Biometrics In Healthcare
I'll let you in on a little secret: now is the time to sell biometric devices to the healthcare market. How do I know? Simple, I asked someone who really knows – Patrick Immel, VP of IT services at Computer Programs and Systems, Inc. (CPSI) (Mobile, AL). CPSI is a software developer with 21 years of experience in healthcare. And why does Immel think it's time for biometrics in healthcare? Because CPSI has waded through the tomes of paper associated with The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Aside from being a document that makes watching paint dry seem interesting, this legislation specifies suggested security standards for health information. In this document, security refers to the confidentiality of electronic patient information (e.g. files, demographics).
In response to HIPAA and a rising market demand for information privacy, CPSI began investigating biometrics in 1998. "We studied facial, voice, optical, and fingerprint recognition devices," said Immel.
"Ultimately, we chose fingerprint recognition because it seemed to be the most accurate for the cost." And according to Immel, these days, cost is a major consideration for any healthcare facility. "The Balanced Budget Amendment and Medicare reform have had a tremendous financial impact on hospitals," he said. "Today's healthcare provider has to continue to provide quality care with much tighter purse strings."
The Decreasing Cost Of Biometrics
As a VAR or integrator, you know all about the high cost of biometrics. It's a technology that is a perfect match for many AIDC (automatic identification and data collection) installations, but one that's rarely affordable. However, according to a current report by Frost and Sullivan, prices for biometric equipment and software are decreasing. Fingerprint scanners are now available from $100 to $300, down from 1997's average price of $1,200. Facial recognition cameras that perform authentications (verifying an individual's identity) cost between $50 and $300, down from 1997's average price of $1,500.
The study also discusses another opportunity for VARs – outsourced biometric authentication services. Much like an ASP (application service provider), this model involves a company leasing biometric equipment. This allows the customer to avoid the large initial equipment investment. In fact, some of these outsourcing companies charge clients based on the number of attempts for authentication submitted by users.
No Time Cards, No Buddy Punching – No Problem
CPSI provides turnkey information systems packages to healthcare facilities that have less than 300 beds. The company provides all of the hardware, network infrastructure, operating systems, and applications software. For CPSI, time and attendance applications were the logical first choice for integrating the fingerprint readers. As part of its network services, the company offers its own PC-based, touch screen time clock. A fingerprint reader is added using the NEC (Itasca, IL) Positive IDentification (PID) software developer's kit (SDK). Using the biometrics time clock, a hospital's human resources department can register all 10 fingerprints of each employee. Multiple fingerprints are registered in case of injury to one or more fingers. This biometrics solution not only eliminates buddy punching, it opens the door for future fingerprint applications like secure log-on to networks.
Secure Log-On Is The Sale Of The Future
According to the FBI, computer security breaches are responsible for at least $250 billion in lost corporate revenue every year. With the inherent risks in traditional identification, biometrics has become a preferred method of positive identification. Using biometrics for network log-on eliminates the need for passwords or PINs (personal identification numbers) when accessing confidential patient information. This also enables security settings to be customized for each user, giving employees access only to specific parts of the network and applications. Windows 95, 98, and NT are already compatible with several biometric security devices.
"Time and attendance is just the beginning," Immel stated. "There are a lot of applications like accounting, registration, and medical records that could benefit from a solution for secure log-on to the hospital information system (HIS)." In fact, Immel predicts that as the cost of biometrics continues to decrease, biometric network authentication applications will surpass biometric time and attendance solutions.
Using Fingerprint Technology For More Than Just Hospital Employees
Despite these predictions, Immel cautions that adding biometrics to an HIS is often a difficult sell. "This technology is a big culture change for any company's staff," he said. "People don't trust it at first. But in the next five years, biometrics will become as ubiquitous as PINs."
Typically, when receiving medical services, a patient must present various forms of identification. However, patient identification cards, insurance cards, or driver's licenses tend to be lost, forgotten, forged, or stolen. Using fingerprint readers with patients, a hospital can:
- facilitate patient admission and speed access to prior medical records
- eliminate duplicate medical records
- establish a uniform method of identification across all medical service programs
- identify unconscious or impaired patients
- detect and deter misuse of medical services.
Immel explained that many of the HIPAA standards must be implemented by the VAR or integrator installing the information system. Although the HIPAA regulation regarding these security issues is still not finalized, he feels it will be completed by the end of 2000. "Stiff fines and penalties are a real possibility for companies that ignore HIPAA regulations," he said.
Immel explained that many of CPSI's existing customers are not in a financial position to enhance their current HIS by adding biometrics. "In that sense, our add-on market is slightly down," he said. "However, the new installation market has exceeded our expectations for 2000. The opportunities are out there, and they're only going to increase."
Questions about this article? E-mail the author at DanS@corrypub.com. Business Solutions Magazine