Hospital Tries Out Tiny Data Card

Beginning this month, cardiac patients participating in a pilot project at Methodist Hospital will be able to carry detailed medical records in their pockets, hospital officials said.

Using optical recording technology--the process of melting bits of information into a card with a laser that is similar to making compact audio discs--each patient’s wallet-sized card is able to store more than 800 pages of data. The information includes electrocardiograms, medications and risk factors such as cholesterol or hypertension levels.

In emergencies, doctors will be able to save time by instantly calling up a patient’s medical history on a computer.

This will be the card’s second hospital trial in the country, said spokeswoman Johanna Protsik of Drexler Technology Corp., the Mountain View, Calif., manufacturer of the LaserCard. The first trial is continuing at a clinic in Houston.

What makes the LaserCard unusual is its large capacity for information, said Stephan Seidman, publisher of trade magazine Smart Card Monthly. “It’s the only card that’ll carry that much information.”

Patients will pay $45 annually for the CardioCard, and a reader-writer and cardiology software package will cost hospitals $45,000.

Heart patients who have undergone angioplasty, a procedure where a wire-like catheter is inserted into an artery to remove blockage, will be the first at Methodist eligible for the CardioCards, hospital officials said.

“We’re just excited about what could be done for the patient,” said Richard Carter, Methodist senior vice president of operations. If the trial proves successful, the program might become available to all patients at Methodist’s 62 hospitals nationwide, he said.