A Medical Device Daily

MedicAlert (Turlock, California), a provider of emergency information services and personal health records, said that it will launch a pilot project to test the use of radio frequency identification detection (RFID) in improving access to student health information.

MedicAlert is working with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD; Sunnyvale, California), Siemens IT Solutions and Services (Munich, Germany) and California State University, (Stanislaus, California) to demonstrate the application and use of RFID technology. The 90-day pilot is expected to start March 1, 2007, and it is estimated that about 200 students will participate in the project.

Paul Kortschak, president/CEO of MedicAlert Foundation, said, "Medical personnel will have access to electronic health information that could save a student's life."

He credited funding from Advanced Micro Devices "that enables us to innovate our life-saving services using new technologies."

Paul Maier, senior VP of sales at Siemens IT Solutions, said, "With our extensive background in RFID and experience in developing innovative solutions, we are delighted to take the next step with MedicAlert in improving process, safety and efficiency."

Students participating in the trial will be provided with a one-year free subscription to MedicAlert Membership and a plastic RFID-enabled ID Card. The RFID circuit on the card will only contain the student's unique member identification number linked to their personal health record securely stored at the MedicAlert repository.

Each time a student enters the student health center a secure kiosk will print out a Personal Health Summary Record of the student's medical information that has been stored in the MedicAlert repository. The summary can then be added to the "face sheet" or to the student's medical record to be used as additional or supplemental information for the clinical visit.

MedicAlert services are built around a repository of health information that enables members to manage their personal health records while maintaining confidentiality.

AMD is a provider of microprocessor solutions for computing, communications and consumer electronics markets. Siemens IT Solutions and Services — launched in January by Siemens — offers services ranging from consulting to management of IT infrastructures.

In other agreements:

Solectron (Milpitas, California), a provider of electronics manufacturing and integrated supply chain services, reported the formation of the Solectron Medical Alliance Program (S-MAP), with the goal of creating a medical device outsourcing "ecosystem" for product design and engineering, manufacturing, assembly and aftermarket services and support.

The goal of S-MAP is to create a team of medical technology and clinical manufacturing experts in the contract manufacturing industry, Selectron said.

Anchored by Solectron, S-MAP initially includes Atek Medical Manufacturing (Grand Rapids, Michigan), Circle Medical, (Los Gatos, California), Proven Process Medical Devices (East Walpole, Massachusetts), and SRI Product Development (SRIpd; Plano, Texas).

Dave Busch, VP, medical segment, Solectron, said, "Medical device firms are facing mounting pressure to generate more revenue with more products at lower costs while meeting high quality requirements. The Solectron Medical Alliance Program is a powerful new approach to solving many of these business challenges. S-MAP offers a single point of contact to a best-in-class global team supporting complete product life cycle needs for medical device firms."

Solectron said it offers a global footprint with locations near strategic end-markets and cost-effective, high-quality suppliers in Asia, and that the three product design firms joining the alliance — Circle Medical, Proven Process and SRIpd — give S-MAP a geographic reach within one time zone of every U.S.-based OEM and augments Solectron's capabilities.

Atek, part of Atek Companies, offers specialized disposable device capabilities for medical device OEMs.

Circle Medical offers expertise in digital and analog engineering, software engineering, mechanical engineering and industrial design.

Proven Process offers product concept definition, medical device design, development and verification, prototype and assembly, and project management. SRIpd features a multi-disciplinary engineering team with capabilities in software, electronic, mechanical, industrial and user interface design to produce electromechanical/software driven products.