Broadlawns Medical Center has installed a new Biometric Patient Identity Security System called PatientSecure for increasing patient safety.
David Wiener, President of HT Systems, demonstrates the PatientSecure(TM) palm scanner at Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines. Broadlawns is the first Iowa hospital to install the patient identification system and the 20th system in the United States.
This is a part of the modernization plan undertaken by Broadlawns to show their commitment to be a leader in Iowa in Electronic Records implementation and they would be using palm scanners for checking in and registering patients. This system was revealed to the public amidst a week long launch at the Broadlawns Medical Center. The center is installing 35 palm scanners in their facility.
The scanners make use of a harmless near infrared light for lighting up the vein pattern in a patient’s hand, after which it would use a biometric template corresponding with the medical records of the patient. This system is said to be hundred times more accurate when compared to fingerprints and is ultra precise enough to even identify identical twins.
Jody Jenner who is the CEO of Broadlawns, has stated that the patient’s identity would be protected by PatientSecure and at the same time it would speed up the registration process, thereby allowing patients to receive efficiently the appropriate care. In an emergency, if the patient is not able to register on his or her own either because of pain or because of being unconscious, the palm scanners could quickly pull out the suitable electronic medical records for treatment of the patient. As patients who speak 44 different languages are being catered to by Broadlawns, the palm scanners would also reduce the potential translation errors that could happen during the registration process.
Source: http://www.broadlawns.org