Healthcare Biometrics: Whether A Good Investment For Infusing Security & Efficiency In Patient Care Or Not!

Application of biometric systems to healthcare facilities and participants has witnessed a rise over the last decade. Unprecedented progress in digitalization, centralization of health databases, and automation of healthcare services along with the introduction of telehealth solutions have collectively led to the growth of the healthcare biometrics market.

For instance, with centralization of healthcare systems (EHRs), databases of confidential patient information may be accessible to a large group of individuals, thereby increasing the risk of security lapses and frauds. Hence the incorporation of a biometric platform, which facilitates personnel identification and authorized access to documents, is the need of the hour.

The key shortcomings overcome by these systems include:

• Prevention of unauthorized access to health records/classified data to personnel
• Elimination of the possibility of producing falsified medical records by patients
• Reduction in the number of fraudulent claims affecting the future course of treatment
• Reduction in the number of errors related to administration of drugs and mixing up of medical charts.

Owing to the aforementioned benefits, healthcare participants are welcoming the incorporation of these systems in their settings, which promise to provide a potential market of about USD 1.7 billion as of 2015.

However, even with the aforementioned benefits, the biometric sensors are anticipated to witness challenges such as:

• System hacking leading to loss of data confidentiality
• Limited data storage capabilities
• Inability of the systems to identify changes in physiological characteristics such as fingerprints, palm geometry owing to injuries, or ageing of personnel.

Also, certain key determinants must be considered by consumers to facilitate seamless and cost efficient integration of biometrics technology with the existing systems and are inclusive of the following:

• Cost benefit analysis for each of the currently available biometric systems
• Patient/personnel convenience and adaptability
• Environment of the site where the recognition process is to be carried out
• Technological glitches that may be observed during the incorporation process
• Evaluation studies to understand requirements in choosing the most suitable mode such as single factor or multi factor authentication systems.

From the end-use perspective, hospitals, clinics, and pathological laboratories are expected to be the dominant users over the forecast period. During the course of the study, fingerprint recognition systems were identified to be the most prominently used technology as of 2015, but this is anticipated to soon be replaced by multi factor and multi modal systems.

A clear plan of action and a comparative analysis of the existing systems are expected to facilitate the identification of a suitable system aptly suited to fulfill consumer needs, which would enable system workflow efficiency; thus, ultimately outshining the challenges and serving as an excellent investment for healthcare providers.

  In-depth report on global healthcare biometrics market by Grand View Research:

https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/biometrics-in-healthcare-market