As you old timers around here might remember I'm very old school and a very in "Control and Possession" kind of guy as we like to say in the Hockey Rule Books.... When it comes to very important data that is created in a unique, propriortary like database and system, then I want to remain in control of just about any and all of it and that means I own the program and have a solid copy of it, that I am entitled to make good use of as long as I care to keep a computer with that time periods OS that, that program ran and runs on....
Today a new born joins one of our practices, according to the specifics our your state, you are now on the hook to that child to be able to produce their medical file and chart, 7-8 years after they first hit the age of majority. No offense to Jon or anyone at AC but that is a heck of a long time and a heck of a lot of faith in the concept that your vendor will even be there no less your data Just In Case any of your newest and youngest patients decides to come knocking on your door one day....
And does that mean that anyone using Cloud Based databases on Cloud based programs and systems will need to have a paid relationship with that same vendor (provided they are still there to begin with in 25 years from now... Tick Tock) the entire time from now until "Death Do You Part" might we say???? Instead of simply keeping one nice, revered and well protected laptop or desktop somewhere safe just in case 10 years after your retirement these kids start knocking on your door????
As we discussed here many years ago, 1) the Law is WAY Behind on this and someone has to intervene and level out the requirements on both sides of the equation, and take both sides needs, responsibilities and costs into consideration, Doctors and Vendors, so that this is simply a well worked out, and both sides know what is the deal and what to expect from one another.
2) I think that any vendor worth their salt and trust will always give a cloud customer a working copy of the program to install on any reasonable machine that the average person can have, to then safely and easily take their data with them, if and when the Honeymoon is over... Live and let Live, You go this way and I'll got that way kind of nice split which then speaks to a great honest vendor who has no intent of holding you or your data hostage sometime later in the future anyway....
But it is the hostage, now what do I do now that I am on the hook with a "Cloud" ASP like program and vendor???? Question that almost NO Cloud based purchasing customer considers long or hard enough prior to such a purchase. It is only years later after the glow has worn off the bride and the software stinks now or the price structure is insane or the vendor just got absorbed or went belly up (Like Where the F is your data now???) in the not so free and messed up market of healthcare and federal laws, that such customers start to ask the kind of Pre-Nup questions they should have asked all those years ago....
Give me my nice simple P2P system, my own copy of AC and FAP and leave me the heck alone... Those charts are my wife's property and original creations that she is legally responsible for.... Can't believe I'm typing all of this again so many years later.... The more things change the more they remain the same....
Paul
