<h1>Healthcare Identity Management: The Foundation for a Secure and  Trusted National Health Information Network</h1>
<p><strong><em>A Smart Card Alliance Position Paper for Government  Policy Makers and Healthcare Stakeholders</em></strong></p>
<p><em>Publication Date: September 2009<br />
</em><em>Original Appearance: </em><a href="http://www.smartcardalliance.org/pages/publications-healthcare-identity-management">Healthcare Identity Management:</a></p>
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<h2>Executive Summary</h2>
<p>Policy makers are looking carefully at the best ways to improve our  healthcare system with much emphasis being placed on the need for  electronic health records for every American. This effort also includes  creating an infrastructure to allow the exchange of these records at the  regional, state and national levels. With the passing of the American  Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the federal government is  poised to invest over $19 billion in healthcare information technology  (HITECH Act). [1] This investment will provide significant incentives  for healthcare providers to implement electronic medical record (EMR)  systems over the next five years. This action has the potential to  dramatically change the landscape of modern medicine and is generally  seen as a tremendous step forward; however, we must ensure that this  course achieves the ultimate goals of this initiative.</p>
<p>If we are to improve healthcare information management, we must start  with the accurate identification of each person receiving or providing  healthcare services, and anyone accessing or using this information. As  we move away from paper-based medical records that are controlled by  physical access to buildings, rooms, and files, we need to have an  infrastructure that supports strong identity and security controls. The  issues with establishing identity are compounded as electronic medical  records are used by many different organizations at the regional, state,  and national levels. There must be a way to uniquely and securely  authenticate each person across the healthcare infrastructure, whether  that interaction is in person or over the Internet.</p>
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