Introduction
Most people, especially children and young dreamers, enjoy imagining how the rapid and sometimes unpredictable development of technologies can change their lives in the future or how the world will be altered in hundreds of years. Some are fascinated and inspired by such changes, but there are individuals who fear them and refuse to use the newly emerging technological solutions to their full capacity. An example of such controversial technology is RFID – radio-frequency implantable devices that are expected to improve patient safety and solve numerous healthcare issues by being implanted in people and containing all their medical records. Undoubtedly, this solution has numerous advantages and disadvantages, and the purpose of this paper is to discuss them and explore some ethical, legal, and social implications and a policy that medical facilities would need to adopt.
Evaluating the Advantages and Disadvantages of RFID
Like most technological solutions, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems have pros and cons. It is stated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (2019) that there have never been “any adverse events associated with RFID” (para. 2). A rather positive effect of this technological solution for healthcare is that it enables a better, easier, and less timely flow of information between various experts (Miller, n.d.). Data can be stored in the chips and accessed by any healthcare worker when required, and it is also easier to update the patient’s personal information.
RFID can also help reduce misidentification issues or medical errors because the essential data is always achievable. Several studies’ results “showed that the system correctly identified medical staff, patient ID, and medication and blood sampling data in real-time” (Paaske et al., 2017, para. 5.1). Finally, major manufacturers of RFID chips like Smartrac or Impinj, Inc. promise that they are safe and secured, effective in utilization, and are the future of healthcare technological solutions (“Top USA and International RFID Tag Manufacturers,” n.d.). Therefore, these and some other minor advantages make the system quite effective and promising.
Notwithstanding the mentioned significant benefits of RFID, patients and medical facilities need to consider the disadvantages. The system’s first potential concern is the expected “hazard of electromagnetic interference (EMI) to electronic medical devices from radio frequency transmitters like RFID” (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2019, para. 2). Further, it is possible that the information stored online can accidentally be removed, or security systems fail to protect the data from those people who have to right to access it (Miller, n.d.). Unfortunately, another severe disadvantage is that there are numerous ethical, legal, and social implications that may make the adoption and usage of the technology quite challenging (Paaske et al., 2017). RFID is also rather costly to introduce, and while it reduces some human errors, it can further lead to other mistakes and misidentifications. As a result, the listed pros and cons indeed make the system controversial and difficult to identify as entirely positive or negative.
Smart Devices in People’s Everyday Lives
It is hard to disagree that most people use an extended number of smart devices every day: technologies help us cook, control the security of our homes, and drive safely. Smart locks and doorbells, refrigerators and glasses, thermostats and cars, as well as smartphones and smartwatches, have become an integral part of my and many other persons’ lives, making them more interesting and relaxed. To incorporate these devices into society, manufacturers showed their usefulness, effectiveness, and safety. Nowadays, communities still want to improve their daily experiences and allow technologies to do as many tasks as they can, which is why it is quite easy to introduce new solutions, including RFID systems.
Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications
As mentioned above, certain legal, ethical, and social implications should be considered by healthcare facilities before starting to work with RFID systems. First of all, major legal concerns are the need to make sure that patients’ rights and privacy are not violated and that the technology used by a facility is legal (Abugabah et al., 2020). The key ethical concerns are the security of the system, patients’ consent, and the fact that this technology can “reduce the freedom of people in society as it tracks every movement of the person and keeps the legal authorities informed” (Abugabah et al., 2020, p. 1007). Finally, social issues may include cost-effectiveness and trouble with training.
While RFID systems can be effective for all patients, some of them receive a higher benefit. Individuals with chronic conditions, including patients with diabetes, asthma, heart disease, and stroke, often require medical help and need to have all medical information about themselves easily and promptly accessed by healthcare professionals. Moreover, children can also receive a higher value of RFID because, in case of an emergency, medical workers can identify a child and help them. Finally, as for the need to address the redundancy of information stored in RFID, specific software or trained workers will have to constantly scan the data and remove duplicates and overly voluminous information on diseases treated a long time ago.
A Policy to Incorporate
In order for the organization in question to incorporate the use of technology in the practice setting, it is essential to train employees, evaluate costs, consider all implications, and prepare appropriate computer systems. RFID tags can be used to read RFID chips implanted in patients, and then the information is transported into the provider’s Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. As a result, the medical worker can access all data they need and upload new information after the visit ends (Abugabah et al., 2020). This is not a challenging process, and almost every healthcare professional working at a facility will be able to do that.
Then, it is essential to discuss the extent that patients can access their own information. When such personal healthcare data were stored on paper, patients could access them, so there is no need to deprive them of this right. In addition, it is important to notice that this information is about the health of the individual who may want to consult with another specialist or discuss the data with the family (Paaske et al., 2017). Therefore, they should be given full access to the information without the right to delete or edit it. As for the policies required in the facility to safeguard patients with an implanted RFID, they should include security rules and tracked activity of medical workers to control which information they add or delete.
Conclusion
To conclude, one may say that implementing RFID in healthcare practices is a promising and effective step. Given the numerous advantages and benefits of implanting RFID chips, this is a plausible method for the future of health information portability and healthcare interoperability. However, since there are also some disadvantages and concerns, it is vital for providers to consider how patients’ freedoms, privacy, and security can be maintained.
References
Abugabah, A., Nizamuddin, N., & Abuqabbeh, A. (2020). A review of challenges and barriers to implementing RFID technology in the healthcare sector. Procedia Computer Science, 170, 1003-1010.
Miller, L. (n.d.). The pros and cons of RFID technology in the hospital. VIE Healthcare Consulting. Web.
Paaske, S., Bauer, A., Moser, T., & Seckman, C. (2017). The benefits and barriers to RFID technology in healthcare. On-Line Journal of Nursing Informatics, 21(2).
Top USA and international RFID tag manufacturers. (n.d.). Thomas Company. Web.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2018). Radiofrequency identification (RFID). FDA. Web.