DELRAY BEACH, Fla., March 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VeriChip Corporation (NASDAQ:CHIP), a provider of RFID systems for healthcare and patient-related needs, announced today its support of the Personal Health Information Act, introduced by Congressman Patrick Kennedy. The bill proposes to set up a fund to provide financial incentives for physicians who establish interactive electronic personal health records for their patients.
VeriChip believes that the introduction of this bill represents a major milestone in the proliferation of more consistent, accurate personal health records for patients in the United States. VeriChip further believes that its VeriMed Patient Identification System, consisting of the VeriMed implantable microchip and corresponding patient database, is the appropriate solution for establishing electronic medical records for at-risk patients.
Scott R. Silverman, VeriChip's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "The launching of this legislation illustrates the importance of personal health records to the future of the U.S. healthcare system, particularly concerning the reduction of medical errors and cost savings from elimination of redundancies. This is a significant step that will allow physicians the ease to move a patient's data from his or her electronic health record into a patient's personal health record with a mouse click. We believe that such an initiative can ultimately increase the quality of patient care, a concept we are extremely focused on within our VeriMed business. We commend Congressman Kennedy for his introduction of this bill." About VeriChip Corporation VeriChip Corporation, headquartered in Delray Beach, Florida, develops, markets and sells radio frequency identification, or RFID, systems used to identify, locate and protect people and assets. VeriChip's goal is to become the leading provider of RFID systems for people in the healthcare industry. VeriChip sells passive RFID systems for identification purposes and active RFID systems for local-area location and identification purposes. VeriChip recently began to market its VeriMed(TM) Patient Identification System for rapidly and accurately identifying people who arrive in an emergency room and are unable to communicate. This system uses the first human-implantable passive RFID microchip, the implantable VeriChip(TM), cleared for medical use in October 2004 by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
VeriChip Corporation is majority-owned by Applied Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSX), which also owns a majority position in Digital Angel Corporation (AMEX:DOC). For more information on VeriChip, please call 1-800-970-2447, or email . Additional information can be found online at http://www.verichipcorp.com/.
Certain statements herein are "forward-looking statements". Such forward- looking statements are not historical facts but instead reflect VeriChip's current expectations or beliefs concerning future events and results of operations, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of VeriChip's control. It is possible that actual results may differ, possibly materially, from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. For a discussion of some of the risks and important factors that could affect future events and results of operations, see the discussion in our Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Commission file number 333-130754) under the caption "Risk Factors." VeriChip does not undertake to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Contact: VeriChip Corporation The Ruth Group
Allison Tomek Nick Laudico (investors)
561-805-8000 (646) 536-7030
Jason Rando (media)
(646) 536-7025
DATASOURCE: VeriChip Corporation CONTACT: Allison Tomek of VeriChip Corporation, +1-561-805-8000, ; or investors, Nick Laudico of The Ruth Group, +1-646-536-7030, , or media, Jason Rando of The Ruth Group, +1-646-536-7025, , both for VeriChip Corporation Web site: http://www.verichipcorp.com/
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