Described is a technology by which medical patient facial images are acquired and maintained for associating with a patient's records and/or other items. A video camera may provide video frames, such as captured when a patient is being admitted to a hospital. Face detection may be employed to clip the facial part from the frame. Multiple images of a patient's face may be displayed on a user interface to allow selection of a representative image. Also described is obtaining the patient images by processing electronic documents (e.g., patient records) to look for a face pictured therein.