Recovery act rules help Utah company hit record revenue

DRAPER — A Utah software business is raking in record profits thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Headquartered in the south end of the Salt Lake Valley since 2000, AdvancedMD is signing up dozens of doctor's offices for its medical records and billing software program. It recently broke the threshold of 3,800 clients and 1.5 million processed claims.

Doctors using this program or others like it will each get up to $44,000 in 2011 if they prove to the federal government that electronic medical billing and records systems are being used efficiently, according to AdvancedMD vice president of marketing Jim Elliot. More than $30 billion is available nationwide for the program, which is also being used by medical records companies such as AllScripts.

AdvancedMD stands apart by using the Internet rather than local servers to store and process information, Elliot said. That allows AdvancedMD to monitor the changing policies of more than 1,400 insurance companies, so more claims are accepted, he said. By one count, the average rate of claim denial, 30 percent, was reduced to just 2 percent with the program.

In January, the Draper company acquired PracticeOne, a records company certified by the Commission for Health Information Technology. In November, the business will move to a new building near 10600 South.

In the first quarter of 2010, AdvancedMD had record revenue of more than $8 million, 20 percent of which will go back into software development.

Elliot said that most of the company's nearly 200 employees are locals, but some new executives have moved to Utah and are loving it.

"They find there's not a better place on earth to raise kids," said Elliot, who lives in Park City. "We're really starting to hit our stride."

e-mail: rpalmer@desnews.com