High-Tech Patient Identification

Reported October, 2007

Charlotte, N.C. -- A new scanner that analyzes the unique characteristics of the veins under your palm is being used to identify patients when they check-in for doctor visits. This new twist on information technology is helping reduce errors that can lead to potentially deadly medical mistakes.

Tom Butz is checking-in for a routine doctor's appointment. He's enrolling in a new patient registry program that will forever make patient identification more accurate. It's the Palm Vein Sensor.

"The Palm Vein Scanner is simply a technology that utilizes human factors, which is biometric technology, to assign a unique identity to individuals as they're enrolled in the program," says Jim Burke, Director of Information Services at Carolinas Healthcare System in Charlotte, N.C.

An infrared scan of the patient's hand is assigned a number that is instantly matched with the patient's medical record, erasing the need for patients to repeatedly provide confidential information -- like their social security number -- at appointments.

"The advantage really comes in three pieces. There's a service component to the advantage, there's an efficiency component and there's a safety component -- the safety being the most important from a clinical point of view," says Roger Ray, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at Carolinas Healthcare System.

It's information technology access to accurate ID and medical history in an instant.

"With unconscious trauma patients, it's not unusual that we're forced to take care of the patient as a John or Jane Doe for hours. Imagine the power of not having to do that for even a minute because the palm technology tells us who the patient is. It's a very powerful concept," Dr. Ray says.

Another key attribute of the palm scanning system is that a number -- not an image -- is stored with the palm scanner. This eliminates the chance that a patient's information can be stolen or illegally reproduced. Carolinas Healthcare System is the only hospital system is the country to use the palm scanner for patient identification.

The Optical Society of America contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Kevin M. McCarthy, Public Affairs Officer
Carolinas HealthCare System
Charlotte, NC 28203
(704) 355-3141
kevin.mccarthy@carolinashealthcare.org

Optical Society of America
Washington, DC 20036-1023
(202) 223-8130
http://www.osa.org
info@osa.org

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