“H.I.S.-tory” by Vince Ciotti

© 2011 H.I.S. Professionals, LLC

Episode # 48:

MedTake Part 2

So Why Bedside Terminals?• This series of HIS-tory episodes covers 3 of the earliest PC/micro

systems that first placed HIS devices at the patient’s bedside:– NCR’s “PNUT” (Portable Nursing Unit Terminal), circa 1982– CliniCom’s “CliniCare,” launched by Peter Gombrich in 1984– Patient Technology Inc’s 1970’s Survalent and 1980’s “MedTake”

• So why such interest to put devices right at the patient’s bedside?- Well, check out this actual collection of how nurses captured data back then:- Scribbles on med wrappers, paper towels, anything they could stuff in the pockets of their scrubs, to remind them of what to chart when they got back to the nurse station.

Meanwhile, Back at the Nurse Station…

- Those scraps of paper were pulled pulled out and used to inspire these un-retouched handwritten scribbles that comprised Nurses Notes.

- Pretty similar to the problem the IOM saw when they reviewed the paper nightmare physicians go through to order meds in a paper system: illegible scribbles on source documents (med orders) transcribed onto equally illegible MARs.

- Imagine being a doctor and looking at these nurse notes the next morning to see how your patient fared over night? These graphics may help remind your MDs when they complain about your CPOE system!?

MedTake’s New Owner

• So who was the NJ firm who bought MedTake from PTI?

• Per their 1986 Prospectus:– Formed in 1971 as “Claims

Processing Co.” for OP billing– Grew their products to a full

suite of financial systems– Running on DEC VAXes, the hot

box in the mid-80s mini mania.– Later re-Named “Micro

Healthsystems Inc.” in 1982– With 50 employees serving 50

client throughout NY/NJ.– Added additional software

such as a Home health Care system.

The Men Behind the Name• As usual in HIS, there were a number of little-known HIS-tory heroes

behind the scenes who did the heavy lifting and deserve the credit:

Sal CaravettaFounder and Chairman of the Board – one of the classiest guys in HIS: smart & well-spoken, sadly passed away all too soon.

Doug HaasSr. VP of Delopment, Doug led the hardware team that pulled the QWERTY keys off the keyboards, and software team that wrote the code to automate nursing.

Jim PesceWho we first met many episodes ago when he worked for GE’s “MediNet,” then as the Northeast Regional CSR manager at McAuto. Jim was Health Micro’s CEO – running the financial system division that met the payroll.

Ron GliatesVP Product Manager, Ron was another McAuto alumnus, and one of the best CSR reps in HIS-tory: clients loved him, and he worked long, hard hours to keep them happy.

Some bum we’ll talk more about later…

Daring MedTake Pilot Sites• Two daring hospitals served as pilot sites who nursing staff as “early

adopters” deserve credit for many improvements to the system:

Palisades General Hospital – right on the NJ banks of the Hudson, 202 beds, managed by HCA at the time, 108 devices on all their floors, 1985 pilot.

Northwestern Medical Center – in frozen St. Albans, VT, where the warm summer season lasts almost the entire month of June! 98 beds, also HCA-managed, 33 units on their 3 nurse stations. Their hard drives were prepared with a special coating of anti-freeze… live in 1986

Typical Sales Challenge• It was actually PTI who found and sold Northwestern in Vermont.

Here’s the great story from JoAnn Karl, RN, one of PTI’s veterans:– Back in those pre-HIMSS days, the annual IT conference was

AHA’s annual national convention, where PTI bought a booth.– JoAnn and her team (wo)manned the booth for days, with not

a single decent demo or lead among the hundreds of booths.• By the end of the week, thoroughly

depressed at the lack of prospects, they shared a cab to the airport with a nice gentleman, who turned out to be the CEO of Northwest!

• With a ½ hour captive audience, they hooked him on the concept of bedside terminals, scheduled a demo, and the rest is HIS-tory…

So How Did I Get Involved?• I was working for Sheldon Dorenfest in the mid-80s, and Shelly’s

wealth of market analyses (his “3000” data base was the precursor to HIMSS’ “Analytics”) made me acutely aware of the hot market opportunity for a PC-based product, and working with Shelly on Peter Gombrich on his CliniCom bedside idea had me primed!

• I knew Jim Pesce from our McAuto days, and Jim had watched how we penetrated the mainframe market at HIS Inc. in nearby Brooklyn in the early 80s.

• Jim was looking for someone to head up MedTake sales and called me asking if I was interested. Does a bear do-do in the woods? Sold! Here’s the note that changed my HIS-tory: