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It'll be interesting to see how DrChrono and other smaller companies break into the electronic healthcare record (EHR) market and compete with the larger medica

It'll be interesting to see how DrChrono and other smaller companies break into the electronic healthcare record (EHR) market and compete with the larger medical IT companies. I work as a consultant for a public medical IT company so I've seen first hand just how much work it takes for a hospital to upgrade their software. Besides a strong product and sales team, there's a ton of training and support that is required for a hospital to successfully convert to a new system. It looks like DrChrono's target market is smaller physicians offices, which I'm not as familiar with (I consult with larger hospital systems). If DrChrono can successfully demonstrate how their software can eliminate errors, improve efficiency, and save doctor's offices money in the long run, then they will have a good chance, but there are a number of things they need to execute correctly in order to succeed. Training and support are VERY important for a successful switch to new software. Physicians and nurses are typically older and not as technically savvy as the people who develop and sell the software. They do not like change because they are used to their workflow with their paper-based systems, and I've seen firsthand projects that took a turn for the worse because the hospital executives decided to make the switch to new software and the physicians and nurses did not like the change to their current workflow. DrChrono also needs to be flexible enough to cater to the different workflows and reporting needs of each physicians office. This is definitely not a "One software fits all" market. What may be a perfect fit for one physician may not meet the needs of another office. Summary: This is a tough market to be successful in because of so many factors, but that doesn't mean that it can't be done.

dr_ 16y ago
It's happening in our hospital now as we have just implemented computerized physician order entry (literally just last week was the start date). I don't think it's fair to blame the physicians and nurses - sometimes it is the hospital and its IT staff and the software being used. The machines we are equipped we are REALLY slow, the servers are slow, and there are not enough machines available. That makes it a real pain to enter orders now. There has to be some ability to "freelance" an order in the system and there really isn't. I understand why, the order should be standardized so the system automatically recognizes what the medication is, what the dosing is, whether it may interact with other meds, etc. But that's time consuming for the medical provider - unless it's executed exceptionally well.
- dglassan 16y ago
  I didn't mean to sound like the blame is solely on the physicians and nurses. The consultants make mistakes too. Sometimes the software is not perfect. Sometimes there's miscommunication. Sometimes the scope of the project gets way out of hand. My main point was that due to the size of these projects, there are so many things that need to happen for a successful switchover.

dr_ 16y ago

It's happening in our hospital now as we have just implemented computerized physician order entry (literally just last week was the start date). I don't think it's fair to blame the physicians and nurses - sometimes it is the hospital and its IT staff and the software being used. The machines we are equipped we are REALLY slow, the servers are slow, and there are not enough machines available. That makes it a real pain to enter orders now. There has to be some ability to "freelance" an order in the system and there really isn't. I understand why, the order should be standardized so the system automatically recognizes what the medication is, what the dosing is, whether it may interact with other meds, etc. But that's time consuming for the medical provider - unless it's executed exceptionally well.

dglassan 16y ago
I didn't mean to sound like the blame is solely on the physicians and nurses. The consultants make mistakes too. Sometimes the software is not perfect. Sometimes there's miscommunication. Sometimes the scope of the project gets way out of hand. My main point was that due to the size of these projects, there are so many things that need to happen for a successful switchover.