Blog

Empathy is one way. Although urgent care’s bread and butter is speed, efficiency, and a streamlined visit process, that doesn’t mean care and concern can’t be interjected.

DocuTAP, a Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based provider of an integrated EHR (electronic health records) and practice management technology for urgent care providers, announced today it has raised $11.9 million in Series B funding from global venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP).

Eric McDonald, CEO of DocuTAP, was named the South Dakota Entrepreneur of the Year. The award is a new one. “It is fitting that Eric McDonald is the first recipient of this award as he also competed in the initial Governor’s Giant Vision Plan competition,” said Gov. Daugaard. “Throughout the past few years, Eric’s business has experienced explosive growth, and it is clear that he exemplifies the entrepreneurial traits and skills that we want to encourage and nurture here in South Dakota.”

The healthcare field is chock full of acronyms such as EMRs, EKGs, EEGs, BPMs, MRIs, PPOs, and plenty of cases of SOBs, shortness of breath, naturally. It can easily feel like TMI*. With so many shorthand versions for our terms do we really need one more?

Every organization is moving—even those that are standing still. That’s because movement is always relative to something else. So if the current of your industry is moving strongly forward, and you aren't, you’re losing ground. Even if you created the product everyone had to have last year, if you haven’t developed the next generation, you've fallen behind.

Everybody has a philosophy when it comes to buying gear such as skis, bikes or running equipment. Some people like to dip their toe in a sport by buying the base model, thinking that it will work just fine as they hone their skills. However, most people quickly outgrow base-level gear as they progress, finding themselves in need of better equipment that can go where they want to take it.

Perhaps the greatest deterrent to innovation is the fact that it is tied so closely to failure. This is hardly a revelation to most of you, I’m sure. Yet in our subconscious decision-making process lurks the question, “What if this doesn't work?”

The most difficult thing about writing is starting. That’s true for the novelist, the term-paper writer, and yes, the blogger. It’s relatively easy to come up with ideas. They’re always running through your head. But at some point, you have to translate all that into coherent thought. You have to sit down.