Brittany Hancz captures the story behind WeInfuse Co-Founders Bryan Johnson and Reece Norris’ mission to make a difference in the infusion world. This year, WeInfuse celebrated one million completed appointments utilizing the WeInfuse software.
Read more about the history behind WeInfuse, how two young infusion center operators turned a dream into a reality.
From a Dream to a Reality
In 2016, college classmates, NICA co-founders, and former infusion center operators, Bryan Johnson and Reece Norris, had a dream about establishing the first end-to-end software solution for infusion centers. Fast forward to 2022, and WeInfuse clients have completed over one million patient appointments with the very software Bryan and Reece once dreamed of developing. Infusion centers all over the United States, from Alaska to Maine, have put their trust in WeInfuse’s software.
“Our clients’ confidence in our team and software is the driving force pushing us forward and keeping us motivated. Together, we are a part of the infusion solution. Together, we are making a difference,” says Bryan.
Before Launching WeInfuse
Before establishing WeInfuse, an infusion software and consulting company, Bryan and Reece spent the better part of 15 years learning how to start, operate, manage, and improve infusion centers and care for patients.
In 2003, Bryan founded the Austin Infusion Center shortly after he graduated college. The Austin Infusion Center has grown to be one of largest provider-based infusion centers in the state of Texas. In 2008, Bryan merged his healthcare services company with Innovative Infusions, LLC, a multi-site infusion center company based in Texas founded by Robert Norris and Judy Back.
“While at Baylor, I introduced Bryan to my dad, Robert, who was starting an infusion center management company, Innovative Infusions. I went on to law school, but I always stayed involved in the business, bending their ear and lending them my two cents even when they didn’t want to hear it. I came into the business full-time in 2008, and shortly thereafter, my dad handed Bryan and me the keys to the company,” said Reece.
From 2008 to 2012, Reece served as CEO and Bryan as COO of Innovative Infusions, and together they helped guide the company through a company-wide restructuring and business model transition that resulted in exponential revenue growth. Bryan and Reece transitioned Innovative Infusions’ business model from a manager of infusion centers to an owner of provider-based infusion centers. Today, provider-based infusion centers are commonly referred to as Ambulatory Infusion Centers or AICs.
In addition to running a successful multi-site infusion center, Reece and Bryan co-founded the National Infusion Center Association (NICA) in 2010. NICA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving access to care for patients needing infusion medications. NICA has grown tremendously and recently transformed into two separate organizations, NICA and Infusion Access Foundation (IAF). Throughout their infusion center journey, Bryan and Reece have always looked for ways to sustain, improve and innovate this healthcare niche. Bryan is currently serving on the board of IAF, and Reece still serves on the board of NICA.
In December 2012, Reece and Bryan led the process to sell Innovative Infusions to Paragon Healthcare, a strategic acquirer. They stayed on with Paragon until 2016 continuing to grow Paragon’s AIC division.
Brief History – The Launch of WeInfuse
While operating their own infusion centers, Bryan and Reece recognized the need for a system that would decrease the stress and complications of the current infusion workflow.
Bryan and Reece sought to create a workflow tool, ecosystem, and software platform that would allow even the smallest physician office the ability to provide patients access to infusion medications in their office setting. In 2016, Reece and Bryan launched WeInfuse.
During the initial WeInfuse fundraising process, Bryan and Reece were introduced to Chris Hester, founder and former CEO of Kinnser Healthcare, who came on as the lead investor. With this newfound financial support, Bryan and Reece worked to create a viable working product, but quickly learned that physicians, practice administrators, and healthcare operators do not necessarily want to be early adopters of new technology.
“It took us a while to gain traction, and much of 2017 was tough. There were lots of ‘we’re not ready to move forward yet’ or ‘give us a call back in a few months.’ But, we cobbled together a few clients in 2017, and we really started breaking out in 2018,” said Reece.
While it was an up-hill battle in the early years of WeInfuse’s launch, the software has now been adopted by over 670 infusion centers across the country.
About WeInfuse – Your Infusion Solution
WeInfuse is an infusion software and consulting company that has helped launch multiple infusion sites across the country. The WeInfuse software offers powerful, intuitive features such as automatic real-time insurance eligibility checks, benefits investigation tools, chair-based scheduling, patient management, medication-specific nursing documentation, inventory management with vial scanning and billing & claims optimization. These features have helped reduce confusion and decrease risk for infusion center managers, while improving patient care since the first beta client launch in late 2016.
WeInfuse now celebrates that its clients have completed over 1,000,000 patient appointments utilizing the software!
“There is no way to express here how many hard-working hours, tears, and sleepless nights went into this accomplishment. It’s all because of our team and their tireless daily contributions to our clients. It takes many daily efforts to add up to big things, and a million completed appointments is huge,” said Bryan.
Accomplishments of WeInfuse – A Timeline
Over the years, the WeInfuse team has launched multiple different developments within the software. Check out some of the biggest and latest accomplishments below:
In 2020:
- WeInfuse integrated with six medical billing and Electronic Health Record (EHR) software systems, including AdvancedMD (AMD), Kareo, Centricity, MediTouch / NextGen Office, WellSky’s Ascend, and R2 Health.
- The first edition of the bi-annual WeInfuse Magazine was published. There have now been four issues since the launch in Fall 2020.
In 2021:
- The WeInfuse Distributor Connect Program was launched. Under supply chain services, distributors integrate with the WeInfuse software platform, enabling customers to place medication orders and receive corresponding shipping notices and invoices through EDI or API services directly within the WeInfuse software.
- The WeInfuse Client Success team was ranked in the Top 25 in B2B Customer Service for the 2021 Customer Service Awards by Help Scout.
- WeInfuse launches its Vial-Scanning feature. By scanning medications at the point of care, the WeInfuse software captures the unique serialized vial information at the per-patient treatment level. It reports this information throughout the system allowing for additional precision in inventory management.
In 2022:
- In February 2022, WeInfuse acquired RxToolKit, an infusion software application designed to reduce medication errors, enhance clinical competencies, increase patient safety, and improve clinical outcomes. RxToolKit’s web-based solutions, RxWorkFlow and RxELearning, are designed to be a virtual on-call pharmacist.
With a library of over 200 medication guides, RxWorkFlow contains product-specific calculators, instructions for preparation and administration, and patient resources for chronic care infusion medications, antibiotics, vaccines, and other injectables.
RxELearning courses are made for clinical teams and include certification tracking, clinical assessments, and drug-specific training to enhance clinical competencies.
Through RxToolKit’s online store, RxAcademy gives clinicians the opportunity to purchase individual courses in topical areas to boost confidence and ensure success.
- The Client Ambassador Program was established. The program was developed in 2022 to prioritize the needs of our clients and assist with real-time, in-person needs. Led by VP of Operations Cecile Franke, the WeInfuse Client Success team in Austin saw this as an opportunity to build stronger client relationships.
“Spearheading the WeInfuse Ambassador Program has been the highlight of my professional career. I have had the pleasure of working face-to-face with our clients and building relationships with our users that have improved their WeInfuse experience. The Client Ambassador Program is an added personal touch that sets WeInfuse apart,” said Evan Hebert, WeInfuse Client Ambassador.
- In September 2022, RxToolKit was integrated into the WeInfuse software. This provides clients of both companies access to all RxWorkFlow medication guides and drug monographs from directly within the WeInfuse application.
- WeInfuse launched the Home Infusion Pharmacy Software Workflow solution at the National Home Infusion Association Conference. WeInfuse’s first home infusion pharmacy goes live in January 2023!
- WeInfuse launched the Specialty Pharmacy Connect Program with Amber Specialty Pharmacy as the inaugural pharmacy. The SpecRx electronic ordering integration (eOrder) is set to go live in 2023. This feature will work alongside the existing predictive inventory tool and will allow infusion clinics to order specialty pharmacy medications directly from the WeInfuse Specialty Pharmacy Inventory Management module.
- WeInfuse clients complete one million patient appointments utilizing the software. That is why we have decided to name 2022 the “Year of the Million Milestone”.
Connect With Us
“WeInfuse (and RxToolKit) is the result of a passionate, hardworking team; a group of investors that believe in us; clients who trust us; and lots of small (and a few big) miracles that have happened along the way,” said Reece.
Interested in being part of the next million completed appointments? Schedule a DEMO at weinfuse.com/demo/ to learn more about our software.
We look forward to you joining us in our mission to simplify the infusion workflow, increase profitability, decrease staff burnout, and improve clinical outcomes.
Together, let’s take the confusion out of infusion.
