Support for your RIS: Are you speaking the same language?
The language of radiology is unique to other departments or practices in healthcare. Those who run a radiology department for a hospital or who operate an imaging center will tell you that. Understanding the language of the RIS workflow is as important as understanding spoken language. Can you have an understanding of RIS workflow if you’ve never worked in a radiology environment? Can you truly speak effectively to someone in their native language if that is not your native language?
Most likely when you purchased your RIS, the salesperson told you they have excellent 24x7 support and not to worry if you have any problems. The system has just been installed and the install team has just left your facility and headed to their next install. A question comes up that you need answered so you call their toll-free support line only to find out that their support comes from Asia, India or some other non-English speaking country. The person you are trying to talk to can barely speak English (much less understand it). This is a major complaint among RIS users because many RIS vendors have outsourced their support outside the country in order to reduce their costs.
On the other hand, maybe the RIS support is coming directly from the United States but the support staff is comprised of folks who know their product, but don’t know the internal workings of a radiology department. Thus, it’s kind of like a male mammo tech performing a mammogram on a woman. They may have the knowledge but do they really understand the procedure the way a woman mammo tech would? The ideal support person for a RIS product is an ex-tech or an ex-radiology manager who has used that particular RIS product. Not only do they understand the product, they more importantly understand the day-to-day pressures and needs of the radiology staff.
Another important factor regarding support calls is the average time it takes to get a return call and the average time it takes a vendor to resolve an issue. Both of these are great questions to ask the referrals that you contact for a given RIS vendor. If a vendor is understaffed in support, you might experience several days before receiving a return call.
Bottom line: Make sure you know who you will be dealing with in regards to technical support for your RIS. Are they radiology knowledgeable? Can they speak understandable English? Is there ample support staff? What do existing customers think about their support?
RFP’s
The purpose of an RFP is to allow the potential buyer to ask a series of questions about features and functionality of a product so that they can make an intelligent purchasing decision. Many times, a healthcare facility does not have the time to create their own RFP, so they use a generic one that they get from another facility or one they found on the internet. Either way, contrary to popular belief, RFPs are rarely beneficial and are basically an opportunity for the vendor to legally misrepresent their product(s). Their defense will be “Ohhhhh, I didn’t know that was what you meant!”
Imagine going through a single day where the only two words that you were allowed to use were “Yes” and “No”. Those two words certainly answer a lot of questions but what about all the gray area in between? What if the answer to a given question is “Yes” under certain circumstances but “No” under other circumstances but the circumstances were not defined? What if, as a vendor, I’m limited to answering “Yes” to any five items in a list but there are 15 items in that list? Answering “Yes” to all of them is not lying because theoretically, I can do any five of them. Hopefully, you are beginning to see the weaknesses of the RFP concept. Someone filling out the RFP can basically give “Yes” answers to everything and feel justified in their answers because the questions were not specific enough or because the question could easily be interpreted in a different way.
Bottom line: If you are going to use an RFP, make sure it is ultra specific regarding your needs so that the chances of misinterpretation are minimized. Also, the needs of your facility are likely to be very different from the facility that originally authored the RFP so using someone else’s RFP is like taking someone else’s medication...don’t!
It’s Who You Know When it Comes to Your RIS Vendor
There’s an old saying “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” I like to think that what you know is equally important as who you know, but when it comes to RIS vendors that may not be the case. Some RIS vendors have been around for many years while others have surfaced just in the past few years. My message today will address just how well do you know your RIS vendor?
Does your RIS vendor have dozens of customers, just a handful? RIS products can generally be compared to wines (i.e. the longer they are around, the better they are). A RIS product/vendor that has been around for 10 or more years is much more likely to; 1) contain more useful features, 2) be more configurable, 3) have deep knowledge of radiology information systems and 4) be a much more mature product. Younger products are much more likely to; 1) contain significant bugs and 2) be designed around input from just a couple of facilities and thus be very limited in features and flexibility.
Was your RIS product designed strictly for clinics and imaging centers? Or was it designed specifically for hospitals? If you’re an imaging center, it’s good to get to know your RIS vendor before selecting your RIS to make sure you select a RIS that meets the unique needs of the free-standing imaging center. If you select a RIS for your clinic that has been implemented mostly in hospitals (and visa versa), your selection could result in major problems for you.
Lastly, does the RIS vendor offer other products such as PACS, HIS, Pharmacy, Lab, etc? Or, do they specialize in just the RIS product? One advantage of combined products is that they can be (but not always) integrated to optimize the way they work together. The downside is the fact that not all the products in a vendor’s product line can be ‘top of the line’. The key, if selecting a multi-product vendor, is to make sure that the RIS is tightly integrated with the other products and that it is capable of handling your needs. Thus the HIS might be powerful but the RIS might be very limited. One advantage of going with a RIS specialist is that you know you are getting a ‘top of the line’ RIS from a vendor who knows and understands your needs. The key, if selecting a RIS specialist, is to get the vendor to guarantee connectivity to your other products.
Bottom line: It is important to know how long a RIS product has been on the market and to get a breakdown from the vendor of how many hospital customers vs. clinic customers they have. So, if your facility is a clinic, you want to make sure the vendor has a significant number of clinic customers to insure they understand how clinics operate. Likewise, if your facility is a hospital, make sure the vendor has a large number of hospital clients.
The Iceberg Effect of RIS Features and Functionality
When selecting a RIS, as in personal relationships, first impressions are everything. RIS vendors know this and capitalize on that fact. They know that you don’t have enough time to fully research your RIS selection so they devote all their development attention to the highly visible features that you see during a product demo and not necessarily the deeper and more important features and functionality that should exist within the product. I like to refer to this as the “iceberg principal”. Just as only about 15% of an iceberg is above water (and visible), the same is true with a RIS product. The visible 15% is where RIS vendors spend all their efforts because they know that it has to catch your attention and your business. Unfortunately, making a purchasing decision based on that exposed area can be a huge mistake because it’s only when you look beneath the surface that you see how big, solid and deep an iceberg (or RIS product) really is. Buyers who take the time and effort to look beneath the surface of a RIS product, often see a completely different, and sometimes disturbing view of the product and/or vendor.
Yes, the user interface is important as are the data fields and their arrangement on the screens and even the screen appearances in general. But, what if the product’s features are very limited and what if the product is not configurable to your specific needs? Then, it’s like the Model-T cars back in the 1940’s (i.e. you can pick any color as long as it’s black).
What if the RIS has no capacity to grow with your needs? Then, it’s like putting a goldfish in a small bowl and not being able to change to a larger bowl when the fish inevitably grows larger.
What if the RIS is relatively new in the marketplace and is riddled with bugs? Then it's like buying a car that you quickly realize is a "lemon" but unfortunately, there is no "lemon laws" when it comes to RIS software.
What if the RIS is proprietary and refuses (or makes it cost prohibitive) to interface to other vendors? That would be like buying a house and then having to buy all your furniture and appliances from the same home builder indefinitely.
Bottom line: The deeper you look below the surface of a RIS, the more accurate view that you will get of that RIS in terms of product depth, features, functionality, configurability, etc. Truth is that most RIS vendors really don’t want you looking below the surface. Unfortunately, buyers don’t usually look below the surface until after they purchase. Because of limitations on their time, they make the dangerous assumption that what is below the surface is as good as what is above the surface. I’d like to hear from you. Hopefully you don’t have a lot of “beneath the surface” stories to share, but if you do, maybe others can hear from you and perhaps avoid themselves.
Introduction
Ok, I admit it - I love to share my thoughts with others. I’ve always felt there is a lot for me to learn and if I can share some of the things I’ve learned, then I can extend the benefit to others. As I’ve shared with many of you over the years, you’ve told me that you appreciate my writings and you’ve urged me to start a blog to share with the industry. So it is with that constant urging that I kick off my blog. I dedicate this blog to the employees, customers and friends of Swearingen Software who have been a part of our success for the past 27 years and hope my writings will continue to bring you new knowledge.