ITGumbo: spicing IT up

CEPCO Holding Ltd., provider of the Med-O-Card, recently informed me that the company (first covered by Israel Innovation 2.0 in December 2007) is in the process of setting up a consortium that will carry out,

“product and system development and is geared towards a nationwide implementation of the USB Med-O-Card in Germany in 2008, and in other European countries.”

Expected members of the consortium will include “National Phone Carrier, German Doctors Associations, various German Medical Foundations, Hospital Groups and the IT industry.”

CEPCO’s new push comes during a time when Germany’s intended deployment of the “eGK”, a stripped-down and non-editable device from GEMATIK, is being protested by the German public and the German health sector for its absence of basic necessary features.

Two benefits of the Med-O-Card - a credit card-sized USB storage device that contains secure software and an operating system that can store personal medical records and history - over other personal health management recording solutions, including the “eGK,” are its providing an operating system and system security. CEPCO’s advanced technology that protects the confidential information on the Med-O-Card has also created interest and demand from USB hardware manufacturers.

IT professionals in the health management field in both the US and Europe (aside from just Germany) should look for CEPCO to make moves in those markets throughout 2008.