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Why Biometrics Is Good for Everyone’s Health


The health-care industry’s shift toward electronic records is creating pressure to ensure patient data is accessible and secure. Biometrics is a viable solution. Photo: ©istockphoto.comMultispectral imaging is designed to allow clinicians to enroll and authenticate quickly and accurately every time, removing the need to call the help desk or use a secondary authentication method due to issues with the primary mode. This technology can enhance user adoption rates because it is simple, reliable and secure. Medical dispensing systems with multispectral fingerprint authentication have already been deployed in many U.S. hospitals, with more than 1 million user touches per day.

Eprescribing and access to medical records are heavily regulated activities that are also being supported by biometric authentication. Most hospitals’ current technology investments, such as enterprise single sign-on (ESSO) and clinical information systems (CIS), allow easy integration with fingerprint sensors. Identity and access management is being secured and simplified with the touch of a finger.

Spanning a World of Applications

As shown in these health-care applications, biometrics is the only mode of authentication that can answer, unequivocally, the question of “Who?” As such, biometrics is being adopted around the world in a wide variety of applications that require authentication. In India, biometrics is a central element of the Unique ID project. In Brazil, it’s widely used to access ATMs. In Hong Kong, the immigration department uses biometrics to secure borders. By focusing on the individual, biometrics protects both the user and the service provider. It also does so in a manner that is both secure and convenient.

Greg Sarrail is Vice President of Solutions Business for Lumidigm. He can be reached at

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Security Is Our Business, Too


Biometrics, Features, Health Care, Healthcare Market, Lumidigm

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