Californians experiment with electronic healthcare cards

Posted 4-18-97

At least two California companies are marketing electronic cards that make accessing patient medical records easier. Although the cards operate differently to accommodate different healthcare niches, each provides pertinent medical data about the patients who carry them.

Several hundred people already have an EMCard, according to the six-person Sunnyvale firm that introduced the credit-card sized product at the end of last year. In an emergency, healthcare workers refer to the EMCard to call up a main 24-hour phone number followed by a 16-digit access code, also listed on the card, and receive a faxed copy of the patient's medical records from a central computer. The card is designed to work in any physician's office or emergency room equipped with a fax machine and a push button telephone.

Unlike medical bracelets which provide a small amount of information, the EMCard supplies a copy of an optically scanned message written by the cardholder that can include resuscitation requests, health insurance providers, allergies, diseases, tests and anything else the cardholder wants to mention. Detailed data means less guessing on the part of emergency room physicians, better patient care, and less wasted money, according to Rama Jager, president of EMCard Corp. Patients can also choose to block some information with a personal access code. The cards run about $30 to $50.

The "smart-card," on the other hand, actually contains a computer chip that stores data. Health care workers would access data by swiping the card through a special reader. Information would pop up on the computer screen, such as treatment records, a computerized photo, emergency contacts and warnings about medication or mental illness. "Smart cards" can be instantly updated, with feeds into a main suppository computer for consistency and accessibility of data.

Several county mental health departments might use the cards in the future, according to John Olivera, manager of information systems for San Diego County Health Services. He said a $150,000 pilot project involving about 800 cards proved the technology is useful for tracking patients enrolled in dozens of related county programs and for streamlining services.

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