TASCET’s Health ICONN™ Forces Necessary Shift in the Fight Against Fraud

MADISON, Wis. – TASCET (www.tascet.com), creators of a multi-platform Identity Infrastructure, today announced the creation of Health ICONN(www.tascet.com/#healthcare), a digital representation of an individual used to prove identity at the time healthcare services are requested. Health ICONN disables medical identity fraud and ensures patient safety and privacy.

An ICONN sets the foundation for digital identification. A Health ICONN provides a proactive fraud detection tool to reduce the amount of pay and chase that occurs in the healthcare industry. Audits, investigations and prosecutions are necessary but time consuming and often reactive, occurring after the fraud is committed. The Health ICONN also ends the confusion between identification, verification and authentication in terms of the crucial role each plays. This confusion has created weak links that are easily exploited in today’s complex and digital modern society. “Fraud, waste, abuse and administrative inefficiencies are among the issues driving the cost of healthcare in America,” said Kari Douglas, senior vice president at TASCET. “Healthcare organizations are adding to the problem by not addressing the issue at hand – identifying patients – and they inadvertently promote fraud by relying on a driver’s license or birth date to determine identity.” TASCET’s Health ICONN is available to hospitals and clinics, insurance companies, pharmacies, health information exchanges and other healthcare entities needing to comply with federal and state regulations concerning fraud and patient privacy. Health ICONN benefits healthcare organizations by reducing the full time equivalent (FTE) costs related to patient identification and claims adjudication and by providing anonymity to electronic health records. Once the patient’s Health ICONN is confirmed by TASCET, the Health ICONN can be used by the patient to remain anonymous yet identified in a way never done before. This allows for the confidential access and exchange of their medical records. When patients return for follow-up care or to fill a prescription, they simply provide their Health ICONN for real-time identity verification. For healthcare organizations, the Health ICONN:

• Maintains compliance by ensuring patient privacy and confidentiality during electronic health record exchange.
• Enables HIPAA-covered entities to exceed compliance regulations by providing consistent, reliable identification of patients without using publicly available identifiers like a Social Security number, date of birth or driver’s license.
• Keeps patients anonymous while enabling the provider to still know who the patient is.
• Cuts costs by reducing the amount of hours and manpower spent on claims adjudication.
• Preserves the organization’s reputation.
• Increases conveniences by reducing time spent in the patient waiting area.

For consumers, the Health ICONN:

• Provides a digital representation of the patient’s identity, which gives the patient a new level of safety, security and convenience.
• Improves convenience by minimizing the amount of information needed during registration.
• Creates confidence knowing that medical decisions are made based on the correct identity.
• Enhances privacy when electronic medical records are exchanged.
• Diminishes identity fraud.

About TASCET Founded in 2005 and based in Madison, Wis., TASCET built an Identity Infrastructure that is available to organizations in the financial services, healthcare, education, cyber and government sectors.  The Identity Infrastructure serves as the backbone for Technology as a Service (TaaS), enabling businesses to confirm an individual’s identity as they move between organizations or industries. The Infrastructure helps organizations maintain data integrity, meet compliance, and eliminate the use of government-issued identifiers while restoring consumer privacy. TASCET is non-transactional and does not data mine, sell information or monitor transactions. Visit www.tascet.comfor more information.