On December 28, a new decree ratified the arrival of the digital vital card in France in 2023. It will be accompanied by a dedicated mobile application. Operation, advantages, security and confidentiality of data, we explain everything to you.
Since 2019, the government and Health Insurance have been talking about their desire to launch a digital vital card. For the authorities and the institution, this is a crucial step in the “digital shift in health”. In 2021, we mentioned in our columns the arrival of this vital card 2.0. Ultimately, it took two more years for this project to become a reality.
Indeed, a decree published on December 28, 2022 has just confirm the deployment of the e-carte vitale on French territory in 2023. As Health Insurance explained in a press release in July 2022, the idea with this digital vital card is to “fluidify relations between healthcare professionals and insured persons”.
The advantages of the digital vital card
According to Health Insurance, the digital vital card and its dedicated mobile app offer the same functions as the traditional physical vital card, while offering additional benefits:
- This format will prevent omissions, patients having for the most part their smartphone on them (unlike the physical card)
- Treatment sheets are secure and reliable gthanks to automatic access to the ADRi right service, thus reducing the risk of errors and invoice rejections
Finally, the institution raises one last important point in this period of rebound in the Covid-19 epidemic. This digital format of the vital card “greatly reduces the risk of hand-borne contamination”. And yes, the doctor and the patient no longer take risks by exchanging the physical vital card.
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Credit: 123RF
Focus on the Vital Card application
As for the Carte Vitale application, it will establish itself as a digital tool providing access to all the Health Insurance features and services. Here users will be able to access the Billing Sesam Vitale, to the integrated teleservices of the compulsory health insurance (AMO) while pharmacists will be able to consult the pharmaceutical files of patients. It will also be possible to delegate the use of his vital card to a relative for a limited period (to the grandparents who look after your children, for example).
In addition, this dedicated app will integrate additional data such as the national health identity (INS), a unique identity that brings together your INS number (which corresponds for the most part to your social security number) and five reference characteristics such as your name. , first name, sex, date and place of birth. Later, the app will also house data from health insurance companies.
Note that at the time of writing these lines, the Vital Card application is not yet available on the Play Store and the App Store. The government has yet to reveal an exact release date.
How to use the digital vital card
Now let’s come to practice. After a consultation, the patient can use his digital vital card as follows:
- Either by using the QR Code displayed in the vital card application. The healthcare professional will only have to scan the QR Code to access all the information contained in the app.
- Go through an NFC-compatible reader on which the patient will place his smartphone (as for a contactless payment)
However, the Health Insurance calls on health professionals to opt in priority for the QR Code option. Indeed, NFC technology is available on iPhone on models later than iPhone 6S, while some Android devices may not have it.
Data Security and Privacy
The transition to digital format necessarily involves risks regarding the security and confidentiality of your data. On this point, the Health Insurance ensures that “the carte vitale app has the same level of security as the physical card, a level guaranteed by the public authorities”.
In other words, the app will only store essential data such as your surname, first name, gender/sex, status (opening rights, child, etc.) and the compulsory organization to which you belong. Furthermore, it will be necessary to go through double authentication to use the card (insured’s smartphone + personal secret code).
Deployment started in 2022
The vital card app was gradually rolled out in 2022 to 8 health insurance funds, namely:
- Alpes-Maritimes
- Lower Rhine
- Loire Atlantique
- Puy de Dome
- Saone-et-Loire
- Sarthe
- Seine Maritime
Its generalization is planned for 2023, without further details for the moment.