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Today in Health IT, we are discussing NYU Langone Health unveiling Amazon One for seamless patient check ins. My name is Sarah Richardson. I'm president of community development at This Week Health, where we host a set of channels and events dedicated. To transforming health care at one connection at a time.

And I'm joined by Kate Gamble, managing editor here at This Week Health. Kate, welcome to the show. Thank you, Sarah. I love today's episode. And we're talking about a significant development in healthcare technology. NYU Langone Health integrating Amazon One's palm scanning technology for patient check ins.

Yeah, that's right, so starting this week, patients at NYU Langone facilities can opt to use Amazon One, a contactless biometric system, to verify their identity during check in. I love this, I'm very excited about this. I love it too. And it came up, honestly, like 15 years ago, it was one of the things that we started talking about.

Amazon one boasts, I call it six nines. So all of our infrastructure guys will appreciate this and women six nines of accuracy rate and recognizes individuals in less than a second, which minimizes errors and patient identification. Privacy and security is a big component of this and the system captures unique palm and vein patterns to create a numerical representation. This ensures that the raw images aren't stored. Importantly, it doesn't access or store any health records. That leads us to seamless integration.

So amazon Web Services collaborated with Epic, NYU Langone's electronic health records system, to integrate Amazon One, streamlining the authentication process. And then lastly, the participation is voluntary. Patients can choose whether they want to use this technology, maintaining control over their personal information.

So this development holds particular significance for healthcare technology leaders, CIOs, CISOs, CMIOs, and CTOs. The adoption of such advanced biometric systems can lead to improved operational efficiency and patient satisfaction. And we know Nader Moravi, who's the CDIO at NYU Langone, he has talked about how important it is for people to experience digital technology with minimum friction, and this, to me, is a prime example.

It is a prime example. It's also going to lend itself, though, Kate, to considering the challenges that go with it. How might this technology be received by patients concerned about privacy? And then what measures are in place to protect the biometric data that is being collected?

Yeah, those are valid points. So while Amazon One emphasizes data security, healthcare organizations must ensure compliance with regulations like HIPAA and maintain transparent communication with patients about data usage. It's also gonna, this type of integration, it requires staff training and the system being tested to prevent any kind of disruption.

Like what happens if it's not working? What are you doing instead? And then how healthcare leaders approach the transition to people being aware of biometric data being part of the equation today. Yeah, that's a big one. So I think we need to be looking at a phased implementation coupled with comprehensive training programs to help facilitate a smoother transition.

So engaging stakeholders early and addressing their concerns is going to be a huge piece of

I do love the broader discussion about biometrics and health care. I mean, I'm a fan of the iris scan, honestly, to get things done and how these similar technologies can be applied in other areas such as access control, medication dispensing.

I mean, think of the Pixis machines 20 plus years ago using your fingerprint. to be able to get into the machines. Yeah, and we're seeing, you know, different iterations of that. So we know that biometrics can enhance security and efficiency across various healthcare operations, but leaders need to weigh the benefits against potential risks, including data breaches or system failures.

When I think about the angle, About start that whenever also considering the public perception of biometric technology in health care Because some patients may appreciate the convenience I would definitely be one of those but others might feel uneasy about sharing biometric data So how do hospitals navigate the balance between efficiency and also creating and maintaining patient trust?

Yeah, that's a really good question. Transparency is key, right? We hear that being said and it's, there's a reason for that. Healthcare organizations should clearly communicate how the data is used, stored, and protected. Offering patients a choice as NYU Langone is doing is a great way to ease those concerns.

Hospitals should also conduct regular security audits to maintain trust. And I'm just wondering, If this is part of the strategy too, if you, if a few people start using it and talking about how easy it is, I think there's a word of mouth component to this too. There absolutely is because it is, it's not new technology for sure, but it's being applied in new ways or in ways that are more commonly accepted.

And you wonder how do you scale something like this? If the system proves successful, how quickly can other hospitals adopt it? What the infrastructure investments required to implement similar technology at scale and The proprietary nature of some of these devices and with interfaces look like, but it's all there and it's working.

And so you just keep trying. And as the technology gets better, so did the processes that go along with it. And we'll see it in our dinners and our summits. People talk about these technologies and the people talk about these technologies and how fast they mature and how quickly they're adopting them into their environments.

That knowledge sharing goes a long way between facilities and health systems. Absolutely. And when you're talking about scale, this is where the Amazon name comes into play. So while cloud based systems like Amazon One are going to integrate relatively easily with existing EHR platforms like Epic, but widespread adoption does depend on factors like regulatory approvals, vendor partnerships, and budget constraints.

So if you're an IT leader, you need to assess whether your institution can support this type of integration. And then you have to layer in the disaster recovery and redundancy components as well. So if your biometric system goes down, what are your backup processes in place to ensure that patients can still smoothly check in if that becomes your primary method?

Yeah, that's a great point. IT leaders need to ensure redundant auth start again. That's excellent point. IT leaders need to ensure redundant authentication options are available, such as your traditional ID ver such as your traditional ID verification or secondary biometric methods, so that you can prevent disruptions.

The key takeaways today, Kate. Biometric authentication can streamline your patient check ins, reducing wait times and administrative burdens. You're still going to have to think about privacy and security as a top area of consideration, but also requirements and compliance with HIPAA, other regulations.

The patient education and transparency are absolutely essential for adoption and trust. I'd probably lean in there the most heavily, honestly, when you think about the whole spectrum of organizational change management. I you can think about how you do it. You can think about how you secure it.

You're going to think about how easy it is to scale and how quickly. Your hospital can move it to other settings of care and then the whole backup on the authentication method if there's any kind of issues with operational continuity, I'm going to lean into the patient education and transparency, because if you don't have the adoption and the trust, the technology is not going anywhere.

And then you're going to go back to the way that you always did things. And that's not going to look at all innovative to the patient or feel that way to the organization.

Yeah, for sure. And I come back to one of the points you made before about IRIS. And if we, if people can adopt clear at airports, and they definitely are, then I really do see potential for this as long as all of those issues are considered. in conclusion, you know, while the integration of Amazon One at NYU Langone Health represents a leap forward in patient experience, it does also prompt health IT leaders to carefully consider implementation strategies, data security, and patient trust.

It's exciting. I mean, think about if you execute this thoughtfully, you're going to set a precedent for future technological advancements in healthcare that people are willing to try and that your team is good at implementing both the change aspect of the technology, but the change aspect of humans as well.

faster, and then it'll probably be in the Midwest. And so we'll just get to watch either way. Remember to share this podcast with a friend or a colleague. Use it as a foundation for daily or weekly discussions on the topics that are relevant to you and the industry. They can subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

Thanks for listening. That's all for now