Accurate patient identification in hospitals has always been a subject of discussion and has recently gained momentum due to the urgency of rapid digitization of the healthcare industry. Hospitals have increased their interoperability, which has increased the possibility of patient data-matching errors and mismatching. This can really jeopardize a patient’s safety and inflate healthcare costs artificially.
Facial recognition is slowly gaining momentum in healthcare, partially due to improvements in artificial intelligence, which has made it possible to use the technology in different ways. AI-powered face recognition systems have allowed healthcare professionals to consider using technology in several ways that go beyond security purposes. Below is a highlight of the potential uses of technology in healthcare.
How Facial Recognition Works?
Facial recognition can be a very useful tool if all the key factors are satisfied. Facial recognition functions by examining the physical features of an individual’s face and map the unique features to distinguish from others. To verify someone’s identity, it follows three steps including detection, unique faceprint creation, and then verification. In the first step, the technology captures an image of the individual’s face. The second step is analyzing it to identify the user’s face and the final step is comparing it to make a decision thus mitigating the risk of identity theft or fraud.
Securing hospital facilities
One of the most popular applications of face recognition is for security. Law enforcement personnel can use this technology to detect and identify individuals by scanning anyone entering the hospital. They can then compare each person to a list of flagged individuals. The technology can also be used in hospitals to identify individuals who might be drug seekers or individuals previously ejected whom the hospital no longer allows accessing the facility.
Emotion detection and sentiment analysis
Real-time emotion detection is yet another valuable application of face recognition in healthcare. It can be used to detect several emotions patients exhibit during their stay in the facility and analyze the data so as to determine how they are feeling. The results of the analysis may help identify where the patients need more attention in case they’re in pain or sad.
Patient fraud
Face recognition can help hospitals deal with impostors posing as patients in order to access treatments and other medication.
Hospital traffic pattern analysis
Hospitals can also use face recognition technology to detect patterns that entail overall statistics around visitors and patients based on gender and age. This system can help facility track patients without using physical tracking devices. This can come in handy to locate patients within a nursing home or in outpatient assisted living facilities.
Disease Detection
Facial recognition can be used to scan a patient’s face to determine the patient’s level of pain to manage chronic pain and medication usage. Furthermore, rare genetic diseases can also be diagnosed, for instance, DiGeorge Syndrome has recently been diagnosed which was difficult to detect otherwise. Besides, computerized personal assistants will need facial recognition to interpret the emotional state of the patient to assist the patient appropriately.
Face recognition has been proven efficient for security among other uses. It’s now slowly gaining grounds in healthcare facilities to track patients and keep their records safe without mismatching. Biometric facial recognition is very useful when it comes to visitors’ authentication, which can help secure the facility and prevent patient fraud.
