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Here in Massachusetts , the Mass. Bay Transportation Authority -- the T, as we locals call it -- discontinued the metal token as a form of payment in 2012. The era of its reloadable plastic replacement, the CharlieCard, had officially begun as the turnstiles of yore gave way to automated fare gates. You tapped your card on the sensor, et voilà, the gates opened -- most of the time, at least. Mass confusion -- pardon the stately pun -- ensued, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a commuter today who longs for the weighed-down wallets and clink of coins in a fare box. I am loath to admit, however, that we were several years behind other transit systems: New York stopped using tokens in 2003, Chicago in 1999. Healthcare is undergoing its own transformation as a new wave of technology renders the likes of paper records obsolete. However, much like the transition from tokens to CharlieCards, the digital transformation in healthcare hasn't been without its growing pains. Patients newly empowered by smartphones and consumer devices ...