Flash Sticks: Medical Data's New Home

After four years in development, InfoMed Technologies has launched a line of USB devices with proprietary software that give doctors and rescue workers fast access to the owner's medical information.

Sold under the name My Med Stick, the gadgets come in bracelet or key chain form and are being marketed to everyone from college students to the elderly.

Quick Data Access

"By creating this, we thought we would change the process of how you get that first critical hour of care, or how you go to the emergency room," said Kevin Chambers, InfoMed's president. "This ensures better communication, better information. It's a huge leap."

Chambers offers a typical scenario in which the Med Stick would be used: A driver is left dazed or unconscious after a car wreck and is unable to communicate with paramedics. They notice a windshield sticker identifying the driver as a Med Stick carrier, plug the device into a laptop computer's USB port, and are immediately presented with a screen displaying the patient's name, blood type, allergies, medical conditions and emergency contacts, among other pertinent details.

"We've been working with hospitals and Emergency Medical Technicians for the last two years," Chambers said. "Every time I show this to a doctor or an EMT, I hear, 'Oh, thank God,' because the first 15 to 20 minutes of their treatment process is spent gathering information."

Idea Brewing

Chambers, 52, and partner Gene Thorner, 56, formed InfoMed about five years ago when flash drives were still in their infancy. The two met in their early 20s at Lakeland Regional Medical Center, where they worked as engineers maintaining the hospital's computers.

Thorner, who spends his days as a computer programmer for a Texas-based medical device manufacturer, adapted the Med Stick software from a program he originally developed for a hospital chain to use in patient admissions.

The Med Stick software is tailor-made for the health care industry, Thorner says, requiring no hard drive installation and designed to work instantly on virtually any Windows-based PC.

Anyone who plugs in the flash drive can view the owner's emergency information, while more sensitive data (Social Security number, power of attorney, etc.) can be protected with a password.

"We want it to be used constantly, not just for emergencies," Thorner said. "If someone goes to a doctor's office for an appointment, they can plug it in and have of all their information."

Though USB flash drives have become commonplace in offices and schools nationwide, just a handful of companies -- including Switzerland-based Medistick, MedFlash and Cape Coral, Fla.-based MedicTag -- have adapted the devices for medical use.

Catching On

Chambers, who formerly worked in commercial computer sales and the telecommunications industry, said the Med Stick's aura of newness is both an advantage and an obstacle.

"The good thing about being ahead of technology is you're among the first in the market and have the best mousetrap," he said. "The nerve-wracking part is a lot of people don't understand it yet. If I had more competition out there, it would probably help drive the market."

Nevertheless, Chambers says InfoMed -- which has just a handful of employees and independent distributors -- expects to sell about 50,000 Med Sticks this year, primarily through its Web site.

The software can be purchased on its own for US$39 and loaded onto a customer's USB drive, and is available pre-installed on USB wrist bands and key chains ranging from $50 to $65.

In Testing

Polk County's Emergency Medical Services division is currently testing some of the devices, and next month the local Volunteers in Service to The Elderly (VISTE) organization will use grant money to purchase more than 150 Med Sticks to supply them to clients.

"I jumped on it because I really believe it's the wave of the future," said Alice O'Reilly, VISTE's executive director. "My typical client is 84, female and lives alone. Hopefully it will provide one more arm around them that gives a sense of security."

Chambers also is in talks with a chain of hospitals and hopes to reach an agreement that would introduce the Med Stick to thousands of patients each month.

He hardly expects an overnight success, but says he's confident that flash drives will inevitably become the dominant format for storing personal medical information.

"Educating people right now, that's the big challenge," said Chambers, who has a patent pending on Med Stick. "But the good part is, everyone I talk to says, 'This is a great idea.'"