We all have a few conversation starters at the ready. With all of the various gatherings taking place at this time of year, you’ll likely hear them fired off in rapid succession:
“So, where are you from?”
“How do you know so-and-so”
“What do you do?”
During the early days of MediQuant, my response to that last one was short and to the point:
“I represent a product no one’s ever heard of that addresses a need most organizations don’t even know they have in a market that doesn’t exist.”
Now, some 20 years later, the idea of legacy archiving has caught on, and officially has a place in the healthcare industry. And, although active archiving is a recognized solution, it’s still a new concept for many IT departments.
Signs of progress
In the early days, I was met with some skepticism. And for good reason – an IT department that has been burned in the past is not going to be eager to risk their vital healthcare data. These days, though, when we talk about the solution, we’re often met with the question of “how do we do this?” rather than “what is that?” It’s a sign of progress. But, it also reinforces the fact that while the product itself is understood and more widely accepted as a solution, there’s still more than a little confusion on exactly what makes for a successful implementation.
Admittedly, we’re in a unique position to be able to provide the insight our customers need to answer their “how” questions. Our product has been well-tested in the crucible of daily use by thousands of users and hundreds of healthcare systems and with more than a few implementations under our belt, we have the knowledge that only experience brings.
Increased scope
The other major change that I’ve seen in the industry over the past 20 years is in the scope of archiving needs among our clients. During the early years, the market engaged in primarily single applications – usually costly mainframe-based systems. However, about 10 years ago, the tide turned to a more comprehensive, enterprise focus. Addressing multiple applications used across multiple facilities became the norm. As a result, we pivoted, fostering product development and system-wide implementation practices to stay ahead of our customers’ increasingly complex requirements. Providing an “enterprise solution” became the central theme of our approach and a rallying cry for our entire organization.
As we continue to advance in this space, I am excited to see MediQuant continue to evolve and I’m curious to see what new directions we’ll take in partnership with our customers. Even with as much as the industry has changed since we began, I anticipate there’ll be as much, if not more change in the coming years – all to the great benefit of healthcare providers.
