printer friendly version

Standards can keep the horse before the cart

Standards work can be tedious, slow and, to some, an outright bore. But the most important factor of standards work, is that very often the groundwork for the launch of a product which is hailed as an industry first, is done at standards level first. In other words, the horse that makes the product work, is genuinely put in front of the cart and the industry at large can benefit from interoperability and greater regulation in service delivery.

One such case is the work done by South African Bureau of Standards sub-committee 215A, specifically focusing on smartcards in health care. The committee has put thorough work into the refining and acceptance of SANS 828, acceptance not only by the private sector but, most importantly, by the National Department of Health, which has been developing the National Health Information System in recent years.

The final result of the work done on SANS 828, is the standards required to develop and operate a multi-application smartcard system in public as well as private health care. The card which could, in all likelihood be a world-first has provision for four components or applications:

* The first component is a payment system, EMV-compliant and using the existing standards for similar applications around the world.

* The second component is fondly referred to as the 'personal business card', and contains such information as name, ID number, address, next of kin and relevant contact details. This information can be updated, should any changes take place, but will mostly remain static.

* The third component, and this is where the marriage between public and private sector takes place, contains health insurance information. All details and relevant reference numbers for private health insurance or top up insurance, should the individual have it, or their unique number for public health insurance benefits. Beneficiary details are included here too.

* The final and most exciting component of the card, is the presence of certain pertinent details on the individual’s medical history. An updated immunisation history, chronic illnesses and relevant scripts, allergies and even a short diagnostic history have been provided for.

The holistic effect, of the creation of such standards before such a product is developed, is that once the card is widely available countrywide, it can be issued by any service provider in either the private or public sector without any inconvenience to the individual. Healthy competition can be nurtured amongst vendors that wish to develop the necessary product to match these standards, while still keeping unique features of their own. The role of the vendors in this particular sequence of development, is that the standards can be constantly updated and refined to match the practical outcome of product development.

The ultimate requirement of the South African Department of Health is that the public will be represented by the card, whether dependent on public health benefits or not and the standards work which is done now, paves the way for smooth transition to the new system.

The more subtle benefits to the industry should not be ignored, when marvelling the finalisation of such standards. Private health insurance providers are now able to issue cards with increased longevity; the opportunity to marry such cards with retail pharmacy loyalty schemes has presented itself; and emergency cases will now genuinely be able to speak for themselves without reliance on the rather clumsy medic alert systems currently available.

While the public wait for the development of the product that will comply to these standards, and ultimately improve health care service delivery, the most important marketing opportunity of all has presented itself – who will be the first to offer this product?

Share this article:

Further reading: