Just FYI . . . I work in a spot between clinical patient treatment and research (genomics and patient clinical trials). So I know something about EMRs from the

Just FYI . . . I work in a spot between clinical patient treatment and research (genomics and patient clinical trials). So I know something about EMRs from the day job . . . The biggest challenges I run into are quite similar to challenges faced in any data integration/data warehouse type effort in other industries - overcoming political barriers around data ownership and funding. The other thing that has really surprised me is that amount of free text out there in EMR systems. Pathology reports, clinical treatment information, etc is often floating in big free text fields (that follow no standard) and other unstructured data. All of that is really hard to deal with. But, if you can crush a good web app with a great HIPPA story, maybe some data mining to make migration from existing EMRs easier, and a decent price, I think you probably have a license to print money. You'll also need to figure out how to hack the hospital/medical research center/clinical trials management software sales channels. Wish I had good advice (I'd take it myself).