Our Past
Originally, EXTENSION, INC. sought to establish a tight integration between Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Cisco Unified Communications (UC) through a suite of applications. The idea stemmed from the experience of implementing EMR systems and the obstacles that healthcare practices and physicians faced when doing so.
As our research continued and feedback was obtained from clinical staff in various enterprise settings, it became apparent that the integration was incomplete given that one must make decisions between specific functionalities. This emphasized one of the most unique aspects of a healthcare system – each application, even for the same specialty, needs to interact with data in different ways. It was realized that providing an application for specific purposes would not achieve the goal of increasing the availability of data.
That was when EXTENSION decided to develop an adaptable framework that could easily be configured and maintained by an onsite administrator so that the healthcare facility would not be required to write code to perform certain functions – such as delivering the right clinical data, to the right person, at the right time. Under the leadership of Todd Plesko, Chief Executive Officer, and Steve Tyler, Chief Technology Officer, the EXTENSION Engine was born.
Our Present
EXTENSION has been recognized throughout the medical community for its revolutionary alerting solutions. Recently, EXTENSION was named a 2011 Tech Innovator by UBM Channel’s CRN in the Software-Enterprise Management category. Our product portfolio has been expanded to include bundled solutions for medical organizations that wish to buy a pre-defined collection of our most popular workflow solutions. Furthermore, EXTENSION has truly become a device-inclusive platform offering clinical alerting on Android, Apple, Ascom, Cisco, Polycom, and Vocera communication tools. By strategically collaborating with leading technology providers, EXTENSION will continue to develop valuable and cutting-edge solutions.
Our Future
As we look to the future, we will continue to invest in research and development to ensure we create solutions that the medical community wants and needs. Our product roadmap is robust and full of exciting enhancements and new solutions. With a laser focus on our mission statement to evolve healthcare with context-aware, interactive communication, EXTENSION will continue to transform the way patients, clinicians, and healthcare staff members communicate and engage with one another.
EXTENSION Timeline:
2006
- Development begins on the EXTENSION Engine – the core of all EXTENSION bundled solutions
- Decision is made to build the Engine solely for the healthcare community
2009
- EXTENSION, INC. is founded
- EXTENSION develops bundled solutions for ambulatory practices and acute-care environments
- Cisco approves EXTENSION as SIP-certified (Solutions Incentive Partner)
- Allscripts, Cisco, and EXTENSION collaborate and develop the Digital Physicians Office (DPO) solution
- EXTENSION accepted into the Cisco Developer Network
2010
- Strategic partnerships and solutions developed with AeroScout, Arc Solutions, and GetWellNetwork
- EXTENSION wins Cisco ‘Collaboration Partner of the Year for US and Canada’ for DPO
- EXTENSION ships its first appliance internationally to Asia-Pac
2011
- EXTENSION Mobile smartphone/tablet app goes live on the Apple AppStore, Android Market, and Cisco AppHQ
- EXTENSION launches Device Messaging – a revolutionary solution that connects corporate IP phones to smartphones through HIPAA-compliant, text-based messaging
- EXTENSION integrates with Vocera communication badges and smartphones, Polycom WiFi handsets, and Ascom wireless phones
- EXTENSION, INC. receives the 2011 Tech Innovator award from CRN in the Software-Enterprise Management category