Take a major report from the Dallas Business Journal entitled “Health CEOs: Interest in IT Spending on Rise.” It reports that a new national study of 100 hospital CEOs and board members found that 78% of all respondents were considering investments in electronic medical records technologies, which, given that only about 8-12% of hospitals are using them now, is a stunning window of opportunity.  Why?  Respondents seek quality, safety, transparency and convenience, with the national spotlight on medical errors having a particularly important impact.

Drill down a bit and you'll find more trends.

• A study in Pediatrics of almost 1200 pediatricians listed in the American Medical Association Physican Masterfile found that over one third are now using personal digital assistants (PDA's) in clinical practice. Why? Users and non-users report that PDA's improve information access and, importantly, can help reduce medical error. The top use was using PDA's for drug reference materials, followed by personal scheduling, medical calculations and accessing computerized tests. Non-users were more likely to find fault with them than actual users.

• According to Forrester Research, Inc., EMR sales to physician practices should go up from $816 million in 2003 to about $1.4 billion in 2008. Why, as a report on the study suggests, are small practices "going to start spending money like crazy on EMR's"? Forrester points to patient safety, pay-for-performance pressures from insurers,  financial incentives for physicians to use computerized records,  growing doctor acceptance of technology and dropping technology costs.
  

There’s some flip-side data that also shows the potential for networking in healthcare.

• A HIMSS study shows that while two-thirds of study respondents know about the National Health Information Infrastructure project, only about 4% are working towards its development. Over 30% cited financial barriers, including ROI, with others citing interoperability and related problems. Here’s the kicker. 46% of those answering the survey said that they don’t share information with public health organizations, although 25% said they would do so if the other organization could accept information electronically. Other data showed a high use of national electronic standards, including Health Level 7.

This year's HIMSS conference attracted 20,000 individuals and over 700 vendors. Keynotes focused as never before on the potential for enterprise infrastructure devleopment.  We attended and had the opportunity to conduct several interviews about strategies to approach the healthcare market. Here's some of what we learned:

• There are great gaps in knowledge between the sales and marketing personnel close to customers and senior managers responsible for setting business plans, direction, and closing important deals. Many of these upper managers have little experience in healthcare and have to play 'catch up' in very fluid environments.
  

• Small companies -- often niche players --  just entering healthcare are so consumed by the nitty gritty of making first calls and getting out product messages that they find it difficult to focus on healthcare itself – not linking their products to the actual requirements of customers and helping their customers see how using their products can help meet the challenges of such things as NHII and related issues of bioterrorism and security, or HIPAA.  If you're in sales you have to spend much more time on mind-share, persuading potential customers and partners that you're into healthcare for the long haul.
  

• Large companies are too busy to establish data repositories on industry trends and needs, and too often mired in a quarter-by-quarter mindset, often being locked in to information systems and business practices that do not track market success carefully – let alone collect and archive good success information and competitive data or develop electronic collateral to sell and establish relationships. Bad habits are compounded by mergers, constant personnel turnover, and the complications of competing direct sales and channels marketing approaches to customers. Sadly, the buck is often passed on market research -- from hardware makers to software makers and vice versa, from one part of the organization to the other -- and hard data is often hard to come by.  Sure, one can tell success stories (there's always a customer willing to blow your horn and theirs), but is there cumulative data on your place in the market and success in the market? Do you know if your vision creation is  working in customer environments? Do you have knowledge of what -- and who -- drives purchasing? Do you have good internal information sharing? We’re finding lots of holes that ultimately mean fewer sales and not taking advantage of this new market. This applies to large and small companies and is something that, as we’ve pointed out earlier, savvy customers are coming to understand. 

We are ready to help. We have sales cycle tools and processes that have helped customers large and small. Our emphasis on industry information sharing, understanding market drivers, getting beyond techology stovepipes, knowling organizational issues, and actually producing collateral that can be shared via various electronic means can help provide the readiness you need.

For general information on our research and tool development contact Ron Goodenow and take a look at our healthcare education products page. We've developed this perspective with Ed Deppert.

Don't forget to read 'Face the Music', our Rx for success in vendor-customer relations, and 'First Things First', our thoughts on CIS.

We welcome your input. If you are interested in sharing your ideas let us know. And, be sure to distribute Prescription for Success to your associates.

Please e-mail Ron Goodenow or call 508-393-5619 or 508-847-0111so we can help you.