EDCO’s products and services have evolved over time, but one thing remains constant: our dedication to providing the best in health information solutions.
EDCO’s half century of innovative health information solutions started as a college research project. In 1960, Drury University students Ron Elkins and Perry Davis created a fictitious company for an accounting project. Combining their knowledge of microfilm and medicine, they created EDCO (Elkins & Davis Company), a business that microfilmed medical records. Davis had experience with microfilm through a job at a phone company. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) required the phone company to microfilm their valuable records. Elkins’ father was a physician, and he understood the enormous volume of medical records that health care facilities accumulated. Together, they realized how microfilming medical records could improve patient care and productivity. At that time, microfilm had existed for about 100 years, but was just beginning to be recognized in the marketplace as one of most cutting-edge technologies available. They received an “A” in the class.
From microfilm to electronic imaging and scanning
Following graduation, Elkins and Davis made EDCO a reality. The company, EDCO Microfilming, was incorporated in 1961.
In the early 1980s, EDCO began offering a Computer Assisted Retrieval (CAR) system, a database to locate patient charts on a microfilm reel. This innovative system set EDCO apart from its competitors. In the early 1990s, EDCO introduced a similar system, SecureDisk, which attached a database to electronic images. This was the first step in the transition to electronic imaging, the future of the company. EDCO was committed to offering the most innovative products and services to support customers’ needs. In alignment with that goal, EDCO Microfilming was renamed EDCO: The Document People. A few years later, the demand for microfilm diminished, and EDCO turned to investing in large scanners. The Elkins family knew the needed scanners and equipment would be expensive, and they faced two options: borrow money and grow the company, or bring on investors who shared their vision.
In 2001, investors Bill Glassman and Jim Rosenbloom purchased a majority of the company and the name was changed to EDCO Group Inc., which is now the overarching corporate umbrella for EDCO Health Information Solutions. By concentrating solely on the health care industry, EDCO Health Information Solutions has a deep understanding of the unique issues faced by HIM leaders such as HIPAA compliance, the hybrid medical record, and meaningful use.
Our suite of products and services is designed to maximize efficiencies, reduce costs and risk, and streamline health information within this environment to meet the ultimate goal of providing exemplary patient care.
About EDCO Group Inc.
In 2001, EDCO was renamed EDCO Group Inc. and the company began acquiring companies that scanned medical records. In 2007, EDCO acquired and later merged with ABI™ Document Support Services, a family operated business offering third-party medical record retrieval services primarily to law firms and insurance companies. A year later, Solcom Inc. merged with EDCO Group Inc. and brought an expertise in electronic document management systems and document imaging programming, giving health care facilities the ability to eliminate the hybrid medical record by scanning and indexing paper without the customary bar code. This technology also enabled ABI to design and launch eSummary by ABI™, a web-based summarization tool that helps clients organize and summarize records in half the time. The merging and collaboration of these various companies contributes to EDCO’s ability to offer the most innovative products and services in the industry.
Today, EDCO Group Inc. is the corporate umbrella that encapsulates both ABI™ Document Support Services and EDCO Health Information Solutions. By sharing resources, EDCO Group Inc.’s products and services are the combined effort of many industry experts whose ultimate goal is to proactively provide the best solutions for our customers.
