PointClickCare’s Software Dominates Senior Care
Mississauga-grown PointClickCare is revolutionizing how senior care is delivered across North America through their cloud-based electronic health records software.
Over 17 years, the Canadian software as a service company has quietly grown to nearly 1,400 employees in five offices across Canada and the United States.
At the helm of the Mississauga-based company is Mike Wessinger. He dreamed up the idea for an assisted living and home health platform over 15 years ago when working in Toronto. Today, PointClickCare is an industry leader in senior care technology.
Leaders in the U.S. Senior Care Market
“We know that last year on a net basis that 99 per cent of all nursing homes that changed vendors changed to us,” said Wessinger.
Nearly two-thirds of long-term and post-acute care patients in the United States are managed by PointClickCare software. It’s used by 14,000 skilled nursing and senior living providers to streamline how care is delivered to the aging—and rapidly growing—population.
“There are people that do what we do, but it’s hard to call them competition. There are probably 40 companies left that do it,” said Wessinger. “Unless you have a disruptive model, you just can’t keep up with what my 500 engineers can do.”
PointClickCare pulls together the day-to-day operations of senior living into one platform, customized for skilled nursing and senior living businesses.
Accessed through a tablet device, the core platform streamlines record keeping, communication, and both delivery and financial management. PointClickCare can also help seniors remain independent and continue living at home by, for example, helping them track their medication.
Wessigner shared that while their platform was built to collect data and track patients, they’re always looking to expanding its capabilities.
“More than half of our group is developing more applications for our customers,” he said. “Whether that’s medication management or skin and wound care, once we have a basic footprint we can layer in more features.”
Finding the Right Time to Go Public
It’s been long anticipated that PointClickCare will be one of Canada’s next companies to go public. Two years ago, the company filed for a $100 million IPO on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange.
But Wessinger explained that while President Donald Trump is talking about the Affordable Care Act, it’s not the most encouraging time for a platform in the business of care to go public.
“We’re ready to get public… But I’ve been to enough test-the-waters meetings with investors that if I were to hit the road [in the U.S.], in these 30-minute meetings, 28 minutes would be talking about Donald Trump and what-if scenarios instead of PointClickCare,” he said.
“I want to go at a time where I can talk about PointClickCare.”
Wessigner has no qualms about staying private, especially since the company hasn’t had a tough timing raising capital. In February, the company secured $111 million from San Francisco’s Dragoneer.
Attracting Tech Talent to Mississauga
In the last year alone, they’ve hired for 300 new positions. Wessinger explained that they’re competing with Facebook, Shopify and Google to attract technology talent—something that isn’t always an easy pitch when based outside of Toronto.
“No offence to Mississauga but until you’re married and living the suburban life, you’re going to want to live in Liberty Village,” Wessinger commented.
The company recently moved their HQ to a redesigned office just south of Toronto’s international airport, complete with two golf simulators and a gym that would earn envy from any cross-fit fanatic.
The fast-growing company earned recognition from Deloitte who named PointClickCare one of its Technology Fast 50 for eight straight years.
