Fargo software company helping hospitals streamline services

A Fargo software company is poised to take advantage of health care reform.

Intelligent InSites created a software operating system for hospitals. President and CEO Mark Rheault said by using radio frequency ID tags, hospitals monitor how much time nurses spend with patients, where equipment is, and whether they're running low on supplies. He said the technology is catching on.

"About 15 percent of hospitals have some sort of asset management now in place," Rheault said. "And automated patient flow solutions are in about five percent of hospitals and then senior care it's about five percent. So we're at a place now where every year we're seeing a big uptick in our market share."

The company says a study found nurses spend as much as 25 percent of their time looking for equipment. Rheault said tracking equipment with software can save time and money.

Former Microsoft Vice President Doug Burgum is on the company's board of directors, and he said the health care industry is very inefficient and ready for technological transformation.

"Any business has to deliver value to customers and this is a solution that increases the productivity in health care, so you end up with higher quality care at lower costs," Burgum said. "That's a simple formula for success."

Burgum said he expects the number of hospitals using some type of automated tracking system to grow rapidly as health care reform pushes hospitals to be more efficient.