By Mohammed Murad
Healthcare professionals need to protect the hundreds to thousands of people visiting or staying in their facilities daily. There are also employees, vendors, equipment, pharmaceuticals and other assets to protect. That requires limiting who can enter certain areas.
Biometrics have been proven as an effective means of access control. A biometric reader mounted at an entry can accurately, quickly and conveniently identify people to enable access only to those authorized to enter. A biometric reader can control who enters a door, an elevator, accesses a drug cabinet or even uses a computer.
There are doors inside these facilities that also restrict entry. That may include operating rooms and pharmacies. Other areas, such as a nuclear medicine facility or infectious disease laboratory must be secured for health, safety and environmental reasons.
Biometrics measure distinctive characteristics of a person to create a more secure alternative to plastic ID badges, fobs or keys ¬– each of which may be shared, stolen, lost, copied or forgotten.
Iris-based identity authentication systems are the choice of a growing number of healthcare facilities. Unlike other biometric technologies, iris solutions enable users to wear safety glasses, corrective or contact lenses, gloves or respiratory masks without compromising system accuracy. There is rarely a need for re-enrollment as a person’s iris remains unchanged throughout life. And a contactless iris system eliminates the need for human touch, reducing the potential spread of communicable disease.
Healthcare facilities use technology from Iris ID for access control and patient identification. It reduces insurance and prescription fraud while enhancing privacy to maintain protocol defined by HIPAA (Healthcare Insurance portability and Accountability Act). Our systems are being used for employee time and attendance.
Today’s healthcare system requires modern solutions to meet both old and new challenges. Find out more about the ways the healthcare industry is using our technology by downloading our free white paper, “Biometrics and the Three Elements of Healthcare.”
(Mohammed Murad is vice president, global sales and business development, Iris ID)