Curt Johnson delivers Orchard to market.

Orchard's milestones. In 2008, Orchard celebrated its 15-year anniversary as a laboratory information systems company. Our goal when we started, and it continues today, is to enhance productivity and disseminate information efficiently into the hands of providers to improve patient care. Orchard keeps growing because we listen to our customers. The input from our diverse user base drives the continuous development of our products and helps us perfect our lab systems' to give the broadest set of benefits to our customers and to equip our systems to handle a variety of laboratory workflows. In December 2008, KLAS published its biennial Comprehensive Laboratory Information System Study in which 10 LIS vendors were evaluated; Orchard continues to lead the pack. Since its first inclusion in KLAS research, Orchard has consistently maintained its high performance, leading to consistently high scores. Over the next five years, we intend to contribute leadership, innovation, quality service, and support to the industry while we broaden our product offering and market base--focusing on integration, connectivity, and advances in molecular diagnostics.

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Understanding the needs of the end-user. Our goal when developing new features--such as rules-base technology, interfaces that integrate disparate systems, and Web-based outreach--is to maximize laboratorians' efficiency. As the lab community continues to deal with personnel shortages, the use of computerized systems that boost efficiency will become standard. The best way the lab can maximize the effectiveness of the aforementioned solutions, however, is in understanding the needs of its end-users. Offering solutions that have the flexibility to meet each client's individual needs is invaluable to the success of any organization.

Giving back. Orchard has partnered with Special Olympics Indiana to empower people with intellectual disabilities to realize their full potential and develop their skills through year-round sports training and competition. As a partner, Orchard helps to raise money that affords our athletes the opportunity to reach their dreams of competing in various sporting events, while fostering a sense of belonging that produces useful and productive citizens. We are proud of this commitment and look forward to expanding our involvement in coming years. Orchard has been able to make a commitment to the betterment of our community as a sponsor of the John R. Wooden Tradition, a Special Olympics event that celebrates the lifelong contributions of the legendary coach and Hall of Famer.

Education is key. We believe continuing education is critical to any organization's success, whether it be a lab, Orchard Software, or the lab industry in general. Thus, the opportunity to sponsor CLMA ThinkLab, a leading educational event for lab professionals, was a perfect match. We have also been privileged to work with other groups like The Dark Report and COLA to speak on quality assurance, integration, outreach, and other issues impacting the lab. Because of our commitment to education and to help our customers maximize the use of their systems, we offer a variety of training classes year-round at our corporate headquarters, and host biannual symposiums and user training sessions to broaden our clients' understanding of the lab and the use of their lab systems.

Training for the next generation. With over 50 universities utilizing Orchard products in their student health centers, we are becoming the vendor of choice for student health centers in colleges and universities across the United States. In addition to the student healthcare setting, we work closely with colleges that offer med-tech programs by providing software that can be used in an instructional setting. The idea is to support the needs of the next generation of medical technologists with hands-on technology experience to give them "a leg up" in the job market.

Curt Johnson

Professional

VP, Sales and Marketing, 1995-Present

Orchard Software Corp.

Carmel, IN

Clinical Chemistry Specialist, 1991-1995

Diagnostics System Specialist, 1988-1991

Abbott Diagnostics Division

Abbott Park, IL

CLMA Exhibit Advisory Board

Wayne, PA

Board of Directors

Midwest Academy

Carmel, IN

Education

BS, Sales and Marketing

University of Akron (Ohio)

Personal

Enjoys spending time with his wife, Ann, and three children, Ricky, Jonathan, and Danielle, and taking trips to Walt Disney World.

By Carren Bersch, Editor