Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, will issue an additional 15 million second-generation eHealth cards ("eGK", elektronische Gesundheitskarte) to AOK in 2012. AOK (Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse), the Health Insurance Fund, looks after around 25 million people, approximately one third of the population in Germany. Last year alone Gemalto issued two and a half million health cards for the German National Health Insurance Scheme. In the joint, large-scale project, Gemalto is responsible for the entire card production process for Germany's largest health insurance company. From production and personalization through to fulfillment services, Gemalto is demonstrating its excellence in operation.
The new Sealys eHealth card features a portrait photo of the insured person on the front. Together with the secure authentication function of the operating system, this enhances the legitimacy of the rightful cardholder and further reduces fraud. In addition, the card shall in future enable secure access to an online patient file and store electronic prescriptions. With the holder's consent, additional personal information can be stored on the card, including emergency data such as allergies or drug intolerance. When using the services and added-value applications offered, insurees benefit from the card certified by the BSI(1) and Gematik(2).
"Our goal is to continue increasing efficiency, quality and transparency for the medical service provided to our insurees,” said Mirko Weissbach, Project Manager Telematics at AOK Bundesverband. “The eGK and the creation of the telematics infrastructure is another important step in this direction. In 2011, Gemalto managed to issue the cards as required by law in a very short period of time. We do appreciate this fruitful collaboration."
"Germany is leading the world in the development of eHealth cards,” added Andreas Lösch, Vice-President, Gemalto. "With the new eGK card we are fulfilling a requirement for a secure online connection between users and their health insurance company. This is a key move towards e-services."
The provision of the AOK card and associated services further strengthens Gemalto's position in the healthcare sector, with eHealthcare projects in eleven nationwide programs including Algeria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Gabon, Mexico and Slovenia.
The project launched by the German government includes 80 million insured members, 350,000 physicians and dentists, 2,000 hospitals and 22,000 pharmacies. The German health service is decentralized, with some 150 different health insurance companies, each with their own infrastructure. Around 90 percent of the population is covered by a state health insurance and the remaining 10 percent by a private health insurance. Previously, the health insurance card needed to be replaced every time there was a change in the insuree's data. In the future, with the new eGK card, the required telematics infrastructure will enable the data stored on the card to be updated without replacing the card. With the new system supported by microprocessor cards, data updates could be carried out at any time.
About Gemalto
Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO) is the world leader in digital security with 2011 annual revenues of EUR2 billion and more than 10,000 employees operating out of 74 offices and 14 Research & Development centers in 43 countries. We are at the heart of our evolving digital society. Billions of people worldwide increasingly want the freedom to communicate, travel, shop, bank, entertain and work - anytime, anywhere - in ways that are convenient, enjoyable and secure. Gemalto delivers on their expanding needs for personal mobile services, identity protection, payment security, authenticated online services, cloud computing access, modern transportation, M2M communication, eHealthcare and eGovernment services. Gemalto develops secure software that runs on trusted devices which we design and personalize. We manage these devices, the confidential data they contain and the services they enable, throughout their life cycle. We innovate so that our clients can offer more ways of enhancing the convenience and security of their end-users' digital lives. Gemalto is thriving with the growing number of people using its software and secure devices to interact in the digital and wireless world.
1. BSI: The "Bundesamt fur Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik" (Federal Office for Information Security) is an independent and neutral body for questions relating to IT security in the information society.
2. Gematik: The "Gesellschaft fur Telematikanwendungen der Gesundheitskarte mbH" was established specifically for the introduction of eHealth cards and covers many tasks in the implementation of the telematics infrastructure. For this project, Gematik is focused on its core competencies: design, approval and operational responsibility.