As the blog biometricnews.typepad.com points out 18 February, 2011 in an article titled, ‘No More Waiting in Line: Get Your Rx with Your Fingerprint.’
“There is no doubt that the healthcare system in the United States is one of the most challenging, confusing, and worst systems in the world. And with recent legislation by the Obama Administration, things are only going to get that much worse, in my opinion. Compounded by this fact, are also the recent Federal Legislations and Mandates which call for greater security measures to be implemented in the name of patient privacy and confidentiality. While this is a good thing obviously, it has made an even greater bottleneck in an already, extremely crimped system.
“And on top of this, the pharmaceutical component of our healthcare system is also adding mass confusion. It seems like now that patients have to keep waiting in line longer in order to get their Rx’s filled and the pharmacists trying to understand the physician’s ever declining, illegible handwriting. Yes, our medical system is one that could very well implode on itself, given all that is happening now, and into the future. It truly is a giant without a face, with no beginning and no end.
“And nobody even knows where to start in trying to reform it. But there is a solution yet which very well could make an impact into our healthcare system, and help try to create a face which can be spoken to in this huge cog of ever spinning wheels. Yep, you got it, it has to do with Biometrics….”
The blog was referring to how Genesis HealthCare recently began using BIO-key’s biometric identification software in conjunction with Lumidigm fingerprint sensors so staff may quickly, conveniently and securely establish identity when ordering, verifying or administering medications as required by Ohio law. Based in Zanesville, Ohio, the system is a not-for-profit organisation that operates two hospital sites – Genesis-Bethesda and Genesis-Good Samaritan – and several affiliated health care organisations across a six-county region of south-eastern Ohio.
For years, doctors and pharmacists in Ohio have been required to use two-factor authentication when electronically prescribing controlled substances and, since June of 2010, they have followed the DEA mandate for two-factor authentication for electronically prescribing controlled substances nationwide. However, Genesis HealthCare is now able to meet these requirements using biometric fingerprint identification software and multispectral imaging biometric sensors.
Because skin dryness is so prevalent in the healthcare industry, due in part to constant hand washing, traditional fingerprint sensors can produce up to a 20% failure rate. In other situations, when the policy allows it, healthcare workers wearing latex gloves do not want to remove them to use the biometric reader. Since the Lumidigm solution, based on using multiple wavelengths of light and advanced polarisation techniques, can extract unique fingerprint characteristics from both the surface and subsurface of the skin, this provides results that are more consistent, more inclusive and more tamper resistant than other biometrics. Dirty, calloused, wet or dry, the fingerprint is still readable with multispectral imaging.
Currently, 2000 clinicians and staff at Genesis are using fingerprint biometrics, leveraging multispectral imaging sensors to establish their identity in Epic software to order, verify or administer medications. In the next phase of this project, Genesis will be implementing fingerprint biometric user logon with Vergence, a single sign-on solution from Sentillion, a Microsoft company. With these solutions in place, Genesis staff members will instantly establish their identity with the simple touch of a finger, even when wearing latex gloves.
This BIO-key identification solution, in conjunction with Lumidigm readers, is integrated with all major electronic medical records (EMR) software suites, including Epic and Allscript’s Enterprise EHR as well as major single sign-on (SSO) providers, including Microsoft’s Sentillion, Evidian, IBM, Oracle, CA and more.
For more information contact Brand New Technologies, +27 (0)11 450 3088, [email protected]
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