Written by Frank Fortner, President and COO of Iatric Systems
Twenty years ago, our founder & CEO (Joel Berman) asked me to join him on a trip to Dallas, Texas, for what would be my first International MUSE Conference. I still remember that trip rather vividly, especially standing with Joel in our 10x10 (modestly adorned) booth for basically the entire day before catching a break only to realize the day was already over! I also remember that we lacked a sophisticated marketing plan, but what we did have was a reputation for doing innovative things - the kinds of things that were once thought impossible.
And so there we were, just a couple of IT guys from Boston (me with a full head of hair and Joel in his trademark blue seersucker suit) speaking with large crowds of attendees about their IT challenges and how we could help solve them. We quickly scribbled notes on business cards and followed up frantically when we made it back to Boston. It led to new business, and we grew. Every year, we would come back to International MUSE with a slightly larger team, and many of our customers would simply walk up and ask, “What’s new?” This happened so much, in fact, that we finally created a “What’s New?” brochure to hand out. Those were fun and exciting times that characterized much of the decade that would follow.
Then something began to change. Regulatory mandates began piling up. EHRs and their features became very prescriptive, and innovation began taking a back seat to a check-the-box type of feature set. Software was certified for these features and providers were either rewarded or penalized based on their implementation and (meaningful) use of certified software. Suddenly, software developers were so focused on meeting these new demands that there was little time left for innovation.
And then one day we woke up and found we were living in 2018, but due to the stunted growth of innovation, we were still, in many ways, working like it was 1999. Paper, fax, data silos, human silos, etc. Meanwhile, the average 11-year-old with a smartphone socializes data and collaborates with peer groups better than most workplaces do. We realized it’s time to bring back innovation, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. That’s "What’s new" (again) because for us, a return to innovation is a return to our roots. Many of you reading this played a major role in that story by nicely nudging us to tackle certain challenges and believing we could. Thank you. We’re as grateful for the past as we are excited about the future.
Finally, I should also mention that it’s refreshing to see MEDITECH, with their web-based EHR, innovating once again as well. No doubt, they had a lot of heavy lifting to do in the Meaningful Use era, across multiple platforms. I can only imagine the new Expanse work (along with other new development) has been a breath of fresh air to their team as well as their customer base.
If you plan to attend the International MUSE conference in Orlando at the end of the month, it will make our day if you stop by our booth and ask, “What’s new?” We are so excited to talk about the innovative work we’re doing in the areas of privacy and security, vendor risk management, clinical workflow improvement, and data collaboration, to name just a few of today’s healthcare IT challenges. So, please come see us at booth #902 in Orlando and let’s a have a conversation about innovation … again.
