RFID Tracks Medical Record Access
The Englewood Hospital and Medical Center (EHMC) is employing RFID technology as a means to control access to confidential patient data. The news was detailed in an article published by the RFID Journal. Encentuate manufactures the identity and access management (IAM) system that was employed at EHMC. The solution works through the integration of single-sign-on (SSO) applications and low-frequency (LF) 125 kHz RFID proximity tags which are embedded in employee identification badges. Other components include security management and workflow functions. The same system is also being employed to control employee access to the hospital’s clinical information system and other key software applications.
Healthcare providers at the facility gain access to systems by having their identification badge read by the RFID interrogator at the workstation. The user’s unique interface appears on the computer screen, a password is entered, and the employee has access to those programs and files which (s)he is permitted to utilize.
Encentuate also supported efforts at EHMC to upgrade the facility’s virtual private network, to allow remote access. This does not use the RFID tagging and interrogators, but relies instead on password authentication.
To date, 50 of the nursing stations have been outfitted with RFID interrogators and Encentuate software, also implemented on several dozen administrative computers. During the middle of December, an additional 100 computers will have the tools integrated for RFID and security measures.
EHMC already adopted a RFID system, acquired from HID, to limit access to employee entrances, pharmacies, and computer rooms throughout the facility. The tags incorporated into the facility for the HID system were also utilized for the IAM program that was initiated.
The facility’s manager that oversees financial systems noted the drawbacks of of fingerprint ID systems, USB keys, and magnetic-stripe cards. RFID, in addition to already existing across the system, had the lowest rate of downtime.