In order to combat fraud identification and insurance, a California hospital has installed a new biometric registration system which scans the patients’ palm vein structures, said the article. The technology uses a near infrared light to obtain a palm’s vein pattern, this is then turned into a template that matches against the database of enrolled records. 

This system is also linked to the hospital’s health information system Treatment details, diagnosis and prescription will be available for further verification and enables confirmation that the patient is receiving the appropriate treatment and medication.

Source: upi; Hospital ID’s patients by vein structure (18 Nov 2009)