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Since its inception, the AllergiEnd™ skin testing method, created by MedScience Research Group, has helped thousands of patients get the treatment they need by making it easy for physicians to determine what they are allergic to during a simple office visit. In addition to saving patients time and money, the AllergiEnd™ system is doing something more; it’s creating jobs for people with disabilities in South Florida.
 
For the past two years, Palm Beach Habilitation Center has been providing warehouse, distribution and fulfillment services, as well as clean labeling and packaging services, for the AllergiEnd™ product. The Palm Beach Habilitation Center provides comprehensive services—including job training and employment opportunities—to more than 700 individuals with developmental, emotional and physical disabilities.
 
“Our goal is to assist individuals with disabilities to become as independent as possible,” explained David Lin, vice-president of programs and services for the Center. “We contract with area businesses to provide job opportunities to our clients, and we were pleased that AllergiEndapproached us to provide them with packaging, labeling and shipping services.
 
“Not only are we able to employ individuals with disabilities and give them the opportunity to get paid for their work, but we are also able to keep these jobs in America, which is a win/win situation,” said Lin. Since 1959, over 8,000 people with disabilities have achieved community employment due to the programs offered at the Palm Beach Habilitation Center.
 
Palm Beach Habilitation partners with RESPECT of Florida, which administers Florida’s State Use Program, also known as set-asides. RESPECT acts as a ‘virtual storefront’ for Palm Beach Habilitation Center and 52 other employment centers around the state, ensuring that the goods and services provided by people with disabilities are offered at competitive prices. “Buyers in government-run agencies purchase commodities from us at competitive prices that benefit Floridians with disabilities throughout the state,” explained Denise Frederick, RESPECT of Florida commodities and procurement director.
 
Through RESPECT, state-run agencies are able to buy AllergiEnd™ and other products without having to go through the competitive bidding process. This not only makes it more convenient for these agencies to carry such products, but makes it easier for low-income clients of these agencies to get access to the allergy testing they need.
 
“Hopefully, county health departments and other government-run clinics will see the potential in having AllergiEnd’s simple-to-use diagnostic equipment available to their primary care physicians instead of having to refer patients to specialists,” said Frederick. Using AllergiEnd™, doctors can easily test for 70 allergens within minutes. The results come back quickly—within 15 to 20 minutes—and once the allergen causing a patient’s reaction is determined, the physician can then determine the best course of treatment for the patient.
 
“We believe that this could not only save clinics time and energy, but also improve their diagnostic abilities,” Frederick continued. “Having this relatively modestly priced piece of equipment on-site may also insure that the patient actually gets the test and is not put in the position of determining if they can or will be able to follow-up with the test to determine what is making them ill.”
 
Frederick advises that the AllergiEnd™ product could be used in county health departments as well as in corrections and other facilities where health professionals administer to the public for the benefit of patients—and the bigger picture.
 
“RESPECT is a nonprofit; its profits are not realized in dollars—its revenues are realized through increased employment opportunities for Floridians with disabilities,” said Frederick. “The more products RESPECT sells, the more jobs it has created.”