An Interview with Jim Kasoff, Vice President of Operations

By Michelle Said

Jim Kasoff

Sometimes, veering off the path can be the best thing a company can do for itself. Case in point: Antek HealthWare’s shift from targeting solutions for Fortune 500 companies to providing medical software to the health care industry. By doing so, the company has released the LabDAQ laboratory information system, its crown jewel. The company employs more than 55 software programmers, hardware and network specialists, and laboratory and billing experts in its headquarters in Reistertown, Md, and has regional sales offices in Florida, Texas, Illinois, Kansas, Ohio, and California.

CLP: Tell me about Antek HealthWare and the products and services it provides to the clinical lab industry.

Jim Kasoff: Antek HealthWare has been in the business of providing innovative medical software solutions to the health care market since 1985. Every day, more than 35,000 physicians depend on Antek to assist them with patient care.

The LabDAQ Laboratory Information System (LIS) was initially developed and released in 1991 as a DOS-based system. In late 1997, the first Windows®-based version was released. Over the years, Antek has continued to develop new features and options that provide the laboratory with the tools needed to respond to the demands they face every day.

Antek has now installed LabDAQ in more than 1,700 laboratories. Installations include hospitals, reference laboratories, physician’s office labs and clinics of all sizes. The system has also been installed in veterinary laboratories and laboratories that specialize in drug testing.

CLP: You initially targeted solutions for Fortune 500 companies, but now you mainly support medical solutions. How did this change come about?

Kasoff: Many companies are started for numerous reasons, then gradually, their specific skill sets are refined as opportunities come to them in the form of unmet customer needs (such as specific problem resolution). In our case, we were approached by physicians to build a custom LIS. Management quickly realized that there was a nationwide need in physician’s office laboratories for a full-featured LIS that was user-friendly. We saw this as an incredible opportunity and developed LabDAQ to meet this need. The rest is history.

CLP: What makes Antek different from the competition?

Kasoff: Our products, first and foremost. The LabDAQ system is a market leader for laboratory information systems because it is easy to navigate, flexible in design, and dynamic in use. It can also provide direct bidirectional interfaces to national reference laboratories, as well as interfaces with other software systems within the physician’s practice environment. This includes practice-management and electronic medical record (EMR) systems, which are driving overall connectivity opportunities within that market sector.

As an organization, Antek has built a reputation for innovation and responsiveness. We continue to evaluate needs in the market and to develop solutions for our customers, both in product features and new options. A prime example is our release of DAQbilling, our practice-management system.

DAQbilling provides a quick, easy way to schedule patients, file claims, and manage account receivables, while increasing efficiency and profitability. DAQbilling is a subscription service, so there are low start-up costs, no technical support fees, and no upgrade fees.

Antek responsiveness can be defined in several ways. First, our technical support department has a “best in class” reputation for being available and responsive to the needs of LabDAQ users. The term could also apply to the way Antek responds to the needs of the laboratory by developing tools and features that increase productivity and comply with the regulatory demands of the health care environment.

CLP: What is the greatest achievement in the company’s history?

Kasoff: The market introduction of LabDAQ3. It helped to broaden the overall market opportunity for us. We started with the core design of LabDAQ2 and used suggestions given to us from hundreds of clients to rebuild LabDAQ from the ground up. The new product allowed for true multitasking with a modular design for adding new features easily. The real trick was re-creating a LIS that would incorporate the advanced features we wanted, while maintaining the intuitive look and feel that our clients had grown accustomed to. Since the launch of LabDAQ3, sales at Antek have grown 100% and our technical-support department has doubled in size.

CLP: What are some of the challenges Antek has faced? What has the company done to overcome these issues?

Kasoff: One of our most significant challenges is managing our growth while still maintaining our overall responsiveness to customers and the market. Given our considerable growth over the past few years, it has been challenging to hire and train staff to keep up the pace. At the same time, we have to continuously keep our products up to date with the ever-evolving technology marketplace.

CLP: Where do you see the clinical lab industry heading?

Kasoff: The industry has continued to trend toward greater automation. This includes fully automated analyzer interfaces, medical-necessity checking, insurance filtering, and bidirectional reference lab interfaces. Physicians are really starting to review their internal efficiencies, and more clients are turning to solutions that integrate their practice. The most significant change is that electronic medical record systems are becoming more common in hospitals, clinics, and physician offices. In order to get the most out of an EMR, our clients are interfacing with the LIS and the practice-management system. This allows for seamless sharing of patient data from one system to the others.

CLP: Are there any products in development that Antek is planning on releasing in the near future?

Kasoff: Scheduled for introduction in Fall 2005, a newer version of LabDAQ will be designed to meet the needs of hospitals and larger clinical laboratory facilities. This full-featured, comprehensive LabDAQ includes modules such as a robust microbiology module, a comprehensive management-review module, and an intuitive and detailed insurance-filtering module. True bidirectional interfaces with regional and national reference laboratories, as well as HL7 interfaces to a host of EMRs and practice-management systems, are also included.

Antek will also begin development on its newest product, DAQchart. Completing our suite of innovative software solutions for physician’s practices, DAQchart is an intuitive charting solution that will allow providers to have an organized patient-charting system while maintaining the same “feel” as their current paper-charting system.

CLP: Where do you see Antek in 5 years?

Kasoff: We fully expect to keep pace with the ever-changing regulatory environment. We realize that in order to maintain our market leadership position, we will have to continually update our software. We expect to see the trend of sharing of medical data to accelerate. Our HL7 interface department is already preparing by hiring additional resources, and our programming department is continually enhancing our interface capabilities. As we move forward, we will be offering the full suite of software products for the physician’s office: LabDAQ (LIS), DAQbilling (PMS), and DAQchart (EMR).

CLP: What would you like CLP readers to learn about Antek?

Kasoff: Antek would like your readers to know that we are fully committed to delivering the best product and the best technical support possible.

I believe our mission statement says it perfectly: “Antek is dedicated to the development of advanced software solutions designed to facilitate the practice of medicine. By understanding the needs of our customers and the markets we serve, we strive to offer intuitive solutions that exceed expectations with quality products and superior after-sales support.”

What truly sets Antek apart from the other companies in our industry is our overall responsiveness to both specific customer requests and meeting overall market needs.