The complex and dynamic healthcare IT marketplace was on full display at HIMSS12 in Las Vegas last month. After spending a few days interacting with partners, customers and healthcare IT consumers as a representative of OpenText’s Fax and Document Distribution Group (FDDG), three main trends stood out to me that I feel are important to share with those unable to attend, whether health professionals with IT problems or vendors with IT solutions.

The Cloud
Despite early fears that managing and exchanging sensitive documents like patient information in the cloud would be too unstable or vulnerable, the sentiment is shifting as businesses across all industries become better informed – and consequently more comfortable – with the emerging medium.

Quite a few healthcare IT vendors have done a commendable job of demonstrating that cloud computing can be secure. Although many hospitals and other healthcare providers are realizing they need to step outside of traditional technologies in general, their initial hesitation to embrace cloud is understandable. Many of these institutions have spent a lot of time and money building an IT infrastructure that, while perhaps not as efficient or up-to-date as they would like, makes them feel confident that their sensitive documents are safe. It was great to see more hospitals getting out of their comfort zones and investigating new technologies.

Mobility
To some people, a PDA or other mobile device is simply a phone, a scheduling tool, or even just a neat gadget. But to a growing number of healthcare professionals, these mobile devices have become critical to managing and sharing documents, and, more importantly, delivering quality care.

The continually expanding capabilities and security of mobile devices are making them more and more attractive to healthcare professionals, especially those that need to share sensitive information quickly and without being tied to a desk or a fixed appliance.

HL7 Messaging
Health Level-7 (HL7) messaging is beginning to generate a lot of renewed attention. Originally developed in the U.S. more than 20 years ago as a standard for healthcare information systems, it was quickly adopted by many other nations and remains an important way of managing healthcare information in a unified manner.

Security and compliance has become one of the most daunting challenges for healthcare providers, but their need to communicate quickly and often internationally is growing as well. HL7 is being revisited as a cornerstone for sharing medical records and other health documents.

With these and many other changing trends in mind, our healthcare IT solutions must keep pace. OpenText FDDG will continue to develop document interchange technologies that meet the needs of the Healthcare industry.  Fax remains important, and even as electronic interchange of records grows in Healthcare, fax will still be a backstop.  OpenText continues to put a major focus on secure operability in the cloud, access to critical documents via mobile device, and compatibility with the widest range of applications possible. As Healthcare IT requirements evolve, you can be certain that OpenText will be there to provide superior solutions.

After attending this year’s HIMSS tradeshow, I am as excited as ever about the direction healthcare is heading with regard to new information technologies. Even compared to last year’s event, I can see a real difference in the passion healthcare providers are displaying in seeking out new technologies to deliver better care and service–in particular those that can help them address security, compliance and data privacy. Yes, regulations and compliance mandates like HIPAA means a lot more accountability and a lot more work. But rather than responding to this requirement as if they are being forced to comply, the healthcare community seems eager to find the smartest IT solutions for their compliance needs. They understand that, ultimately, regulatory compliance will improve not just document security, but also patient care and even bottom line.

I attended HIMSS12 representing OpenText’s Fax and Document Distribution Group in an effort to connect with customers in need of a fax-based document management solution. HIMSS is designed to make the job of finding the right IT solutions easy, but it can be difficult to find something if you don’t know what you should be looking for. In some cases, people don’t even know that fax technology can be a viable and effective solution for them. For example, at HIMSS12, I met someone who provides consultancy services for hospitals to improve their process workflows, and she said it had never occurred to her that fax could solve problems for her clients. Further discussions with her saw her realize that OpenText fax solutions can help quite a few of her clients increase efficiency and productivity, reduce costs and enhance the service they offer their customers. It felt great to help her, and it was a welcome reminder that trusted fax technology continues to play a pivotal role in the healthcare marketplace.

It was heartening to see a vibrant healthcare IT dialogue at play, and I look forward to attending next year.

In the 14^th Annual Global CEO survey report published by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Dennis M Nally, Chairman of Pricewaterhouse Coopers International, opened his foreword with the phrase “Confidence is back”. The report talked about how CEOs have applied cost discipline and patient optimism, setting their targets on immediate growth in recovering regions. CEOs in the survey also identified three focal points to drive change internationally: innovation, talent and a shared agenda with the government (you may wish to read more about this report here: http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/ceo-survey/download.jhtml).

So let’s bring this a little closer to home. What does this mean for us in the fax solutions marketplace? Frost & Sullivan estimates that, in 2010, the enterprise fax marketplace represents approximately $372m in revenues and is expected to grow to $591m globally by 2017. Which begs the question, what would our 3 focal points be to growing our business?

Here’s my take :

1. 1. Innovation

The Oxford Dictionary defines innovation as “a new method, idea, product”. While a new product could and would draw attention, it would also take considerable effort and time. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that we shouldn’t focus on bringing out new products; that should be part of a longer-term roadmap and strategy. But innovation could also mean evolving our existing product range and making it work more efficiently, addressing different aspects of business needs or introducing adjustments to cater to a new market segment.

1. 2. Marketing the products

Aligned with innovation is also how we sell and market the product. This needs to remain in synch with how customers buy. Taking into account cultural and regional nuances will help to put a fresh perspective on how the product and its technologies can help customers address their needs differently. Alternatively, offering prospective customers new ways of capitalizing a tried and proven technology is also important. Also, leveraging social media platforms to encourage ‘getting to know the product through end users’ could translate into a more compelling dialogue with a potential customer. Forming new alliances/partnerships with vendors supporting cloud computing could open new business opportunities is important too.

1. 3. Shared agenda with our customers

The role of selling has changed over time and has impacted the wealth and depth of information easily available online today. Some prospective customers may already have sufficient knowledge of the product and competitive alternatives prior to meeting with you. When we share a common agenda with our customers, we connect ourselves to their environment and needs. This means we can take their knowledge of our product and put it in perspective by addressing it to their requirements. Customers are buying what they need not what we can or want to sell them.

What would your 3 focal points be?

A very Happy New Year to one and all! In an article by Debra Aho Williamson posted on 27 Dec 2010 on eMarketer, she writes that companies will be spending more than ever on social media marketing in 2011. But to succeed in having any sort of depth in a relationship, one needs to engage in a dialogue; share their thoughts, opinions, and experiences. In short, they need to spend time together & communicate. According to Wikipedia, “Human communication was revolutionized with speech perhaps 200,000 years ago^{[citation needed]} while symbols were developed about 30,000 ^[1], and writing making an appearance about 7,000. Telecommunication has run on a much shorter scale, it is only in the past few centuries that there have been major developments in this field.”

The outlets (Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, Twitter, Flickr) currently available to engage in social media seem overwhelming and endless. But social media is not a new thing; we’ve been doing it for thousands of years. Thinking of it this way hopefully puts things in perspective and makes engagement in the field less daunting. Just like the evolution of telecommunication platforms and instruments, the social media platform is a new way of communication. Be wary however, of approaching social media with the notion that it is something you have to do or it can easily become a chore, creating frustration that may lead to overspending just so you can be in the game. Instead, try embracing the new platform using the social networking channels you’re already engaged and in conversantion with. Place more emphasis on the outcome you would like first and you’ll begin to see and experiment with how you can use the new platform.

Start by selecting an area in your business where a social media platform can be easily integrated. For example, when integrating with existing marketing initiatives, consider creating or posting an entry to an existing blog in order to reinforce the theme of a campaign. Promote a webinar or an event and then be sure to continue the conversation afterwards to generate momentum in the discussion of the topic. Additionally, you can raise awareness of your company by contributing articles in external blog forums. If you’re in Product Management and would like to obtain more insight to the environment of your (potential) customer, you can create a social community, like a forum, to encourage regular and informal dialogue.

It is natural for any business to focus on ROI and rightfully so. With so many organizations still testing the waters, the rules of engagement have not yet been fully established within the social media platform. For this reason, if one can first focus on ROO – the return on objectives – one would be able to better develop a sense of ROI over time.

The last few years have shown us that the presence of social media is only growing more prevalent; and the platform will mature even more over time. But don’t worry; it need not be costly or an ordeal as long as you remember that you’re already engaged in social media. The next step is just an update as you integrate a new platform into your existing strategy.

On the other hand, there are people like my 5 year-old nephew who once insisted on faxing his (excessively long) list of presents to Santa. The fact that he already has several cupboards dedicated to his unopened presents was irrelevant; it was Christmas and he wanted presents. Because he’d been a good boy he reckoned Santa would comply. I digress. He chose to fax his letter to Santa because he didn’t want anyone losing it. He claimed that, since he didn’t know the postman, he would rather not trust him with such an important task. E-mail was out as well; he had seen my sister annoyed more than once when she was unable to find an important e-mail. By faxing his letter he was able to receive confirmation that it had been successfully sent and he was thrilled. When Santa (in the form of my other sibling) replied back, he was more than overjoyed and thought definitely thought faxing was cool!

My 5 year-old nephew relied on faxing technology to ensure his very important note to Santa was sent instantaneously, securely & reliably. The fact that he was able to trace and obtain immediate confirmation was even more important. Faxing to Santa was indeed cool! The soon-to-be Royal couple are definitely more tech savvy than my 5 year-old nephew. By sending their save-the-date notices via fax they’re showing us that perhaps, just perhaps, there is still a special and important place for fax; and the younger generation is rediscovering this tried, tested, and proven technology.