In an article in the Dec. 15, 2011 New York Times on "CEO's idiotic blunders" as he calls them, he reveals why IT generally, HIT included, may be so poorly done:
The Latest in Technology from David Pogue
The Year of CEO Failures Explained
New York Times
Dec. 15, 2011
... But it doesn’t seem like you’d need a business degree to appreciate that these [decisions by CEO's on making major changes to businesses] would be bad decisions. Whenever I see a company shooting itself in the foot like that, I always wonder: how could anyone be so stupid? When do people become so stupid?
Last spring, I taught a class at the Columbia Business School called “What Makes a Hit a Hit—and a Flop a Flop.” I focused on consumer-tech success stories and disasters.
I distinctly remember the day I focused on products that were rushed to market when they were full of bugs — and the company knew it (can you say “BlackBerry Storm?”). I sagely told my class full of twentysomethings that I was proud to talk to them now, when they were young and impressionable — that I hoped I could instill some sense of Doing What’s Right before they became corrupted by the corporate world.
But it was too late.
To my astonishment, hands shot up all over the room. These budding chief executives wound up telling me, politely, that I was wrong. That there’s a solid business case for shipping half-finished software. “You get the revenue flowing,” one young lady told me. “You don’t want to let your investors down, right? You can always fix the software later.”
You can always fix the software later. Wow.
That’s right. Use your customers as beta testers. Don’t worry about burning them. Don’t worry about souring them on your company name forever. There will always be more customers where those came from, right?
In health IT, beta-testing unregulated, experimental software medical devices on patients is commonplace. And patients do get burned. Literally.
That “ignore the customer” approach hasn’t worked out so well for Hewlett-Packard, Netflix and Cisco. All three suffered enormous public black eyes. All three looked like they had no idea what they were doing.
Maybe all of those M.B.A.’s pouring into the workplace know something we don’t. Maybe there’s actually a shrewd master plan that the common folk can’t even fathom.
Actually, no. If anything, IMO the MBA's suffer the Dunning-Kruger effect.
But maybe, too, there’s a solid business case to be made for factoring public reaction and the customer’s interest into big business decisions. And maybe, just maybe, that idea will become other C.E.O.s’ 2012 New Year’s resolution.
I doubt it.
In healthcare IT, it will take a few more years - and much more litigation - before the frankly immoral and nihilistic attitude of "we can fix the software later" becomes taboo.
It may also take some of those sage MBA's realizing that their loved ones have no "reset button" when they've been "burned" by faulty health IT, and that their loved ones - unlike software - cannot be "fixed later."
-- SS
Yup, patients, doctors, and nurses are all guinea pigs in these experiments to fix the HIT devices after it is sold and deployed.
ReplyDeleteThe vendors should be defendants in lawsuits when a patient suffers injury when the care was managed with such experimental HIT devices.
It should come as no surprise that the young hold no moral compass, as they have not been taught, what is right or wrong by the very institutions we expect the very best to, not only be taught, but to be taught by the very best.
ReplyDeleteIn the Dec. 10, 2011 Columbus Dispatch story, OSU’s president gets raise, bonus, by Encarmacion Pyle we learn that despite The Ohio State’s scandals President Gordon Gee will receive a 2 percent raise in line with other staff.
In the Dec. 4, 2011 Akron Beacon Journal story, Area hospitals spend million in charity care, by Cheryl Powell we learn that, yes, they do spend millions on charity care. Not mentioned is that they all have aggressive bill collection policies.
Charity care ran from 9.5 to 15 percent of revenue. Profits ran from 1.7 percent to 7.4 percent of revenue.
Two of the three hospitals CEO’s made over $1M while the third hospital listed was going through leadership changes and no one single person had a defined salary in that role. The obligatory statement was made about how lucky all three hospitals were to have leadership that would work for such a small sum.
It is also of interest that at one hospital most of the department heads made $1M plus while their counterparts at the other hospitals made about half that amount. Of course, again, these hospitals were lucky to have such talented people who had the skill to both administer and participate in the medical care of patients.
On a personal note I find myself once again concerned about my church. A new minister has been hired who is running the Dare to be Great scam of the late 60’s and early 70’s. This confidence scam is based on why settle for good when you can be great. A large amount of money has been collected from people who least can afford it with no defined spending plan, all under the control of a new minister who has greatly expanded staff and can never be found in the office.
Questions asked of those who could change this situation have been met with ridicule and the admonishment to get on board. The person who could have the most impact on this situation came from the IBM marketing department. This is a denomination that has lost half of its members, and is in danger of loosing half of those that remain.
Part of my baggage is having dealt with a minister who can at best be described as deeply flawed, a second minister who I would describe as a sexual predator, and a supervisor who promoted both of these people for their own financial gain.
Today millions of people and thousands of small business try to do the right thing only to be met by a political, academic, and institutional message of get ahead at any cost.
In the words of the great philosopher Pogo: “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
Steve Lucas
Steve Lucas wrote:
ReplyDeleteToday millions of people and thousands of small business try to do the right thing only to be met by a political, academic, and institutional message of get ahead at any cost.
Unless that cost is financial ruin and a jail cell, remedies that are sorely needed for fraud and manipulation in healthcare that leads to patient harm.
In the words of the great philosopher Pogo: “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
Please exclude me from the "us" part!
-- SS
Anonymous wrote:
ReplyDeletepatients, doctors, and nurses are all guinea pigs
In fact, all three groups will be feeling the pain when mishaps occur. EHR's largely benefit payers and other medical overhead personnel.
As I'd written, EHR's are probably the single largest non-consensual medical experiment in history.
-- SS
They might be able to fix the software defects later; They might not be able to bring the dead patients back to life.
ReplyDeleteThis strategy may work for business software where the worst that could happen is that a bank loses s feww $ billion...but what is a life worth, especially, the HIT vendor's CEO's parent?
I have to wonder if certain CEO’s would care if their parents died as the result of an IT failure. A doctor recently posted of an elderly woman who called 911 and while very ill was responding to treatment. Arriving, a daughter claimed to be an attorney with a DNR and treatment was stopped, and the woman soon passed away, leaving the children a large inheritance. Celebrating with wine over their deceased mother the children claimed to be celebrating her life.
ReplyDeleteSome time ago an article in a local paper questioned the closing of an elderly housing complex; many of the residents had lived there for over 20 years. The new owners have been announced, it will be turned into student housing for a local university. A number of the residents have recently passed away; one has to wonder if it was due to the stress of moving and the increased financial burden.
A local Girl Scout Council is selling a number of camps with the intention of changing their focus to such things as; life after probation. One family is questioning this change as they purchased and expanded the original camp. I have to question is this a program better run by professionals? The response is; we know better.
These cases were not hard to find. The local paper and a nationally recognized blog provided the material.
I always find it difficult when people claim to understand the economic concept of highest and best use when what they are really promoting is personal gain at the expense of others.
Steve Lucas
Steve Lucas writes:
ReplyDeleteI have to wonder if certain CEO’s would care if their parents died as the result of an IT failure.
In this nihilistic culture, maybe their kids; or if not that, maybe if the mistake puts the CEO themself in a wheelchair or worse, they would care.
"there’s a solid business case for shipping half-finished software. “You get the revenue flowing,” one young lady told me. “You don’t want to let your investors down, right? You can always fix the software later.”
ReplyDeleteYou can always fix the software later. Wow.
That’s right. Use your customers as beta testers. Don’t worry about burning them. Don’t worry about souring them on your company name forever. There will always be more customers where those came from, right?"
___
And, this is news precisely how?