Healthcare technology company Medirex Systems has secured funding for patient authentication from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP).

Medirex received NRC IRAP’s advisory services and research and development financing to support a project designed to improve patient authentication in healthcare environments.

The initiative led by the company uses its expertise by adding a digital element, transforming the conventional hospital wristband into a secure portal for accessing personal health information.

The patent-pending technology begins with verifying the identity in person and issuing a wristband, which then allows the patient to establish a secure link to external systems.

This approach eliminates the need for hospital staff to access or handle data beyond their duties.

Central to this project is the standards-compliant identity and authentication interface, Medirex Open API, which permits patients to authorise third-party applications, such as remote patient monitoring (RPM) systems.

Through this authorisation, they can access their health-related information from electronic health record (EHR) systems such as Oracle and Epic.

This API facilitates the sharing of identity and essential data required to register and use external systems, all while maintaining patient privacy and control.

The Medirex Patient Authentication API facilitates the secure management of health information for patients across various care settings, ranging from hospital admissions to domestic monitoring systems.

Patients can scan their wristband and confirm their identity through text message or email, and grant access to their records either for themselves or for approved digital health instruments such as RPM systems.

This method tackles the challenge of maintaining data confidentiality while meeting the demands of external care collaborators.

Medirex's solution delineates clear access roles, ensuring that only the relevant individuals can access the essential data, with the patient's permission.

Medirex managing director Mark Caskenette said: "By enabling a secure, patient-led handoff from the hospital wristband to third-party tools, we ensure that care can extend beyond the hospital without compromising privacy or involving staff in unnecessary data access."