EMR Vendor Advisor

This weekend I had a nice meeting with an EMR vendor. We had a nice discussion of the possibilities that are available right now in the EMR world. It was also interesting to consider the value that I could add to an EMR company as an advisor to that EMR company. Seems like between my expertise, my network and this website I could provide quite a bit of value to an EMR company as an advisor.

Here’s some of the things (off the top of my head) that I think I can offer an EMR company:

  • Promotion/Advertising on this Site
  • Feedback on Product Development (from me and from my network)
  • Advice on EHR Stimulus money
  • Counsel on EHR Certification Options
  • Suggestions on IT Options for Your Company (I am an IT person after all)
  • Help on Use of Social Media and Online Marketing for your EHR
  • Connections to investors/VCs

The key for me is to find the right EMR company for which I can be a HUGE advocate for their product and that my skills and expertise will make that EMR company better. In fact, I think there’s some possibilities for me to become an advisor to a few different EMR companies that don’t have overlapping markets (ie. pediatric EMR, ER EMR, specialty specific EMR, etc). I think that there’s also some potential to expand to other related EMR technologies like those doing transcription for example.

The other challenge is ensuring the right compensation model. I think the only reasonable arrangement is some sort of equity. Why? Because if I’m going to be an advisor, then you want me to have some skin in the game. You want me to be working hard to promote your product, provide you the best counsel possible and to help out your company in every way possible. Equity in a company does just that for me.

So, consider this post my request to talk with those EMR Companies that might be interested in this sort of arrangement. If you’re interested in talking, drop me a line on my contact us page.

About the author

John Lynn

John Lynn is the Founder of HealthcareScene.com, a network of leading Healthcare IT resources. The flagship blog, Healthcare IT Today, contains over 13,000 articles with over half of the articles written by John. These EMR and Healthcare IT related articles have been viewed over 20 million times.

John manages Healthcare IT Central, the leading career Health IT job board. He also organizes the first of its kind conference and community focused on healthcare marketing, Healthcare and IT Marketing Conference, and a healthcare IT conference, EXPO.health, focused on practical healthcare IT innovation. John is an advisor to multiple healthcare IT companies. John is highly involved in social media, and in addition to his blogs can be found on Twitter: @techguy.

7 Comments

  • I hope you’ll decide not to take a job like this, I always envisioned you as more of an EMR Journalist with this website. To me, If you throw your cards in with a vendor, you’ll lose your objectivity.

  • Andrew is right. The credibility of this site depends on being on the outside looking in, playing devil’s advocate, and having the cynical and skeptical eye for the industry you’ve acquired.

    That said, an EMR vendor might make you a very attractive offer, and who could fault you for accepting such an offer. Bt you’ll lose the objectivity you’ve enjoyed thus far.

  • Eric,
    Definitely doesn’t have to be an EMR vendor. In fact, I think many of the possible opportunities could be with people related to EMR and not necessarily vendors.

    Let’s set a time to talk about the possibilities.

    John

  • Andrew,
    Thanks for your comments. I’ll definitely take them into account. I also think it’s nice that you see me as an EMR journalist. I’m not sure I’d put myself there, but I do what I can.

    Andrew and David,
    I think there is a difference if I become an advisor to a company than it is if I go and work for an EMR company. Plus, in some ways being an advisor for a company would provide me even more content and another perspective for this blog. Although, it’s definitely part of my consideration when I look at who I am interested in advising. That’s why above I said it would have to be a good match. My feeling is that as an advisor my opinions that I post on this site would just extend into the EMR company and turn into more strategic suggestions for that company.

    Certainly, there would be some change and I’d be sure to fully disclose any relationships I have with EMR companies.

    One reason I feel comfortable considering this idea is that some of my favorite tech bloggers are those that are advisors/investors in tech companies. They manage to stay objective and disclose conflicts that might make them less objective. However, their inside information into the industry is incredibly interesting and valuable.

    Thanks again for your comments. I’ll definitely take them into consideration as this all progresses.

  • Nahum,
    Good question. There are 300-400 different ones. So, it’s been really hard to come up with a number. I’d love to see some numbers if you find them.

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