By Dr. Michael Mathews, president, COO, CynergisTek
As a chemical physicist by training, I find myself predisposed to wanting to understand how things work. Understanding basic concepts certainly isn’t foreign to most in healthcare, but over the weekend I was reminded that it’s never a bad idea to step back and ask “exactly how does this work?” Last week a new information security application crossed my radar and over the weekend was put to the test, reminding me of three recurring and very important takeaway lessons regarding IT applications and products: 1) do a proof of concept, 2) do your homework, and 3) know exactly how things work.
Good IT guys know by now to “kick the tires” before buying; sometimes one finds exactly what was promised is delivered, but other times the promise falls short (and sometimes well short) of what is delivered, and this is becoming more prevalent. Often times the disconnect between the promise and the reality is simply related to nomenclature or difference in definition of a particular term. But, for that exact reason, it is always a good idea to engage in a proof of concept or formal trial period for even the simplest of HIT products in order to validate that what the marketing literature claims is true and consistent with exactly what is observed to be true in the target environment.
Depending on a combination of the complexity of both the target environment and the application being evaluated, the evaluation period could be quick and involve just a few people or lengthy and involve a fair number of testers. Best practice dictates that we never skip the evaluation phase — doing so obviates the ability to quickly validate that what one man calls an apple is not another’s pear.
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