I am currently researching technologies that support patient self care management for chronic disease management, health maintenance and post acute care. One technology that was very hot several years ago – VeriChip – offers an implantable RFID solution (about the size of a grain of rice) that can be used for mobility/ location and patient tracking. A video on their Website was a CNN news story from several years ago discussing the benefits of the implantable RFID chip along with a patient data base to help care providers gain information on patients coming into the ER. Their latest solution can test glucose levels and eliminate the need for diabetic patients to use finger sticks for daily testing. All sounds great but is the lack of adoption due to the suspected health risks, newness of the technology, need for separate database and infrastructure, or all of the above? Emerging and truly disruptive technologies have a long journey to acceptance even beyond the technical proof of concept and medical usefulness pilots have been completed.
