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New device protects patients (and facilities) from ID theft

Ambulatory Safety Monitor, December 23, 2004

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Identity theft is a prevalent "designer crime" in this day and age, and it can lead to a lot of financial inconvenience and trauma for consumers. However, not knowing who's who can have even more dire consequences in a medical setting: for both the financial bottom line, and for patient health.

That's why a growing number of facilities are looking for high-tech ways to fight fraud, including the use of biometric fingerprint scans, according to the December 13 issue of Network World.

Some hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers have adopted the Ultra-Scan fingerprint scanner, a device that captures a patient's fingerprint at the registration desk, and scans it into a database where it is stored as part of the patient's permanent record. The system appears to be successful at preventing what one FBI agent called "identity theft with permission."

"The patients come in for surgery and we fingerprint them... it's the wave of the future in healthcare," says Dr. Severko Hrywnak, owner and CEO of Advance Ambulatory Surgical Center in Chicago. Hrywnak says that the facility has had problems with patients voluntarily giving their insurance cards to family members and friends, which constitutes insurance fraud.

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