MedLink International Inc. (MLKNA.OB) provides doctors, hospitals, labs, medical imaging centers, and patients with software products and services for creating, managing and sharing critical medical information. The company’s innovative products provide centralized access to clinical, administrative, and financial data in real time.
American spent more than $2.3 trillion on healthcare in 2007, and spending is forecast to reach $4.3 trillion by 2025. Information technology has emerged as one of the few tools that may help curb rising healthcare costs. Healthcare IT spending was estimated at $6.9 billion in 2007, and is expected to increase to $10.8 billion by 2012. MedLink thinks that this market could grow to $28 billion by 2014 as a result of “pay for performance” initiatives by Medicare and Medicaid. Pay for performance programs require compliance with new evidence-based guidelines and are more readily accomplished with healthcare IT systems.
MedLink markets it products and services through partnerships with medical societies, imaging centers, and hospitals. MedLink has partnerships with such entities as the Texas Medical Association (which is the nation’s largest state medical society), St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital (which is an affiliate of the Mount Sinai Hospital), and Life Point Informatics, a leader in electronic ordering and delivery of lab results. The company also has a strategic alliance with Microsoft HealthVault, announced this year.
Medlink has applied for CCHIT certification. CCHIT is a non-profit agency defining industry standards and the key functional components of electronic health records(EHRs). Of the more than 300 companies that claim to be EHR vendors, less than 3% have applied for CCHIT certification due to the organization’s rigorous criteria. The company anticipates that demand for its products by small and mid-sized practices will increase dramatically following CCHIT certification, since most physician practices can’t afford the high prices of other CCHIT-certified products.
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