Fastrack to 'hook' new customers

PLAINVIEW, N.Y. - With several new products that debuted last month, Fastrack Healthcare Systems began going after HME business that until now had been out of its reach. The software company's new modules--vehicle routing, customer management and e-commerce--can be integrated into any software system, not just Fastrack's, said President Spencer Kay. "It's a way for people to be exposed to Fastrack and for us to generate revenue," Kay said. "It's also a way to get certain technologies to people who, for whatever reason, don't want to change or invest in a new system right now." The new modules work with software systems designed for HME, IV and home healthcare agencies. By employing "hooks"--digital translators--the Fastrack modules can communicate with any non-Fastrack product, Kay said. Without the hooks, only providers with Fastrack systems could use them. If providers who use competing business software systems try the Fastrack products and like them, Kay say, it may convince them, at some point, to switch over completely. "Maybe they are not happy with their existing vendor," Kay said. "It could be that they are not happy with support or whatever. Now they have an alternative." Likewise, even if a competitor offers similar modules--Kay says none do--that doesn't mean a non-Fastrack customer won't give the new products a try, he said. "The point is functionality," Kay said. "If we have more functionality, and you can get that same integration, why wouldn't you go with the product that has more functionality?"