Abstract
Background to the debate: In 2004, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved a radiofrequency identification (RFID) device that is implanted under the skin of the upper arm of patients and that stores the patient's medical identifier. When a scanner is passed over the device, the identifier is displayed on the screen of an RFID reader. An authorized health professional can then use the identifier to access the patient's clinical information, which is stored in a separate, secure database. Such RFID devices may have many medical benefits—such as expediting identification of patients and retrieval of their medical records. But critics of the technology have raised several concerns, including the risk of the patient's identifying information being used for nonmedical purposes.
Highlights
Background to the debateIn 2004, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved a radiofrequency identification (RFID) device that is implanted under the skin of the upper arm of patients and that stores the patient’s medical identifier
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) assists in protecting patients’ confidentiality by requiring that patient-specific information contained in RFID devices consist only of a unique identifier that can be used to access patients’ clinical records, which are stored in a separate, secure database
The American Medical Association (AMA) recommends that during the informed consent process for RFID implantation, patients should be told of “medical uncertainties associated with these devices.”
Summary
Background to the debateIn 2004, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved a radiofrequency identification (RFID) device that is implanted under the skin of the upper arm of patients and that stores the patient’s medical identifier. Physicians must take additional responsibility for ensuring that human-implantable RFID devices are used only to improve patient care and are not abused for nonclinical ends, such as identification of the presence, age, and/or other personal information of an individual.
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