From a real clinic problem to a national platform. How Accuro started, and what still drives us.

It’s been more than two decades since Accuro EMR first came to life—not as a commercial product, but as a university project. Back then, our founders weren’t aiming to disrupt healthcare. They were simply looking for a real-world problem worth solving. What they found was a specialist clinic buried in paper, struggling to manage referrals, appointments, and communication. That moment sparked a journey that would eventually reshape how thousands of Canadian clinics operate today. 

The Beginning: A Stack of Referral Letters and a Fold-Out Table 

In 2003, computer science students Mike Checkley, Brian Ellis, and Lisa St. Laurent were introduced to Dr. Tom Kinahan, a urologist in Kelowna, BC. His clinic was typical of the time: reliant on paper records, bustling with activity, and operating without the digital connectivity we take for granted today. A six-inch stack of referral letters sat on his desk, each one representing a patient waiting to be seen. There was no structured way to prioritize, no visibility into waitlists, and minimal coordination with colleagues, as was common in that era. 

That was the moment our founders realized that this wasn’t just a software opportunity. It was a chance to make healthcare work better. 

They started building. The first version of Accuro included a scheduler, a billing system, and a basic clinical note. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to go live with a few brave clinics. From there, the feedback loop was relentless. With Mike in clinics and Brian and Lisa at their computers, they went through a weekly cycle of observing workflows, installing updates, and refining the product based on real-world use. It was grassroots, hands-on, and deeply user-driven. 

“We made no decisions without seeing it in action.” —Mike Checkley 

The Early Focus: Solving for Specialists 

From the start, Accuro was designed to support specialist workflows, which was something few EMRs were doing well at the time. Our early differentiators included: 

• Integrated billing: Every appointment generated a bill, automatically. 
• Consult letters: Notes were designed to flow back to referring physicians. 
• Waitlist management: Both consult and surgical waitlists were built into the system. 

These features weren’t just nice to have, they were essential for specialists trying to stay organized and responsive. 

Scaling Up: From Startup to National Platform 

After two years of bootstrapping, the team partnered with QHR Technologies, which helped accelerate growth. Accuro became a wholly owned subsidiary under the name OptiMed Software and began expanding across Canada, from BC to Alberta, the Prairies, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. 

Two major forces drove adoption: Provincial EMR subsidies, which helped clinics invest in digital tools, and strategic acquisitions, where Accuro absorbed legacy EMRs and their teams. These latter moves brought talent and customers together under one platform. 

Over time, Accuro became one of the most widely used EMRs in Canada, supporting over 20,000 physicians and 4 million patients. 

What Hasn’t Changed: Our Design Philosophy 

Even as we’ve grown, though, our approach to product design has remained the same: 

• User-led development: We build based on what clinics actually need, not what we assume they need.
• Configurability: We don’t force clinics to change their workflows. We give them the tools to adapt the EMR to their practice. 
• Customer-first strategy: Nearly 100% of our growth has come from referrals. That only happens when users are successful. 

“We weren’t led by a physician. We were led by the problems we saw, and the people solving them.” —Mike Checkley 

What’s Evolved: From Paperless to Proactive 

The original goal was simple: create a paperless office. Today, Accuro is helping clinics move from reactive to proactive care. With tools like our query builder, clinics can identify patient cohorts (e.g., diabetics overdue for screening) and send targeted outreach. Medeo Patient, our patient engagement app that was originally built for online booking, now supports secure messaging, video visits, and file sharing. 

“Our customers’ use of the product is the number one business strategy we have. That’s what matters foundationally.” —Mike Checkley 

Looking Ahead 

Accuro’s story is still being written. We’re continuing to invest in interoperability, patient engagement, and connectivity with complementary vendor AI solutions, but the heart of our mission hasn’t changed. We build tools that solve real problems, for real people in real clinics, building connections in healthcare across Canada. 

That’s how we started, that’s how we scale, and that’s how we’ll keep moving forward. 

By the Accuro Leadership Team
With reflections from Mike Checkley, President and Co-Founder, Accuro EMR