One of the top EMR providers in Canada, Purkinje is helping revolutionize the way the industry handles patient information
Written by Sarah Wolfe; Produced by Ben Weaver
In the healthcare industry, physicians struggle every day with seeing a large number of patients in a small span of time, with financial pressures and an overload of information to keep track of, and with limited resources. It’s Purkinje’s ultimate goal to transform this system through its Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and Electronic Health Record (EHR) offerings.
In addition, Purkinje (Pur-KIN-jee) provides professional services to physician practices that further maximize efficiency, cost savings and income, including billing services. The privately-held Montreal-based company’s solutions are relied on by more than 13,000 Canadian health-care providers in family medicine groups, community health centers and hospitals, including the Department of National Defense.
“On average doctors can see up to 70-80 patients a day, our software helps them substantially increase the number of patients served,” says Mary-Anne Carignan, Purkinje Co-President. “All information is available immediately – giving you measurable cost savings but most importantly, tangible time saving while reducing instances of error.”
From PM to EMR & EHR
Founded in 1978, Purkinje was the first Practice Management (PM) software company in Quebec, providing localized solutions to private clinics in the province and in New Brunswick. It was named in honor of renowned 19th-century Czech anatomical physiologist Jan Evangelista Purkinje, who discovered cerebellar and cardiac structures that allow the transmission and processing of neural impulses.
In 1995, Purkinje released Dossier, the first windows-based Electronic Medical Record (EMR). The system enabled clinicians to quickly document encounters while capturing discrete clinical data that could easily be reviewed, analyzed and utilized to positively impact patient care.
“The goal then was putting a powerful yet flexible EMR into Canadian clinics. In recent years we have added archiving and scanning solutions in Quebec and Ontario to implement a fully integrated EMR,” says Co-President Francois Carignan.
Scanning and Archiving are the pillars of a document management system. In Purkinje’s solution examples of documents received include paper prescriptions from doctors who do not work with EMRs or a photo of a particular skin irritation. These can be scanned and instantly become part of the patient’s electronic file.
Purkinje was acquired by American company Wellinx in 2005, creating a US and Canadian customer base. The primary investor was John Doerr, one of the world’s best known venture capitalists. Today as a result of a planned and focused shift to the Canadian market this company is Canadian-owned with a US minority share position.
Ahead of the pack
Purkinje’s software is one of the most widely used in the nation, with clients such as Quebec Family Medicine Groups, the Listowel Memorial Hospital and Clinic and Ontario Community Health Centers. It provides to both clinics and hospitals, and offers both full in-patient and out-patient solutions.
“The software is especially useful in hospitals where there can be as many as 40 different departments, each with their own interoperability requirements,” Francois says.
“Our software helps each department know what a patient’s exact medications, dosages and medical history are,” he explains. “In such a setting the chance of medical error is decreased by 85 percent, according to the Institute of Medicine out of Washington, DC; simply stated – less error saves lives.”
“The combination of two segments – clinics and hospitals in one solution has positioned us ahead of the pack as everyone is really looking at the latter part of the market,” Mary-Anne says. “There are only about eight companies in North America with capabilities that cover both segments.”
Today, there are more than 21,000 Purkinje users in over 1,200 medical facilities across Canada.
Another unique feature of Purkinje’s product is its multi-lingual capabilities, which can display both French and English. A user can work in his or her language of preference simply by toggling back and forth, even on the same screen. It is one of the only fully-functional EMR with this feature.
Purkinje’s EHR a new product that will be launched in spring 2010 will connect clinics and hospitals and is all about interoperability. This fits the Canadian government’s aggressive plan for EHR development and implementation that began in 2005. With an aging Baby Boomer population, rising demand for health services, and risks of pandemics, an EHR is crucial for managing increased flow of information.
“In Ontario and Quebec we are a major player in clinics,” Francois says. “In the next five years we want to be one of the top three vendors for hospitals in Canada.”
Highly-qualified staff
Purkinje has offices in Montreal, Toronto, and in the vicinity of Hong Kong.
The company has nearly 100 employees, a number that will increase as the hospital segment grows. Mary-Anne says people in healthcare IT work from the heart. It is a business that requires a high level of creativity at all times as it is people-centric.
“We have architects who plan, developers who create through their code, implementation teams working on-site with clients; this effort is complemented by trainers teaching application use and a support team speaking to people daily. Even though we create and market technology it is all about the people. The passion in the people ultimately drives this business so we chose people who want to be an active part of this evolution in healthcare.”
Changing the industry
Purkinje’s software is helping to reduce human error and improve the environment by eliminating paper. Trois-Rivieres Hospital has become the only paperless hospital in Quebec and others are becoming interested in following its example. The number of clinics that have gone paperless is increasing at a steady rate.
“There’s nothing like being part of an industry revolution – changing the workflow and process and seeing this advancement in practice,” Mary-Anne says.
Purkinje is excited to continue on this path of enhanced efficiency and greener practice. The company is also focused on becoming even more prominent in the Canadian market.
View Digital Corporate Profile of Purkinje in HealthCare Digital September 2009