Monday, May 14, 2012

Computerized Patient Identification

By Allyson Westcot


Patient identification is among the key aspects in patient safety. If a patient is properly identified and that identity is matched to things like the condition, treatments, procedures and medicinesâ€"even medical testsâ€"then errors are far less likely. Historically, this has been done by hand. It's not uncommon for nurses to read things out loud for another to test, or for patients to be asked what their condition is and what their process will be, just to further verify that everything's correct.

Biometrics and rugged computer technology can add another layer of protection for patients by streamlining the identification process and making it more accurate. Keeping the right patient coupled with the correct records is vital, but with similar and same names that may be hard in a manual system.

Biometrics is a kind of patient identification that will cut thru the confusion and guarantee accuracy. Patient identification thru these procedures uses something similar to fingerprints, eye and iris identification, or palm identification to precisely identify an individual. Biometrics is the mixture of the physical and technology, such as a physical part of the body being scanned.

While barcode scanning on a patient ID bracelet is a step in the best direction, biometrics cannot be removed like a band can. A patient's bracelet may be lost, or could be put on the wrong patient, in a very bad mix-up, through human mistake. But an individual's fingerprint, iris or palm pattern cannot be ascribed to any other person. This allows for precision in patient identification and makes people safer.

Manual records need lots of double-checking and naming things aloud. With biometrics, simple scans identify patients without the necessity for stating their name, date of birth, condition, procedure or other items that a patient may not prefer to be spoken out loud, especially in a shared room or an area where others might overhear. These scans increase accuracy while helping to ensure patient privacy and comfort.




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