I'm swamped at work, so I only have a few minutes while I drink my midmorning coffee, but this was too good to pass up. eWeek's daily healthcare newsletter yesterday included a link to an article on VeriChip's Baby Protection System, from which I drew the following teaser text:
VeriChip's infant protection system is really two separate above-the-skin solutions, one a band similar to a standard hospital bracelet that has an embedded RFID chip. The second option, called the Halo skin-sensing system, is similar to an electronic key fob for a car that can be attached to an infant's ankle or a patient's wrist. Another key fob-type device can be worn around the neck of staff members to use as a personal panic button.
Now you can deterministically identify your toddlers among all those others in the daycare center that look just like him or her. One more problem solved for the busy moms and dads out there.
But VeriChip also has a separate patient identification system, VeriMed, which is used beneath the skin. Once the chip is implanted in the fatty part of a person's arm (or in the hand, as chip volunteers have done), it displays a 16-digit identifier when tapped by an RFID reader. The number accesses health information in a database that requires a username and password for admittance.
There's a reference to a related article from back in mid-July on how health systems and third-party payers are looking at embedding RFID tags in their patients. Why embedding rather than the approach taken with babies:
Though non-implanted devices, like bracelets or dog tags, could also provide the identifying numbers, chip proponents said that the implanted tags are less likely to be removed or damaged and that scanning for implants will take less time than looking for other means of identification.
Their approach sounds like an instant HIPAA Privacy Rule violation to me. HIPAA's rule for disclosing patient identifiers is summed up in the phrase "minimum necessary". Here's the plan:
The chips, made by VeriChip Corporation, will contain a 16-digit identifying number that can be used to bring up medical and family contact information stored electronically in a database.
RFID readers will be everywhere soon (right now they are only almost everywhere). Those 16-digit numbers sound like HIPAA Protected Health Information (PHI) to me. Does the Turnpike toll-taker, gas station attendant, or your grocery store clerk need to know your personal identifier at the health system? I think not.
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