Remember the last time you or a loved one had to be admitted to a hospital? Remember the frustrating delay in admissions while you answered questions you had already answered for your doctor? Did you ever wonder what could happen if you accidentally gave a wrong answer or forgot something important because you were stressed? For these, and many other situations, the new Health Smart Card is a smart, convenient and affordable solution. You choose what information goes on the card, and you control future access to the card. That way, your privacy is protected.

Your Health Smart Card can easily be updated as new services are performed and new medications are prescribed so your card will always contain up-to-date, vital medical information. To carry a card or wear a bracelet that lists your blood type is helpful, but it may say nothing about drug allergies or our surgical history, what medications we're taking or how recently we were hospitalized and why. When we consult a new doctor, it may be difficult to remember the name of that little white pill our family practitioner prescribed months ago ­ especially if we are taking several other daily medications. Only the Health Smart Card can save the time and the endless frustration of filling out one long medical form after another.

 

 

The latest advances in microchip technology have led El Paso OB-GYN Dr. Gary Ryan to develop and market the Health Smart Card, a credit card-sized card that holds a patient's entire medical history on an embedded microchip. Spelling the eventual end of paper work and form filling with every doctor and emergency room visit, the card is currently available in El Paso, Texas. Already accepted by over 100 medical and dental offices, hospital, pharmacy, retirement facility and emergency care centers, the card offers a rapid, accurate and potentially life-saving transfer of medical information.

The Card's ease of handling, increase in efficiency in medical environments and ability to leave patients in control of their own information through confidentiality measures makes it very popular with the medical community. Data is not written in a format that just anyone can read. It cannot be stored on a computer's hard drive or mainframe. It's completely self-contained on the microchip of the Smart Card. The Health Smart Card is read in the reader, displayed on the monitor, printed on paper and placed in the patient's medical chart.

Although smart card technology is in its infancy in the U.S., nationwide acceptance of the technology is imminent. A smart card technology study by the University of Texas at El Paso business college concluded that this high-tech tool is a valuable asset to a provider considering the consequences that can stem from inaccurate medical information and the time involved in extracting information that may be incomplete or impossible to obtain.