I think the problem here gentlemen is the fact that perhaps Gee wants to give us the very best and leading edge while most of us here can not afford such and Al is one of the strongest and best defenders of the rights of small low paid, low cost providers offices to be able to use nice, neat tidy packages like his own and AC without a massive enterprise based entity like CCHIT telling us all what we must have and pay for.
For many of us AC users and docs like Al who was talented enough to create his own program, such programs are basically good enough. Just as I would not purchase some enterprise size program to do my bookkeeping when $150 every other year QuickBooks is enough for most small and even medium sized businesses. There are some really big players running their places on nothing but QB's.
I think most of us here who are not professional programers get really scared when we hear talk about growing AC too much, too cutting edge, high tech. If AC goes the way of SoapWare or the Dodo bird we will all be up the CCHIT river without a paddle. As much as we really want AC to add some useful features or clean up some of it's know "issues" I'm sure none of us would want that to come with some NexGen price tag, bloat or impersonal corporate culture.
AC is really unique in this industry with this IPod, Mac, Apple kind of community feeling and thing surrounding it. And part of that is based on culture, some of it on the product doing 9 out of 10 things we need it do all day at an almost unbelievable price (especially in this industry where everyone sees us as just a conduit to their money from our pockets), as well as her simple to learn and use design. It is this combination of things that makes this product what it is and has created all this user support. AC is sort of our EMR saviour and we are all very defensive of her. Even Al who doesn't even use her himself, because he too views AC as something to be held up as a viable alternative to all the large, enterprise sized and priced pieces of CCHIT that are attempting to use our own government against us to force their over priced products down our throats.
You two have just engaged in the inside, tech version of what Gee and Myself went thru many months ago. Gee, yes staying current and cutting edge is great for those who can afford it. But many of us like our older models just the way they are, even with all their flaws. Would I love to have some new G3 Hemi Grand Cherokee for a really fun daily driver? Sure I would, but I can't even come close to affording it. And I really like, a whole lot, my older, first generation 5.2 Magnum one with two solid axles for off roading. Is it the as fast as a newer Hemi with independent suspension? No, but get the two on a trail and watch my older two solid axle one leave it spinning its tires stuck in the first big obsticle.
Older can be better or more valued to the owner or user. New can be real cool and on the edge too. Gee your ideas are great for larger companies that can afford to build and go in that direction no doubt about it. But for the mainly starving solo PCP's here that use AC in the face of declining payments and the ever controlling insurance industry, cheap but well put together tools like AC are all we can afford and we will be dead in the water if Jon decides to take her too far too the other extreme. There really is no other product out there that can fit this niche the way AC does and we hope and pray that Jon keeps her in such a format as to allow us little guys to continue to be able to afford to use her....
Does this all make sense????
Be good guys.
