Equifax to Provide Gemalto Security Solution to U.S. Healthcare Providers

Gemalto announced it will provide multi-factor authentication one-time password (OTP) tokens to Equifax, a leader in identity management. The security devices, based on Open Authentication (OATH), are part of Gemalto’s Protiva Medsecure solution and will be packaged within Equifax’s Anakam Identity Services.

The first implementation of this system is for HEALTHeLINK, a collaboration structure among healthcare providers in an eight county region of western New York State that includes Buffalo and Niagara Falls, to securely share medical and clinical information electronically. The Gemalto Protiva Medsecure strong authentication solution is in particular able to accommodate situations in which users are unable to receive their one-time passwords through text messaging or interactive voice response. Physicians often face network coverage problems in hospitals and are thus unable to utilize a mobile device.

“The solution offers our physicians a highly secure method to access electronic health records even in locations where hospital or clinic policies forbid cell phones for text message delivery or mobile applications,” said Dan Porreca, executive director of HEALTHeLINK. “We have used authentication technology successfully for several years and this addition allows us to more fully meet the requirements for secure access to patient records and offers flexibility in how we manage that security.”

“The Equifax Anakam Identity Services offers HEALTHeLINK a comprehensive and secure platform to grant physicians and other providers online access to electronic patient records,” said Garry Capers, vice president business development, Equifax. “Adding Gemalto’s expertise in identity management strengthens our existing offering and helps HEALTHeLINK meet applicable federal and state standards for security in healthcare IT.”

“The implementation of multi-factor authentication by HEALTHeLINK provides better security and privacy of medical records,” said Tom Flynn, vice president online authentication at Gemalto North America. “Gemalto‘s versatile authentication solution easily complements Equifax’s flexible platform of risk-based identity management. It also provides a path for Equifax to grow its authentication practice as its customer needs evolve.”