Minneapolis St Paul Business Journal recently featured a medical device product that helps paramedics minimize time on paperwork and maximize time prepared to help…

Ten years ago, Hennepin Emergency Medical Services paramedics spent up to an hour after each call documenting patient information on paper, using notes they scribbled on scraps of paper and the backs of their gloves. But since 2004, patient documentation has become so fast that responders can be ready for a new dispatch call in an average of 17 minutes after dropping a patient off at the hospital.

“This makes it far easier for the providers to document and document well,” Hennepin EMS Operations Supervisor Robert Ball said, pointing to Safety PAD, a tablet-like device that first responders use to record patient information in real time in the field. A central database then collects the patient information for hospital use.

Safety PAD is the invention of Minneapolis-based Open Inc., which sells the technology nationwide. CEO Mike Vukovich founded the company in 1993 to create technology so EMS agencies could focus less time on paperwork and more time on patients.

It turns out the company note only helps healthcare – they’ve also been a boost to local economy…

His company landed a new major market every year for the past six years and increased revenue by nearly 30 percent in 2012.