By Bill Siwicki
When University Health Care System was deciding which biometric technology to deploy in conjunction with its Epic EHR, the Augusta, Georgia, hospital opted for iris recognition.
“It’s more accurate than fingerprint scanning and vein mapping, and a plus is that it’s a clean process because the patient never has to touch anything, which is a big issue in healthcare because of infection control,” said University Health Care revenue cycle director George Ann Phillips (pictured). “The camera sits on a tripod and it is voice-activated and tells a patient exactly how to position their head right before it snaps a photo.”
Iris recognition is just one in an emerging field of biometric technologies — others include palm-vein, fingerprinting and facial recognition — for identifying and authenticating patients.
While the different forms of biometrics each have pros and cons from various perspectives, some healthcare executives have reached a conclusion applicable to them all: If patients don’t like a particular technology, they will refuse to use it — and then what’s a health system to do?