protect the safety of a patient
The primary application for biometrics in a healthcare environment is patient identification. First, biometric technology can be leveraged at administration areas to register a patient. After an initial scan, the identifying characteristics in the scan can be linked to the patient's record. In every subsequent visit, the patient will no longer have to go through the lengthy registration process (i.e. filling out paper work, submitting an insurance card, etc.). Instead, all of this data can be automatically populated based on the stored information linked to the biometric scan. This automated process can make your administrative staff more productive and improve the patient experience. Biometric technology can also help to safeguard against fraud. In other words, identifying patients based on biometric scans eliminates the possibility of a patient using a stolen health insurance card.
Biometrics can also help protect the safety of a patient. Currently, manual tracking and barcode tracking are the most popular practices deployed to track medication administration. Biometric scanning adds a level of confidence to patient identification, ensuring that the right patient is receiving the prescribed medication at the appropriate doses. This helps reduce medication administration errors, patient injuries, and potential lawsuits.
Finally, perhaps the most popular application of biometric technology in the healthcare industry in the coming months will be around EHR tracking. "As hospitals strive to deploy their EHR systems, physicians and patients want assurance that the sensitive data stored in these records is secure," says Iadarola. "Biometrics helps ensure that only those authorized to view a patient's record are given access to it."
For example, a patient's record can be locked and only unlocked by the biometric scans of approved physicians and the patient. Furthermore, the healthcare facility (or even the authorities) can be notified any time an individual without an approved scan attempts to access the patient record.
Only time will tell how big an impact biometric technology will have on the future of healthcare, but the applications are indeed promising. Plus, in today's struggling economy, the money needed to invest in biometric technology may be outweighed by the money that can be gained via
Fingerprint access controlthe increased productivity, accuracy, and fraud protection the technology provides.
