HEALTH CARD

The health record plays a vital role in the well being of people. Maintaining paper based records for a longer period is tedious. Further these records get damaged easily.

The key characteristic of a smart card is that it carries all necessary functions and information on the card itself and does not require access to any external data source to complete a transaction. Typically, though, the transactions are uploaded onto a remote database at end of day or some periodic interval.

Storing the medical history of the card-holder in the Smart Card can provide authentic, accurate and updated personal medical information.

The concept being ideated is to implement a Smart Card System to store the health records of patients. The smart card will store personal details along with medical information like sensitive drugs, chronic medical conditions, allergies, lab results, major surgeries, etc.

The card-holders can carry critical information in their wallets which can be accessed during an emergency by the attending physician. This card will be instrumental in saving the life of the card-holder during an emergency as vital data like Name, Address and Blood Group can be read from the visible part of the card. The chip on the card will carry the medical history of the card-holder and provide crucial information like surgeries undergone, allergies, special conditions, etc. The optical strip on the other hand will be instrumental in storing certain types of scanned data.

Special readers are used to read the card. These readers may be handheld or PC-based depending on the type of infrastructure that is available at the point of usage of the cards. In hospitals where the doctors and physicians use the card, a PC-based reader can be provided and the data on the card can be displayed on the PC’s monitor. On the field, where PCs are not available, handheld terminals can be provided to read the information if required.

For Patients

Convenient – The card can be carried in the pocket or the wallet.

Interoperable – Data can be read by any reader which has been programmed to receive the card.

Availability – Handy information in case of emergencies since the card is carried on the patient’s person and can be easily found and used by medical personnel even if the patient is unconscious or unable to provide relevant information.

Scalability – Since the card can be upgraded to carry other relevant information like E-Purse & Loyalty Programs.

For Medical Professionals / Hospitals

Facilitates Treatment – The medical history of the patient is on the card so treatment is facilitated by providing the medical professionals with the requisite medical history of the patient.

Fights Competitors – Since customers will perceive the card to be a value-added service it will be a differentiator for the hospital against competitors.

Locks-in Customers – The card can be a lever to lock-in customers since value loaded on the e-purse can be carried forward to the next visit.

Better Recordkeeping – Moves towards a paper-less environment and helps standardized and more cost-effective record-keeping.