Drchrono uses Apple Touch ID fingerprint authorization to let patients, doctors access records

Electronic health record (EHR) and electronic medical record (EMR) platform drchrono has integrated its iPad-based EHR and smartphone-based PHR with Apple’s Touch ID, enabling doctors and patients to access the software without a password, according to a report by Mobi Heath News.

“With Apple’s Touch ID, for the first time on a mass scale doctors and patients are logging into medical records with biometrics,” said Daniel Kivatino, COO and cofounder of drchrono. “We have released Apple’s Touch ID login to over 70,000 physicians using our iPad electronic health record and to over 3 million patients using our iPhone personal health record, onpatient PHR. With this launch, I believe this is the largest mobile biometric medical records login push ever.”

The new TouchID integration enables doctors and patients to log in by simply tapping to get into the device, followed by another tap to open the app, and finally a third tap to authorize their identity in the app.

It is still unclear whether the authentication method will pass the strict standards enforced by HIPAA, especially in light of recent reports which revealed that the same TouchID fingerprint spoofing tactic that allows fraudsters to gain access to Apple’s iPhone 5s can also be used with the new iPhone 6.

Still, Kivatinos is confident that biometrics offers a more secure authorization method than passwords, and does, in fact, meet the standards for HIPAA compliance.

“Apple’s Touch ID is a great alternative to a standard password. With biometrics, it is impossible to ‘guess’ someone’s fingerprint,” said Kivatino. “Ask yourself this question as a patient, do you remember your personal health record password? If you don’t remember it, you can now tap your iPhone to get into your health record. Sometimes patients forget passwords during emergencies and with a biometric login, a patient can simply tap and log into their health record. This will help save lives.”

Article Topics

biometrics  |  fingerprint sensors  |  healthcare  |  HIPAA  |  patient records  |  Touch ID