Thai Hospital Uses NEC’s Facial Recognition Tech to Register Patients

NEC Thailand is celebrating the successful integration of its facial recognition technology at Siriraj Piyamaharajkarun Hospital, the largest hospital in Thailand.

With the addition of the biometric tech — which was deployed earlier this year on August 1, 2021 — Siriraj Piyamaharajkarun has been able to modernize its registration process by offering contactless, facial recognition-based patient registration across the hospital’s various touchpoints and patient registration counters.

“We are delighted to have deployed NEC’s latest face recognition solution for Siriraj Hospital,” said Mr. Ichiro Kurihara, President, NEC Thailand. “A state-of-the-art medical facility that is also one of the oldest and largest in Thailand, Siriraj Hospital hosts high profile visitors, including members of the royal family and many other public figures.”

In addition to the new contactless registration solution, NEC Thailand has also upgraded Siriraj Piyamaharajkarun’s CCTV system, making it easier and faster for its security team and healthcare practitioners to locate patients within its facilities.

“NEC’s solutions play a key role in supporting the safety and security of the hospital’s staff and patients,” said Mr. Kurihara. “By enabling contactless patient registrations, NEC aims to support safer and more secure environments by reducing in-person exposure, especially in environments such as hospitals where the risks of infection from COVID-19 and other diseases are higher. We will continue innovating and developing solutions that deliver greater social value to society,” he added.

NEC’s facial recognition solution is expected to be of particular use in the hospital’s emergency department, where the likelihood of a patient without their ID on hand needing immediate identification and treatment is greater.

“NEC’s solution helps empower our security system during this pandemic and helps with our resource limitations,” commented a spokesperson from Siriraj Piyamaharajkarun Hospital. “With NEC’s expertise, we are able to leverage technology that we weren’t able to deploy previously due to operational challenges. NEC’s work, especially in integrating our existing solutions, was instrumental in supporting Smart Face Recognition and allowing for a faster and more accurate registration process.”

In August of this year — and shortly following the launch of its partnership with Siriraj Piyamaharajkarun Hospital — NEC had another reason to celebrate, as its facial recognition technology took the top spot in NIST’s ongoing Facial Recognition Vendor Test.