Nothing is more frustrating or embarrassing that going to a doctor’s office or a lab and being asked for your medical insurance card, only to discover you have no clue where it is. After all, it’s not like a debit card that you use every day, or like a driver’s license that you need to have on you at all times. It’s an insurance card.

Not only that, an insurance card isn’t a particularly useful type of identification. Most insurance cards don’t have a picture or any identifying information about the holder. Other than proving to the receptionist that your insurance number is what you think it is, an insurance card serves little purpose.

Doing Away with Cards

One hospital in Pennsylvania agrees, and they’re testing out some new technology that may help to make the insurance card a thing of the past.

The Lehigh Valley Health Network recently introduced a voluntary program that would allow 1,500 of their patients to have their palm scanned by a biometric device whenever they came to the hospital for medical tests or blood work.

A vice president for Fujitsu, Josh Napua, had some things to say about the new technology. Napua pointed out that, rather than having a card that you could lose or being identified by your social security number which is vulnerable to identity theft, you can identify yourself using this biometric technology.

How it Works

The scanner works like this: you place your palm over a scanner. The scanner than reads the veins in your palm. It creates a unique signature based on the scan of your palm. The scan is then matched with the medical records of the person being scanned, as well as your medical insurance information.

This technology could help to revolutionize medical care, in many ways. It could help first of all to prevent insurance fraud, as it is impossible to fake the palm scan. It would also help to reduce clerical or medical mistakes.

Not Just a Toy

This kind of technology could also be useful in emergency situations. When a person comes into the ER and are unconscious, their palm could still be scanned as one way to identify the person and make sure that emergency room personnel have access to relevant medical information, such as chronic health conditions or even allergies.

Big Brother or Big Help?

How receptive people will be to this kind of technology isn’t known. To be sure, some patients will be wary, seeing a “Big Brother” movement. Still, once people understand what the technology really does and why, they may be more receptive to its use.

Photo via Logan Antill