Briefs

Foundation Offers eHealth Grants

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has a $3.5 million national program to stimulate innovation in the development of personal ehealth records. Working with the California HealthCare Foundation, RWJF will award 18-month grants of up to $300,000 to eight to 10 grantees who will work with individuals and families.

The grantees will design specific health applications that can be built upon a common platform, and engage in a collaborative process with other grantees to identify requirements for the common platform.

The application deadline is Sept. 19, with projects slated to begin Dec. 1. A conference call about the program is also scheduled for today (Aug. 2) at 1 p.m. For more information, go to www.projecthealthdesign.org.

Security Company Adds ID Tech

Bioscrypt, a provider of identity verification technology, announced that global security systems innovator Lenel has integrated Bioscrypt VeriSoft Access Manager into its IdentityDefender and OnGuard 2006 solutions. Lenel is part of UTC Fire & Security, a United Technologies business unit.

Privately labeled by Lenel as IdentityEnforcer, the VeriSoft Access Manager application is one of five modules that comprise IdentityDefender, an end-to-end solution for issuing secure identity credentials (cards) to individuals using a trusted process. IdentityEnforcer is a logical access application that enables a credential-holder to log on to a computer using a fingerscan, card or both.

VeriSoft Access Manager has also been integrated into the OnGuard Total Security Knowledge Management Solution. Upon issuance of a credential, OnGuard manages the life cycles of both the cards and biometric data. VeriSoft leverages OnGuard’s management capabilities to enable credentials to be used for logical access via Windows logon and single sign-on, and for physical access verification using access control readers at facility entry points.

Microsoft Acquires Azyxxi Software

Microsoft has announced an agreement to acquire Azyxxi “health intelligence” software and set up a strategic alliance with MedStar Health, the latest moves in the software giant’s expansion into the field of healthcare. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Microsoft said that Azyxxi was developed by three doctors using Microsoft development tools and was first deployed in 1996 in the emergency department of a MedStar Health-owned hospital, Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C.

The software “brings together all types of patient data from hundreds of sources and makes them instantly available at the point of care,” Microsoft said. Azyxxi serves as a repository for all of a patient’s routine clinical information. It also provides caregivers such information as EKGs, scanned documents, X-rays, CT scans, MRI scans, PET scans, dynamic angiograms and ultrasound images.

Innovya Unveils Biometric Tool

Innovya R&D unveiled a new traceless biometrics solution that it says authenticates a user’s identity without requiring storage of any unique or personal biometric information. The solution does not need to link, write or bind any unique information to an external device, smart card, network or database of any kind, the company said in a release.

The solution’s method is able to positively recognize and identify a biometric identity in real time without violating the user’s privacy and without leaving any intrinsic traces in the system.

Innovya is creating an amorphous biometric identifier agent, or “BldToken” (nonunique biometric identifier token), which is designed to be biometrically traceless, so that an exact image or copy of the biometric information is not maintained.

This is equivalent to the allocation of an ATM/credit/debit card secret four-digit PIN code associated with the biometrics characteristics of the user. When using this method, the individual has to be present during the identification process since the (secret) token identifier itself has no true value except in a particular biometric identification transaction.

Alliance Formed to Advance IT

A group of information technology (IT) companies, medical device manufacturers and healthcare providers has just formed the Continua Health Alliance (CHA) in an effort to develop a system of connected products and services to improve delivery of healthcare services.

The group’s first interoperable medical device guidelines are slated for release by the end of 2007 and its first certified products are expected to appear in 2008.

CHA will initially focus on chronic disease management, healthcare needs of the elderly population, and health maintenance and fitness. The group includes medical technology manufacturers BodyMedia, GE Healthcare, Medtronic, Philips Medical Systems and Roche Diagnostics.

For more information, go to www.continuaalliance.org/home.

Smarttech, ValGenesis Ink Deal

Smarttech Consulting Services (SmarttechCS), a provider of technology for enabling regulatory compliance, said it entered into a sales agreement with ValGenesis. SmarttechCS will provide direct sales support for marketing, implementation and integration of ValGenesis, an enterprise validation management and tracking system.

The system is designed to manage the entire validation life cycle, from validation document number generation to online execution, while meeting compliance requirements imposed by EU regulators.

ValGenesis is the first product in the industry capable of conducting validation test script execution electronically, allowing for a completely paperless validation process, Smarttech said in its release. ValGenesis is a modular, web-based database application that is fully compliant with 21 CFR Part 11 and EU Directive Annex 11.

Phoenix Unveils EDC Tool

Phoenix Data Systems (PDS) just updated its Express 4 electronic data capture (EDC) application. The updated version makes the product easier to set up and use, said Doug Cory, vice president of new product development.

The new user and site management and user interface enhancements are designed to build on PDS’ EDC offerings with automated coding utility, interactive voice response and a real-time trial process visualization module. PDS’ tools have played roles in more than 350 trials, the company said, including nine studies for new drug applications, without a single cost overrun.

For more information, go to www.phoenixdatasystems.net.