In the mid 90's, Douglas Kegler, founder of CollaborateMD, saw that the healthcare community was in dire need of an improved practice management and medical billing solution. As a computer programmer and software engineer by trade, with years of experience in the healthcare sector, Kegler knew that a better solution existed.

Kegler had begun writing several DOS and Windows-based dental and medical billing programs in 1989, but found a common problem with his and other programs: medical offices had to install, maintain, and support their own server, database, and connections with the clearinghouse or insurance companies, which greatly increased costs. Moreover, software in the medical field was cluttered with hundreds of menus, making them difficult to navigate, impossible to maintain, and altogether too expensive for practices with less than 25 physicians.

As his interest in finding a better solution turned into a determination to design and develop the software himself, Kegler paid the bills with a "day job" that was still supporting a Windows medical billing application written in Pascal for a large billing service in Syracuse, NY. Meanwhile, the rise of Web applications throughout the banking, trading, retail, and media industries in 1997 intrigued Kegler, and undoubtedly served as the catalyst that drove him to choose the speed and flexibility of the Internet as the foundation on which he would later build his software.

Still in the brainstorming phase, Kegler solicited feedback from both a well-known neurologist who had used a medical billing program Kegler wrote in 1993 called Quicfa, and his Syracuse-based billing service client. Both expressed interest in the idea but shared hesitations about transferring data over the Web due to concerns about security.

In early 1998, Kegler turned away from creating a browser-based application, fearing it would be too slow, as most users were on dial-up modems at the time. Choosing instead a C++ or Java client/server application, Kegler could maintain the software, database, and clearinghouse connections from his Company, enabling customers to focus on medical billing, practice management and patient care. The system would be designed with intuitive screens and easy-to-navigate menus, making week-long training sessions a thing of the past.

Continuing into 1999, Kegler worked non-stop on weekends and nights to design and develop his Internet-based system. As he neared completion of his first beta version, he contacted his two previous clients from Syracuse, NY, who both agreed to test the system.

Thousands of hours later, Kegler distributed a press release in May 1999, informing the healthcare sector he would soon release the first Internet-based medical billing software. The official version publicly launched in January 2000. The Syracuse-based neurologist liked the system so much that he signed up as a client, and is still a client today.

Once the system was built, Kegler realized he needed to make it affordable to billing services and practices of all sizes. He set a low set-up fee to cover implementation, and a low monthly fee to cover the costs of system usage, software updates and maintenance, customer support, and clearinghouse fees.

The end result was CollaborateMD: an Internet-based practice management and medical billing solution that is simple, efficient, and affordable. Today, we have users in every state in the country. Contact us now to find out what’s in store for tomorrow.

Be the leader in medical office management and medical billing software by providing superior healthcare solutions.

To provide superior software, support and services that will enable small- to medium-sized medical offices and medical billing services to effectively manage their offices.

We treat our customers with respect, loyalty, and integrity.

The CollaborateMD Way serves as a guideline for the working environment at CollaborateMD. It defines the way we treat each other and the way we work with our customers. We are committed to these values:

• We treat each other with respect, fairness and courtesy. We are slow to anger. We do not tolerate rude or abusive behavior.
• We consider it a privilege to work together. We acknowledge, recognize and value our working relationships. We do not let each other fail.
• We lead by example and are role models for each other.
• We trust, believe and empower each other to exercise our individual strengths.
• We solve problems at our own level. We identify causes and we do not place blame. We make escalations the exceptions, not the norm.
• We communicate across departments and between levels. We are open to constructive comments and input from others.
• We foster a positive work environment and do not let negative attitudes consume us.
• We take charge of our professional development and we make time to train, develop, coach and mentor each other.

Douglas Kegler, president and CEO, founded CollaborateMD (formerly XGear Technologies) in 1999 just before publicly launching the industry's first Internet-based practice management and electronic medical billing software, ClaimGear.

Upon graduating from SUNY at Fredonia in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a concentration in business, Kegler had already written his first billing program which was designed for dental billing. He soon joined TDH Medical Systems as a software developer responsible for supporting McKesson practice management software. It was at TDH that Kegler wrote Quicfa, a stand-alone claim submission program used by many physicians and a key neurologist that would later become the first ClaimGear user.

Kegler moved on to work for Recra Environmental, and later took a contractor position with Lockheed Martin, where he was the lead developer for the AFIS (automatic fingerprint information system) back-up unit. It wasn't until Kegler took a position with FedEx in 1998 that he began researching, planning and developing ClaimGear in his spare time.

Over the next 18 months, Kegler and his fiancée wed, bought their first house, had their first child, launched XGear Technologies, and learned that twin baby girls were on their way. With family support and great determination, Kegler quit his full-time job to build the company he had long-envisioned, CollaborateMD.

Evelyn Rodriguez, vice president of customer support, was recruited to the CollaborateMD team in 2004 after nearly a decade of experience working in the healthcare industry. With an education in nursing and a career specialty of medical billing, Rodriguez now manages a team of 12 analysts, representatives and implementation specialists to support almost 3,000 system users. Rodriguez and her team handle tens of thousands of cases each year, providing support, building customer loyalty and ensuring the highest level of quality service for our users.

Patrick Mann, vice president of software operations, was brought on-board in 2002 to assist CollaborateMD president & CEO, Douglas Kegler, in initial development of the application. Mann now leads the team responsible for all product research and development. Prior to joining our team, Mann graduated cum laude from the University of Central Florida with a degree in computer science, worked for the Florida Department of State as a software engineer, and later served as senior software engineer for ISR Global Telecom.

According to the 2008 Inc. 5000 list of Fastest-Growing Private Companies, CollaborateMD is:

• 1,173 out of 5,000
• 86 out of top 100 software companies
• 5 out of 15 software companies in Florida
• 223 out of 888 companies in the southeast United States
• 67 out of 260 Florida-based companies

A message from CollaborateMD President & CEO:
"We are proud of our accomplishments and pleased to be recognized as a stand-out in an industry brimming with so many talented software providers. Our ranking is in part attributable to our software’s hybrid platform, which combines the best of both browser- and server-based solutions to provide a more cost-effective and intuitive solution from which our customers greatly benefit."

Our ranking is also a direct reflection of the 320% growth we’ve experienced over 2004 to 2007. To read more about this award, check out our press release.

Congratulations to the entire CollaborateMD team!