Why Healthcare Isn’t Ready For Innovation: Docs, Vendors, Hospital Hiring Practices

I just left the healthcare industry for the second time and it’s sad the level of ignorance and superstition that exists around computers . . . and SQL especially. The entire industry treats computers like big electronic pieces of paper. They print things they can easily email, they manually enter in things they could easily write a form for, and they perform repetative manual tasks they could easily script. It’s pathetic how far behind the industry as a whole is and the people who work in it are so close-minded I don’t see how they ever get anything done.

Part of the problem is the doctors. Doctors think that because they’re doctors that they know everything. Several times I’ve had one doctor or another tell me specifically how they wanted me to do something in SQL. They didn’t know the first thing about it, but they heard a few terms here and there so they decided to run the show. And here they are in meetings insisting that I follow their HA architecture that was just ridiculous. I got a reputation in my company for being difficult to work with because I always called them on it and told them to let me do my job. Then they would complain and my boss would be at my desk the next day. It’s just incredible ego to think that you’re a expert in all fields because you’re an expert in your own.

However, doctors aren’t the only problem. Vendors are also a huge problem because they’re very slow to adapt to new technologies. And by slow, I mean 15-20 years too slow. We’ve had so many vendors who only code against SQL2K. Their support personnel is pathetic to say the least as well. These vendors know nothing. And they’re guiding hospitals in their implementations. [...]