The credit for finding this belongs to Toby 12 over on the Stockhouse boards.
51
MediSolution, Inc.
R‚mi St. Hilaire, CEO
Headquarters: Montr‚al
Ownership: Public (MSH)
Founded: 1994
Employees: 480
Management Team: R‚mi St.-Hilaire, Pres./CEO;
George Czubak, Exec. VP/CFO; Carol Chouinard, Sr.
VP/CIO
1998
Revenue: $29.5 million
Profit/Loss: $42.8 million
1997
Revenue: $27.4 million
Profit/Loss: ($30 million)
High point
Significant sales in 1998
Low point
High burn rate and net losses before 1997 restructuring
The Canadians are Coming
If you thought the healthcare IS market in the US was
crowded enough, get ready for one more.
Montr‚al-based MediSolution Ltd., a healthcare software
developer, is getting ready to make a move into the US.
Originally founded by a US firm, MediSolution was spun
off and purchased by a group of Canadian investors in late
1996. When he arrived in January 1997, CEO R‚mi
St.-Hilaire says he found that the "focus was on the wrong
areas" for the Canadian market. Pharmacy benefit
management and managed care systems are two areas
that were dropped. Another strategy for boosting
revenues was to move about half of the product
development work to outside vendors.
With discontinued operations and restructuring charges,
losses had reached $29.5 million US in the 1997 fiscal
year, which ended in March. A modest $42,833 US
profit was reported for 1998 and the numbers for 1999
will show an additional improvement, St.-Hilaire says.
The restructuring established four divisions: healthcare
information systems, human resources products, practice
management systems and professional services.
MediSolution is Canada's leading healthcare IT company,
serving half of the country's hospitals and thousands of
physicians, pharmacists and dentists. St.-Hilaire compared
it to a "miniature version of HBOC."
MediSolution appears to have been able to get on its feet
again without a lot of US-based competitors trying to
knock it down. "The traditional US vendors have not had
much success," in part because they have invested in
keeping people on their home turf, St.-Hilaire says.
And now MediSolution is working on finding a way to sell
its products in the US. In March the company hired a
consultant to identify potential candidates for a sale,
merger, acquisition or strategic partnership. The eventual
deal "could be any flavor," St.-Hilaire says. A potential
advantage for a partner would be learning how
MediSolution works two languages into its products;
another benefit would be reaching the Canadian market,
through MediSolution's existing sales base. Look for
something to be finalized in 1999.
The company's confidence grew in 1998 after several
important sales; new clients include the Quebec blood
bank system and the Winnipeg Hospital Authority. There
also has been interest from non-healthcare businesses in
some of the company's payroll systems. In the future
expect similar non-healthcare sales in other areas, such as
integration software and consulting.
For St.-Hilaire, the most significant victory last year came
in Alberta, when the company secured the contract to
provide its patient administration and pharmacy systems to
the province's Regional Health Authorities.
"It was quite substantial, because the market knew
whoever won the bid would have the chance to be the
prevalent provider across the [province's] regions," says
Jim Gibson, a partner at Vancouver-based Sierra Systems
Consultants.
Alberta is pursuing a model that will allow patient
information to be shared electronically at health facilities
around the province. Heavy lifting will be required to build
such an ambitious system, Gibson says. But officials have
chosen to get started with MediSolution's products.
The company is benefiting from Canadian healthcare's
rapid adoption of new technology. Since healthcare in
Canada is government controlled, St.-Hilaire says a
change like what is under way in Alberta can occur very
quickly: "The opportunity for us is huge."
--J.M. |
