With our discussion on the healthcare industry and sharing medical records, I thought I would talk a little more about a topic I brought up in a previous blog. In an earlier blog, I brought up how people are implanting themselves with their medical records stored on RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chips so that they always have this information with them. As hospitals and doctor’s offices are turning more and more to technology in order to file and sort patient history, and everyday people are using technology to organize their lives more as well, I see the implantation of RFID chips with medical information as both parties working together to ensure proper medical treatment.
The location of this implant is in the fatty tissue of the upper arm. They are 11 mm in length and are projected to last twenty years. The FDA has also placed their stamp of approval upon the product. The PositiveID Corporation is the largest company selling this product that they call the VeriChip. The impanted chip stores a 16-digit ID number that is transmitted when scanned by a handheld VeriChip scanner. The medical staff at participating hospitals can then,
enter this number into a secure page on the VeriChip Corporation's website to access medical information that the patient has previously stored on file with the company.
I believe that it is this part of feature of the implant that can calm some patient’s qualms about privacy. If the patients have control over what information is put into this RFID they will have more control over what they share with their physicians, solving part of the issue of privacy.
While storing this information in your body could save your life, it could also potentially risk your health. Studies conducted in lab rats showed 1% to 10% of the implants resulted in cancerous tumors. According to the FDA, people with implants are also vulnerable to electrical hazards, severe reactions to getting MRIs, the surrounding tissue having allergic reactions, and the possibility that it may not stay in place, and instead travel around in your body. Needless to say, there are a few kinks to work out, and I think I’ll wait a while (and maybe forever) before getting an implant of my own.
