Alzheimer's Care Center to Carry Out VeriChip Pilot

Thus far, Silverman says, about 600 U.S. health-care facilities—mostly hospitals, and most on the East Coast—have signed on to the VeriMed network. Once a facility signs up, VeriChip provides the necessary hardware, teaches the staff to use the system and grants access to VeriChip's hosted database. Approximately 130 have already adopted the system so far—that is, they have already completed training and been given access to the VeriMed database and readers to scan unconscious or unresponsive patients. If they choose, hospitals can also use the system on conscious patients to obtain faster access to their records. To date, VeriChip claims, 300 to 400 people in United States have been implanted with the VeriMed chip.

In the three-county area served by Alzheimer's Community Care, Silverman says, about nine hospitals have adopted the VeriMed system.

Alzheimer's patients who volunteer to participate for this pilot, and their families, must first meet with their physicians. If the physician supports the implantation, the patient or doctor provides VeriChip with that person's medical history, as well as a list hospitals authorized to access the patient's records. All medical records are stored in an Internet-based site, hosted by VeriChip. Hospitals unauthorized to access the records would be unable to open the file.

The chip contains no data other than a 16-digit ID number, says Silverman, preventing inappropriate parties from gaining any information, even if they were able to scan the implant. Moreover, he adds, the VeriMed tag can be scanned only by a VeriMed reader because no other RFID systems can currently read tags with 16-digit ID numbers.

The VeriMed handheld interrogator can read an implanted tag from a distance of 6 to 12 inches. After the reader scans the tag, it uses a wired or Bluetooth connection to forward the tag ID number to the VeriMed application running on the hospital's computer. The embedded chip cannot be felt through the skin, though Silverman says a physician might be able to locate it by feeling the implanted area. Silverman himself has had the implant in his right arm for five years, and says it is still functional. Based on research in which the tags are implanted in animals, VeriChip says it expects the life expectancy of the VeriMed to be a minimum of 15 to 20 years.

Privacy groups have voiced a host of concerns about the implant, which Silverman deems a part of the learning process. "We've been dealing with that for five years. VeriChip has been a leader in the RFID industry when it comes to privacy issues," he says, citing educational efforts and security measures taken to ensure that data is not easily accessed. "It's a medical device, and I think what was once being viewed as a privacy invader is now being seen as that—a medical device."

Patients normally pay a health-care facility about $200 for the chip and its implantation, though those involved in the ACC pilot will pay nothing. In addition, VeriChip charges each patient $10 a month to maintain the medical records on the VeriMed database. Hospital starter kits, including a reader and 10 chips, cost $1,400 apiece.

If a patient decides to remove the chip, Silverman says, a doctor can carry out the procedure with a scalpel. Several stitches may also be required to close the incision.