DELRAY BEACH, Fla., March 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VeriChip Corporation , a provider of RFID systems for healthcare and patient-related needs, announced today that 65 new hospitals have agreed to participate in the VeriMed Patient Identification System network at the American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) 13th Annual Scientific Assembly conference in Las Vegas, bringing the Company's total number of enrolled hospitals to more than 500.

Scott R. Silverman, Chairman and CEO of VeriChip, commented, "We are very pleased to add 65 new hospitals to our network on day one of this three-day conference. Furthermore, we are proud to achieve a significant milestone in our infrastructure build-out. With more than 500 hospitals now enrolled in the VeriMed Patient Identification System, we are well on our way to meeting our stated year-end goal of 800 hospitals in the VeriMed network."

The VeriMed Patient Identification System, which consists of a hand-held radio frequency identification (RFID) scanner, an implantable RFID microchip, and a secure patient database, is being used to help rapidly identify and provide access to important health information on participating patients.

The new healthcare facilities agreed to use the VeriMed reader as standard protocol to scan patients that arrive in emergency rooms unconscious, delirious or confused. The Company continues to provide readers to hospitals and other healthcare facilities at no charge as part of its efforts to "seed" the infrastructure for the VeriMed patient identification system.

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. , which also owns a majority position in Digital Angel Corporation . For more information on VeriChip, please call 1-800- 970-2447, or email info@verichipcorp.com. Additional information can be found online at http://www.verichipcorp.com/.

Statements about the Company's future expectations, including future revenues and earnings, and all other statements in this press release other than historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and as that term is defined in the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time, and the Company's actual results could differ materially from expected results. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequently occurring events or circumstances.

Contact: VeriChip Corporation Allison Tomek 561-805-8000 atomek@adsx.com The Ruth Group Nick Laudico (investors) (646) 536-7030 nlaudico@theruthgroup.com Jason Rando (media) (646) 536-7025 jrando@theruthgroup.com

CONTACT: Allison Tomek, VeriChip Corporation, +1-561-805-8000,
atomek@adsx.com; or Investors, Nick Laudico, +1-646-536-7030,
nlaudico@theruthgroup.com, or Media, Jason Rando, +1-646-536-7025,
jrando@theruthgroup.com, both of The Ruth Group, for VeriChip Corporation