Electronic Health Records

Purkinje merges with U.S.-based Wellinx

MONTREAL – Purkinje, Inc., a leading Canadian developer of Electronic Health Record software for doctors’ offices, hospitals and community health centers, has announced a merger with Wellinx, of St. Louis, Missouri.

Wellinx, known for clinical software that’s equipped with best practices and evidence-based information, also announced today a US$11 million round of funding. The financing includes strategic investors from the health sector.

The combined companies will operate as Purkinje across North America. The U.S. headquarters will be located in St. Louis, while the Canadian operations will continue running from Purkinje’s offices in Montreal. Bryan Dieter, Wellinx’ CEO, will head the merged entity. Dr. Fernand Taras (pictured at left), president and CEO of Purkinje, will continue to head the Canadian operations.

Purkinje furthers Wellinx’ strategy of delivering clinical software with context-specific, evidence-based decision support and best practices. John Doerr, principal investor in Wellinx, is a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. He has sponsored investments in companies such as Compaq, Macromedia, Lotus, Netscape and Amazon.com and currently serves on the board of companies such as Intuit, Google, Drugstore.com, PalmOne, and others.

“This merger, along with the financing, brings new resources and strengthens Purkinje’s position in the Canadian market,” said Dr. Fernand Taras. “Wellinx’s expertise, combined with our own in the healthcare sector and in information technology, will allow Purkinje to secure its position as Canadian leader and to become a key player in the medical record domain in the United-States.”

Wellinx engaged in a comprehensive analysis of the market before choosing a partner. “We have reviewed over a hundred EMR systems,” said Dr. Tom Doerr, Wellinx’s Chief Medical Officer and co-founder. “The Purkinje solution met our desire to find a modular, integrated and scalable solution, able to answer the needs of doctors working not only in clinics but in hospitals as well. We have also found in Purkinje, a team that shares our vision of wanting to offer physicians the best proven technologies and software solutions, based on best practices and evidence-based medical information.”

“The Purkinje EMR is used by independent physicians in clinics, hospitals, community health centers, and in organizations such as the Canadian Department of National Defence,” said Bryan Dieter, Wellinx’s CEO. “It allows data sharing and outcome measures while ensuring information security and confidentiality.”

For more information about Purkinje, visit www.purkinje.com.