Health Care CIO Runs 'Internal' RFID Test

By Heather Havenstein

February 21, 2005 12:00 PM ET

Recommended

(5)

Digg

Twitter

Share/Email

Computerworld - John Halamka, CIO at both CareGroup Inc. and Harvard Medical School, is testing radio frequency identification technology -- on himself.
An RFID chip that is the size of two grains of rice and encased in a glass container was implanted in the back of Halamka's right arm, near the elbow, just before Christmas. Halamka said this month that when the chip is scanned by an RFID reader, an identifying number directs physicians to his medical records, which are stored electronically at CareGroup's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
The chip was inserted with a needle in a procedure that took about five minutes. Halamka, 42, said he's testing the technology for its potential to help health care workers get critical medical information about unresponsive patients.
For example, Halamka noted that he is an avid mountain and ice climber. "If I fall and I'm not responsive, wouldn't it be extraordinarily helpful for the people who rescue me to know who I am and my medical history?"
Halamka, who has a medical degree and works as an emergency-room doctor at Beth Israel, said he isn't advocating that people get injected with RFID chips. But he added that he decided to try the technology himself partly so he could describe the experience to patients who want to undergo the procedure.


John Halamka, CIO at both CareGroup Inc. and Harvard Medical School

Halamka is confident that the implanted RFID chip, which was designed to last 100 years, doesn't raise data privacy concerns, because it contains no medical records -- only the identifier that points to his records. "There is no way just from reading my tag for a merchant to know who I am," he said.
Halamka's chip was made by VeriChip Corp. in Delray Beach, Fla., and was cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for medical use in October.
Roger Kay, an analyst at IDC in Framingham, Mass., said the needed technology infrastructure -- mainly scanners -- is not installed widely enough to support the use of RFID tags in a large number of patients.
But Kay said the idea is becoming feasible from a cost standpoint. "The cost of the individual chips is coming way down, to the point where it becomes practical to have chips on individual items, including people," he said.

Recommend Digg Twitter ShareThis

Email Print Send Feedback Reprints

Jump to comments

Wireless Technologies

Additional Resources

Xerox

Win a color printer!

By using solid ink technology only from Xerox, you could save up to 65% by printing color for the cost of black and white. Enter for a chance to WIN a PhaserTM 8860 network color printer!

Microsoft

Upgrade to Internet Explorer 8 today.

Save time and mitigate security risk. Deploy it now.

Sybase

NEXT-GENERATION MOBILITY PLATFORMS

In this white paper, IDC analyzes the role of next-generation mobile enterprise platforms as organizations seek a more strategic deployment of mobile solutions.

Learn the important issues you must consider before starting your next mobility initiative. Get your mobility white paper from IDC now, compliments of Sybase.

White Papers & Webcasts

Streamline Your Business with Innovative Tools
Download This White Paper Now!

Key Strategies for Managing Data Growth
What are you storage challenges?

Inquiry Insights: Enterprise Mobility, Q1 2009
Learn what Forrester has uncovered in their latest report on Enteprise Mobility trends.

Extending Client Refresh - 11 Steps to Maximize Savings
Register Now!

Comparing Research In Motion and Microsoft Mobile Solutions
This paper compares the Research In Motion BlackBerry solution with the Microsoft® mobile solution by analyzing features of the user experience and the...

Lower the Cost and Complexity of a Mobile Workforce through Automation
Download This Resource Now!

True Convergence Demands a Communication Service Provider that Embraces a Customer-Centric Approach
Get this paper now!

Managing Mobility: Improve Data Security, Compliance and Manageability
Download This Resource Now!

SIP Trunking Is Key to Accelerating Unified Communications Deployments
Get this paper now!

Consolidate Your Servers and Storage to Lower Costs with Oracle Database 11g
Register for this webcast!

All White Papers | All Webcasts