Anticlue

Healthcare Vendors don't promote a sense of community

One of the items that constantly amazes me is the Healthcare IT vendors not creating a sense of community among their technical users. What do I mean? Well, lets look at company's like Microsoft and Macromedia. What items do they offer to their users?

First, both have a developer's website. Take a look, this is Macromedia's and this is Microsoft's homepage. Try to find the portion of the website that is for developers. Found it? good. What is one of the first items you see? For me it is the list of tips, tricks, and company news. An ongoing list of ways to use and manipulate their products.

Second, both have how to articles. What to know how to do this? Place a search here, and you will find something similar. Heck go to google, and you will get hits galore.

Third, both have a running list of issues with the product. Yes, there are bugs, but they are not hidden within the company's database. They are out in the world for all to see.

Fourth, both have a place for developers to exchange ideas, discuss problems encountered, and receive help from other users of the product. Best of all this is a searchable listing, to help you find others who might of had the same problem you did.

Fifth, both are active in creating usergroups for their products with the community. There is a cf user group, and an asp.net user group within Albany, NY. I don't have to travel to boca raton to hear about a product, and best of all the updates aren't yearly, they are monthly.

I think that is enough points, but you can see, the companies are proactive in providing a sense of community among the users of the product. Also, all of these items are freely available to the public. There was no login required to view any of the websites. If you are researching a product, you can get alot of information this way.

Now, the two websites I am mentioning, I have no familiarity with the product or the vendor. I am just looking for an easily discoverable technical community without having to speak to the company and get a sales pitch. I believe these sites are indicative of the industry. I am choosing Eclipsys Corp's new SunriseXA clinical software suite, because it is developed with .net, and Quovadx's integration engine, because it used to be cloverleaf, and I want to see what's new. Now take a look at Eclipsys and Quovadx's website. Try to find the technical IT professionals website. Found it? good, I didn't. I found a login screen at a customers only type link. Please let me know where it is.

Do you even see a place for a technical professionals website? A list of how to articles? How about a running list of known issues with the product? Or a searchable forum for technical professional to communicate? Any idea of users, who are using the product locally? Any place you can go and talk to technical users of the product? Is all of this hidden behind that mysterious customers only link?
In most cases, in my experience, which I re-iterate has not been with these products, all of this information is not hidden behind the mysterious customer's only link. Mainly, it is the technical manuals, and when was the last time a technical person read a manual? It is like the analysis technique of last resort. I read em, but I try a heck of alot of things before hand, including all of the forementioned resources in addition to calling the vendor to ask how and arguing that the answer to that question is within our support agreement. So if you find me in my cube reading the vendor's manual, again and again, trying to find some hint that will help the current production problem. I am desperate and my team and I are at the end of our bag of tricks.

The sense of technical community using a product is missing from HealthCare Products. Sometimes I would even go as far to say it is deliberately hidden for either consulting support reasons, the thought of releasing vital company secrets, the prevention of users releasing private health care information, or the fear that different institutions technicians would talk to each other.

However, imho, I think it would be a good thing to have this information publicly available. From using it with Macromedia and Microsoft, I think it is priceless, and your users would appreciate it.