Health tech companies have popped up all over Austin, making lives easier for patients and medical care providers alike. eMDs has been in that game since 1998, when founder Dr. David Winn set out to develop an integrated patient platform after being disappointed in the market offerings at the time.
Nearly 20 years later, the company continues to develop integrated EHR and RCM systems and services. Helping lead the team is CTO Alan Ortego (pictured left), who has worked at e-MDs since 2009, when he started as a senior software developer. Since then, he has worked his way through the ranks, taking over as CTO status in 2014.
What technologies power your business?
e-MDs provides integrated electronic health records, practice management software, revenue cycle management solutions, and credentialing services for physician practices and enterprises. We are a recognized industry leader for usable, connected software that enables physician productivity and a superior clinical experience.
Over our 20 year tenure, we have amassed a large number of technologies in our portfolio — both desktop and SaaS products. Our desktop applications are powered by C++, Delphi, and .NET, among others. Our SaaS applications are built on the .NET MVC and Web API stack for the service layer. The front end is a blend of JavaScript and TypeScript, which is designed to give as much of a desktop feel as possible. The backend is a blend of technologies, SQL Server, Redis, and RabbitMQ, to give us flexibility and meet our performance requirements.
Even though we are mostly a Microsoft shop we absolutely examine and embrace new technologies when they are the right fit.
What technologies are playing the biggest roles at your company this year?
We are focused on interoperability this year. With that goal in mind, we are building out our rest APIs and developing a marketplace for integrations. In addition, we are building out a data warehouse to support the complex needs for healthcare quality reporting. The need for interoperability, plus the demand for analytics, is allowing us to put a lot more focus on the SQL Server BI Stack.
What are the biggest tech projects your team is working on this year?
We have many projects on deck for 2016. Currently, we are integrating three companies together and standardizing tools and workflows through the products we have recently acquired. In addition, our SaaS application is launching in Q4 this year.
What are the biggest technology challenges you’ve faced in the past? How did you overcome them?
Meeting government requirements and certifications has been a huge challenge in the past few years. The requirements being pushed down have been monumental efforts by all of our teams, which has led to slowing down our more innovative and fun projects. To combat these requirements, we have gotten much further in front of them and have added our own innovation on top to give our customers not only a product that meets the requirements but does so in an intuitive and easy to understand way.
What are lessons you’ve learned about working in Austin that other local entrepreneurs can learn from?
Provide a culture where your employees can grow, not only their careers but their technical knowledge. Challenge everyone and watch your team grow as those challenges are met.
What are the top characteristics you look for in a potential hire?
First and foremost, we want problem solvers that have a never-ending desire to learn and adapt. Language and technologies can be learned but software development at its core is about solving problems.
How would your team describe working with you?
I think they would describe me as driven. Driven to make awesome products, driven to teach and pass on knowledge, and driven to create a culture where everyone’s opinions and contributions are valued.
At the end of the day I am still a developer at heart, so when I have the opportunity I still like to drive the architecture, build applications or just simply fix issues I run across in the product.
Photo via e-MDs. Some answers have been edited for clarity and length.
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