Clinic Server is now hoping to gain a share of the American physiotherapy market

As jurisdictions across the developed world push their hospitals and doctors to go digital to more efficiently and effectively treat patients, dozens of companies have launched in hopes of making money in the niche market.

But a Saint John-based firm is looking to capitalize on providing similar services to the relatively ignored health clinics.

Clinic Server focuses on organizing patient files for physiotherapists, chiropractors, doctors and other health professionals' offices and clinics.

"There was a huge gap in the market," company chief executive Chris Boudreau says. "A lot of the smaller clinics didn't have an affordable way to manage their people and resources."

The company already has its system in 51 clinics with 84 locations across Canada and is now hoping to gain a share of the American physiotherapy market, which brings in $11 billion annually.

Clinic Server will be targeting some of the more than 115,000 physiotherapists south of the border, 75 per cent of whom Boudreau says work for smaller independent clinics.

Although there are plenty of other health clinic management systems, Boudreau says his is cheaper and easier to install and maintain.

"A typical entry point for a clinic could be as low as $50 per month," Boudreau says. "The average is $100 per month."

The service is managed online but accessed through a program users download from the Clinic Server website. The application runs in Java - a programming language often used for web-based games and other interactive online content that can be read by most computers - which Boudreau says is faster than a web-based application, but easier to set up and maintain than a desktop application.

"With a web browser you can get slowness, but when you're working with a pure java, it's closer to a native application being on your machine," he says.

But because all the info is managed through the web, health professionals can access the files from any internet-connected computer after downloading the java program and logging in.

Clinic Server's system can also be accessed from a Blackberry, and the firm may someday develop an application for the iPhone.

"If you're a clinic that has five or 10 locations it allows them to manage all their clinics on one system," he says.

Boudreau says the company is targeting physiotherapists first because it's the field, where "the real heavy lifting has been done."

The Canadian Physiotherapy Association has endorsed the management system and Queen's University teaches the product in its physiotherapy program.

But doctors' offices, many of which still keep patient files on paper, can also use the system. The Clinic Server system can be integrated within most e-health records systems used at hospitals so all health professionals could have a more holistic view of a patient's history.

It can also make transfers easier and more efficient, Boudreau says.

Currently when a family doctor refers a patient to a specialist they will call the other office and have them call the patient to book an appointment. When that appointment finally happens sometimes tests are redone if the files weren't sent. But with Clinic Server's system a doctor could access a specialist's calendar, book appointment and share relevant information.

Before the appointment the system can send the patient a notification.

"But it's also a confirmation," he says. "For physiotherapists and chiropractors, they need to have a steady flow of clients."

If a client doesn't show up for his or her appointment, a private practice may have wasted person hours. The system will also show trends over time to help improve service at a clinic.

"These types of patients are getting in within a couple of days while these other types of patients are getting in within a couple of weeks," Boudreau says providing a hypothetical situation. "How can I change that?"

It can also help a clinic shape the business to better serve clients and make more money.

"We're treating a lot of people for motor vehicle accidents, if our clinic had more expertise we could take on more," Boudreau says.

Clinic Server had been in the works since 1998 when clinician Paul Kasdan and java programmer Tom McLean saw a need for it. Andrew Patterson came on later to integrate the business trends functions of the system, which has been piloted at a Saint John Clinic for roughly a decade.

A year-and-a-half ago, the system hit the market and when Boudreau, a full-time Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories Inc. employee, heard about Clinic Server this summer he decided to take on the chief executive position as a second full-time job.

The company has been accepted into Propel ICT Inc.'s accelerator program, and is now looking for financing for the sales and marketing push it needs to expand. If or when financing comes Boudreau says the company will more than double revenue every year for the first three, at which point the business should be profitable.