Most hospitals and large medical systems have already gone to electronic record keeping out of sheer necessity. But the small medical practices have not made the switch because the task seems too daunting and too expensive, says Chad Paalman of Lansing-based NuWave Technology Partners.
But with the Obama administration’s stimulus package offering a $44,000 carrot to practices making the switch by 2011, interest is high in making the shift and NuWave is ready.
NuWave has been working for a year to prepare to meet that need and has just launched a subsidiary, NuWave Medical Solutions, added an office in Ft. Myers, Florida, and hired two people to manage the growing business. Paalman is looking for others with both medical and information technology experience.
Before now, there was no integrated product that helped practitioners convert their office management (think billing) to electronic tools and also helped them put their patients’ records online, Paalman says.
Then came MISYS MyWay, which has since changed its name to Allscripts MyWay. It offers software as a service (SAAS), allowing medical personnel to amortize the costly switch by paying a monthly fee. MISYS selected 27 companies in the U.S. to distribute its new product targeting healthcare and NuWave Medical Solutions (NuWave Med for short) was one of them.
Paalman recently converted a Lansing medical practice. The project consisted of installing new computers, a new network and a new Cisco telephone system, using the capabilities of its sister company, NuWave Technology. Finally, NuWave Med added the digital practice and electronic medical records components.
Source: Chad Paalman, NuWave Medical Solutions
Gretchen Cochran, Innovation & Jobs editor, may be reached here.
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