Making a private entrance

JASON HUNT/Press Lynn Settle, left, Tom Leach, and Mark Rissmann of Drifting Sands LLC stand in their basement office.

Companies combine on electronic sign-in system

COEUR d'ALENE -- What offshore software companies couldn't do in a timely and affordable manner, a pair of North Idaho consultants could and did.

When Signature Symphony Software of Sebring, Fla., tried to get more bang for its buck while developing an electronic sign-in system for medical facilities, it sought assistance outside U.S. borders.

"It seemed too good to be true, and it was," said Dennis Ostrowski, CEO of Signature Symphony Software. "Consulting companies here in the United States were charging hourly development fees that we could not afford."

The solution?

"Outsource our extra work overseas," said Ostrowski. "It worked well to start, but when our U.S.-based developer left for bigger and better things we turned the whole project over to our overseas helpers. That's when things started heading south in a hurry. They just did not take ownership of the project. Deadlines were missed and specifications were misunderstood. The considerable time zone differences compounded the problem."

By a turn of good luck, Ostrowski made contact with Drifting Sands LLC, the Coeur d'Alene consulting firm of Markus Rissman and Lynn Settle.

That connection put Drifting Sands and Signature in touch, and now the two companies are partnering to market the patient-tracking and signature-capture software.

Signature two years ago was developing an electronic sign-in system to meet government-mandated Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act rules on confidentiality of patients.

In many offices, a sheet of paper on a counter is used for patients to sign in, allowing any subsequent patients to see who is visiting, and sometimes why they're there.

Under HIPPA, that information must be kept private.

"Many doctors just black out the name with a pen," said Rissman. "In a small town, you can find out what's wrong with everybody pretty fast."

Because of the low cost of doing business in North Idaho, Rissman and Settle were able to finish the work at a price Signature could afford.

"These two guys saved the project," said Ostrowski. "They got us back on schedule, fixed the code, took us to the next level and they did it all within our budget."

Drifting Sands now represents the Florida company in this region, with Thomas Leach recently hired as the Northwest sales manager for the system.

Prices range from $500 to "six figures," said Rissman, depending on the number of computers on which it is to be installed.

Information: 659-4344