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Hospital Reading Palms To ID Patients

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By KLINT LOWRY | The Suncoast News

Published: November 1, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - When patients register at Morton Plant North Bay Hospital, they might be surprised to find the process includes a palm reading.

Patients won't come away from it believing they're going to meet a tall, dark handsome stranger, but they will take with them the knowledge that in the future, whenever they have to go to any BayCare Health System facility, checking in will be much less of a hassle and more secure.

BayCare Health System is in the process of setting up all its hospitals and clinics with a biometric palm scanning ID system. Called Patient Secure Identity, the system is manufactured by Fujitsu Computer Products of America. Although relatively new here, biometric identification through palm scanning has replaced personal identification numbers at many bank ATMs in Japan.

BayCare is in the middle of a long-term effort to transfer its recordkeeping to the most modern, efficient electronic systems available, said Jim Schwamb, BayCare Health System's vice president of financial services. Incorporating Patient Secure Identity is a key element.

"We have nine hospitals, 25 outpatient centers," Schwamb said. "The goal is to have patient information instantly no matter which facility they go to. In order to do that, we have to be sure we can quickly identify who that patient is so we can match those records up."

Patients still have to provide all of their pertinent information the first time they register - driver's license, insurance card, Social Security number etc. Then the patient places the right palm onto a scanning device which scans the hand to capture an image of the blood flowing through the veins.

The Patient Secure Identity system uses near-infrared light to scan the vein pattern in a person's hand, a part of the anatomy that is as unique to individuals as fingerprints or retinas.

The computer "reads" the vein pattern to create a numerical code. From that point on, any time a patient comes in, all they have to do is place their hand in the scanner, which will trigger the same numerical code and pull up all their information.

Malformations or missing fingers make no difference to the machine, as long as there is a palm to be scanned. While standard procedure is to use the right hand, the left can also be used if need be, so long as the same hand is used every time. With children, there will be a need to rescan every few years to allow for growth.

Time and money, two of the usual motivators for businesses to improve systems, are only minor considerations for switching to the biometric system, Schwamb said. There will still be a need to verify that information is up-to-date. The real advantages are in efficiency and security.

There are times when a patient comes in "off balance," Schwamb said. In an emergency, be physically unable to provide all their information, fear or stress can fog their memory or they just do not have all their paperwork on them.

"So for us to be able to quickly able to identify that patient kind of speeds up the process," Schwamb said.

It also speeds up the process considerably getting the information from one facility to another, and prevents having to look up a physical record, thereby preventing mixing up the information of two patients with similar names.

Along similar lines, Schwamb said, patients have expressed concern in recent years about having to pass important information over and over, either verbally or in writing, and the opportunities it offers to identity thieves.

A few patients have even been afraid to use the biometric system for similar reasons. One man wanted to know if it tied in to law enforcement databases. It doesn't; the scanner takes no physical readings other than the vein pattern.

There is no added cost for enrolling with the biometric palm scanning system, and patients who choose not to participate can still be registered using the current method at each visit by providing name, address, date of birth, Social Security number and other information.

Eventually, the system will be able to pull immediate access to patients' medical files as well as their personal information. Getting all that into the system is an enormous job, Schwamb said. BayCare is about two years into what they are guessing to be about a seven-year project.

Klint Lowry can be reached at 727-815-1067 or klowry@suncoastnews.com.

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