Whether or not you plan on checking out all the latest healthcare IT trends and technologies at HIMSS18 next month in Las Vegas, I believe this is the year we may (finally) get back to real healthcare IT innovation. This is certainly true for our team at Iatric Systems, and I suspect it’s true for many others based on reasons I’ll explain below. In my opinion, it cannot come soon enough. 

Without conjuring up dramatic images of a zombie apocalypse, the healthcare IT industry finds itself in yet another unprecedented time period. In this post-EHR era (as some call it) we have largely achieved the goal of digitizing health records. According to adoption statistics at health.gov, 96% of hospitals had certified EHR technology by the end of 2015. Since the implementation frenzy first brought about by Meaningful Use, EHR sales have slowed down — apart from the steady change fueled by the ongoing consolidation of hospital systems.

We all need to recharge our internal batteries now and then. To recharge, some climb Mt. Everest in their personal time, some take vacations. For me, it’s making music — singing, writing, playing. Last year, just for fun, I released a Daughtry parody song espousing the virtues of telehealth called “Staying Home.”

We are currently three days away from the changing of the guard in Washington. Many are pondering, prognosticating, and pontificating on what that will ultimately mean for our country and to the healthcare industry. People are wondering if the Affordable Care Act will indeed be repealed and replaced and, if so, in part or in full? There are so many questions around the impact on the insured and uninsured, the financial impact on hospitals, physicians, ACOs, the industry at large. What about the long journey to value-based care? Will its momentum fizzle, stall, or keep moving forward? And of course, what will the impact be on software vendors and service organizations in the healthcare industry? I’m only scratching the surface, but you get the point. For at least a few more days/weeks/months, what lies ahead is uncertainty, and there is one thing we know about human nature; uncertainty is rarely a welcome guest.

Picture this…you’ve just gone live with your new EHR. It’s all in the past and you are feeling proud of the effort you and your team has put forth. As the final chapter in a multi-year-long story comes to a close, you turn the (hypothetical) last page only to read the words… “The Beginning.” What?!? Yes, you read that right. Welcome to the beginning of a new story. You see, selecting an EHR, implementing an EHR, and living with an EHR day in and day out are three different stories from the same trilogy. Congratulations on finishing the first two stories! You are now about to begin the third and (hopefully) the longest in the saga.