News
W Squared provides retained finance and accounting services and payroll services to CredenceHealth.
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May 17, 2009
Justin W. Lanning, CEO of CredenceHealth, and COO Marty Fitzgerald, left,
created a patient-tracking software system.
Who will build the next HCA?
Health-care startups are a Nashville tradition
By Getahn Ward
Nashville, TN - Nashville's entrepreneurial culture has given birth to hundreds of startup companies, especially in the city's signature health-care industry.
Whether the economy is experiencing a downturn or robust growth, executives and others with experience in specific niches are constantly searching for that new way of cutting costs, bringing more efficiency to health care, or simply turning a profit.
A new generation of entrepreneurs is carrying forward the legacy of pioneer business leaders such as the late Jack Massey and Dr. Tommy Frist Sr., whose startup of the HCA hospital chain helped Nashville make its mark in health-care circles worldwide.
This latest batch of entrepreneurs is full of medical experts of various stripes with links to Healthways, the disease management and wellness firm in Nashville that's become known for breeding a culture that nurtures fresh ideas.
Here's a look at some of the new kids on the local block, each of whom is dabbling in health-care services ranging from e-medicine to helping consumers compare medical costs:
CredenceHealth: Startup works to cut costs, improve quality
For nurses and other staffs at hospitals, having quick access to lab results and other clinical information about patients is key to delivering quality care and preventing unnecessary complications.
Justin W. Lanning, chief executive of Brentwood-based CredenceHealth, hopes to capitalize on growing interests in quality with a system that gives hospital staff, including nurses, a snapshot of real-time clinical information about what's going on with a patient or all patients on a particular floor.
Lanning has seen far-reaching regulatory changes, including Medicare no longer paying hospitals for care related to complications that develop while someone is in the hospital. There also is a national drive to encourage more hospitals to install technologically advanced systems to better monitor patient care.
After a beta test, Nashville General Hospital at Meharry became the first hospital to use CredenceHealth's system six months ago. Whereas nurses on a floor previously went to different sections of patients' electronic medical records to view lab results and other reports, they now simply log on to CredenceHealth's computer application every two hours for a real-time snapshot.
"This allows us to quickly identify critical information, and with that information we can provide the proper, effective treatment," said Jason Boyd, chief operating officer at Nashville General. "It helps us to improve our clinical quality, and that results in better care for the patient … which should result in reducing expenses for both the hospital and the patients."
CredenceHealth is targeting hospitals nationally with its product, which includes real-time alerts when certain results arrive.
Lanning left Healthways, where he was value assurance leader, to launch CredenceHealth with co-founder Dr. Christopher R. Kuzniak, the company's chief medical officer.
They initially funded the company with their own money before recently raising $720,000 from angel investors, including Healthways Chairman Tom Cigarran.
"We're passionate about providing meaningful solutions that bring immediate value to our customers through clinical intelligence," Lanning said.
This article continued by highlighting several other health-care entrepreneurs linked to Healthways, including W Squared and Silvercare Solutions, another W Squared client.
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W Squared provides retained finance and accounting services and payroll services to CredenceHealth.