I sat down with Liderman Duin who is the founder of Bluepoint2, a KC software startup, to discuss his experiences as a software founder, healthcare consultant, and current Pipeline fellow. We had met previously at a Pipeline recruiting event held at the Omaha Press Club earlier this summer. His story like many other founder stories is one of perseverance, experimentation, and team.
Bluepoint2 began seven years ago as a healthcare consulting firm. “For a while, those first few years it was just me” said Duin. “I was a healthcare consultant and it was going well, but I recognized that software was where I needed to be. I reinvested the profits from the consulting side back into building the software side of the business.”
Bluepoint2 evolved to become a software solution that helps bridge the communication gap between patients and doctor’s offices. This creates a significant improvement in efficiency at the doctor’s office, but also makes the visit less cumbersome for the patient. It is a win-win type of product. According to the company’s website, the mission of the company is “to streamline communication with patients prior to their appointments. Viewpoint’s automated registration frees [doctor’s] staff from the hour hours typically spent trying to contact patients.” The entity does this with a full EHR integrated software solution that ensures that patient records and changes are kept up to date in the system. Duin and his team’s background with Cerner is a tremendous strategic advantage regarding how their software needs to work.
Duin stated he is and has been focused on growing the company organically through sales rather than using outside investors. “We developed a vision and a plan for the software based upon our consulting experience within the healthcare industry specifically around electronic medical records (EMR) and the time spend that is required currently in clinics to maintain them. We developed a solution, then we found customers that wanted the specific pieces.” Using this strategy, Bluepoint2 was able to fund the build of their mobile platform, Navi.
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One of the difficulties in building software solutions in this manner is the desire by customers for custom solutions. Many well-founded software companies have used the consulting path to turn their basic ideas into a product, but the road of customization is littered with companies that wanted to become products that could never make the pivot to full product, SaaS offerings. Bluepoint2 is in the midst of this transition today – trying to make that difficult pivot. This is one of the reasons that Duin sought out the Pipeline Entrepreneurs program.
In Bluepoint2’s case, clients often want products customized to their specific needs rather than software that fits the broader market. I asked Liderman how he navigates this problem within the healthcare industry. He stated, “We have to be very selective and stay in our lane. Much of the time it will depend upon whether or not we see a customized solution as a broader fit with our current products or filling a need in the market at large.”
The current Bluepoint2 team consists of 12 people working on improving the patient experience in hospitals and clinics. Their software, Navi, is a mobile platform that helps patients navigate their medical appointments. Navi allows patients to fill out forms, learn about their upcoming procedure, and make payments directly from their phones. This shift to online payments makes sense for healthcare – as 58% of of Smartphone users made payments using their phone during 2016, and more than $189 billion was spent using mobile payment platforms in 2018.
The company is currently seeking customers that are using EHR’s but want to streamline their admission and payments process. Their products are built to deal with this specific problem and are integrated into many back office systems. And, the company now has a strong regional and growing national presence.
For more information visit https://www.bluepoint2.com
