PROFILE Scan Artist The same technology that gets a car into Fast Lane is now implanted in Dr. John Halamka's arm. Will this electronic ID make hospitals work better?
By Michael Fitzgerald | July 30, 2006 In December 2004, Dr. John Halamka became the first physician in the country to have a radio frequency identification, or RFID, chip implanted in his body. The chief information officer of Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Halamka is also an avid ice-climber and a poison-control specialist, and he's convinced that this technology is going to reduce medical errors that are made due to identification problems - though patients will wear their chips on something like a hospital bracelet, not in their bodies. Despite occasionally setting off the alarms at Home Depot, he's a fan of the small piece of circuitry he carries under his skin. At the beginning of our meeting, he scans his arm with a wand, which beeps and shows the number 37492. ... http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2006/07/30/scan_artist/ Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
