Kiwi health start-up goes global with Spark’s cloud technology

Spark and its subsidiary Revera have paved the way for Kiwi tech company Medi-Map to take on the global stage and revolutionise the primary health sector since adopting Platform as a Service (PaaS).
 
Medi-Map is a Christchurch start-up founded by Greg Garratt, a pharmacist with 25 years’ experience and Chris Parmenter, a software developer. Both spotted a gap in the market and developed a cloud-based solution that allows health practitioners to focus more on the patient and less on paperwork by digitalising the charting, administration, supply and communication between the prescriber, pharmacy and care facility.
 
Since launching five years ago, the Kiwi-engineered software has obtained mass demand from international markets, including Australia and Canada. However, due to data sovereignty, Medi-Map’s previous platform could not provide services outside the borders of New Zealand.
 
“We had a terrific solution to innovate the primary health sector, but we had no road to take it to the world stage. Working with Spark meant we had the perfect cloud architecture designed just for us in only three months. Now we have five times the capacity to take on new business in Australia and soon-to-be Canada and while data is stored and controlled over there, I can still manage the software and service right here from our New Zealand office” says Greg. 
 
To grow in the Australian market, Medi-Map taps into Revera’s CloudCreator and Spark’s managed server service. Together, the two provide a seamless management platform with access into Microsoft Azure Services to deliver Medi-Maps electronic chart platform to Australian facilities across aged care, mental health, hospice, community and rehabilitation.
 
Spark’s Business Development Manager, Josh Hobbs says CloudCreater pulls in the management of Microsoft Azure Services under the Spark PaaS umbrella while still allowing Medi-Map access to local support, management with real time data and combined billing under one service in New Zealand.
 
“Spark enables Kiwi companies to expand internationally without the hassle of dealing with multiple providers or third-parties. Companies can have peace of mind knowing that the service is supported by outstanding data centres and technical experts working day and night to ensure the platform is always working optimally – even if the situation occurs when there is an outage or a disaster at one site, the service still remains available,” says Josh.
 
Since using PaaS, Medi-Map has recorded over 20% savings in running costs alone and without having to worry about the day-to-day functioning of the software, there is time for further innovation.
 
“For us at Medi-Map, we believe Spark has what it takes to help us raise the bar of quality in the health sector and we see them as a key partner as we move ahead in other e-health ventures,” says Greg.
 
Later this year Medi-Map are due to pilot a first-ever electronic prescription service for methadone users through a partnership with addiction services. Also in the pipeline is a new community patient app that Medi-Map has designed to help people with diabetes, asthma, heart disease or mental health directly manage their medication with their GP and pharmacist through PaaS.
 
In addition to PaaS, Spark is also Medi-Map’s supplier for telecommunications and broadband.