Someday even Dr. Jones' chair might help identify and authenticate him by the shape of his, well, you get the idea. The scenario above is a fictitious composite view of the future from health care providers, vendors and experts in the field of biometrics technology.
Biq question
The big question is how fast the industry will get from here to there, says Brad Peska, a manager in the health care group practice of Long Beach, Calif.-based First Consulting Group. Peska estimates only 3% to 5% of provider organizations are using biometrics technology. "I've seen some organizations experimenting with iris scans and facial recognition, but the majority are using fingerprint scans," he adds.
Some of the limiting factors for biometrics applications include the cost of the devices; software integration challenges; users' discomfort with the intrusive nature of some devices, especially those involving parts of the eye; and a common fear that fingerprints will be captured and stored elsewhere, says Dixie B. Baker.
She's corporate vice president for technology and chief technology officer in the health division of Science Applications International Corp., San Diego.
"People are sometimes hesitant to use scanners because they think their fingerprint is going to be stored somewhere," Baker says. Once people understand that a fingerprint scan yields a mathematical representation of a fingerprint and not a "copy" of the print, their fears usually are overcome, she adds.
Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Fla., encountered initial reluctance among clinicians when it began a pilot program using fingerprint scanning devices on notebook and office computers, says Joseph Gomes, director of technology services at the 160-bed research hospital.
Once users understood that the devices were not copying their prints they were more accepting, he says.
In early fall, the cancer center tested 60 devices, located in common areas of the facility. Moffitt's full rollout of 1,000 devices is expected by June 2003, Gomes says. The fingerprint scanners, from Targus Inc., Anaheim, Calif., relay information to software from BioNetrix Systems Corp., a Vienna, Va.-based biometrics software vendor.
Gomes hopes the cancer center eventually will use a wide variety of biometrics technologies-as long as the price is right.
"Biometrics will go a long way because it uses something that people can't `forget,' " Gomes says. Fingerprint scanners and iris and retina scanners have improved in quality and reliability, he says.
But the devices must become less expensive before they'll become pervasive in health care, he contends.
Prices falling
Fingerprint scanning devices range from $50 when bought in bulk on up to $100. That's a far cry from the $500 price tags as recently as two years ago. Still, Gomes and other CIOs would like to see prices fall farther, to the $20 range, before investing heavily in the technology.
Gomes also envisions biometrics applications reaching beyond information system access to physical security. For instance, if an unauthorized person is walking down a corridor, a sensing device might announce the presence of an intruder. It may sound Orwellian, but Gomes believes this reflects increasing concerns for patient safety and data security. "Whether we like it or not," he says, "it's coming."
Patient safety and state medication order tracking mandates led the 281-bed Columbus (Ohio) Children's Hospital to deploy fingerprint technology to control access to a computerized physician order entry system, says Bob Schwyn, vice president of information services and CIO. The system also requires a user ID and password before verification from the fingerprint.
Like in the opening scenario, Schwyn expects to make use of voice recognition technology. "Voice activation is something many of our physicians feel is conducive to interacting with computers," he says.
Be it a voice, fingerprint or eye scanning device, biometrics technology is going to help provider organizations escape the confines of password-based identification and authorization, says Steve Walker, chairman and interim CEO of BioNetrix Systems Corp.
"Health care has to get away from passwords," he says. "Laptops already are coming out with fingerprint readers, Walker says. "A device pops out, your finger says `I'm Joe' and no one will be able to `spoof' that. Five years from now anybody using passwords will just be stupid."
Walker envisions multiple biometrics devices deployed in provider organizations depending on their individual needs. Companies like BioNetrix and Saflink Corp. that make integration software, or middleware, will help bridge the gaps between devices from many manufacturers and information systems and applications already in place, he says.
If there is to be a near-term "winner" among biometric devices, it will be fingerprint scanners, predicts Glenn Argenbright, president and CEO, Saflink Corp., Bellevue, Wash. "Fingerprint technology will be dominant because it's one of the most intuitive and easiest to learn," he says. Further, its accuracy is improving as costs go down.
Future deployment of biometrics will follow the continued decline of device costs, Argenbright contends.
One of the biggest drivers behind overall biometrics deployment in the near term is the data security regulations stemming from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, Argenbright says. HIPAA is enough reason for many providers to at least investigate biometrics, he adds.
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