H.I.S.

-tory by
Vince Ciotti

Episode # 45:

CliniCom
Part 2
2011 H.I.S. Professionals, LLC

An InsiderView
As we saw last week, CliniCom was an amazingly early pioneer of BMV (Bedside Medication Verification) several decades ago! After that episode, I received a fascinating email from an early CliniCom team member who gives the following insights into what he remembers 20+ years later from the inside of such a breakthrough start-up. Heres the words from Don Gilchrist, VP of Engineering, himself (followed by my commentary in italics): One liners from the beginning. People and events that supported the survival of CliniCom:

- Shoes - Marshall Miller of 'THE MINNETONKA MOCCASIN CO.' provided extensive early financing and emergency funding to meet payroll and keep the doors open. Without Marshals support, ClinCom most likely would not have survived. - (so thats where Peter Gombrich got his funding!)

Other Key Players

Shirley Hughes - from TDS, Director of Marketing 86 -89 - got marketing up and going. (TDS was Technicon Data Systems, a successor firm to Lockheeds MIS, the CPOE pioneer from the 1970s.) Terry Watson - Sales 86 - 92 - key to closing the early sales. (Reminds me of a great quote from a McAuto HIS-tory hero, Ed Hamilton, VP of Sales & Marketing in the early 80s: Nothing really happens until someone sells something!) Marjorie Rodell - Everything you said and more. Instrumental in moving software development from start-up to commercial operation. (Much more about and from Marjorie later) Peter Gombrich - the creative soul and brains who, like in many start-ups, was ousted before reaping the payoff. (So sadly familiar in HIS-tory, the early founders rarely stay with a firm for long)

Other Inside TidBits from Don

Bill Brehm - Professional Manager who turned CliniCom around. (Damn, just cant shake this guy! First he pops up at SMS, then McAuto, then HIS Inc. in Brooklyn. Then he starred at GerberBrehm writing IFAS; now here he is at CliniCom too!!) SMS - Arrogant, not-invented-here company who blew the chance to partner with and someday purchase CliniCom. (The NIH {Not Invented Here} syndrome plagues many large HIS vendor development teams: we can build a better one SMS finally started buying rather than building with Computer Synergy and MedSeries 4 amazing they passed up CliniCom!) Emergency move of Sequent sever to St. Francis Topeka, a beta site, from Boulder in back of pickup to address performance problems and allow them to continue using the system. (Its the small start-ups who truly Partner with their clients!)

And More
M&M's used for testing of Unit Dose Packaging. (remember med unit doses did not come with bar-code labels back then CliniCom printed and glued them on) Living in Hospitals and working with Nursing & Pharmacy 24X7. - (How many of todays mega-vendors have implementation personnel who work in the trenches all 3 shifts and weekends?)

In house manufacturing including wave soldering of printed circuit boards. Getting the radios and firmware in handheld 'Dust Busters' to work reliably. - (Actually, I always thought it looked more like an iron than a dust-buster)

Final Thoughts From Don

Addition of wall mounted touch screen in every room years before anyone else offered similar solution. (Hats off! PCs were just becoming popular {I bought my first in 1987!) and CliniCom not only invented wireless BMV, but they pioneered the wall-mounted devices so common today!) Delivery of 5 rights of drug administration before anyone else offered similar solution. (Remember, the IOM report didnt come out until 15 years later!) Capture of I&O, Vital Signs at the bedside. - (To be fair, NCRs PNUT neat them to this by a few years) Being involved in a product that really made a difference in the quality of patient care.

An Amazing Ride!
Well wrap-up the CliniCom story next week thanks to input from Marjorie Rodell, a HIS-tory heroine from their early days, like this image below from her archives that sums up their first 5 years: