ASSA ABLOY Identification Technologies (ITG), one of the leading providers of products and services in the RFID market, has received approval for its new terminal OMNIKEY CardMan® e-Health 8751 LAN.  The device has been certified by the “Gesellschaft fur Telematikanwendungen der Gesundheitskarte mbH” (gematik) and is now being deployed in the broad-based live trial of the German Electronic Health Card.  In phase 1, the so-called 10,000 test, users in pharmacies, medical practices and clinics are currently testing the components of the health project infrastructure, including the electronic health card and the terminal.

The certificate from gematik for the OMNIKEY eHealth terminal already includes the support for the mandatory “Null-PIN” function (gematik SRQ 0558) which allows initial setting of a PIN for newly shipped health cards.  The CardMan® 8751 is one of the first terminals with this certified feature.

Based on a new thin client core, the terminal supports secure LAN access-to-terminal functions, a 16-key PIN pad with display and an HTTPS-based web interface for configuration.  It will allow for secure firmware updates and provides multiple reader interfaces.  The terminal has four contact and one contactless RFID reader interfaces.  Currently it is the only device on the market with an integrated contactless reader which is able to support the currently discussed convenience signature (Komfort Signatur).  This signature, enabled by an RFID token which has to be brought into close proximity of the reader, would allow the health care professional to replace time-consuming PIN-entry based signatures with a simple token based action.  As a result, workflows including signatures would be much faster and more convenient in particular for repetitive tasks such as the necessary signing of each item on a prescription.

The certified product is a working prototype, with the final product scheduled for the official start of the new e-health environment in Q3 2008. Although currently focusing on the German e-health project, this LAN connected terminal is the first device of a completely new product group that is also suitable for other countries´ health projects as well as completely different applications yet to come beyond the e-health realm.

By the time of the official start in Germany, the terminal will be fully complying with all relevant industry standards in the well-known quality of OMNIKEY products and will help to improve the overall quality in the healthcare industry.