Bookmark
Share this site
Print this page
Site mapHistory
SYSTOC Origins
In 1977, Benjamin MacArthur and members of the Redington Memorial Association, a charitable healthcare trust serving rural Maine, decided to support attempts to improve the treatment of injured workers in hopes that the runaway growth in workers' compensation premiums for local businesses could be controlled.
To direct the project, they recruited William Newkirk, MD, who the previous year had won a research award from the American College of Surgeons for his work on using mathematical models to predict medical outcomes. Dr. Newkirk and the Redington Association decided to bet that the recently invented micro-computer (later to be renamed the "personal computer") would be critical in solving the workers' compensation cost crisis. Over the next three years, Dr. Newkirk wrote SYSTOC®, the first commercially successful occupational health software for personal computers.
SYSTOC entered clinical trial use at one Maine hospital in 1982. By the end of 1985, ten Maine hospitals were using SYSTOC to manage their occupational medicine programs.
OHR Incorporates
In 1985, the network hospitals, the Redington Memorial Association, and Dr. Newkirk determined that the most cost-effective way to continue technical development was to form a core organization that all the network members could rely on for technical development and training. They incorporated Occupational Health Research (OHR) and recruited Michael Keller, president of Downeast Digital, Inc., to become Vice President (later President) and Director of Software Development. The OHR network has been expanding ever since.
In 1988, the American Hospital Association (AHA), aware of hospitals’ rapidly increasing interest in occupational medicine, contracted with Dr. Newkirk and OHR to produce the first textbook for hospital occupational medicine program design and management. Occupational Health Services: A Guide to Program Planning and Management was published in 1989 and became the AHA’s top selling text.
[top]
Milestones
By 1990, the network had expanded to 23 states. OHR added SYSTOC Link to allow employers and insurers to connect electronically with occupational health programs. OHR also developed computer-aided instruction to help network physicians prepare for the occupational medicine specialty board examination. By 1991, over 100 locations used SYSTOC and OHR began to set up large multi-site occupational health networks.
In 1992, the AHA contracted for a second book, which was published in 1993, titled Occupational Health Services: Practical Strategies for Improving Quality and Controlling Costs. This textbook was as successful as the first.
By 1995, SYSTOC was in use at over 250 locations in 40 states. OHR introduced SYSTOC Online to allow electronic, encrypted medical record transfer.
The network provided care to over 100,000 employers in 42 states by 1996. Subsequently, Ohio hospitals asked OHR to develop a provider-owned, workers' compensation managed care organization (MCO). The MCO, the Ohio Employee Health Partnership, is now the seventh largest workers' compensation MCO in Ohio serving over 8400 employers. It is believed to be the first managed care organization built on an Internet-based information system.
In 1998, OHR moved to its new state-of-the-art research center in Skowhegan, Maine.
In 1999, SYSTOC 7 was released. The SYSTOC Healthcare Network was formed to give occupational healthcare providers group purchasing power.
In 2000, OHR developed a comprehensive, interactive, computer-based training CD for SYSTOC. The SYSTOC Healthcare Network began offering discounted drug testing services to its members, with Internet-based data transfer between the laboratory and SYSTOC. WebSYSTOC made its debut, enabling clinics to access their SYSTOC installation from the Internet.
In 2002, OHR acquired The Stolas Group, developers of the widely used StolaSystem software.
In 2004, OHR released SYSTOC 7.2, the most significant software advance in the company’s history. This software provided an electronic medical records system fully integrated with database, billing, and communications functions.
Expansion continued in 2006 with the construction of an annex adjacent to the corporate headquarters in Skowhegan, Maine.
SYSTOC had moved beyond its occupational health origins, and by 2007 SYSTOC had incorporated additional features appealing to urgent care, rehab, wellness, and multi-use clinics.
OHR has also continued its pioneering path by offering cloud computing to its SYSTOC clients in 2008, supported by a state-of-the-art data facility based in Florida.
In 2009 OHR added more robust electronic billing options with the advent of SYSTOC_EDI. And with the development of OHR Kiosk, patients could conveniently fill out medical forms on their home computer before heading to the clinic for their appointments.
[top]
