Fujitsu Personal Systems and MedExpress Team Up to Save Lives
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — August 22, 1994 — MedExpress, a Memphis-based value-added reseller, today announced that it has integrated its physical examination and advanced breath-alcohol test application software with Fujitsu Personal Systems Inc.'s 325Point tablet computer to create the first pen-based employee qualification system.
This new system enables companies to automate employee health requirement exams and increase safety in the workplace.
The new MedExpress system allows a large portion of the Department of Transportation's (DOT) physical examination requirements, as well as a breath-alcohol test, to be easily performed on-site at occupational health clinics and corporate physicians' offices anywhere, at any time, in a consistent manner. The MedExpress systems eliminates the need for cumbersome handwritten forms, reduces data errors and dramatically decreases the time involved in data analysis. Until now, complying with these federal regulations has been a time-consuming task for most businesses.
''We believed that our customers would benefit from an easy-to-use, pen-based solution to automate their own employee health qualification procedures, as well as those mandated by the government,'' said Rick Tobias, vice president of management information systems at MedExpress. ''Our solution was the integration of the Fujitsu 325Point with our application software. The result is a truly advanced system that helps our customers efficiently and correctly qualify their employees.''
DOT regulations require that all employees of companies who operate heavy machinery and other vehicles under DOT jurisdiction, including airlines, railroads, mass transit and intra/interstate trucking, meet minimum fitness for duty standards. To verify their ability to perform their jobs safely, DOT mandates that each employee undergo a qualifying physical exam. As of Jan. 1, 1995, they must also submit to pre-employment, for-cause, post-accident and random breath-alcohol testing.
''Fujitsu tablet computers are ideal to address the growing need for faster, more efficient employee health qualification procedures,'' said Lou Panetta, executive vice president of Fujitsu Personal Systems. ''MedExpress' unique solution developed with the 325Point demonstrates our comprehensive knowledge of the rapidly growing market for tablet computing in health care and confirms our role as an active player there.''
With MedExpress' innovative application, all of DOT's rules and regulations for conducting physical examinations and breath-alcohol testing are contained within the system. To initiate a breath-alcohol test, a pre-qualified breath-alcohol technician enters an encrypted password. The test analyzes the amount of alcohol in the employee's lungs using an instrument that measures breath-alcohol content attached to the 325Point's serial port, and prompts the operator based on that data. Results of the analysis can be returned to the user in as little as two minutes.
For routine physical exams, the system queries the nurse or physician with a step-by-step series of questions on the patient's physical condition. To ensure strict, uniform compliance with DOT regulations, all questions contained in the examination, as well as those prompted during a breath-alcohol test, must be completely answered and the electronic forms filled out correctly. Once either the physical exam or breath-alcohol test have commenced, they may not be cancelled. Upon completion, the results of either the physical exam or breath-alcohol test are transmitted via modem to MedExpress' 24-hour database, where they are analyzed and stored. The data can then be used by MedExpress' customers to ensure strict qualification of its vehicle operators and to provide comprehensive statistical information to the DOT.
Fujitsu's 325Point is a three pound tablet-sized pen-based system designed for mobile workers who are involved in decision support activities. It operates with a rechargeable NiCad or NiMH battery under an advanced power management system. The 325Point is powered by a 25-MHz AMD 386SXLV CPU. The system RAM is expandable to 12 MB and the product includes two Type I/II/III PCMCIA version 2.0 slots and 105MB PCMCIA hard disk drive. The computer has a 9.4 inch (diagonal) transflective LCD display with VGA support at 640×480 resolution. Peripherals included with the MedExpress application include a Fujitsu printer to document results on-site and a Megahertz modem to download the results to MedExpress' database for record-keeping purposes.
Fujitsu Personal Systems Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, is a leader in providing solutions for data collection and decision support applications through the development of super portable palmtop, pen-based and communicating computers. Its solutions are designed to meet the needs of applications where light weight, small form factor and long battery life are essentials. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu Ltd. Fujitsu Personal Systems has North American offices in Santa Clara, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Toronto and international offices in England, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Sweden.
CONTACT:
Walt & Sommerhauser Communications
Stephanie Edwards or Cynthia Lempert, 408/496-0900
Fujitsu Personal Systems Inc.
Jeff Tingley, 408/764-9465
MedExpress Inc.
Rick Tobias, 901/362-4646