Technology That Addresses National Health Care Issue Earns Medkinetics 2007 Dell/Nfib Small Business Excellence Award

Start-Up’s Software Helps Hospitals Simplify Work, Improve Patient Safety, Curb Risk.

On Sept. 11, volunteer physicians flooded New York City hospitals to help. However, in crisis situations, most hospitals face difficult decisions because they can’t quickly confirm if volunteers are doctors, much less validate the procedures they are qualified to perform.

Today, that dilemma can be avoided, thanks to one small business’ innovative use of technology. For its trailblazing work to automate the laborious process of physician credentialing, hospital privileging and peer review, Medkinetics, a software start-up based in Franklin, Tenn., is the winner of the 2007 Dell/National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small Business Excellence Award.

Hospitals can spend hundreds of hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars each year completing tedious paperwork to confirm qualifications, develop procedural criteria and grant procedures physicians are “privileged” to perform when they join a hospital. Medical institutions also can face a daunting challenge to efficiently manage, update or transfer the information – potentially leaving patients, doctors and hospitals at risk.

For a growing number of health care institutions, Medkinetics provides a solution: customizable, Web-based software for clients ranging from rural clinics to urban hospitals, allowing staff to easily verify a new doctor’s credentials, receive alerts about potential issues, update privileges as new standards develop, facilitate peer reviews and transfer information between client facilities.

“Eight years ago my wife, a pediatric ophthalmologist, came home with a stack of credentialing paperwork to fill out and challenged me to find a technology solution to the time-consuming, antiquated process,” said Jim Cox, founder and president of Medkinetics. “I started writing the software that night and my business idea was born.”

Today, Cox sees an even greater need for his software solutions. During a disaster, emergency privileging becomes vital, and hospitals and patients can benefit from a standardized method to immediately put qualified physicians into action.

“The risk associated with poor credentialing and privileging is completely unacceptable in today’s hospital environment when the technology is available to address the challenge,” Cox added.

The Medkinetics system makes critical information available anywhere there is an Internet connection, saving time, eliminating human error and ultimately saving lives.

“With broader adoption of technology in our health care system, you can imagine the implications for better patient care and lower costs,” said Frank Muehleman, vice president and general manager of Dell’s small and medium business division. “It’s Medkinetics’ leadership in this area that earned them the 2007 Excellence Award.”

Medkinetics will receive $30,000 in Dell products and services, a lifetime membership to NFIB, one of the nation’s leading small business advocacy groups, and a day with Dell executives, including Chairman and CEO Michael Dell. The nine finalists will receive a Dell Latitude™ notebook and a one-year membership to NFIB.

“Jim Cox founded Medkinetics to address a societal issue and has turned it into a small-business success story,” said Todd Stottlemyer, CEO of NFIB. “It’s nimble, innovative small businesses that are having the greatest impact on our economy and society, and we are proud to have Medkinetics as a lifetime NFIB member.”

To learn more about Medkinetics and the award program, please visit www.dell.com/ceaward, and to view a video story on the company, go to www.studiodell.com and click on Small Business Case Studies.