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Pyron Technologies- Just what the doctor ordered

From networking to Web development, Missoula’s Pyron Technologies is eager to deliver

Pyron Technologies, http://www.pyrontechnologies.com/ a Missoula-based firm, has developed technology that allows physicians to view X-rays between their primary office in Cleveland and a variety of remote clinics.

By Mick Holien Western Montana InBusiness- Missoulian

That ability is especially valuable when the doctors, who are the team physicians for the Cleveland Indians, need to view diagnostic images from Florida when the team is at spring training.

The technology, which allows the clinic to use its computer data network to send voice, images, reports and files, memos and correspondence through one connection, is saving the clinic about $5,000 a month.

“Every day I can see what a difference the new system makes,” said Jennifer Aponte, practice administrator for Horizon Orthopedic. “Even the responsiveness to a patient or an outside physician improves. It gives physicians the ability to be collaborative with their peers.”

For Dave Pyron, the firm’s founder, president and chief executive officer, it’s another example of how the medical field offers a large growth opportunity for his company, which he founded with two employees in 1995.

Pyron picked up on the opportunities in the medical field while he spent time in clinics installing their computers.

“Most medical clinics have been slow to adopt contemporary information technologies into their practice,” he said. “It’s always been an expensive proposition for them.”

Pyron, 33, believes the company’s ability to develop a solution for a clinic’s overall needs rather than just solving billing practice management, a huge problem in its own right, is key to more business.

“Right now you have single-application vendors that focus on one component,” he said. “They sell all the equipment but it only satisfies one need out of maybe two dozen critical things that the clinic is experiencing.”

“It’s nothing that we’ve developed ourselves,” said Pyron. “We’ve combined what makes sense for all these different needs and we’ve combined them in this one large package and it can satisfy 90 percent of what the clinic is facing.”

But while the technology saves money in the long run, it’s also expensive. Some physicians initially have been reluctant to make the investment.

“This is the biggest obstacle in that the doctors are reluctant to spend the kind of money that it takes to implement a more efficient and more effective solution,” said Pyron. “What we find is that the younger docs are jumping on the bandwagon really fast because they understand the computer system more and can handle it.”

“It’s because no one has been able to show the tangible results of going this way in the past,” he said. “It all comes back to return on investment and being able to show by implementing this $50,000 solution here you’re going to save $5,000 a month.”

Pyron Technologies has grown into a 20-employee business and is doubling the size of its downtown Missoula operation to some 5,000 square feet, but the medical field represents just part of what the company does.

In addition to Pyron Practice Solutions, http://www.pyrontechnologies.com/medical.html the medical component of the business, Pyron also provides information technology – things like networking and computer support – and Web development.

The company has about a dozen employees who work just on Web development.

For one Missoula customer, Big Sky Brewing Co., http://www.bigskybrew.com/ Pyron Technologies developed an online store.

“It was taking 20 minutes to sell two or three T-shirts over the phone. It was a nightmare,” said Brad Robinson, one of Big Sky’s owners. “We sell $40,000 a year in merchandize solely on the web … The Web is the only medium that puts you in contact with quality customers who are searching for you.”

And a distribution system developed by Pyron has reaped benefits for the Missoula company, which sells its four brews in 11 states.

“It saves us time,” said Robinson. “We’re not interrupted by the phone and we can plan our brewing two weeks ahead of schedule.”

Pyron, who is a 1992 University of Montana business school graduate, moved to Florence with his family when he was 16.

He previously did consulting with the Montana Arts Council to bring the arts to the Internet. Early on, he recognized the possibilities of operating a successful Internet business while continuing to live in Montana.

“I kept running into this mentality that there’s this ‘mountain tax,’ that it’s very difficult to have a good economy here and I think that the fact that we’re seeing a lot of success right now is showing that that’s not necessarily true,” said Pyron. “I saw then that the Web is one of the more perfect ways to improve the state of Montana’s economy because we are able to use the Web to work with businesses outside the state. We don’t have to have a local Web presence to create projects.”

Prospective customers sometimes are surprised at the level of expertise that Pyron previously has produced.

“What we’re doing for medical clinics nationally, what we’re doing with Web customers nationally is on par with a firm that you would find in San Francisco or New York City,” he said. “That’s the kind of quality that we’re bringing to the customer relationship.”

Pyron Technologies has grown during a time when other Web-based businesses and technology sector companies nationwide have been struggling.

“The reason why there is so much failure in this industry is I think very few people understood how to apply technology in a way that works for businesses,” said Pyron. “The reason why we’ve been so successful is we defined certain business goals our clients have and (we) use the Web in a way that makes sense to them and we’ve been able to show a return on investment.”

“There’s some companies that a Web site doesn’t make sense for,” said Penelope Whitney, Pyron’s marketing director. “The ones that really work are groups that are trying to reach a national or global audience.”

Just building a Web site isn’t good enough, said Pyron. An equal amount of effort is spent determining how to get the site at the top of search engines.

“It’s a major production,” he said.

There’s plenty of growth in the offing for the flourishing business including broadband connection and digital imaging for use in the local medical field. The company also is considering franchising its medical component.

Initially, Pyron did most of its business outside Montana but recently has concentrated on developing more in-state relationships.

“We still managed all those clients locally because that’s where the business was four years ago, but now we’re looking at western Montana because we see huge opportunities here,” he said. “We really know how to market the Web site through the Web and generate more traffic.”

“What we try to do is, first of all, look at those organizations in western Montana that are in some fashion an information broker or we see that the core business of the organization is information and we know how to leverage that in the Web world,” said Pyron. “For those companies who are dealing with disseminating information, the Web is the ideal communication medium.”

But doing business in-state brings with it some infrastructure challenges.

“Our core broadband infrastructure isn’t what it should be,” he said. “We’d like it to be better than it is. We have a geographically large area with a very small population base so the large telephone companies aren’t enticed very much to come in and create that broadband network.”

The majority of Pyron employees are graduates of the University of Montana.

“It’s a creative and exciting place to work,” according to Whitney, who has been with the business a few months. “I’ve never worked in a place where everyone is so smart and enthusiastic and fun to work with. Everybody feeds off each other.”

“We’re using people from the University of Montana so there’s no brain drain from this area,” added Pyron. “Everybody in our office is a college graduate and they know this business and they are all seasoned at this point.”

Early on, Pyron wore every hat at his business, but the growth of the business has caused him to redefine his role.

“Another reason we’re successful is that I’ve forced myself to not micromanage,” he said. “I trust everybody at the office to take care of their area of responsibility. I’m probably a very easy-going boss. It’s not a 9 to 5 job. The only thing I ask is that if you been tasked with a job, that you get it done in a timely matter.”

“We’re all having fun,” added Pyron. “My philosophy is we all have to work. Work takes up a huge amount of our time most of our lives so you might as well be doing something that you’re passionate about.”

Mick Holien is a Missoulian reporter. You can reach him at [email protected].

© 2003, Missoulian, Missoula, MT A Lee Enterprises subsidiary

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