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Robert Gleeman: This is Robert Gleeman with emrupdate. I'm talking today with Mike Patel, CEO of Meditab Software, Inc, in Oakland, CA. Mike's phone number is (510)686‑8417. Mike Patel, thank you very much for being with us today.
Mike Patel: Thank you for inviting us.
Robert Gleeman: Mike, the reason that I wanted to talk with you is an associate of yours, T.J. Wilkinson, in his very first post on emrupdate, said that the Meditab software was the best software he had ever seen in his entire life. Now, I know we all love our own software. But, what is it about Meditab that encourages people to say things like that? For instance, are there tabs in Meditab? What does the name mean?
Mike Patel: We, basically, have a history of developing outstanding software. And, the way we came up with the Meditab name was when the Tablet PC's were initially coming out, I had a friend that used to work for a company called Pace Blade, and then, Motion Computing.
I was reading all of the hype and then I actually convinced him to let me play with a Tablet PC that was in a plastic engineering mold. Then, I said, well, we really have to take advantage of this thing. And, so the way the name actually was derived from Medicine on a Tablet PC.
Robert Gleeman: Ah hah! I would have, I would have guessed otherwise. I'm glad I asked you that question. And, Mike, do you have a background in medicine? Do you come from a family that has doctors? Well, how did you get into EMR?
Mike Patel: We actually got into EMR through our pharmacy business. I'm actually a pharmacist by trade.
Robert Gleeman: Ah.
Mike Patel: I was a Pre‑Med student and then because of health issues with my parents and needing to support the family, I switched majors and became a pharmacist. Then, we purchased our own pharmacy back in '97.
And, we developed software to automate our pharmacy because the software that was there is, you know, to do a simple task you had to do twenty clicks. I kept calling the software vendor to make changes, and eventually, it became a joke to them. So, I said, well, forget you guys. I'm going to go and develop my own software.
Robert Gleeman: And, when did you start Meditab?
Mike Patel: The initial development we started was back in '98, '99. The company was started sometime in early 2003, formally. Initially, we did all of the work through the corporation that owns the pharmacies. We developed our own pharmacy system to help our pharmacy become more efficient and to help us manage medications for patients that are in retirement homes.
Robert Gleeman: Now, you have a product that you call IMS, Intelligent Medical Software. This is your EMR and billing version of the software for a standard medical practice?
Mike Patel: Yes. IMS stands for Intelligent Medical Software. And, it is a complete package to allow you to run your medical office. It not just looks at EMR and scheduling and billing, but everything associated with a medical practice. And, that is the reason people love our software. It flows well, and everything that you need to do in an office, we have a module available that can handle that. We were probably the first company that I know of that had a completely integrated fax server with the product.
Robert Gleeman: Interesting.
Mike Patel: The fax is a very, very important piece that performs many tasks in a medical office. The IMS product actually can cater to multiple specialties. It is so deep. It's powered by about 800 tables in the back end.
Our current medical director's name is Dr. Guarav Tyagi. He actually has been instrumental in our template design. We have templates that cater to about 22 specialties. And, we can say we have probably great knowledge and expertise in about nine or 10 of them where we know we have a significant advantage over competitors in our market.
It has to be a complete solution because, otherwise, what we find is that, you know, if you have two or three products you're integrating, then, well, it's not my fault, it's their fault.
Robert Gleeman: One doctor said I only want one neck to strangle when he was talking about vendors.
Mike Patel: Yeah. That's right. That's the way it should be.
Robert Gleeman: I notice also that on your website are some very nice testimonials that go into very great detail. It sounds like you have a unique approach also to service after the sale.
Mike Patel: Yes. We strongly believe in service above all else. If you take care of a customer when they have a problem, that customer has no need to ever go look for another piece of software. And, they will remember that for life. Furthermore, they'll tell their friends about it.
Robert Gleeman: You talk about software as a form of medical instrument.
Mike Patel: It is. In fact, our software, it's more than a medical instrument; it's a necessity nowadays with the reimbursement levels as they are. And, a good software can make your whole office hum. It can make your whole office just flow beautifully.
Robert Gleeman: Who's this guy, T.J. Wilkinson? Why does he think you have the best software he's ever seen in his life?
Mike Patel: Am I allowed to have him answer that?
Robert Gleeman: Yeah.
T.J. Wilkinson: Hey, Robert.
Robert Gleeman: Hey, T.J. Do you work there? Are you an installer for them? What's your connection?
T.J. Wilkinson: I work for Medetron.
Robert Gleeman: Oh. OK.
T.J. Wilkinson: Gene Powers is our President. And, I came to the product through Gene installing training, implementing Medinotes. And, I just fell in love with the product.
Robert Gleeman: Well, your first post in which you said, "This is the best software I've ever seen in my whole life, impressed me so much that I looked at the website and I said, you know, it does look pretty good".
T.J. Wilkinson: [laughs] You know, Robert, every doctor that we show this to ends up loving it. I mean, everybody thinks it's phenomenal. It is, by far, the best put together software I've ever worked with. And, I've worked with a lot of software over my years, both in Pathology and Forensics, and then, in Medicine. And so, it includes everything. It's easy‑to‑use. It's intuitive. It just makes sense.
I mean, I won't name another product. But, I worked with another product. And, I end up telling the client, well, you know, it really doesn't work well this way, or we can't use this here. With IMS, and with the other related products, they work together. I don't have to struggle to make something work in an office.
Robert Gleeman: I like that approach because I don't like to struggle with my software. I'm an old guy. I have resisted computers. Give me a break.
T.J. Wilkinson: [laughs] Yeah. And, you know, a lot of times EMR software or Practice Management software makes you change your practice to fit the software. And, here we don't have to do that. It's flexible enough and configurable enough and adaptable to what the office is already doing. We don't have to re‑invent the wheel, and we don't have to make people crazy in the process.
Robert Gleeman: Now, if someone wants to call Medetron and have you come out and help them with this, what is the phone number over at Medetron?
T.J. Wilkinson: (415)824‑0600.
Robert Gleeman: And, who should they ask for over there?
T.J. Wilkinson: They can ask for me. That's fine. Or, they can ask for Gene Powers, our President.
Robert Gleeman: OK. OK. Well, T.J., I really appreciate your help in getting this put together.
T.J. Wilkinson: Oh, you're very welcome.
Robert Gleeman: And, I hope that what we can do is bring this software to the attention of our readers as a real contender that they need to look at.
T.J. Wilkinson: Yes.
Robert Gleeman: And, if we can do that, I will have been successful.
T.J. Wilkinson: Fantastic. You might want to mention, just off the record, between us, you may want to mention to Mark Anderson that you've done this. I think Mark looked at it recently and was very impressed.
Robert Gleeman: I will do that.
T.J. Wilkinson: Good.
Robert Gleeman: And, that says a lot because Mark is, to me, the single most knowledgeable guy on EMR in the world.
T.J. Wilkinson: Yes, he is. Yes, he is.
Robert Gleeman: And, if he's impressed, everybody should look at this.
T.J. Wilkinson: Absolutely.
Robert Gleeman: It's a must look‑at.
T.J. Wilkinson: Well, thank you, Robert. I really appreciate you taking the time to do this.
Robert Gleeman: Well, thank you, T.J. and, thanks, Mike.
Mike Patel: Ciao.
Robert Gleeman: And, we'll get this out just as soon as we can. Like I said, we only needed ten minutes. My job is so hard, so hard.
T.J. Wilkinson: I understand.
Robert Gleeman: OK. Thanks, again.
T.J. Wilkinson: Thank you, sir.
T.J. Wilkinson: Bye‑bye.
Mike Patel: Ciao.
Posted
Feb 19 2008, 04:44 AM
by
Robert Gleeman