In Doug Cassidy’s opinion, non-profit organizations looking to provide healthcare services to disadvantaged people around the world don’t need to be saddled with expensive EMR systems – but they do need some of that technology.
With that in mind, Cassidy, a Los-Angeles based entrepreneur, has launched GAUCHOS, short for Globally Available Universal Charting and Healthcare Operation Software. The electronic charting application and clinical workflow designer will soon be field-tested in India by Operation Smile, the Norfolk, Va.-based international children’s medical charity, and is being reviewed by dozens of other healthcare-related non-profits whose functions are usually done in the field.
Cassidy, a former biomedical engineer who had worked for Orion Health and is now employed by Hyland Software, said he was struck by how most EMR systems are designed to replicate the patient encounter in a physician’s office, right down to the billing process. Non-profits don’t need all of those functions, he said.
“People buy EMRs to schedule and to make money off of appointments,” he said. “And it breaks my heart to see how much all this stuff costs. This isn’t a good fit for (non-profits).”
Cassidy set about creating a simple charting and workflow platform, designed to give healthcare providers in the field – whether they’re treating patients in Africa or dealing with homeless people in urban America – access to a clinical charting solution via a tablet device. To that platform he added functions for determining location, storing data and synching while the device is outside of wireless connectivity, and locating other patients within walking distance.
With Operation Smile field-testing GAUCHOS and several other non-profits showing interest, Cassidy and his small group of supporters are seeking financing to move the project forward. They recently posted on Kickstarter, a crowd-sourced funding site that has raised $40 million for 7,500 projects since its launch in 2009. The goal is to raise $80,000 by September 15.
Cassidy is quick to point out that GAUCHOS isn’t intended to be an EMR. The goal, he said, is to deliver needed clinical software to non-profits and volunteers working in the field around the globe, allowing them to cut down on cumbersome administrative tasks, gather data and improve outcomes.
“It won’t compete with any EMR – it won’t compete with anything,” he said. “I don’t even want it called an EMR. … It just seemed to me that, when I looked at how (non-profits) were operating, these people were going out into the field and taking notes by hand. They were taking up time doing this. They had a problem that needed solving. All we’re doing for them is simple charting.”
‘It’s not about making money,” he added. “Worst case scenario is that I’ve helped a bunch of kids.”
