Palm scanner for patient identification in NY City hospital

Reuters: “A New York City hospital has stopped asking many patients to dig out health insurance cards and fill in endless forms, instead identifying them by scanning the unique lattice of veins in their palm.

The new biometric technology employed by New York University’s Langone Medical Center was expected to speed up patient check-ins and eliminate medical errors.

The system also has the virtue of not requiring the patient be conscious at the time of check-in, as is sometimes the case in emergency rooms.

The scanners are made by the technology services company Fujitsu and exploit the principle that, as with fingerprints and iris patterns, no two individuals’ palm-vein configurations are quite the same.

Using near-infrared waves, an image is taken of an individual’s palm veins, which software then matches with the person’s medical record. The initial set-up for a new patient takes about a minute, the hospital said, while subsequent scans only take about a second.”

I saw something about this a few weeks ago, but was reminded about it when it showed up in my ASHP Daily Briefing this morning.

4 thoughts on “Palm scanner for patient identification in NY City hospital”

  1. This is the exact same device that Pearson Vue was using this year to scan candidates in and out of NAPLEX / MPJE (Not sure about California’s version)

  2. Very cool! Working on my term project to write an RFP for a comprehensive HIT solution at the virtual SBMI ambulatory care clinic in Second Life for UTHSC Applied Health Informatics. I was trying to find a quick way to ID patients such as used at airports to check in to suggest for a kiosk in the concept and this is perfect. I’m plugging this into the concept! Thanks for all the great information your putting out. I just found your blog while researching my other project, a BPOC system. I’ll be back to learn more.

  3. David –
    Glad to be of service. I’d love to see the results of your finished term project. It sounds pretty cool.
    -Jerry

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