A touch of the finger can boost record security
An electronic solution to an electronic problem
At one time, being fingerprinted meant you were in trouble. But an emerging use of fingerprinting in the health care industry could keep you and your colleagues out of trouble.
The advance toward electronic patient records has heightened concerns about confidentiality, and fingerprinting also called "biometric identification" is one solution some institutions are testing.
One of those tests is taking place at Sarasota (FL) Memorial Hospital (SMH). The hospital is pilot-testing a computerized patient record system and at the same time, is looking at the use of "finger imaging" technology to secure those records.
Even though a hospital may have a good system in place for ensuring patient record confidentiality, it needs to address the issue of people being nervous about electronic records, says Jim Turnbull, chief information officer. "As we go to an almost 100% electronic patient record, we feel that for our own security and the security of our patients, we’ve got to add another layer to the system," he says.
With finger imaging technology, a healthcare provider’s fingerprint replaces passwords, PINs, or cards to verify his or her identity and authorize access to electronic records. Since a fingerprint is a biological characteristic linked absolutely to one individual, security is enhanced because it can’t be lost, stolen, forgotten, or altered.
SMH is among the first organizations in the health care industry to test fingerprint security systems. In fact, when the hospital decided to explore this new technology it had to look outside the health care industry to find a track record. Most users thus far have been law enforcement agencies and banks, as well as several state governments, which use the technology to reduce fraud in their general assistance programs by identifying recipients of state aid.
In addition, a few other health care organizations are conducting pilots of similar systems. The pilots include a major university research project to positively identify children and connect their prints to their immunization and allergy records; a health care system pilot to identify patients and connect their fingerprints to their medical records; and a test of the system for use within a physician’s clinical practice.
Even though there is scant previous experience in finger image technology, SMH felt the security issues associated with the hospital’s pending switch to electronic medical records warranted a test. The hospital chose a system from The National Registry Inc. (NRI), in St. Petersburg, FL. The system consists of a personal authentication scanner and finger-image identification software, which works on any Windows-compatible personal computer. Cost for the system ranges between $500 and $1,000 per workstation, depending on the number and level of medical personnel a hospital enrolls.
The first step was to make physicians comfortable with the new technology, so the system was installed on a personal computer in the doctors lounge.
The second phase was scheduled to begin in March when the hospital installs the system on a nursing unit workstation.
According to Turnbull, the system will allow multidisciplinary access to patient records whether from a nurse, a pharmacist, or a respiratory technician but only on a need-to-know basis. For instance, nurses will only have access to the records of patients on their floor.
Physicians are assigned privileges to access the records of all their patients. They can access the charts of other physicians’ patients, but by doing so they leave an electronic audit trail. Turnbull sees this trail as another critical piece in securing automated patient records.
"A physician may ask another doctor to check on one of his patients, but the doctor won’t be able to open the patient’s record unless he registers the reason for the access," says Turnbull. "Every such occurrence prints out on a report which is evaluated to make sure the access was appropriate. One of the issues we have with our current system is that it’s much more difficult to identify unauthorized access."
Initially, physicians will be able to order tests, view results, and extract other data from the patient record with the click of a mouse. Turnbull notes that the hospital is now taking steps to integrate its systems, so that by the end of the year doctors will also have access to information such as radiology images and ultrasounds.
The hospital also is testing NRI’s Secure Screen Saver software, which provides a way to keep nosy eyes from seeing patient information displayed on a computer screen. With this software, when a health care employee steps away from the workstation the material disappears from the screen. This can be done automatically, after a certain period of screen inactivity, or manually by the stroke of a series of keys.
Sarasota Memorial Hospital plans to run its security pilot through October 1997, to coincide with full implementation of its electronic records project. One measurement of success, says Turnbull, will be user acceptance at the physician level, as well as among other caregivers.
And after implementation? Turnbull says the greatest measurement of success will be the absence of any evidence of inappropriate or unauthorized access.
Jim Turnbull, chief information officer, Sarasota Memorial Hospital, 1700 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34239. Telephone: (941) 917-1000.
Clint Fuller, vice president of product management, The National Registry, P.O. Box 23427, Tampa, FL 33623. Telephone: (813) 636-0099. World Wide Web site: http://www.nrid.com
PrintScan International also offers a fingerprinting security system. Their address is P.O. Box 6434, Bridgewater, NJ 08807-0434. Telephone: (609) 452-1716 or (908) 469-6476. E-mail: [email protected]. World Wide Web site: http://www.printscan.com
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