Morristown, NJ – Morristown Medical Center announced today it has partnered with healthcare technology company HT Systems to offer their biometric patient identification solution PatientSecure®. Morristown Medical Center is the first health system in the state of New Jersey to deploy PatientSecure, ensuring the correct health record is used for every patient, every time.
PatientSecure utilizes palm vein pattern recognition technology and links the patient to his/her unique medical record, allowing healthcare providers to accurately identify every patient at the point of care. A patient's next trip to the hospital will make registration more accurate, more secure and less time-consuming.
“The PatientSecure system allows Morristown Medical Center to identify patients anytime they visit our facility by using harmless, near-infrared light to illuminate the vein patterns in hands,” said Linda Reed, vice president and chief information officer for Atlantic Health System. “The data from the vein patterns is stored for reference and used during future visits, which allows for quick and accurate patient identification.”
“It’s a simple and safe process,” added Joe D’Auria, director of finance, Morristown Medical Center. “The short infrared light used in this technology does not give off heat and it will not cause any discomfort.”
The new palm scanning technology helps eliminate risk, and as an added bonus, gives patients protection against medical identity theft. It accelerates registration, decreases patient wait time, and puts a stop to duplicate medical records and overlays. Since implementing the program on January 28th, Morristown Medical Center has enrolled 3,302 patients.
Reed added, “Another benefit of the system will be the ability to identify a person who may come into the emergency department with no identification who may be unconscious or unable to speak. A scanner can be taken to a bedside and used to identify the patient if they’ve already been to the hospital and are part of the system.”
PatientSecure is currently being adopted by over 190 hospitals and thousands of clinics and physician practices across the nation. Palm vein scanning is more accurate than fingerprint recognition technology. The vein pattern is unique to each person and does not change over the course of his/her lifetime.
As healthcare continues to evolve, Morristown Medical Center continues to offer the latest in technology. In this case, it’s as simple as holding your hand.
About Morristown Medical Center
Morristown Medical Center, located in Morristown, NJ, is part of Atlantic Health System, one of the largest non-profit health care systems in New Jersey. Accredited by The Joint Commission, the hospital was recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a top hospital nationwide for cardiology, heart surgery, gynecology and geriatrics. Morristown Medical Center also ranked as a “Best Regional Hospital” for cancer, diabetes & endocrinology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics as well as gastroenterology & GI Surgery, nephrology, pulmonology and urology. Morristown Medical Center’s Gagnon Cardiovascular Institute performs more cardiac surgeries than any other hospital in New Jersey, over 1,400 in 2013, placing its cardiac program in the top two percent in the country. The Society of Thoracic Surgeons awarded Gagnon Cardiovascular Institute three stars, its highest rating, only awarded to 12 percent of participating institutions. Morristown Medical Center was re-designated a Magnet Hospital for Excellence in Nursing Service, the highest level of recognition by American Nurses Credentialing Center for facilities that provide acute care services, a distinction awarded to less than five percent of U.S. hospitals. Learn more >