements.
Wyckoff’s CEO, Rajiv Garg, a former Head of Global Risk Management who understands finance and technology, says about their partnership with LifeMed, “It’s a win-win. Delivering quality healthcare is a precise balance. We want to make sure that we provide our patients with the most sophisticated technical care and best practices known while creating technical efficiencies throughout our healthcare community. We believe that we are striking the right balance here with the LifeMed Identity Smart Card and fully expect our patients to embrace this technology completely–it’s a win-win for Wyckoff and our
patients.”
Garg proudly described that his IT group, lead by Jebashini Jesurasa, VP/ CIO is tremendously excited to lead this important Wyckoff initiative. “We are expanding connectivity to local physicians, clinics and providing tuff book laptops with LifeMed Smart card readers to securely access their patient’s emergency medical information during emergency incidents,” he said.
David Batchelor, LifeMed ID Founder and CEO, has worked with more than 200 hospitals over the last twenty years providing loyalty programs, and over the last five years his team has innovated the LifeMed Smart Card Patient Identity Solution. He found the demand for the LifeMed ID Solution that included patient Medical Smart Cards was coming from all sectors of the healthcare landscape, including physicians groups, clinics and the insurance industry. The LifeMed Solution has been developed to satisfy the highest security standards and HITECH legislative mandates that are required for “Meaningful Use.” Most importantly, says Batchelor, “LifeMed is creating a connected, patient-centric model where all providers (including disparate providers) can contribute and access patient information for the benefit of the patient–while streamlining patient registration, reducing duplicate records, medical fraud, and patient record errors.”
About Wyckoff Heights Medical Center
Located in an ethnically diverse residential neighborhood directly on the border of northern Brooklyn and western Queens, Wyckoff Heights Medical Center is a 350-bed teaching hospital. A dedicated staff of 1,800 physicians, nurses and support personnel represent thirty-five distinct languages and cultures. Wyckoff Heights Medical Center has been providing medical care to the community since 1889. Today, we see 75,000 visits annually in our Pediatric/Adult Emergency Departments, deliver 2,000 babies, offer outpatient services to thousands at our network of community ambulatory care centers and present extensive community health education and screening programs.
To ensure the future healthcare needs of the communities we serve, Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, in partnership with the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, undertakes the responsibility of training new generations of qualified physicians.
Quality patient care is dedicated team effort. At Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, we have created a warm and caring place for healing.
About LifeMed ID
LifeMed ID was developed by SMART Association, Inc. the nation’s leading Consumer Relationship marketing firm and smart card application providers and card issuers within the healthcare industry for over twenty years. Recently, due to demand for the product, LifeMed ID became a stand-alone company with a focus on developing the technology for not only hospitals but all healthcare provider markets. LifeMed ID enables our customers to succeed in market penetration through enhanced patient identity management, patient satisfaction, and patient safety. Smart Association continues the leadership and expertise of branding and marketing to develop loyalty programs for all healthcare markets.
For more information contact
Kim Crestelo
LifeMed ID, Inc.
916-677-8400
kimc@smartassociation.com