California Hospital Uses Biometrics To Protect Patient Privacy, Safeguard Medical Records

The ValleyCare Health System in Pleasanton, Calif. is one of the first hospitals in the United States to use a palm vein authentication technology as part of its patient registration and identification system.

Thanks to a new slate of regulations from the FTC, hospital officials turned to Fujitsu’s PalmSecure to integrate with the hospital’s Patient Access Lifetime Match solution. The result is system that provides accurate patient identification with being intrusive.

Starting Nov. 1, the FTC requires healthcare providers to develop programs to protect against identity theft in compliance with the Identity Theft Red Flag regulations as part of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act. Healthcare organizations also are required to implement policies and technologies ensuring patients don’t receive improper care or are not incorrectly diagnosed because their electronic medical records have been compromised with information from someone else.

"Providing the best healthcare possible is the No. 1 priority at ValleyCare, and we are constantly seeking ways to provide quicker care to our patients while protecting their confidentiality," said Marcy Feit, CEO at ValleyCare. "Integrating Fujitsu PalmSecure and HT Systems' PatientSecure into our new PALM solution enables us to streamline our patient registration and identification processes while ensuring electronics medical records and patient privacy are protected. PALM also helps us comply with the FTC's new ‘Red Flag’ regulations by preventing medical fraud and identity theft."

PalmSecure uses near-infrared light to capture a patient’s palm vain pattern to generate a biometric template that is compared with a database of enrolled users to make a match. The underlying vascular pattern recognition technology has a false acceptance rate of only 0.00008 percent.

Linking with another technology, PatientSecure from HT Systems, hospital staff have access to the existing electronics medical records, making sure the right care is given to the right patient and preventing medical identity theft.

“The combination of PalmSecure and HT Systems' PatientSecure provides a comprehensive solution that protects patient privacy and EMRs," said Joel Hagberg, vice president of marketing and business development for Fujitsu Computer Products of America Inc. "We are thrilled that ValleyCare is the first hospital in the Western United States to implement this technology, demonstrating a forward-thinking approach to patient safety."

About the Author

Brent Dirks is senior editor for Security Today and Campus Security Today magazines.

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