The use of patient biometrics in accessing electronic health records. (1st September 2004)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fulcher, John
• Is Part Of: International journal of healthcare technology and management. Volume 6:Number 1(2004)
• Page Start: 20
• Page End: 31
• Publication Date: 2004-09-01
• Subjects: biometrics -- electronic health records -- ownership -- patient privacy -- remote access -- USB iKey -- medical records -- telemedicine -- smartcards -- diabetes -- e-healthcare; Medical technology -- Periodicals; Medical technology -- Management -- Periodicals; 610.28
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1368-2156

Abstract

Access, ownership and privacy of medical records are fundamental to the success of any real-world telemedicine application. Such considerations are discussed within the context of smart devices – such as smartcards and iKeys – which are admirably suited not only to providing access to remotely stored Electronic Health Records, but also in emergency situations (Fulcher, 2003). Smart devices offer a limited amount of on-board storage, encrypted and/or compressed as required. Emergency information in the case of cardiac or diabetes patients can be read on any suitably configured computer (i.e. smartcard reader or simply USB port). In non-emergency situations, such as consultations in doctors' surgeries, the smart device can serve as a secure access mechanism for patient data stored remotely on a centralised server, thereby providing a much more comprehensive picture than that given by the limited record stored on the smart device itself. Unique Patient Identifiers need to be defined before such a scheme would receive widespread adoption. The broader community would also need assurance as to compliance with privacy and other similar legislation. It is further suggested that rather than use (random) digit identifiers, patient biometrics would provide a much better access mechanism – in other words comparing freshly captured biometric identifiers with those stored on the smart device. The overriding considerations then become accuracy, efficiency, non-intrusiveness and the amount of additional computer equipment needed to implement such a smart_ID system. Experiences gained from a field trial involving the use of USB iKeys for remote access of diabetes patient records are reported upon, and recommendations made for the future adoption of such systems.