Searching for an integrated dictation and transcription system is nothing new to the founders of EMDAT—Steve Palmisano, Jeff Olver and Kevin Saliga had all experienced the struggles of implementing separate dictation and transcription systems, each associated with significant costs.

In the mid-1990s when Steve was CIO for a large multi-specialty group, he was yet again disappointed by the group’s dictation and transcription services. His staff set out to find a solution that incorporated dictation, transcription and a repository that enabled clinicians to view transcriptions online for anytime, anywhere access. This search proved fruitless—no such solution existed in the healthcare industry at the time.

In 1998, Steve met Jeff and Kevin, both professionals in the healthcare industry, to discuss the idea of creating an integrated dictation and transcription system that housed all information on secure servers for easy 24-hour access by clinicians. Over the next year, the three founders developed EMDAT, enabling medical facilities to purchase one system that fulfilled all of their dictation and transcription needs. With this one solution, clinicians can dictate, sign and access their dictation and transcriptions securely online, anytime.

Keeping in mind their experiences as healthcare professionals, the founders have continued to maintain four essential principles as EMDAT continues to gain momentum in the industry: no upfront costs or maintenance fees; no contracts allow clients to cancel at any time should they be dissatisfied; the ability to choose your transcription company to fit your needs—over 120 transcription companies are on the EMDAT network, and no complicated instructions or hours devoted to training—the system is intuitive and user-friendly for any facility or practice.

Since 1999, the EMDAT solution has been implemented in over 1000 medical facilities and groups with over 30,000 individual users.