Shift shaper: North Bay medical software firm eyes U.S. market.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: NORTH BAY

A North Bay medical high-tech firm is preparing to enter new markets with its innovative physician-scheduling software.

To accommodate their growing ranks, the 12-employee MetricAid moved onto the second floor of a refurbished 100-year-old building in the city's downtown last May.

"This building has a ton of character," said managing director Les Blackwell, alluding to its exposed brick, beams and wood plank floors. "It's been through many lives."

A massive January 2012 fire ravaged parts of the building, displacing an importing business and a sporting goods store.

The former warehouse space has been sectioned off into individual offices with glass partitions combining both a private and collaborative environment with an open lounge and kitchen area for group gatherings.

"This shop would be right at home on King Street in Toronto," said Blackwell. "We spent lot of time in the design of the space. I want people to be happy at work."

It's also a great recruiting tool, of which MetricAid can boast considerable success.

To bolster his development team, Blackwell repatriated three former North Bay natives who worked in southern Ontario, Ottawa and Las Vegas.

"As a politician myself (in nearby Strong Township), I know the value of bringing families back into the area."

Co-founded by Blackwell and Dr. Scott Daley in 2012, MetricAid developed a proprietary scheduling algorithm to reduce emergency department wait times while ensuring adequate around-the-clock physician coverage.

"If you have a shift work job, your schedule is your life," said Blackwell.

MetricAid staff prepare schedules for hospital clients, two to four months in advance, based on doctors' input of their shift preferences.

As a third-party scheduler, they factor in vacations, private practice, doctors working at multiple sites, even wedding anniversaries.

"Our system is very good at gathering very granular data from them on what shifts they want to work, what shifts they can't, and how they like them clustered," said Blackwell.

At the same time, other variables like hourly patient volume are scored through the department and physicians' individual performance in diagnosing patients.

Blackwell said it takes considerable technology and human brainpower to deliver a schedule that physicians like while ensuring patients receive care in a timely fashion.

"The point of all this is, we don't want them to trade shifts based on their preference. We want you to stay there (once slotted in)...