Springfield-based health care technology firm EDCO Health Information Solutions Inc. has picked up an international patent on its medical record scanning and indexing product, Solarity. The newly patented product, which the company says is driving local job growth, highlights a steady demand for patents in the area and statewide.
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office recently issued a patent number for Solarity, which is designed to improve the scanning process by eliminating the manual separation of documents and use of labels such as bar codes or form templates.
EDCO Marketing Director Kristin Binford said Solarity was developed a few years ago before the firm began marketing it as its own product. Two years ago, EDCO decided it would begin work to pursue patents in the U.S. and Canada. Solarity received a U.S. patent number in 2013.
“We have a proprietary technology and process that we’ve developed, specifically for the scanning and indexing of medical records. The way that happens is unique, so it was something that we wanted to protect because it was developed within our organization,” Binford said.
The Solarity technology and process enables the classification and separation of documents based on content rather than the appearance of the document. Unlike systems that utilize uniquely designed forms or bar code labels on individual documents, Solarity uses content to assign a document classification, such as a progress note or radiology report.
Classification of each individual document is completed based on continually evolving character recognition models. These automated steps in the scanning and indexing process are said to help reduce costs, improve quality and speed up the process.
Binford said the development of Solarity and its related product line has spurred growth for the company. She said the firm this year has added over 30 employees in Springfield, bringing its local workforce to nearly 250.
According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Springfield metropolitan statistical area generated 349 patents between 2000 and 2011, the most recent data available. In 2011, 26 patents were awarded to individuals and businesses in the five-county Springfield MSA. Across the state, 1,238 patents were issued last year, up nearly 8 percent compared to 1,150 in 2012. Patent activity also is up nationwide, with 140,073 issued in 2013, a 6 percent increase.
Joe Johnson, a Springfield patent attorney with Lathrop & Gage LLP, said local patent demand is fairly strong and stable for the size of the area, helping to support a small group of patent attorneys. When he started practicing law in 1995 in Springfield, attorneys from other parts of the country were routinely hired to assist local inventors.
Johnson said he works with 35 to 40 clients on patent filing in the region and more across the country. His client list includes Mercy Research & Development and Missouri State University, which he has helped file for a handful of patents. Currently, the school has a patent pending on a process that can detect the presence of cancer.
Noting the patent process typically takes one to five years, Johnson said the health care and manufacturing industries are hot beds of activity when it comes to local patents.
“We also get a lot of inquiries about hunting and fishing equipment. I suspect that is because people in this area hunt and fish a lot, and because they think they might be able to go into business with Bass Pro,” he said.
Dan Brewer, executive director of intellectual property at Rolla-based Brewer Science Inc., said the company holds some 300 patents in the United States and around the world. He said the company, which produces materials for smartphones and tablet computers and has a Springfield presence at the Jordan Valley Innovation Center, generally secures patents on five to 10 products or processes a year in the U.S. before it seeks around a dozen international patents on each product or process.
“We try to systematically collect different ideas from different places in the company. Then, we evaluate those ideas based on a set of criteria that we have, which determines if we patent it, keep it as a trade secret or publish it,” Brewer said.
A key area for its patents is microscopic carbon nanotube technology, which is typically used in conductive plastics, flat-panel displays and batteries. Brewer, who set up the company’s system for determining whether it would seek a patent on a new idea or not, said it is not uncommon for him to field 25 invention disclosures per year.
But the process, Brewer said, is not cheap. Because the firm does more than 50 percent of its business in Asia, anything worth patenting here is worth patenting overseas, he said. With many countries requiring fees to maintain patents, he estimated a single idea or process could cost up to $500,000 over its lifetime. While the company has to be selective, Brewer said by protecting its intellectual property the firm has developed into a global player in the microelectronics industry.
“In several cases, we have managed to get broad, equipment-process patents that give us a strong strategic position in the industry, which says, ‘If you want to do this process, you have to come to Brewer Science to do it,’” Brewer said.
EDCO’s Binford said over 100 hospitals and clinics throughout North America are currently using Solarity. The product also is responsible for scanning and indexing 1.8 million images per month for eight hospitals in Ontario, Canada, which speaks to the need for the Canadian patent.
EDCO was founded in 1961 by Drury University alumni Ron Elkins and Perry Davis.
In February, Lynne Jones was named president of the newly formed EDCO Health Information Solutions Inc. The health care technology company previously operated as a division of St. Louis-based EDCO Group Inc., which was formed in 2001 after investors purchased a majority interest in the 40-year-old Springfield firm that transferred paper medical records to microfilm.
