Babystep 12: Electronic Medic Alert
An innovative way to secrete personal emergency medical information - such as alergies and contraindications - in smartcards, including strong authentication of the healthcare professionals originating the alerts.
Digital certificates are an ideal means for encapsulating packages of personal data, including emergency medical data, so as to convey their pedigree and integrity (see Babystep 11). This paper builds on that idea to show in some detail how medical information could be managed in ways that very closely reflect the trusted Medic Alert process. A cornerstone of Medic Alert is a form specifying the clinical conditions of interest, which is completed by the patient’s doctor – who must be a registered medical professional – and signed by both the doctor and the patient.
