A Medical Device Daily

VeriChip, a subsidiary of Applied Digital (both Delray Beach, Florida), reported that its recent acquisition, eXI Wireless (Vancouver, British Columbia), has signed a three-year, dual-source agreement with Novation, the supply company of VHA (both Irving, Texas) and the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC; Oak Brook, Illinois).

With this contract, two of eXI’s radio frequency identification (RFID) solutions for the healthcare industry will now be made accessible to more than 2,500 VHA and UHC members as protection solutions.

The contract offers HALO, an infant protection system, and RoamAlert, the next generation in patient-wandering protection. Using RFID tag technology, HALO helps healthcare facilities prevent infant abductions, accidental baby switching, and medical equipment theft and loss while providing a safe work environment for staff. It can also be used to protect pediatric patients, monitor flight-risk patients, and track patients from admission to discharge.

RoamAlert helps nursing homes and assisted living facilities provide patient, staff, and medical equipment protection and tracking.

VeriChip – which acquired eXI in April (Medical Device Daily, April, 4, 2005) – said it is the only company to provide both implanted and external RFID security solutions for people, their assets, and their environments.

Novation was established in January 1998 through a combination of the supply programs of VHA and UHC, two national healthcare alliances. These organizations reported using Novation contracts to purchase more than $23 billion in supplies in 2004.