First introduced in retail checkouts, Amazon is now bringing its contactless palm-scanning technology to the healthcare sector.
Patients at NYU Langone Health facilities will soon be able to check in for appointments using the Amazon One biometric authentication system. This marks the platform’s first application in healthcare and its largest deployment in any industry. NYU Langone operates six hospitals and over 320 outpatient centers, handling more than 10 million patient visits annually.
An NYU Langone executive told CNBC that the technology is expected to streamline check-ins, reduce wait times, and ease the administrative workload for front office staff. NYU Langone estimates that integrating Amazon One will reduce the time patients spend at front desks from two to three minutes down to less than a minute.
Amazon claims its palm scanning technology boasts nearly 100% accuracy and a recognition time of under one second, which could also help the healthcare provider cut down on administrative errors and fraud.
Barriers to Adoption
Amazon One was first deployed at Amazon Go cashierless stores in Seattle before expanding to Whole Foods grocery stores. Pay-by-palm has struggled to gain traction, partly because consumers are more accustomed to fingerprint and facial recognition, which are ubiquitous in smartphones.
Additionally, consumers must voluntarily sign up for Amazon One in both retail and healthcare settings, which some have viewed as a barrier to adoption.
Protecting Privacy
Privacy concerns always arise when consumer data is involved, and even more questions crop up about who stores this data and how it’s secured when biometric information is involved. This is especially true in the highly regulated healthcare field, where there are stringent penalties for violating Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) rules.
To mitigate these concerns, NYU Langone has stated that Amazon will not store or access any of its patients’ health data or personal information beyond their palm prints. The healthcare system’s leadership also said that Amazon One will be available at NYU Langone sites in the New York metro area starting next week, with plans to expand the service to other locations later this year.
For its part, Amazon plans to continue exploring ways to deploy Amazon One in healthcare settings. Potential use cases for palm-scanning tech include verifying access credentials for restricted areas or computer systems.
