What is the Health Passport Project?

The Health Passport Project is a three-city demonstration using smart cards to streamline and integrate health care services, benefits, and patient records. People participating in the demonstration are those eligible for care under public health programs. The Health Passport Project is the largest state led health-care demonstration in the United States for smart cards. The demonstration is being conducted over two years (mid-1999 through mid-2001) in the cities of Bismarck, North Dakota; Cheyenne, Wyoming; and Reno, Nevada. The project will demonstrate how people can use these electronic cards to give up-to-date information to their health-care providers, including physicians, nurses, nutritionists and early childhood educators. The demonstration will also determine whether use of the Health Passport will simplify and improve access to health services, resulting in healthier moms and kids. Initially, the Health Passport will be given to an estimated 20,000 pregnant women, mothers and children eligible for a variety of public health programs.

The Health Passport Project has four key goals. One is to reduce health-care costs--in terms of time and money-- for patients and health-care providers by having accurate information where it is needed, when it is needed. Another goal is to improve the quality of care by giving patients better access to the care for which they are eligible, and by reducing gaps and duplication in patient records so they get the right care. The project also aims to give individuals more control over this information so they can take more responsibility for their health and the health of their family. Finally, the Health Passport Project hopes to improve "customer satisfaction" with public health services.

The project is being sponsored by the Western Governors’ Association, which represents the governors of 18 Western states, two territories and one commonwealth. Governors of the HPP participating states are lead governors for this initiative. Major public health agencies are participating, including Women, Infants and Children (WIC); Head Start; Immunizations; Maternal and Child Health; and Medicaid. Health-care providers in the demonstration communities are also closely involved. The women and children who are eligible for these public health programs, their health-care providers, and grocery stores (for nutrition benefits) are trying out the Health Passport card to see if it’s a better way to do business.

The demonstrations are being independently evaluated by the Urban Institute (programmatic evaluation) and Phoenix-MAXIMUS (technical evaluation). Final results will be presented to Western Governors at their Annual Meeting in August 2001.

Page last updated 01/26/2001