Case Study: National Healthcare Organization Achieves Secure ID Badge Issuance After Multiple Acquisitions

Overview: 

A large health care system with over 100,000 employees was searching for a better way to coordinate the launch of their new brand to staff after multiple acquisitions. For doctors, nurses, and other healthcare personnel, employee ID badges are required to have standardized color coding so ID cards are displayed visibly to patients. Despite being well-intentioned, the marketing and branding team did not possess the expertise in card printer technology and color specifications in order to properly match all the ID cards across locations.

The branding agency they partnered with conducted extensive research on various ID printer manufacturers, in conjunction with the internal experience of the existing team, to find the best solution for secure ID badge issuance. At the corporate level, the healthcare provider was able to confirm what the new ID cards should look like, but with variable data fields and changing colors based on role, they did not have confidence in using any of their existing systems to produce this in-house.

When the branding agency reached out to their partner network, they could not find a company that displayed confidence in meeting their expectations either. After continued research, the branding agency recommended that the healthcare organization partner with ADVANTIDGE to manage the fulfillment of their enterprise ID badges for the new brand. 

Challenge: 

One of the biggest challenges was figuring out how to reissue ID cards across the fragmented enterprise so that existing employees were properly identified as part of the larger organization. Each site and facility had a different set of components for an existing ID badge system and each had its own legacy security access structure in place, so there seemed to be no way to standardize a single template or color scheme with any reliable consistency. None of these systems communicated with the other, nor had been updated in recent years. Their employee identification and access control systems needed to be upgraded in order for them to meet HIPAA compliance requirements. 

Some additional challenges were faced when the marketing teams had admitted they already developed artwork for the new brand without taking into account the strict requirements for PMS color matching for various employee positions and locations. 

Ensuring that every location had their newly printed employee ID cards in hand for the new brand’s launch date, was even more difficult. With the ongoing pandemic and disruptions to the supply chain, sourcing the raw materials and coordinating logistics for transportation and delivery was a constant challenge. 

Solutions:  

With a consultative approach to understanding the end user’s needs, ADVANTIDGE worked with the branding agency and the healthcare provider to meet their expectations for ID card fulfillment. In doing so, the ADVANTIDGE team ensured color accuracy, data integrity, and image quality on adhesive-backed ID cards.

Because numerous teams were involved, the enterprise ID Badge Issuance proof process required multiple approvals. This included physical press proofs instead of electronic PDFs, so they could touch and feel the final product. Most of the badges were CR80 size but had to be applied on top of existing access control card using an adhesive backing. They also needed to be sorted by location, by department, so that they could be easily distributed upon arrival. 

ADVANTIDGE managed the launch schedule that was prepared by the marketing team and worked closely with regional managers to produce tens of thousands of pre-printed ID badges with the new branding. They made sure the printing could be applied to employees’ existing RFID cards in order to align with their buildings’ physical access control systems. The new ID cards provided a combined solution that met HIPAA compliance while satisfying the goals of onboarding newly acquired business units to the larger healthcare organization. 

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At ADVANTIDGE, we work with our security partners to be the experts on hand for complex applications for identity management, visitor management, PACS upgrades, MFA, and more. By conducting thorough technical assessments, we support our clients and the community with customized security solutions. Get ready to connect and find a more secure and efficient solution today!