In its commitment to adapting to the to the changing demands of public health care, one of the nation’s pre-second world war hospitals, Broadlawns has recently enhanced patient identity security system through the installation of palm scanners called PatientSecure.
In a press release, the hospital said that it will be using palm scanners to register and check-in patients. Thirty-five palm scanners are being installed as part of the initiative. The implementation is a part of the medical center’s ongoing facilities modernization plan. The investment in patient security system also reflects the hospital’s commitment to federal government’s Electronic Medical Records implementation policies. PatientSecure will enable the hospital to protect each patient's identity. In addition, it will help speed up the registration process and improve patient care.
“We want to continue to offer advanced options such as this for our patients. Systems like PatientSecure contribute to Broadlawns' position as the only Level 6 facility in the state of Iowa and in the top 1.5% of hospitals in the country,” CEO of Broadlawns Jody Jenner said in a statement.
The palm scanning technology is premised on the notion that every person has a unique vein pattern that does not change. Thus, a palm scanner can significantly reduce the risk of identity theft or misidentification. The palm scanners use near-infrared light to illuminate the vein pattern in a patient's hand and then uses a biometric template to correspond with the patient's medical records. HT Systems, the maker of the system claimed that the light is harmless. PatientSecure palm scanners are claimed to be 100 times more accurate than fingerprints and is so precise that even identical twins can be easily identified.
Employees at Broadlawns are being encouraged to enroll so when patients begin to use the system, hospital staff and employees are already familiar with the cutting edge technology.
The unique benefit of PlamScanner is: it can easily pull the necessary electronic medical records even when the patient is not in a condition to respond. In addition, the palm scanners also lessen the possible translation errors during the registration process. As such this technology is extremely helpful for a hospital like Boradlawns that cater to patients speaking 44 different languages.
“This is cutting edge technology. This is the 20th installation of the system in a major medical center like Broadlawns. It might seem a like something out of a futuristic novel but this system improves service for patients while increasing security and efficiency,” president of HT Systems David Wiener commented in a statement.
Few months back HT Systems signed a marketing deal with MedAssets, Inc. for joint marketing of PatientSecure biometric patient identification system.
Madhubanti Rudra is a contributing editor for HealthTechZone. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Rich Steeves
