We Can but Should We? Research Paper Example

Introduction

Every government and individual persons demand for improved health care services. In an attempt to improve, healthcare services in hospitals, many electronic devises and new IT technologies have been innovated for the purpose of collecting, storing and presenting patients medical records with easy. One of the technologies that have gained momentum in the recent era is the use of electronic health records to replace the paper records of patients in hospitals (Klaus Finkenzeller, 2009). With this technology, a microchip is implanted in the body of a patient to help in tracking down the medical information and identification of the patient. The chips are radio frequency identification chips. Those chips are read with the RFDI reader to access the information contained in them. RFDI devises were commonly used in animal especially pet identification but of recent, they have been introduced to human applications and this has raised many moral concerns (Dargan, Johnson, Pranchalingam, Stratis, Chris, 2004). Typically, an RFDI chip contains chip with data and an antenna coil, which is connected to the capacitor that uses electromagnetic field of a reader that is external as the source of energy (Klaus Finkenzeller, 2009). This device behaves passively and becomes only active when in contact with the external reader. The introduction of the usage of RFDI devices as one way of implementing electronic health record system has been received by people differently. Some people are supporting it while others are opposing it. Some individuals see the introduction of electronic health record as a controversial technology that touches on personal issues like invasion of privacy and government involvement, which is excessive. On the other hand other people se the technology as a reap forward in the healthcare (Dargan, Johnson, Pranchalingam, Stratis, Chris, 2004).

This research paper explores the pros and cons of EHR adoption in healthcare systems. It will also provide the recommendations as per the information received from the opponents and proponents of HER adoption and especially the implantation of RFDI device in human body for tracking and identifying the patients in healthcare facilities.

Pros of RFID chip implantation adoption in healthcare

Electronic health records have the potential of being cost effective since they can save both money and time. In traditional paper based healthcare systems, the healthcare professional is involved din keeping the records of the patients in files. (Klaus Finkenzeller, 1999) Incase these records are needed by the specialist then he exchange of the records take place via e-mails, fax, mail, or cell phone. On the other hand, with the adoption of EHR each patient’s health record/file can be accessed by all healthcare professionals. Given that, healthcare record under EHR is stored in the database, it can be accessed by all health care professionals meaning that there will be better patient healthcare coordination. In case the patient has to be referred to a specialist, EHR will enable the specialist to get access to correct tests and procedures leading to reduced questioning and miscommunication(Dargan, Johnson, Pranchalingam, Stratis, Chris, 2004).

Another advantage of using RFDI in healthcare is that it eases patient identification. In healthcare facilities, many patients are often misidentified during or after medical treatment. Misidentification of patients by health professionals may result in improper dosage or over dosage of the patients. These errors often lead to further patient complications. So to avoid this RFDI devise with RFDI chip is implanted in every patient body especially under the skin to store the patient ID and medical information that will be used to speed up the treatment (Klaus Finkenzeller, 1999).

Another pros of an RFID in healthcare is blood tracking. Healthcare professionals often encounter the problems of knowing the patients who need blood transfusion especially when bedside check prior to transfusion takes place. Mis-transfusoin errors result in serious complications and even deaths. With the use of electronic healthcare records via the assistance of RFID this errors are avoided since each blood bag that arrive at the hospital contains an RFID label. For each patient the RFID label on the blood bag corresponds to the RFID chip medical information and patient ID and this reduces confusion. This eases the overall process on blood management saves time and minimizes the risk of patients receiving the wrong blood type (Klaus Finkenzeller, 1999).

Another pro of adopting electronic patient records with the aid of RFID is to help in their operations. Problems arise due to surgical mis-identification. In health care centers, surgical errors, which involve srgery on the wrong body part, the wrong patient or the surgical procedure, have been rampant. RFID helps the medical staff to easily recognize when the wrong patient has entered surgical room due to mismatch of the information containing RFID chip inserted in the patient’s body with the one in the RFID devise in the surgery room. This will help reduce surgical errors leading to improved healthcare services ( Yi Yvonne Zhou et al., 2007).

Cons of RFID chip implantation adoption in healthcare)

Proponents of electronic health records believe that the adoption of the RFID technology means less efficient healthcare service delivery. They argue that different healthcare providers might be having different electronic health records systems that will result in incompatibility and inability to have access to the health records. Additionally, the little standardization, which exists in production of RFID devices, further decreases the efficiency ( Yi Yvonne Zhou et al., 2007)..

Another factor that is against the RFID devise is invasion of privacy. Actually, the usage of RFID devise to provide the individuals generic information, medical histories, and personal information is a threat to some individuals who feel that this information might be used against them at some time in their life. Even though there are assurances that the devise is not intended to invade personal life, still many people are unsure of this technology.

Another con of RFID technology in electronic health record technology is that RFID readers often radiate electromagnetic field and magnetic fields in close proximity of the tag. The fields are used to activate the circuitry on the implanted devise so that he information contained in it is retransmitted to the reader. The frequencies involved are 13.6MHz and 915MHz. Yi Yvonne Zhou et al., (2007) research reveals that electromagnetic radiations have inconsistent results over the body of humans. High radiations cause body chemical changes leading to complications and mutations, which result in cancer. This has many concerns over the effects of the radiations of RFID to the human body although no evidence has been proved concerning the health hazards of the implantable RFID chips.

Another challenge of RFD devise is that patients may react adversely to the device by infection, allergy or improper implantation. The devise may dislodge and move itself to different part of the body than where it was inserted. This will further lead to complications ( Yi Yvonne Zhou et al., 2007).

Another challenge is that the device may fail to work by itself and this will result in the loss of data completely. If there was no backup medical information of the patient in traditional filling shelves, it poses many medical complications when I healthcare professionals begin to give medication.

A serious trauma may occur if the implant RFID chip reacts with external electric field. This may cause serious health problems even death of the patient. In addition, MRI scanner, which uses strong magnets, may destroy the chips and result in serious internal and external burns (Dargan, Johnson, Pranchalingam, Stratis, Chris, 2004)..

Recommendation

• The implantation of RFID chips in the human body to help in tracking and identification of the patient’s medical information should be handled with a lot of care to ensure patients safety.
• Information tracked by RFID devise must be protected and be used for medical reasons only and not invasion to individual lives.
• Electronic health records help the patients to get faster healthcare services and must be emphasized in all providers of healthcare

Conclusion

This paper has given the pros and cons of electronic health record device RFID chip implantation in the body. Healthcare field will be very much benefited by the implementation of RFID chip implantation technology in human beings. However, a lot of attention is needed to ensure that patients are kept safe from the effects of RFID chip implant. Otherwise, RFID chip implant technology is a boost to healthcare service provision.

Reference

Dargan, G., Johnson, B., Pranchalingam, M., & Stratis, C., (2004) “The Use of Radio Frequency identification as a Replacement of Traditional Bar-coding” RFID Asia.,

Klaus, F., (1999) translated by Richel Waddington, “RFID Handbook-RadioFrequency Identification Fundamentals and Application”, John, Wiley,

Yi Yvonne, Z., et al., (2007). “Patient Access to an Electronic Health Record with Secure Messaging: Impact on Primary Care Utilization,” American Journal of Managed Care, vol. 13,418-424