VeriTeQ Acquisition Corporation, a provider of implantable, radio frequency identification (RFID) for humans and animals, and Connectyx Technologies Holdings, a provider of products for the healthcare market, announced that the companies will offer solutions for emergency access to rapid, accurate patient data.
Their innovative solutions address the need for universal patient identifiers (UPIs) and patient-controlled personal health records. UPI helps in identifying a patient for appropriate medical care.
Recently, VeriTeQ Acquisition Corporation announced the acquisition of VeriChip implantable microchip and related technologies, and Health Link personal health record from PositiveID Corporation.
VeriTeQ’s VeriChip, a RFID implantable microchip, is designed to offer a solution for an opt-in UPI. The VeriChip can be implanted just underneath the skin, ensuring continuous patient monitoring. When a handheld reader is passed over the area where the microchip is available, the reader will display a 16-digit number, and a secure, Web-based personal health record can be accessed.
“For many years, it has been apparent that the archaic process of relying on paper-based healthcare records needed to evolve to the digital world to allow for faster access to patient data and more informed treatment decisions,” said Scott R. Silverman, chairman and CEO of VeriTeQ, in a statement. “Now, as different electronic medical records systems are put into place within physicians' offices and healthcare systems, we believe the call for a UPI is imperative.”
According to a 2004 study of 37 million patient records released by HealthGrades, an average of 195,000 people died due to preventable, in-hospital medical errors in 2000, 2001 and 2002.
The company claims that the VeriChip quickly and accurately identifies a patient and their health records. This is an important solution for patients as 63 percent of personal health record users are concerned about the privacy of their medical records, but fewer than half say they worry about the privacy of the information in their personal health record, according to a California Healthcare Foundation report.
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Rajani Baburajan is a contributing editor for HealthTechZone. To read more of Rajani's articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Jennifer Russell
