QHR Appoints Checkley as President, and Initiates Restructuring Plan

KELOWNA, BC, May 20, 2015 /CNW/ - (TSX-V: QHR) QHR Corporation ("QHR" or the "Company"), a leader in the healthcare information technology sector, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Michael ("Mike") Checkley to President of both QHR Corporation and its wholly-owned operating subsidiary, QHR Technologies Inc.  Mr. Checkley, who has been with the Company in an executive capacity for over ten years, was promoted from the position of Senior Vice President, Products and Technology.

"I'm very pleased to announce Mike Checkley's appointment as President. Mike has been involved with our core EMR products and strategy since 2004 when we acquired the Accuro EMR product and has provided inspired leadership in all areas of our business, including product development, sales, and customer service.  Mike is very committed and a proven operator, who will help QHR build on the strengths of our core Canadian business", stated Chief Executive Officer Al Hildebrandt, who has recently announced that he will retire at the Company's annual meeting.

On April 22, 2015 the Company announced a comprehensive review of its product strategy and market opportunities. This review has confirmed that the Company's underperforming Billing Services, Clearinghouse, Tradelink EDI, and related services products, ("RCM Assets") lack strategic value and should be sold or wound down in the near future.  QHR believes that this primarily US business and client base will be of value to an organization that is already in the business of US Revenue Cycle Management, Clearinghouse, and/or Billing Services, and it has decided to provide limited support to the division during a near term transition to sell the RCM Assets.

In addition, QHR is announcing an internal restructuring of the company in order to focus the organization and increase profitability by reducing costs.

To complete the disposition of the RCM Assets in a timely fashion, and to pay for related management and staff restructuring costs, QHR anticipates that it will incur one-time cash outlay in the range of $1.6 to $2.0 million.  QHR is restructuring in order to increase focus on, and investment opportunities in, its core Electronic Medical Records (EMR) business, predominantly in the Canadian market. The Company will also take a non-cash impairment charge for intangibles and goodwill of a maximum $2.6 million which would be lowered by any amounts received from the sale of the RCM Assets.

This restructuring is expected to achieve $1.6 to $2.0 million in annualized cost savings, beginning in the second half of 2015. The Company expects to see the positive impact in profitability beginning in Q3 of 2015. 

"I believe our customers, shareholders, and supporters will celebrate this focus to our core Healthcare Technology strategy." stated Mr. Checkley, President.  "Our strategy has always been to focus on our customers, empowering them to be more efficient, and drive positive outcomes through good, meaningful data.  With this improved focus, we will fuse our technologies together, embedding and expanding products for our existing and prospective customer base.  These tools include Medeo Virtual Care for online visits, Online Appointment Booking, and physician-controlled patient access to their medical records." continues Checkley.

The Company intends to release its Q1, 2015 financials on May 28, 2015 and hold its Annual Meeting in Toronto on June 17, 2015, at 4:30 PM at One King West Suites Hotel. 

Conference Call - The Company executives will host a conference call at 11:00 AM EDT (8:00 AM PDT) Thursday, May 28, 2015, to discuss the Q1, 2015 quarterly financial information as well as this restructuring announcement. To join the conference call, please dial Toll Free 1-888-390-0546, Conference ID# 05040708

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Al Hildebrandt, CEO

About QHR Corporation

QHR is a leader in Healthcare Technology, empowering providers and connecting patients.  With an 11-year track record offering what is now the single leading Electronic Medical Records platform in Canada, QHR has a suite of complementary offerings that empower health professionals and drive the Company's growth. The Company's technologies and services enable secure medical records management for clinical environments, empower health providers with tools for virtual care including secure video and messaging, and tools for clinic management including scheduling, billing, and patient management, Health providers choose QHR to drive efficiencies within their practice and improve the quality of care delivered to patients.

Legal Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This news release may contain "forward looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. These statements are subject to risks that may cause the actual results to be materially different in future periods from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statement. Forward-looking statements in this news release include those concerning the Company's belief that the RCM Assets will be of value to an organization already in the business of US Revenue Cycle Management, Clearinghouse and/or Billing Services, its expectation as to the cost savings it can achieve during its restructuring effort and when it might expect to see a positive impact on profitability, its expectation that customers, shareholders and supporters will celebrate its focus on Healthcare Technology strategy and its expectations that it can fuse its technologies together.

Risks that may prevent or delay the forward looking statements from coming to fruition include the possibility that the Company may suffer unanticipated costs or expenses in effecting its proposed restructure, that it may not offer products that are acceptable to industry regulators or customers; competitors may offer better or cheaper products; it may not be able to raise sufficient capital to improve products to remain competitive; changing regulatory requirements may prevent the Company's products from being sold as expected; it may not be able to attract or retain key personnel; its technology may become obsolete; orders could be cancelled or delayed and market factors may increase costs more than expected. QHR is a technology business development enterprise where investment and product enhancements must be carefully managed to achieve long-term revenue growth and profitability. It is the Company's policy not to update forward looking statements except to the extent required under applicable securities laws. Further information on the Company is available at www.sedar.com or at the Company's website, www.QHRtechnologies.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE QHR Corporation

Jerry Diener, CFO & VP Finance, 250.979.1722, [email protected]; Mike Checkley, President, 250.979.1709, [email protected]