@PUNKEY,
When I visited one of my doctors offices yesterday, I found they had also begun using the palm scanner, and also added a photo ID to my records as well.
This doctor's office is also affliated with a private hospital network, which makes it quite similar to the situation you encountered.
At least it represents more of an attempt to protect and confirm identity regarding medical records.
If you hadn't started this thread, I might have been more skeptical about that palm device because I hadn't previosly heard about it. I have a feeling
that such devices will soon be widely used in the medical care field.