Finalist: Vox2Data Inc.

Finalist: Vox2Data Inc.

By David Wexler

Associate Editor

Quite a bit has changed since Vox2Data was selected as the second-runner up in The Gulf Coast Business Review's 2004 Technology Innovation Awards.

A new name. A new version of its flagship software. And now, some roof damage and flooding as a result of Hurricane Wilma.

But one thing hasn't changed: the company continues to grow at a rapid pace, nearly breaking the $1 million mark in sales for the first time in 2004. The company, which develops voice-enabled electronic health software, has added more than 12 installations over the last year and hopes to reach $1.9 million in sales by 2006.

The company, started in California and still privately owned, claims to have developed the first voice-activated transcription replacement product in the market. It released the first version of its software in 1991.

At the time, physicians didn't embrace the new technology, which allows physicians, clinics and hospitals to immediately create a patient record by simply speaking into a microphone or digital audio mouse.

"Physicians were initially apprehensive of voice dictation," says Katherine Conners, president of Vox2Data. "In hindsight, the marketplace was not quite ready for the technology."

The technology in its early days was in the DOS program, requiring physicians to pause between each word for the system to recognize the words. The company reported $600,000 in sales in the first year.

The company, then known as Medical Voice Products, teamed up with a medical software billing company to improve and simplify the software.

The Vox2Data Enterprise Edition is compliant with all medical rules, including patient privacy law HIPPA, and it allows medical offices and hospitals to generate records that are stored and distributed electronically for easy retrieval. The system also allows remote access to data without storing it on the Internet, Conners says.

Last December, the company released the .Net Vox2Data Enterprise Edition, which provides physicians with the ability to use the Internet for remote dictation and prescription writing. It allows the doctor to dictate the prescription into a template that is ideal for pharmacies and laboratories. The prescription may be faxed to the lab or pharmacy or it may be printed out as hard copy to be given the patient. The software also has a calendar and scheduler built in.

The biggest benefit for physicians, Conners says, is Vox2Data eliminates the need for outside transcription services, which can cost between $300 and $10,000 per month.

"Patient records are completed immediately in real-time," Conners says. "Instead of having to wait days, even weeks, for the records to come back from the transcriptionist."

By eliminating transcription services, Conners says Medicare and insurance forms can be filed immediately instead of the 12-to15 days it typically takes. Conners says the goal is to help medical practitioners take notes in a timely fashion and help improve accuracy by eliminating costly errors.

Conners and Ron Carson founded the company in 1997 after Carson's friend, a chiropractor, complained that his method of writing patient notes in longhand was slowing him down.

The company currently has eight employees in its Sarasota office.

Tech Time

Ron Carson, of Vox2Data, says the best part of technology is that it gives people tools to do things they otherwise would consider impossible. As far as advice for new start-up technology companies, he suggests making sure there is money to back up the idea. He also cites hiring the right people, something many companies struggle with, as a key for success.

"Don't be afraid to hire up," he says. "People better than you."