Healthcare Biometrics Market

The Healthcare Biometrics Market is valued at USD 16.5 Bn in 2026 and is projected to reach USD 71.3 Bn, growing at a CAGR of 23% by 2033.

Healthcare Biometrics Gains Ground as Significance of Healthcare Security Soars

Healthcare biometrics is gaining traction with widening scope for application in areas like patient security, data security, and as a solution for ensuring security of healthcare systems. It helps in averting, and detecting frauds related to patient information, data theft, and false insurance claims. The uptake of healthcare biometrics across hospitals now has well-established biometric systems to protect patient’s identity, medical management, data security, and inventory management. In addition, international hospitals now have real-time location and monitoring of patients, clinicians, and devices through use of biometric devices and Internet of Things (IoT).

Robust healthcare IT infrastructure such as network capabilities, data storage access to apps, devices, adoption of upgraded software, vendor reliability after sales services, skilled IT support to use the biometrics are some of the factors restricting the growth of healthcare biometrics market.

Healthcare Frauds Drive Biometrics Adoption for Personalised Security Solutions

Extremely complex, and highly fragmented healthcare insurance schemes for all the citizens especially in the US, accounts for the largest healthcare biometrics market. Its sheer volume and value that makes it highly prone to insurance frauds. According to the Insurance Information Institute (iii), insurance doctors, nursing homes, diagnostic centres, medical equipment suppliers including attorneys have quoted in the scams to defraud the system.

The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (NHCAA) estimates that the financial losses due to health care fraud are US$68 Bn, or as high as US$300 Bn every year. Furthermore, the taxpayers have to bear the brunt of medical frauds and funds. Biometrics in healthcare can be considered under two categories one is by providing biometrics access systems to healthcare infrastructure and another through patient identification solutions. Numerous hospitals are now mandatorily deploying biometrics security systems. Such deployments have proven to be critical for controlled access to various hospital premises, wards, and central archiving rooms.

Furthermore, patient identification has now become crucial for assurance based on biometric technology. Implementation of biometrics can help with significant reduction in the number of errors, as well as costs. It also tends to aid in obtaining increased patient safety, and improved patient satisfaction. The fingerprinting biometric is the most widely used solution used at hospitals. However, with growing technological advances, face recognition, badge beacons, vein recognition, iris recognition, and cloud management systems are expected to make headway for global healthcare biometrics market.

Recently in August 2021, Imprivata, the digital identity company announced its collaboration with Microsoft Azure. Imprivata’s OneSign solution and Imprivata Confirm ID solutions along with its integration on Microsoft Azure’s cloud computing services is expected to bring about significant change in digital transformation for hybrid healthcare solutions. Through this Imprivata’s clients can access their data on Microsoft’s cloud through use of fingerprint identification biometrics screening.

Blockchain Technology Coupled with Biometrics Expected to Create a Significant Opportunity

Deployment of blockchain technology with biometrics is expected to bring promising results to curbing data theft, attack through malicious software, and cyber-attacks. Rise in digitization of healthcare for maintaining electronic records requires robust architecture through distributed ledge databases on peer-to-peer network. This consists of ordered blocks in chronology. Blockchain technology helps to eliminate the issue of single point failure.

In February 2019, Patientory Inc., a recognised cybersecurity healthcare data solutions firm responsible for providing secured healthcare platforms and apps through use of blockchain technology announced integration with IrisGuard’s (UK). This collaboration will bring in biometric authentication through iris scan to help patients secure their data and prevent prescription frauds. This integration will help Patientory Inc. to further secure patient data through double proof mechanism from two technologies, i.e., blockchain, and biometrics. More such companies are collaborating to provide robust apps, which are double proofed from data hacking through use of both these technologies.

North America, and Asia Pacific Remain the Highly Profitable Pockets in Global Healthcare Biometrics Market

The global healthcare biometrics market is dominated by North American region which includes the US and Canada. Governments in this region have been extremely supportive towards adoption of newer technologies. For instance, in 2009, the US President signed The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act in 2009. The act is designed for broader adoption of electronic health records aimed to benefit patients and physicians. Research indicates that Europe is expected follow North America’s lead in global healthcare biometrics market.

Meanwhile, Asia Pacific is expected to foresee highest growth during the forecast owing growing adoption of electronic records in hospitals. China is expected to drive the healthcare biometrics market across Asia Pacific market. China introduced facial recognition biometrics for hospitals long back in 2018. The Chinese Government has been highly supportive in adopting biometrics through effective funding.

In 2011, the Chinese Government invested US$1.5 Bn in healthcare information technology. These funds increased to US$19.6 Bn in 2016-20, which has helped the country to deploy biometrics healthcare applications.

Global Healthcare Biometrics Market: Key Players

The major players operating in the global healthcare biometrics market are:

• NEC Corporation
• Fujitsu Limited
• Thales Group
• IDEMIA
• HID Global Corporation
• Imprivata, Inc.
• BIO-key International, Inc.
• Suprema Inc.
• Crossmatch Technologies, Inc.
• 3M Cogent, Inc.
• Hitachi, Ltd.
• Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
• Aware, Inc.
• Integrated Biometrics LLC
• ZKTeco, Inc.

Global healthcare biometric market is segmented as below:

By Technology

• Face Recognition
• Fingerprint Recognition
• Iris Recognition
• Vein Recognition
• Palm Geometry Recognition
• Behavioral Recognition
• Others

By Application

• Patient Identification and Tracking
• Medical Record Security and Data Centre Security
• Care Provider Authentication
• Home/Remote Patient Monitoring
• Pharmacy Dispensing
• Others (includes narcotic security and counter insurance frauds)

By End User

• Hospitals and Clinics
• Healthcare institutions
• Research and Clinical laboratories

By Geography

• North America
• Europe
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• MEA