After rebranding, Datica represents Madison at 2017 HIMSS conference

After rebranding in early February, Datica will be representing Madison along with other health technology companies at the 2017 HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition in Orlando.

Previously known as Catalyze, Datica facilitates secure data exchange between health applications and electronic health record systems. It also works to remove HIPAA compliance as a burden to innovation.

Datica will have a booth at this week’s Healthcare Information & Management Systems Society conference alongside other companies based in the Madison region such as HealthX Ventures, Forward Health Group, ImageMoverMD, Nordic and others.

While the original name captured the founders’ vision for the company when it was created in 2013, securing the trademark with the Patent and Trademark Office turned out to be problematic, according to a blog post by Datica co-founder and chief privacy officer Travis Good.

“It should be no surprise that after almost 3 years of litigation with the USPTO, we ended up not receiving a trademark for Catalyze,” Good said. “While there were no direct competitors, the office’s final ruling stated the name is too generic a verb throughout the industries of healthcare and technology to receive a trademark.”

Since Good and co-founder Mohan Balachandran came up with the name, other companies, such as Amazon, have launched initiatives using the name.

Realizing this name was less than unique, the company underwent a rebranding effort in 2016, an experience Good calls a “rollercoaster.”

“The high-highs of finding a perfect name are quickly shattered by the low-lows of uncovering a deal breaker,” he said. “It is almost impossible to own anything unique on the Internet in 2017.”

Challenges aside, the company was able to find a name that was “short, sweet, and phonetically pleasing,” in Datica, and is moving forward with a completely retooled website and redesigned company logo.

The company, which secured a $6.5 million million Series B funding round in late 2016, filed a trademark for the new name in November. It has raised over $12.5 million since it began, and has established partners in Cleveland Clinic, Texas Health Resources, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin, Aurora Health Care and others.

“Greater Madison’s constellation of industry strength, talent pipeline and entrepreneurial spirit shows our region is well-positioned for continued growth in healthtech – and the world is taking notice,” said Zach Brandon, president of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce. “Greater Madison has a tremendous story to tell, and HIMSS will serve as a terrific showcase for our companies that are importing global talent and exporting global solutions to some of healthcare’s biggest challenges.”

Good says Datica is striving for a future of complete connection between different technologies in the healthcare system, but remains realistic about when this lofty vision could be realized.

“True interoperability is years, if not decades, away from realization,” Good said. “We don’t pretend to think Datica or anyone else has a silver bullet for absolute interoperability, but connecting vendors and solutions to health systems is how innovation happens, and decade-old EHRs with limitations and archaic protocols aren’t helping.”

–By Alex Moe
WisBusiness.com