• OCTOBER 2007 FEATURE ARTICLES •
From the Editor
Relationship Building
By Mike McBride
One of the joys of being an editor is getting to work with some of the great or near great wordsmiths of our day. We accept submissions penned by M.D.s, RNs, practice managers, hospital administrators and industry executives. Each month, these folks work closely with HMT's editors to produce 60 percent of our magazine's content. That cross-section of healthcare professionals, coupled with the experience of HMT's editorial staff, produces case histories which are intended to highlight the successes achieved by healthcare organizations that use information technology to accomplish their clinical and financial goals. The process is extremely rewarding and the insights that flow from these unique minds are often spot-on.
Here are a few of my favorites:
Time Famine
"The truth is that doctors are struggling with time famine, as payers have shifted their administrative burden onto physicians while saddling them with rationing through inconvenience." Charles Willey, M.D., CEO of Esse Health and a co-founder of Purkinje. From HMT August 2007 "The Mother of Invention."
Boil the Ocean
"Often in healthcare, we slow our progress because we think we cannot drink the water before we boil the ocean." Emad Rizk, M.D., president McKesson Health Solutions. From HMT September 2007 "Creating Transparency, One Step at a Time."
Paving over Cow Paths
"We've found most healthcare organizations have, at best, fragmented data stores, multiple record-keeping systems and inconsistent data entry processes. Before you start paving over cow paths, you should take a closer look at what you have." Rebecca Wettemann, VP of research, Nucleus Research. From HMT September 2007 "Driving CRM Value in Healthcare."
Such comments reveal truths that no staff writer/editor can invent and make sound credible. It's best when they come from the hearts and minds of the folks who live those jobs every day. That's why HMT features so many end-user written case histories. If they ring true to us, we figure they'll ring true to you too. If you learn something that you can apply to your own organizations, then we've done our jobs.
That's why we're here—to deliver information each month that you want, and can use. It's about relationships: yours and ours. Editors, content providers, end users, readers, and vendors, we're all part of the healthcare information technology community. We fill roles, healthcare is the stage and the stories are about you. It's a grand play, in which we all have a part.
We're constantly working to improve our connections with you, our readers, and to open doors through which you can provide input. You might have noticed some recent changes. HMT has a new look and our Web site now features Web 2.0 compatibility and rich media content. You'll find new and expanded features, such as our Career Center where you can research jobs in your field. There'll also be a feedback area where readers can post their thoughts, some of which will go into HMT's new Letters-to-the-Editor section. Your views and insights are invaluable to us. We want an open dialog about HMT's content and direction, and about the state of our healthcare industry. We invite your comments, which also can be e-mailed to
HMTLetters@nelsonpub.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
Mark Twain once wrote, "I hate editors, for they make me abandon a lot of perfectly good English words." I see editors, writers and readers as fellow travelers on a voyage of discovery, companions, so to speak. All aboard!