Two facilities, one in Milwaukee and another in Iron Mountain, Mich., have been piloting the technology since last fall, according to Kent Simonis, director of veterans health administration in Washington. Each 8MB card contains medical information such as a veteran's known drug allergies, the names of his next of kin and whether he has a living will. It also contains the patient's health benefit information, including benefits provided by the VA network. Simonis said the test facilities hope to minimize the time it takes to process medical information. In addition, veterans who move, travel or use more than one medical facility will save time by not having to register at more than one VA hospital, said Simonis.
Veterans can view and update their information at kiosks located in the hospitals.
An initial evaluation of the pilot program in December will help the VA determine how effective the smart cards are and whether the organization will expand their use to other locations. Simonis said he couldn't yet assess whether the 16MB cards have helped reduce medical errors and said he won't know until the VA completes its evaluation. To protect patients' privacy, the health network has encrypted the data stored on the cards. A personal identification number is required to gain access to the information, said Simonis. Also, the cards can be read only at a VA health care facility.