LifeMed Card, Inc. Announces its Patient Smart Card Platform for Continuity of Care at Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System

LifeMed Card, Inc. Announces its Patient Smart Card Platform for Continuity of Care at Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System

LifeMed Card, Inc., the nation’s leading supplier of smart card solutions for the domestic hospital market (6,500 hospitals nationwide), announces that it has entered into a contract to supply its Patient Smart Card Software Platform to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, an 806-bed regional medical center in Sarasota, Florida. The LifeMed™ software uses smart cards, secure readers, and kiosks to streamline patient admissions, reduce duplicate records and record errors, while establishing an electronic bidirectional connection between the hospital, physicians’ offices, clinics and EMR’s.

Initially, selected Sarasota patients will be issued smart cards. Data from the patient smart cards will automatically authenticate and admit the patient into Sarasota Memorial, using electronic signatures, thereby eliminating the standard “clip board.” Data from the portable patient smart cards is used to populate required admissions forms and update the existing medical records. The process can be completed in less than three minutes, as compared to a formal intake interview, often taking up to twenty minutes. Additionally, physician’s offices and clinics that refer into Sarasota will have access to LifeMed™ online and patient smart card readers which can connect, review and update patient information, helping to establish a more complete Continuity of Care medical record.

Said David Batchelor, CEO of LifeMed Card, “We have instituted the Proof of Concept to demonstrate how we could support, and indeed enhance the Continuity of Care Record working with Sarasota Memorial. We fully expect that Sarasota will see significant ROI in terms of overall admissions, record maintenance, patient alliance and satisfaction while adding protection from potential medical fraud. Perhaps even more important is patient confidence during the overall healthcare experience. Being able to have physicians and hospitals contribute to and utilize an integrated medical record supports the most recent federal regulations of a fully accessible Electronic Medical Record. The LifeMed patient smart card also demonstrates strong patient identification as a requirement for patients and healthcare providers using EMRs.”

Initial roll-out of the program is scheduled for second quarter 2010.

About LifeMed Card, Inc.

LifeMed™ is a subsidiary of SMART Association, Inc. (“SMART”), the nation’s leading provider of “Client Relationship Management” and membership loyalty programs for hospitals. Over the past 19 years, SMART has implemented its programs to over 200 hospitals in twenty-six states and has issued over 3,000,000 cards to patients. LifeMed™ was established by SMART for the purpose influencing patient care, satisfaction and loyalty, while provide a strong ROI with healthcare providers. To date, LifeMed is the nation’s leading company of portable patient medical record software solutions through hospitals. For more information, visit: http://www.smartassociation.com.

About Sarasota Memorial Health Care System

Sarasota Memorial Health Care System is a regional referral center offering Southwest Florida’s greatest breadth and depth of inpatient, outpatient, home health and extended care. Its 806-bed hospital is Florida’s second largest acute care public hospital. It is the only hospital in the region ranked among U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals” and awarded Magnet designation–the nation’s highest honor for nursing excellence. It has been recognized among America’s top hospitals for quality and safety by Forbes.com three years in a row (2008, 2009 and 2010). For information, visit: http://www.smh.com.