I came across a great article by Geoffrey Moore on LinkedIn talking about “SaaS’s Real Triumph.” He suggests that the “greatest contribution of SaaS is to free the enterprise from the tyranny of the product release model.”
This is a really interesting concept. Far too often when we talk about SaaS EHR software we talk about the payments being spread out over time as opposed to a big lump sum payment up front. Plus, we love to talk about how that means you can leave that EHR software if you don’t like it. The former is an important consideration for every CFO. The later usually doesn’t play itself out as nicely since you often have to sign a contract for a certain number of years. However, at least if there are major issues you still hold most of the money.
I think Geoffrey is right about this rarely discussed benefit of SaaS. As he acknowledges, SaaS EHR software does have some level of ongoing disruption that must be dealt with, but it’s nothing like the disruption that occurs with a major product release form an enterprise software like an EHR. In fact, I think these major release updates are likely going to be the eventual downfall of the major EHR systems we know today. It won’t happen until after meaningful use, but it will present an opportunity for a scrappy startup. We’ll see if the current EHR companies will be able to adapt.
I’m sure many of you reading this have stories and experiences you can share on the topic of enterprise EHR upgrades. I look forward to reading them in the comments. Of course, I bet there’s just as many stories about hospital IT leadership being afraid of SaaS as well. The clash has begun.
Hi. You raise some very good points, as I have witnessed some huge disasters associated with product updates over my 27-year software career. The one caveat I would mention is that it is important for SaaS customers not to be lulled into ignoring the fact that product updates are still happening. It’s nice they do not hamper the provider as much as as OnPrem, but the details, which are often not read in the release notes when people are too busy with other things, can have a huge impact. There has already been one instance of providers being surprised by a new “feature” that was sending emails on their behalf. SaaS is a great model, but just like “auto pilot” it still needs to be supervised.
Carl,
It’s also important that a SaaS EHR vendor provide quality release notes. Most don’t do this or do it poorly. You definitely have to be careful to not put it on auto-pilot.