Deploying GlobalPlatform Specifications within smart card based healthcare programs can:

• Provide a secure electronic information exchange and cost-effective infrastructure to support healthcare applications
• Protect the issuer's investment by 'future-proofing' the program against business decisions which have not been made at the time of deployment. GlobalPlatform's flexible and scalable infrastructure can accommodate significant changes to the program post-issuance
• Provide healthcare providers with secure and immediate access to patient medical records, billing information and patient care history.

Healthcare Implementations

Slovenian Health Insurance Card
In May 2008, the Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia launched a new project called 'e-health 2010' to improve its existing nationwide health card system – The Slovenian Health Insurance Card (HIC). The inter-connecting health and social information system aims to ensure e-services are available to all relevant parties in a secure and efficient manner. This latest advancement required the development of a new HIC to enable the use of digital certificates to accommodate electronic signing, and an infrastructure that would facilitate online information access and develop the prototype for electronic prescriptions.

Key to the success of the new system was its ability to be fully backward-compatible with the existing infrastructure and the two million cards already in circulation, without disrupting services. The solution uses GlobalPlatform Card Specification v2.1.1.

Pilots for the new cards began in the summer of 2008, with the first identity card that incorporates HIC functionalities issued later that year. By 2010, the Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia aims to have replaced all existing HIC smart cards in circulation with the new generation of e-healthcards.

GlobalPlatform member solution providers involved in this initiative include Gemalto.

Austrian Citizens Cards
In 2005 Bell ID's ANDiS Management System facilitated the issuance of social insurance citizen smart cards in Austria. Based on GlobalPlatform systems technology, the new 'e-card' system eliminated the need to issue and process 40 million paper-based healthcare vouchers annually. In addition to the e-cards, the solution also issued o-cards which were for authorized staff in doctors' practices.

The complete lifecycle of all e-cards and o-cards was also managed by Bell ID's Management System using the integrated GlobalPlatform based Post-Issuance Personalization (PIP) functionality. This added feature not only allows cardholders to download and reload applications at a later date, but also enables the Main Association of Austrian Social Insurance Institutions to change on-card data via their own e-portal, the Karten Service Portal. This capability additionally assists the Karten Service Portal in allowing citizens to apply for and download digital certificates.

Eleven million social insurance citizen smart cards have been issued in Austria. These are also being used as citizen cards as the new multi-application e-cards contain personal cardholder data and up to four digital certificates for data security and verification of the cardholder's identity. A further 25,000 o-cards have been deployed.

GlobalPlatform member solution providers include Bell ID.

• Taiwan National Health Insurance Card