The Biometric Revolution Will Change Our Approach To Healthcare

Many key healthcare industry players like Samsung, Alcatraz, Bosch, Suprema, NEC, and UiPath have all invested in building new biometric technology in order to support the healthcare industry. Although we’re still seeing fresh use cases emerge in the field of biometrics, there’s certainly the potential to revolutionize how healthcare is delivered to patients in the future. 

Already in industries such as finance and transport, we’re seeing the role that biometrics can play in swiftly and accurately identifying individuals and verifying their credentials. Although to imagine a future where keys and passwords will no longer be needed seems fanciful, biometric passports with fingerprint, facial, and retina recognition may soon pave the way for vastly improved security across the board. 

(Image: Research and Markets)

As we can see from the chart above, biometric technology has the potential to grow into a $51 billion industry by 2027, but how will this impact the world of healthcare? 

Let’s explore how biometrics could hold the key for revolutionizing how healthcare professionals deliver effective, secure, and accurate treatments for patients: 

As biometric technology grows, we’ve seen more businesses utilize biometric fingerprint scanners as a means of identification–particularly in the case of smartphones and in order to gain access to workplaces. 

These use cases have built a greater level of familiarity among users, which has seen more fingerprint scanners used within hospitals, care homes, and hospices in order to confirm the identity of both patients and staff. 

This form of identification works by recording a patient’s fingerprint and linking it to their medical record to verify who they are and their personal requirements instantly. 

The benefits of biometric identification in healthcare are vast. Firstly, it can reduce the instances of fraud by individuals claiming to be another patient in order to gain access to medication illegally–an act that reportedly costs the UK’s NHS £256 million per year because of patients incorrectly being allocated free prescriptions. 

Secondly, biometrics can eliminate the risk of human error in sourcing a patient’s medical history. Because their records are biometrically attached to their fingerprint, or other scans, medical records are virtually linked to their biological readings. This means that medical professionals can instantly consult records and discover whether their patients are eligible for free prescriptions, or have any important conditions to consider. 

Biometric technology also provides a virtually impenetrable layer of patient privacy for healthcare organizations. Because they knowingly provide their biometric data, patients can provide their details on an opt-in basis and will have the choice of which organizations can access their records and for what purposes. 

Furthermore, the biometric details of patients can be encrypted, meaning that cybercriminals would be unable to hack into databases to steal patient data. 

These biological levels of encryption mean that patient medical records can remain fully private, and only accessible when biometric details are provided. Although their medical records will be stored in the cloud, electronic health records would only become accessible when a fingerprint or retina scan is completed, or when authorized medical teams with their own biometric access,  need to view them. 

The implementation of biometric data throughout the healthcare sector can also help to unify clinical data by eliminating the prospect of duplicating medical records. Biometrics can also help to improve the accuracy of clinical records whilst improving the quality of information that professionals have access to. 

In turn, this can limit the level of incorrect treatments provided for patients–paving the way for stronger provision and quality of healthcare across the board. 

We’re also likely to see biometrics improve the quality of training for healthcare professionals in the future. Particularly in the field of high-risk roles like that of a surgeon, immersive training is likely to provide unparalleled experiences for professionals, with the progress in training programs linked to biometric identification like retina scans. This would empower surgeons to practice tasks on a virtual patient as if they were in a real-world operating theater. 

Naturally, many healthcare professionals will greet the introduction of biometrics with a degree of concern–much like the introduction of many revolutionary innovations. The act of identifying patients and accessing their data from biologically unique traits will alter how information is stored and protected, which will be difficult for some caregivers to familiarize themselves with. 

However, it’s clear that in the future, technologies like artificial and augmented intelligence will help to bridge any existing gaps that could emerge when professionals shift to biometric data and permissions. 

Blending AI and biometrics paves the way for hybrid technology to not only recognize and identify specific patients, but to also begin learning more about patients based on supporting characteristics like their voice, general appearance, and behavior–instilling an even greater level of accuracy in identification whilst removing the potential for healthcare fraud in a more comprehensive manner. 

Although we may be some years away from such a comprehensive blend of patient care, we’re already seeing the implementation of biometric technology emerge within the healthcare industry. As for where this intuitive technology can take us in the future, the sky’s the limit.