How well a physician functions -- as is the case in any occupation -- depends on how that doctor is able to communicate with other health-care professionals. Those means of communications have to be as fast, thorough and accurate as possible. They have to tell the whole story to the health-care professionals -- be they the ones with the stethoscope, the scalpel, the dispensing jar or microscope.
Brossard, Quebec-based ZoomMed Inc. (TSX-Venture:ZMD) claims mastery over this technology, manufacturing and marketing the ZRx Prescriber, a Web-based application that improves prescription management and facilitates communication between health care professionals.
Some sobering statistics: every year in Canada, over 422 million prescriptions and 440 million lab tests are hand-written, and these numbers are rising as a result of Canada’s aging population. Some 700 Canadians die of prescription-related errors every year. Given the associated costs, doing away with inappropriate prescriptions would represent savings of over $600 million.
ZMD’s antidote, the ZRx Prescriber, runs on a pocket computer, smart phone or PC. Physicians can use this tool to generate prescriptions electronically, including specific bar codes that pharmacists can access online via the company’s e-Pic telecommunication Network.
ZMD’s e-Pic Communication Network enables intercommunications between physicians who use the Prescriber, pharmacists and other organizations who are members of the network. Thus, they can transfer, scan, and electronically receive prescription information, renewals and referral information through this high speed and entirely secure network.
The more efficient this technology can make the health-care system, the less time and red tape with which patients and their families need to contend, the better for all. The Canadian Government has put $2.4 billion into Canada Health Infoway, and re-injected another $500 million in its 2009 budget to set up electronic health record systems for physicians and service locations.
The U.S. has already invested $19 billion U.S. to develop the use of information technologies in the health sector, which include electronic prescribers.
ZMD’s efforts in this area have rewarded it lavishly; at least, so far this fiscal year. Late in April, ZMD released its financial statements for the nine months ended February 28, and reported revenues nearing $1 million, along with deferred revenues of nearly $1.2 million, totaling almost $2.2 million.
This compares with a total of $900,000 in the similar period the year before -- a leaps-and-bounds improvement of 242.65%, largely attributed to the agreements between a major pharmaceutical company and the ZRx Pharma Communication Network.
Best news of all, this stock can be had rather cheaply. Its 52-week high of 40 cents hasn’t been seen since early last May, before the price dipped to a low of 13 cents in November. The price registered in the lower half of that range in late April, at around 18 cents.
Given its revolutionary technology, and the strength of its bottom line, ZMD aims to make a lot of noise in the medical and investment communities in the coming months, noise that should not be ignored.
