Practice Delusion: The Leading Farce Within Health Care

Practice Delusion: The Leading Farce Within Health Care

Farce (färs) n.
  1. A light dramatic work in which highly improbable plot situations, exaggerated characters, and often slapstick elements are used for humorous effect.
  2. The branch of literature, and the broad or spirited humor characteristic of such work.
  3. A ludicrous, empty show; a mockery

We are just entering the other worldy hyperbole of the HIMSS marketing season. I just recently completed the annual ritual of rifling through and reflexively throwing away about five pounds of mailers that came with my HIMSS registration. Having created many marketing campaigns myself, I do enjoy looking at all the various creative campaigns, the engaging entrees, and the salacious slogans that result. Every companies style, panache, and “flava” typically becomes clear in this pre-conference jostling for advertising pole position.

Having just reviewed these, I think we should create a new category of HISsies, “The Most Grossly Overstated Advertising“. I would like to nominate my favorite chronic overstater PracticeDelusion. Unfortunately, while PracticeDelusion is not without plenty of company, I find their particular brand of hauteur particularly bothersome.

I have written about PracticeDelusion before (second most read blog post ever), right after their completely fallacious announcement regarding their “partnership” with Google. Then of course is their purported business model selling ads within the EMR, which MrHIStalk himself was quick to paradoy with his porn-on-demand-in-between-clinical-guidelines-chart-reviews business model.

So after their previous missteps, they now “re-announce” their launch (how many launches do you get?!) and celebrate their topping the 100 physician mark. [Blank Screen: Large crowd at a crowded stadium, silenting standing completely still; pan to a little lady sitting there fretting; closeup to the face, as the eyes narrow, concentrated determinism in her wrinkling brown, rising triumphiantly to her feet and screaming to the roar of the crowd: “Where’s the beef?!!!”]. 100 doctors in over a several year period does not a “leading force within health care information technology make”.

Pahleeeease! I guess “humility” and “common sense” are not spelled R-Y-A-N-H-O-W-A-R-D.

Word of advice for PracticeDelusion – you guys are really onto something. You have a great business model, it looks like you have the functionality required to compete, and your software looks really nice as well. I hope your business model includes the ability to allow your physician practices to network between each other to take advantage of collective intelligence. Why screw this up with all the stupid statements? Lose the hyperbole and just focus on acquiring thousands of physicians in a quite, steady, and invincible way.

Health Care information technology needs more innovative companies just like you, with great business models, great products, and market impact. However, we don’t need any innovation in coming up with more overwrought, overstated, and completely outlandish marketing.

You must overcome the farce, to become a force, within healthcare. See you at the show!

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