10/12/2018 Biometrics for Accurate Patient Identification

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DANNY THAKKAR | BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATION, HEALTHCARE BIOMETRICS, PATIENT IDENTIFICATION

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“Throughout the health-care industry, the failure to correctly identify patients continues to result in medication errors,
transfusion errors, testing errors, wrong person procedures, and the discharge of infants to the wrong families.” – WHO Report
on Patient Identi cation

Patient identi cation has been identi ed by World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the key areas in healthcare where
improvement is urgently needed. Incorrect identi cation of patients leads to 4% of all health damages caused in emergency
rooms. 13% of incorrect surgeries have been due to patients being identi ed incorrectly. The gure stands at 67% for blood
transfusions going wrong due to incorrect identi cation. This data clearly indicates the level to which healthcare services
can be improved simply by correct identi cation of the patient along with his prior medical records.
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In this article we will look at what exactly do we mean by the term patient identi cation, types of incorrect patient
identi cation, and the disadvantages of incorrect patient identi cation. We will then look at how biometrics can help in
improving patient identi cation and the advantages it provides over existing patient identi cation processes being followed.
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The failure to correctly identify patients continues to result in medication errors, transfusion errors, testing errors, wrong
person procedures, and the discharge of infants to the wrong families.
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The need for accurate ‘patient identi cation’

Healthcare management systems have adopted computerization on a massive scale. Almost all healthcare providers maintain
digital records for the outpatient and inpatient treatments they provide. Hamster P

Patient identi cation refers to the process of locating the medical records of a patient from the Master Patient Index (MPI)
when he is checked-in to the hospital. Usually hospitals use multiple identi ers to correctly locate the patient. However, most
of the hospitals follow a manual system of nding the correct MPI from the records. As a result, the patients end up getting
identi ed incorrectly.
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10/12/2018 Biometrics for Accurate Patient Identification

Incorrect patient identi cation types – overlays and duplicate

patient records
There are typically two kinds of patient identi cation errors which can happen –

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Overlay and duplicate medical records: healthcare IT sta s often select incorrect record or make data entry mistakes.

 Overlays COMPUTER LO

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Overlays happen when the hospital sta identi es a patient as someone else. This happens when the name or some other
personal identi er used for searching through the Master Patient Index exists for multiple patients records. In the absence of Websites and Applic

an absolute identi er, and often being pressed for time, the hospital sta moves forward with using a record which ‘they’ feel ngerprints & create

is correct. Overlays caused in this way lead to the a ected patients’ medical histories getting mixed up. This can have serious free” environm

implications on the admitted patient’s treatment and health. TAKE A TO

 Duplicate Patient Records

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Duplicate patient records happen during the patient admission time. If the admitting sta member is unable to locate the
answer.
patient’s entry in Master Patient Index, then he assumes that the patient is a rst time visitor. The sta member ends up
creating new record for the patient. Thus, in e ect, the hospital then starts maintaining two records for the same patient. Your Name *

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Disadvantages of incorrect patient identi cation Biometric ATMs

Incorrect patient identi cation leads to overlays and duplicate patient records. Such lapses not only mess-up the a ected Biometric Authenticatio
patient’s medical history, they also end up with the patient being incorrectly treated. This leads to revenue losses for the
concerned healthcare provider as well as the patient. Let us now look into the adverse e ects of incorrect patient Biometric Data Security
identi cation on the quality of healthcare services provided –
Biometric Identi cation
1. Performing the wrong medical procedure on the patient due to incorrect patient medical records referred.
2. Revenue losses as some procedures or tests may be repeated if the wrong medical record is picked for a patient. The Biometric Immigration

cost of the redundant tests will not be covered by the insurance provider and will need to be borne by the hospital itself.
3. Reduced productivity, patient’s records which have been a ected by overlays or duplicity result in more work in record Biometric National ID

keeping. Right from hospital administration sta to the insurance providers need to put in more e ort which reduces
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their productivity.
4. Cleaning up the Master Patient Index can prove to be quite costly for the health care provider. The costs associated
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with removing the duplicate records from MPI can have a signi cant impact on the bottom-line of the healthcare
provider. Biometric Research

With so many risks associated with incorrect patient identi cation, it is important that a fool proof system be set in place to Biometric Screening
identify the correct patient with pinpoint accuracy. Biometrics-based authentication systems o er patient identi cation with
exactly the desired levels of speed and accuracy. Biometric Security

Biometric Spoo ng
Biometric patient identi cation
Biometric System
Biometric refers to a biological measurable characteristic. Fingerprints, iris structures, retinal patterns, gait, face recognition
and so on are all biometrics. These all have well-established scienti c measurement standards, based on which digital Biometric Technology
biometric authentication systems have been developed.
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Biometric patient identi cation ensures the right patient receives the right care and prevent medical identity theft.
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10/12/2018 Biometrics for Accurate Patient Identification
Biometric patient identi cation systems work in three steps –
Facial Recognition

Finger Vein Recognition

Step 1: Patient’s biometric is scanned
Fingerprint Attendance
Patient presents himself for biometric authentication. His biometric such as ngerprints or iris structure is scanned. This
scanned biometric is then analysed digitally and converted to its equivalent biometric template.
Fingerprint Recognition

Fingerprint Scanner App

Step 2: Scanned biometric is authenticated
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The biometric template obtained in step 1 is checked for a match against all the patient records in the MPI. If a match is
found, then the patient is mapped to his existing record in the database and treatment begins. Fingerprint SDK

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Step 3: Patient is enrolled into the MPI
Future of Biometrics
If step 2 doesn’t result in a match being found for the patient in the MPI, then the patient is identi ed for enrollment. All of his
details such as name, date of birth, address etc. are captured. Along with these details, his biometric template created in step Guest Blog

1 is also stored in the database. The patient is subsequently admitted for treatment.
Hand Geometry

Advantages of biometric patient identi cation Healthcare Biometrics

Biometric patient identi cation o ers numerous advantages over manual identi cation of patient record in MPI. These are: Hospitality Industry

 Accuracy
Integration Guideline

Internet of Things
Biometrics o ers unmatched accuracy. The whole process from capture to authentication is digitized. There is no human
element of error involved in matching the scanned biometric of a new patient against the stored records and is fully
Iris Recognition
automated. This results in high accuracy. Overlays and duplicate medical records cannot happen with biometric patient
identi cation.
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 Reliability Membership Manageme

Biometrics technologies such iris recognition, ngerprint matching etc., have evolved to very high standards. The False Multi-factor Authenticat
Acceptance Ratio(FAR) and False Rejection Ratio(FRR) occur at very low and insigni cant levels. The results of matching
against the database are consistent and reliable. Multimodal Biometrics

 Speed
Network Security

Palm Vein Recognition

Automatic scans and high-speed matching leads to quick authentication in a few seconds. This is a major improvement over
manually going through all the MPI records with similar data and trying to identify the correct one.
Patient Identi cation

 Patient enrolment and admission process is streamlined Privacy

The process of patient enrollment and admission becomes fast and hassle free as a simple biometric scan is all it takes to
Public Safety
identify and admit a patient.

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 Security Retinal Scan

Biometric patient identi cation eliminates medical identity thefts. Instances of medical identity thefts have caused huge
nancial losses to patients and healthcare providers alike. There are certain stringent HIPAA standards around the same. The Secure Data Center
topic of Medical Identity Thefts and safeguarding of patient medical records has been covered in a separate article here (link
to the next article). Signature Veri cation

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Conclusion
Time and Attendance
In this article we looked at what is patient identi cation, what are the types of incorrect patient identi cation and what are the
adverse e ects of incorrect patient identi cation. We then looked at biometric patient identi cation and the advantages it Two-factor Authenticatio
provides in terms of accurate patient identi cation, speed, accuracy, reliability, streamlining of admissions process and
security of patients’ records. Biometric patient identi cation is thus the way ahead for medical healthcare systems.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Danny Thakkar is the co-founder of Bayometric, one of the leading biometric solution providers in the world.
He has helped large organizations like Pepsi, America Cares, Michigan State and many other medium and
small businesses achieve their identity management needs. He has been in the Biometric Industry for 10+
years and has extensive experience across public and private sector verticals. Currently, he is chief evangelist
for Touch N Go and blogs regularly at www.bayometric.com and www.touchngoid.com.

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