Random Thoughts

Have you ever watched Eagles prepare their nest? They are quite the builders. Bring all sorts of sticks and fluff to line the nest. Seems like it is never exactly right. They will circle and circle with a stick and even try to break it up to make it fit. They may fly back out and grab another one in hopes to make the first one fit. Then the mate comes in, and undoes what was done, moving the stick to another place, sometimes rejecting the stick all together and tossing it over the edge, much to the dismay of the mate. They get emotional over the stick placement. Even fighting to get their way. This happens every year, usually returning to the same nest and building it bigger and better. Quite fascinating to watch.

In business we are always bringing in technology sticks. Other stakeholders do the same, bringing in their solution to the issue. Some fit, some do not. The desire is the same, an overall solution to the build of the business. How do we get the sticks right? A misplaced stick may cause pain to another, just like a misplaced solution can cause inefficiencies within other areas of the business.

Practices are each a little different; is there one solution? Each has the same overall goal of patient care, happy staff, and satisfied clients. To do this, efficiency is necessary. As with the eagles and their sticks, it can get quite emotional when placing solutions in the business. There are so many factors to consider when looking for technical solutions in a business. The size of the business is certainly one factor. The scope and goals of the business are also contributing factors to the overall desired design. If the business is older, there were not many choices for solutions when the building began. There were approximately five top players in the software market, and things like digital Xray and cloud services were not even around. So, solutions were put in place and the build began, likely the biggest question was what operating system. Today, there are many choices available and in many forms. There is software for just about every electronic function in the hospital. There are apps to reach out to customers. There are programs that can perform callbacks without human intervention. Each with some unique features and functions, but do they all work together?

Historically the replacement of major technical structure has been rare, just more sticks and fluff added. The foundation is from a prior owner, does the technology fit well with current goals? Is there something better? This is a struggle in the practice today. The business is just starting, how does one go about building that foundation for years to come? The desire to grow, add innovative technology and add to the overall structure. But at what price? What if modern technology does not play nice with what is already in place? What part of the business will be affected by that placement, negative or positive?

The exhibit floors are flooded with versions of sticks for our business. The solution sounds great in that environment, but will it fit when delivered and installed? Figuring out needs and requirements is key.

Software is at the foundation of the practice and the piece with the most emotion wrapped around it. Let’s take away the chatter and get down to the list of items that matter to the business. Practice software affects all areas. It is important to make sure the solution fits. Nothing is worse than getting into a new product, only to find it is missing key components of the one that was thought to be getting past its usefulness.