Azalea Health Innovations Earns U.S. Chamber Blue Ribbon Award
Tuesday, March 13th, 2012
On March 1, Azalea Health Innovations Inc., based in Valdosta was named a 2012 Blue Ribbon Award® winner by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In total, 75 small businesses from a nationwide pool of applicants were given the award in recognition of excellent business practices, job creation and contributions to their communities. Azalea Health Innovations is one of three businesses in Georgia to receive this recognition.
"We're proud and excited to be named a Blue Ribbon Award winner and we hope people will help us go on to win the Community Excellence Award," said Baha Zeidan, partner and chief executive officer of Azalea Health Innovations.
Blue Ribbon recipients are eligible for the Community Excellence Award, which is determined by online public voting, and will be announced in May. You can vote for Azalea Health Innovations at www.uschambersummit.com/ceaaward/ now through 5:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 15.
Later this month, seven of the Blue Ribbon recipients will be selected as finalists, and in May, one will be named the DREAM BIG Small Business of the Year, an honor that includes a $10,000 cash prize.
A Tradition of Winning
Azalea Health Innovations was founded in 2008 by three partners: Zeidan, Dan Henry who is chief information officer and Doug Swords who is chief financial officer. All three are graduates of Valdosta State University.
The partners developed a business plan, which won a business-plan competition sponsored by Guardian Bank and the Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce. With loans from banks and support from other stakeholders, the three partners quit their jobs and began developing software to meet the needs of health care professionals.
Today, Azalea Health Innovations is a leading provider in cloud-based electronic health records software (EHR), practice management software, and revenue cycle management services. Its clients include hospitals, physicians, rural health clinics, ambulatory surgical centers, pharmacies, labs and other health care professionals.
"In just three years we've grown from the three partners to 28 employees and more than 500 daily users of our software," Zeidan said.
"Recent regulations and the push for EHR have fueled our growth. The majority of health care records are still paper-based, so I expect this will continue to propel our company forward."
Winning in the Eyes of the Community
All three partners have strong connections to Valdosta, having gone to school and opened a business in the community. As a result, the company continues to give back.
"Our employees contribute to United Way and we match their contributions dollar for dollar. My partners and I serve on advisory boards of organizations like Wiregrass Georgia Technical College and we give to many different charitable organizations in the community," Zeidan said.
Make sure the efforts of this Valdosta company are recognized nationally. Vote for Azalea Health Innovations to win the Community Excellence Award and encourage your friends and family to do the same. Anyone can vote but only one vote is allowed per email address.
More information on Azalea Health Innovations is available online at www.azaleahealth.com.
