NYU Langone Health, based in New York City, is among the first health systems to implement Amazon’s palm-scanning technology for patient check-ins — a move that enhances both convenience and efficiency, Nader Mherabi, the health system’s executive vice president, vice dean and chief digital and information officer, told Becker’s.
The technology, called Amazon One, combines palm and vein imagery for biometric matching. To use it, patients hover their hand over a scanner during check-in to confirm their identity, eliminating the need for traditional identity-checking methods.
“It’s [palm-scanning technology] not widely used in other sectors, especially not in law enforcement or government, so people are more open to it,” Mr. Mherabi said. “What makes Amazon One powerful is that once you enroll your palm, that’s all you need. You can even do it at home through our app. You take a picture of your palm, and when you come in, the system enhances that image and identifies you immediately.”
NYU Langone has already rolled out the technology to two pilot sites, with great success, according to Mr. Mherabi.
“Now we’re expanding across our Manhattan campus, and we’re doing it region by region because that’s operationally easier,” he said. “After Manhattan, we’re moving on to our Long Island and Brooklyn campuses.”
The expansion is moving faster than originally anticipated. The rollout across all NYU Langone facilities was initially scheduled for completion by the end of 2025, but Mr. Mherabi said the project is now expected to be finished by mid-May — potentially even earlier.
To support the rollout, the health system has created comprehensive training materials to ensure staff and patients understand how the technology works and to address common concerns, especially around privacy and security.
“It’s highly secure. We don’t share any personal information with Amazon,” Mr. Mherabi said. “In fact, Amazon doesn’t store any protected health information.”
So far, the rollout has gone smoothly, with no outages or major issues reported.
“That’s actually one reason we’ve been able to scale faster than we initially planned — it’s gone really smoothly,” he said. “When tech adoption requires less change management, that’s always a win.”
Looking ahead, NYU Langone is evaluating how the same biometric technology could be applied beyond the check-in process.
“We’re considering areas where our staff might benefit too. That’s something we’ll continue to explore with Amazon and other partners,” Mr. Mherabi said.
