Doctors today face increasing regulatory documentation requirements that involve entering every lab test and prescription into a computer, a cumbersome process that often means leaving the patient alone.
BY LINDA BAKER
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Brian Phelps, CEO of Montrue Technologies |
Doctors today face increasing regulatory documentation requirements that involve entering every lab test and prescription into a computer, a cumbersome process that often means leaving the patient alone. Ashland startup Montrue Technologies has created an iPad-based documentation tracking system for emergency room doctors. The goal, says CEO Brian Phelps, is to “get technology out of the way” so medical staff can focus on “the heart of the matter” — the doctor-patient relationship. Called Sparrow EDIS, the system features patient tracking, order entry, discharge planning and prescribing — all accessible via iPad from the patient’s bedside.
Designed to meet the needs of doctors and nurses, the system also offers hospital executives a return on investment by capturing charges associated with different tests and procedures. Sparrow EDIS should boost those charges by $40 per patient, the bulk of which comes from improved “tap documentation” of IV start and stop times, Phelps says. Sparrow should also qualify for incentives under the federal HITECH Act, which gives hospitals money for implementing electronic records. The system is part of a pilot at Ashland Community Hospital, and Montrue is negotiating with other “visionary customers,” Phelps says. “We just need to seal the deal with actual contracts.”
COMPANY: Montrue Technologies
PRODUCT: iPad-based emergency room information system
CEO: Brian Phelps
HEADQUARTERS: Ashland
LAUNCHED: 2010
AT A GLANCE: Three full-time employees, several independent contractors. Landed $200,000 from the Willamette Angel Conference in 2011, $160,000 from a 2012 Southern Oregon Angel Investment prize and $22,000 in private investment.
BACKSTORY: “The feeling you get when you use our application is one of lightness and simplicity that is almost deceptive. That’s what Sparrow conveys. ‘Montrue’ is a French word meaning ‘that upon which something is mounted.’ It’s also a contraction of the French words for mountain and street. Our headquarters are on Mountain Avenue.”
