A new identity management solution for healthcare organizations has been developed by Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc. along with BizTech Healthcare Solutions, Inc. The new solution consists of an integrated the Fujitsu PalmSecure™ biometric authentication device with the BizTech ProMed Patient Registration.

    Bryan Donovan, practice manager, BizTech Healthcare Solutions, Inc., stated: “With this integration, we can now offer our hospital clients the ability to secure each patient’s medical records from fraud, while helping to protect the patient’s records under HIPAA regulatory guidelines. The PalmSecure device is perfectly suited for the healthcare environment since it does not require direct physical contact, and can be used with or without surgical gloves. Leveraging the enormous success of the PalmSecure device in Japan’s banking industry, we see tremendous opportunities to capitalize on the need for increased security in healthcare. This technology provides an accurate means for identifying patients, thereby allowing medical staff secure and efficient access to their system, records, services, and even physical locations. BizTech’s ProMed Series, combined with the PalmSecure device, helps healthcare organizations to meet their increasing regulatory and compliance requirements.”

    The new solution no only protects patients from identity theft and insurance fraud, but it also assists healthcare providers to accurately identify patients with the PalmSecure device, and reference the correct medical treatment for the patients using the software solution from BizTech, leading to safer and more reliable medical care for patients. The Fujitsu PalmSecure device functions by using a near infrared light to get the vein pattern in a patient’s palm. Once the vein image has been captured and a vein template has been defined, ProMed Patient Registration associates the template to the patient’s medical records. The system excellently registers and identifies patients, and guards these important medical records as well. The application integrates directly with an existing health data system, and is launched by a simple hotkey or icon, giving the possibility for registration staff to easily scan and digitize driver’s licenses, insurance cards, and other documents with no additional data entry, which helps to particularly minimize the patient registration processing time.

    In addition, Joel Hagberg, vice president, marketing and business development, Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc., stated: “Data security and identity management in healthcare has never been more critical. The Fujitsu PalmSecure device provides a highly accurate identity authentication mechanism to help healthcare providers protect their patients’ privacy and safety. This technology can be used for the vast majority of the population since there are virtually no physiological restrictions in using this device, and it is nearly impossible to forge an individual’s unique palm vein pattern. Therefore, the PalmSecure device is an ideal and logical solution for healthcare organizations, particularly in the area of patient registration and identification.”

    Even more, Doane Hadley, president, BizTech Healthcare Solutions, Inc, said: “The addition of the Fujitsu PalmSecure to our ProMed Patient Registration application makes an excellent enhancement to our solution. Additionally, we’re looking at integrating the PalmSecure for medication distribution as well as single sign-on access for hospital staff (doctors, nurses and administrative staff) to health care information systems and other related systems throughout hospital facilities.”

For more information visit http://www.fujitsu.com/.