DocuTAP Shows Explosive Growth at SDTBC

By: Stephen Thurman

The South Dakota Technology Business Center continues to prove its value in nurturing start-up technology companies. One year ago, Eric McDonald was the sole employee and founder of DocuTAP, occupying 750 square feet in the incubator facility while developing “intuitive software solutions for physician practices.” Today, the company has grown into 2,800 square feet, employs twelve and is looking to double or triple employee numbers by the end of 2006.

DocuTAP has created a system for making medical clinics paper-free. The hardware and software combination provides for greater efficiency and accuracy in clinic practices, is flexible for individual physician preferences and incorporates a unique pricing structure that makes the system attractive. “We’ve found that 60% to 80% of the market is actively looking for a solution today,” McDonald said. “The federal government is telling clinics to move in this direction, and patients are very receptive to the convenience and practicality of a paper-free clinic.”

The DocuTAP solution incorporates tablet personal computers for complete mobility, McDonald said. Each step of the clinic visit can be logged in real time and additions made to the patient record immediately. The physician and nurse have immediate access to the complete patient record, without flipping through endless pages in a bulky file folder.

The company works only with clinics, seeking to fill a niche in the health services market. In addition, DocuTAP is using a vertical marketing approach, working with certain key specialties and striving to be the best in the world at serving those medical specialists.

The strategy seems to be working. DocuTAP is projecting sales to quintuple this year, with a goal of acquiring 50 to 100 new contracts nationally. McDonald attributes the rapid growth, in part, to the Technology Business Center and its resources. “We could never afford the sophisticated telephone system available to us here,” he said, “or the internet connection and we certainly wouldn’t have had the guaranteed power back-up of this facility’s double generators, which is so important to a technology company.”

DocuTAP’s growth has created a bond between the company and the community, McDonald said. The company has hired recent graduates from Sioux Falls educational facilities and plans to continue to do so as DocuTAP grows. “We’re grateful for the opportunity to start up and grow in Sioux Falls,” he said. “When California tries to recruit us to move our company there, we’ll just say, no thanks—we’ll keep growing right here in Sioux Falls.”