The bodyhacking movement — inserting electronic implants under the skin containing information or radio frequency identification technology — is starting to take hold, and such devices may soon find their place in healthcare, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
These implants can serve many purposes. Some can be activated and scanned by RFID readers to allow a user access to a secured area, serving as a form of identification. Some bodyhackers set up the implants with locks on their doors, eliminating the need for house keys. And these devices, often called tags, may be making waves in the medical sphere, soon.
For example, some people with implanted tags store emergency contact information on them. If a person is in a medical emergency, a provider could theoretically scan the tag and pull up that contact's information. Or, the tag could contain health records and relevant medical history, according to WSJ. In this way, the tags are similar to patients who wear medical information necklaces or bracelets, or those who have tattoos displaying this pertinent information.
Additionally, with tags serving as a source of identification, some experts suggest providers could use them for patient identification purposes, according to the report.
However, the article outlines challenges to implanted tags becoming more widely used in healthcare. First, providers would need to have a way of knowing the person has such a tag implanted. And they need to have the technology to scan and read the tag, according to the report.
Other ethical considerations remain, such as privacy concerns that RFID readers could pick up on information without the individual's consent, reports WSJ.
More articles on health IT:
The ethics of labeling 'frequent fliers' in the EHR
21 hospitals, health systems seeking Cerner, MEDITECH, Epic talent
Cleveland Clinic CXO: Apps are not the way to patient engagement