Biometrics Providing Secure Access To Electronic Medical Records

  • Feb 18, 2011

BIO-key International Inc. and Lumidigm Inc. have partnered to provide a strong authentication solution for e-prescriptions at Genesis HealthCare System. Today, Genesis HealthCare is utilizing BIO-key’s biometric identification software with Lumidigm fingerprint sensors so staff may quickly, conveniently and securely establish identity when ordering, verifying or administering medications as required by Ohio law.

Genesis HealthCare System, based in Zanesville Ohio, is a not-for-profit organization that operates two hospital sites -- Genesis-Bethesda and Genesis-Good Samaritan -- in Zanesville, Ohio, and several affiliated health care organizations across a six-county region of southeastern Ohio. For years, doctors and pharmacists in Ohio have been required to use two-factor authentication when electronically prescribing controlled substances and as of June 2010, the DEA has also mandated two-factor authentication for electronically prescribing controlled substances nationwide. Genesis HealthCare is able to meet these requirements using BIO-key’s biometric fingerprint identification software and Lumidigm biometric sensors.

Currently, 2,000 clinicians and staff are using BIO-key fingerprint biometrics leveraging Lumidigm multispectral imaging sensors to establish their identity in Genesis’s 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.

“With BIO-key as our partner, we were able to be up and running from the initial inception in less than five months. A lot of vendors talk about being our partner; BIO-key didn’t talk, they delivered,” said Ed Romito, vice president and CIO of Genesis HealthCare. “Additionally, BIO-key’s ability to operate with every major fingerprint reader manufacturer allowed us to evaluate a variety of readers to determine which would work best in our environment. As a result of our testing, we determined that Lumidigm’s Mercury sensor provided us with the best performance, including the ability for our staff working in isolation rooms to establish their identity when wearing latex gloves”

“Individual physicians frequently sign tens if not hundreds of prescriptions daily. With BIO-key fingerprint identification and Lumidigm sensors, this process is more secure, faster and extremely convenient, compared to the other two-factor alternatives,” said Mike DePasquale, CEO of BIO-key International. “With BIO-key’s ability to operate on mobile platforms including tablets and smart phones combined with the capabilities and value that Lumidigm’s multispectral imaging technology brings to our customers, other markets will also be able to benefit from our partnership.”

“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 twenty percent failure rate,” saidBill Spence, Lumidigm vice president of transaction systems. “In other situations, when the policy allows it, healthcare workers wearing latex gloves do not want to remove them to use the biometric reader. Lumidigm’s Mercury Series multispectral fingerprint sensors capture fingerprint data beneath the surface of the skin so that dryness or gloves create no problems for reliable reads.”

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