about us
homeIn 1982 equipped with a Zenith Z100, a single user operating system and a vision, Rick Palen set out to write a software program that would manage his father’s, James Palen, MD's,  medical practice as well as keeping an electronic medical record. There were several limitations at the time due to the level of technological development. Rick would need an operating system that could handle multiple terminals and a large enough hard disk to store the data. Unfortunately the largest hard disk available on microcomputers was 20 megabytes (not Gigabytes), and no multi-user operating system was available for microcomputers. So Rick wrote an XIOS for the MPM operating system so it could be used on the Z-100 computer.  Initially, due to hard disk constraints, the EMR software only saved the current demographics, medication list, problem list, allergies, and operations and illnesses, nursing notes and lab since the last visit, and the last four progress notes.  Over the next ten years Rick worked on what would become a state of the art software package for the physician’s office. In 1993, hard disk storage,  processor speed, and operating system improvements allowed Pal/Med to save all data and eliminate the paper chart completely.
Dr. Palen and his son Rick had taken the software to market as Pal/Med The Complete Medical Office System. In 1993 Pal/Med was designated as the preferred EMR software by IBM and was marketed as such. In the following years Pal/Med was installed in more than 250 offices across several states. Pal/Med won high marks in professional publications for its design, capabilities, and ease of use.
In 2001 Rick put further development of Pal/Med on hold to attend medical school. The new Dr. Palen graduated at the top of his class, completed a Family Medicine Residency and returned home to practice family medicine with his father, James Palen, MD. The Dr’s Palen were practicing medicine in an office that had been virtually paperless since 1993, but change had come. Technology had caught up to their vision of what an EMR could be and  Certification would be required.  It was time for a major update. Simply updating the current version would not be sufficient to put Pal/Med back at the top of the class. Rick insisted that a rewrite would be needed.
Over the next year, Rick worked to rewrite Pal/Med in Java. The result was a version of EMR software that is elegant in its simplicity and dramatic in its capability.  Pal/Med utilizes the best of today’s technology to be hardware platform independent, while accommodating the unique nature of the physician’s workflow. In 2011 Pal/Med was ONC/ATCB certified as a Complete Ambulatory EMR and Pal/Med Development LLC. was founded.  With a mission to improve the quality of patient care, improve physician productivity,  and control the cost of establishing and maintaining a quality EMR, Pal/Med EMR is being sold to large medical enterprises with in-house IT departments who desire full access to source code.
Our History
Pal/Med Development is an EMR software company that has been writing electronic medical record software since 1983.  Pal/Med Development  provides a Complete Certified EMR, with or without EMR source code, to organizations that desire full control of their computerized medical records. Pal/Med is a Complete Ambulatory EMR. With a mission to improve the quality of patient care, improve physician productivity, and control the cost of establishing and maintaining a quality EMR,  Pal/Med EMR is available with full access to its source code.  This means there is no further cost for licensing.  Modifications and support can be provided in-house. Pal/Med was designed and written by physicians from start to finish, so you can be sure that nothing was “lost in translationâ€?. Source is in Java and the program runs independent of hardware platform constraints. Our EMR reflects the unique nature of the physician’s workflow. Pal/Med  provides "real-time" charting without coming between the physician and the patient. Â
Copyright 2011: Pal/Med Development. Electronic Medical Record Software. All rights reserved.
3129 Blattner Drive
Cape Girardeau, MO Â 63703-6364
573-823-1553 |Â sales@palmedemr.com
