The application of future technologies to medical informatics - Medical Informatics

Physician Executive, Jan, 1994 by David S. Greenberg

Your own development staff can ask the "ignorant" questions, get the right answers, and produce the functionality you want. Programming technologies have improved to the point where even smaller organizations can produce in-house applications in reasonable time frames. In-house development with the involvement of your clinical staff reduces the likelihood of failure for new initiatives. Instead of their suffering in silence and being burdened by a system forced on them by management, users should be given an opportunity for "ownership" of the new systems.

For some of you considering new system implementation, the natural choice may be a known vendor. Be sure to demand current architecture, user-friendly interfaces, and the ability to fine-tune your system to meet your peculiar needs. Another approach is to consider developing new medical informatics systems with a solid partnering of physicians and technogurus. Find yourself a technoguru who will learn the nature of your business and who has the right architectural bent. Build your system piece by piece, because the "big bang" is perpetually elusive. Rely on your technoguru to pick the hundreds of embedded technology pieces that make the system work. Involve all elements of your staff in the design process. But, most important, get started!