6 ways biometric technology can support healthcare

World Health Day is a UN-sponsored day to celebrate the achievements of global public health, and we have been exploring how biometric technology could support the next advancements in healthcare; especially in the health biometrics market which is estimated to reach $24.9 billion by 2031.

Biometrics are unique identifiers that can be used to verify people and prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information. There are many different types of biometrics: finger or palm prints, eyes and irises, voice recognition, hand geometry, facial recognition (including 2D vs 3D images), gait recognition (the way someone walks), and even DNA analysis.

Biometrics are already widely used in the world of finance and commerce- as a way to quickly verify identity, and as a means of payment. According to a recent report from Juniper Research, "biometrics are expected to authenticate over $3 trillion worth of paid transactions in 2025”, e.g. Amazon launched Amazon One Palm scanning tech at Wholefoods stores across the United States in 2020, allowing customers to pay for purchases simply by placing their hands on an electronic scanner.?

1) Prevent Identity Theft

Healthcare providers (e.g., doctors or hospitals) could use your biometrics to verify who you are and use them to keep track of your health information. Imagine having a single trusted global digital identity, which will allow hospitals and patients alike all over the world to share data seamlessly and securely. Hospitals could collect information from patients and then share it with other healthcare providers, saving time and money for both hospitals and patients; helping doctors diagnose illnesses more quickly, letting people access their medical records from anywhere, and reducing paperwork burdens.

2) Protect Privacy

Biometrics allows us to use technology without having our passwords stolen by hackers or phishing scams. With biometrics, we don't have to worry about losing our passwords or having them stolen by a hacker who's trying to break into our accounts- we just need something unique about ourselves like our fingerprint or iris scan. Fingerprint recognition works by scanning your fingerprint and comparing it against a list of known fingerprints stored in a database. If there's a match between the scanned fingerprint and the one on file, then access will be granted; if not, access will be denied.

3) Help with Disabilities

Many people with disabilities have difficulty remembering passwords or PINs because they may have trouble reading or writing due to their disabilities. This may make it difficult for them to remember their login credentials and make it impossible for them to access many services online without assistance from someone else who knows their login information (like a family member).

This technology is important for people with disabilities because it allows them to have more control over their own lives. For example, if someone has Parkinson's disease or another condition that makes it difficult for them to type or write, then using biometrics would allow them access to things that would otherwise be impossible for them.

4) Increase Safety for Children

The traditional methods of keeping children safe—locks, alarms, and fences—are being replaced by new technologies such as biometrics. Biometrics can help keep kids safe when they're online: by using fingerprint recognition technology, parents can restrict access to certain sites on their children's devices, similarly, parents could restrict access to medical practitioners if they wished.

In a healthcare setting, and in circumstances where parents cannot be with their children, they want to ensure they are being cared for. Biometrics could track the location of children at any given time, so parents can know whether they're safe, had an accident, they’re in a hospital, or even monitor vaccinations.

5) Promote Healthy Lifestyles

One of the challenges of living in a world where people are constantly being told that they should be doing more exercise and eating healthier foods is that it's hard to make those changes stick. It's hard to get started, and it’s hard to stay motivated. But if we were able to use biometrics to help people change their behaviours, we could make those changes easier and more fun.

Imagine if you had a wearable device that could track your steps and your sleep quality, but also knew what kinds of foods you liked based on the data it collected about your eating habits. Then imagine if it gave you recommendations for new recipes based on what you ate yesterday or last week—and made sure it was all in line with your goals for eating better.

6) Provide better support access

If a patient wants to see a doctor but doesn't have any health insurance or money in their bank account, they could be blocked from getting treatment altogether. To solve this problem, we need a single trusted global digital identity that can link individuals with their medical records so they can access care regardless of where they live or how much money they have (or don't have). Similarly, if we can improve access to healthcare, we can reduce time spent managing access; with improved accuracy when identifying visitors and improved security against unauthorized access.

The Challenges

Unfortunately, as with everything, biometrics could be subject to hacking or manipulation—and not just by nefarious actors but by anyone who has access to them (like government agencies). This means that even if you have a strong biometric system in place right now, it will need to keep up with future threats as they evolve.

Most patients in the UK depend on the NHS for health?coverage.? It is challenging to address?healthcare in the UK without involving?the NHS and may require a consortium bid for biometrics-related NHS?tenders. Shipyard market validation 2022: USA, Ireland,?UK.

The impact of regulations defines how companies run?their operations and meeting regulations is their biggest?priority. Non-compliance would force them to?cease trading.

"We struggle with RTE. Real-time?eligibility.?Patients needing to?know what to co-pay is?going to be is a big benefit. No?more?surprise?billing." (This will soon be law)." Shipyard qualitative research: 10 enterprise customers?USA, Ireland,?UK.

People have concerns when sharing personal data with third parties, especially when it comes to their healthcare records. That's why transparency regarding how a patient's data is used, stored, and managed will continue to be a key consideration with any biometrics solution.

"I already have to use biometrics?for a lot of?my apps and banking apps. I?don’t?particularly like that they have that?data?but?it is?quite simple to use." Shipyard online survey:1,069 participants?USA, Ireland,?and UK.

Single biometrics can't meet all the needs of different industries—for example, while some systems use fingerprint scans for identification purposes and facial recognition software for authentication purposes, others may use voice recognition or even retinal scans instead. This means that companies may need multiple technologies working together to ensure optimal performance across different applications.

All healthcare systems and groups utilize electronic medical?record (EMR) solutions to save their patient?health data - in?compliance with HIPAA regulations.?Therefore, all health solutions?that want to be fully?operational in a select healthcare?system/group must?be able to integrate with their EMR solution. Shipyard market validation 2022: USA, Ireland,?UK.

At Shipyard Innovation, we help make investments in innovation impactful. We?believe that the journey of creating any product/venture and delivering any vision (big or small!) starts with unique insights. Ready to validate an idea and build it out as a new venture? Contact us today at [email protected].