Richard Atkin
President
Professional
I joined the Sunquest Information Systems organization in December 2005 as President; Prior to that I was President and CEO of two medical device companies: Datex-Ohmeda Inc. and Spacelabs Medical Inc.
Education
My undergraduate studies were at the University of Wales in the UK; I have a double honors BSc degree in Physics and Materials Science; and an MBA from the Business School at Imperial College, University of London, England.
Personal
I am a board member of two charitable organizations: Elk Shoals, a team-building camp in the mountains of North Carolina, and American Interface Camps, which brings together 10-15 year olds from the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian religions to learn and grow in an outward-bound type of environment. My other interests include reading, music of all types, and classic sports cars.
Sunquest provides software solutions to automate laboratory operations and diagnostic processes. Sunquest’s solutions are the result of a deeply held belief system:
- We believe that the foundation of an efficient and effective healthcare system is an efficient and effective laboratory operation.
- We believe that the best patient outcomes at the lowest overall cost of treatment are enabled by fast, accurate, error-free lab results.
- We believe physicians and caregivers require intuitive, accessible solutions that operate and interoperate seamlessly.
Our belief system drives our expertise. Sunquest develops, delivers, and supports highly scalable, high-reliability, expert software solutions that fully automate the operations of laboratory and diagnostic processes across the entire continuum of care.
Our core markets are the U.S., Canada, UK, Ireland, Western Europe, Mideast, and Australia. We have a broad suite of solutions including full function AP-LIS and CP-LIS with Microbiology, Molecular, Blood Bank, and Sample Management modules. In addition, we offer solutions for in-patient and ambulatory certified Meaningful Use; together with comprehensive interfacing; point of care; outreach business management; and highly configurable ordering, resulting and operations dash boarding capabilities.
The Microbiology module of Sunquest Laboratory allows laboratories to optimize operations pertaining to infectious disease. Microbiology-specific features support paperless, efficient workflow and the delivery of results and information needed by care providers to make informed diagnoses.
Sunquest Blood Bank is fully integrated with our laboratory information system to simplify installation, maintenance, and training as well as protect patient safety and eliminate repeat phlebotomies. It works with Sunquest Transfusion Manager to create a closed-loop system for blood testing and transfusion, reducing errors, and promoting patient safety.
Specimen management, routing, and tracking solution (SMART) ensures specimen control. Laboratories face many challenges due to increasing test volumes and cost pressures. A new level of manufacturing-like workflow automation is required to drive efficiency into the lab. Sunquest Specimen Management Routing and Tracking enables labs to route and track uniquely identified lab specimens, using functionality similar to an automated line. With SMART, laboratories are able to fulfill patient safety objectives, reduce errors, maintain secure patient data, and support efficient workflow.
Sunquest Outreach Advantage is a suite of laboratory outreach solutions designed to manage outreach business, leverage laboratory capacity, and build relationships with community physicians. Outreach Advantage allows users to manage a network of providers, which is useful not only for outreach business but for accountable care organizations as well. As providers consolidate and testing diffuses, labs will become the central repository for information, and outreach solutions can help a lab manage the transfer of testing requests and results as well as specimen tracking within the provider network.
Pathology solutions are designed for reliable analysis and reporting. Sunquest CoPathPlus and Sunquest PowerPath are well-established systems with a large user community. They are workflow engines designed specifically to meet the unique needs of Anatomic Pathology labs and fully integrate with Sunquest Laboratory and other Sunquest products. Our solutions allow for specimen tracking integrated into the case management workflow, providing our clients with end-to-end visibility into their lab. Reports can be tailored to incorporate images and diagrams, and the Sunquest digital pathology interface brings digital images directly into the case management workflow. This provides access to the right images at the right time so pathologists can include them for the right analysis and reporting.
Sunquest supports its customers with education and training. Our commitment to providing our clients with ongoing education and training is something that truly sets us apart. Just a few of the recent initiatives that come to mind include webinars through our Sunquest Healthcare University, extensive training, and thought leadership venues like Sunquest Executive Summit. We are committed to educating our clients so they can continue to provide the best care possible to all of their patients. Over the past nine months, we have conducted 15 webinars with more than 2,000 attendees.
Planning for future growth is ongoing. Sunquest will continue to invest in expanding the capabilities of our core solutions to support the mainstream adoption of digital pathology, the convergence of anatomic and clinical pathology, and the formation of accountable care organizations. Each of these has the potential to transform healthcare. In our view, transformation of the healthcare system is not possible with the basic capabilities offered by enterprise modules. Transformation requires full function expert systems. Sunquest is committed to leadership in the industry and providing solutions that enable the transformation of the diagnostic process. Our robust roadmap is based on client and market input, and our value proposition is to help our clients articulate a vision, make that vision real and accessible, and then deliver and support those solutions on time and on budget.
