CNN.com is reporting that the Electronic Signatures in Global National Commerce Act, also known as E-Sign took effect Sunday. The law will give electronic signatures the same authority as their handwritten counterparts. The article goes into detail about the promise and security pitfalls of electronic signatures: ‘…the expanded definition of legal signatures and
flaws in the technology could contribute to fraud.
The law does not specify a type of technology for
e-signatures. They can be obtained through
secured processes, like secret passwords or digital
fingerprints, as well as unsecured ones, such as
faxed signatures or clicking an acceptance button
on a Web page.’ This will make it an interesting world in medicine where signatures on documents with legal weight are a frequent occurrence. The question is how soon will healthcare take advantage of this?