An Opposing View of Carecloud EHR

Turns out David, who manages the Smart Phone Healthcare, EMR Videos, EMR Screenshots and EMR News websites, didn’t agree with some of the devil’s advocate positions I took in my Carecloud EHR post. He said that after reading Dr. Blackledge’s post, I missed a number of things. So, the following is his commentary on what I missed in my previous Carecloud post.

Pretty much every company out there has some good and bad about it.  There are a few that are completely useless, and a few that think they are perfect, but for the most part every company has some worthwhile traits and some things they need to work on.

Last week, John wrote about a new EHR, Carecloud that has been talked about for months, but finally was released last week.  He referenced a post that was written by Aaron Blackledge M.D. back in April about Carecloud.

John played somewhat of a devil’s advocate in analyzing the post and his views of CareCloud.  While I generally agree with his assessment that the post was, “…one where you can tell that the EMR employee has drunk the Kool-aid they’ve been fed by the company.”  I do think there were some very positive things that were addressed in the post. [Items in italics below are quotes from the original post or John’s post]

“What I like most about CareCloud is that when asked about a timeline for release they will only say that they won’t release it until they get it right…That is rare maturity for a company with huge numbers of customers and investors clamoring for a release date.”  While there is something to be said for the “release early and often” approach, I like to see a company that is willing to be patient in order to release a quality product rather than just make some money.

“Another thing I like is they are worried about not just becoming a very successful billing company,…I like a team to be actively looking at and worried about how their successes can derail the larger vision of what they want to accomplish.”  This goes hand in hand with the previous comment.  Companies that are willing to sacrifice long term goals for short term success are bound to fail in the long run.  For a company to truly succeed they must have clear, established goals and be willing to do the work necessary to achieve them.

“I would guess CareCloud’s calm steady course is because they just don’t feel that anyone else is on the same path they are on so why hurry when you have time to get your vision done right.”                         This is possible. Although, it’s also possible that they spent so much time waiting to release that it’s too late for them to capture the EHR market.  I for one believe it is never too late if you have the right product. There are plenty of great examples out there.  Consider how Facebook came in and stole the market away from MySpace, and how Google+ is trying to do the same thing now.  No matter how much people love a product they will always change if there is something better.

“Even the office space at CareCloud is beautiful and reflects this attention to aesthetic and experience of the individual, in this case the employee experience.”  While John is right that a company who spends too much on aesthetics ends up having to pass that cost onto the consumer, there is something to be said for taking care of your employees.  In the military they often offer bonuses for staying in longer than your original commitment.  It has been shown that most of the people who accept those bonuses would have stayed in the military anyway.  On the other hand, many companies have shown that improving the quality of life for their employees encourages them to stay.  The reality is that a crappy job, even with a bonus is still a crappy job.  On the other hand a great job, in a great environment, attracts the best employees and keeps them there the longest.

I will end where John started: “My recommendation is if you are about to give up and lay down some hard earned cash on an EMR that is just good enough I would urge you to wait a few more months and compare CareCloud’s first iteration with other emerging platforms now gaining a foothold in the marketplace.”  This sums up Dr. Blackledge’s post quite well.  Luckily, for those that may be interested you don’t have to wait a few months anymore.  Carecloud has been released and can be viewed at their website whenever you want.

There is no doubt that there are already companies firmly planted in the EHR market, and that there are plenty of others trying to do the same.  Some of them will fail, and others will succeed, that is the reality of business.  One thing is for sure though, EHRs will continue to be implemented across the country, and for those that are willing to put forth the effort to develop a quality product, there is plenty of success to be had.