The article about Pediatric Associates in CA has a nugget with a potentially outsized impact: the implication that VFC vaccines…
DOCtalk with Dr. Gregg 1/12/16
HIT by Any Other Name
Perhaps it was the passing of iconic rock legend David Bowie that got me thinking about my rock and roll years. Perhaps it was some Ziggy Stardust-type strangeness that inspired my weird side. Perhaps it was just one of those days. Regardless, it recently occurred to me that HIT might benefit from a little rock-n-roll-ness. Specifically when it comes to nomenclature, and even more specifically when it comes to product names.
My current EMR has a pretty good name; they used a synonym for the word “happiness.” I was told this name was chosen because they wanted clinicians to feel “elated” by its simple and intuitive interface and wonderful workflow design. As an end user for some time now, I’d have to admit that the name sorta fits. Maybe I’m not exactly “elated,” but its ease-of-use does make me happy.
I wonder if such product branding would actually help other providers feel better about the HIT products they use? What if you added a little rock-ness to the name game for EHRs? Would it enliven the whole spirit behind using HIT products, especially for those less likely to inspire such joie de vivre on their own merits?
Let’s try a little name game to see…
TOP 20 POTENTIAL EHR/EMR ROCKER NAMES
- From heavy metal: MEGABLOODSTAR EHR
- From classic rock: THE EHGLES EHR
- From blues rock: B.B. EHR
- From reggae: Bob EMRley
- From pop: Ziggy EHRDust (Had to be in there.)
- From glam rock: EMRli Vanilli
- From country rock: Down Home EHR
- From hip hop: Master E.H.R.
- From disco: KC & The EMR
- From 50’s rock: Elvis EHR
- From psychedelic rock: The EMR Experience
- From folk rock: Bob (Just “Bob”)
- From grunge rock: Alice in EHR
- From punk rock: The Ramones EMR (How can you mess with their name?)
- From techno rock: Daft EMR
- From surf rock: Surfin’ EHR
- From stoner rock: High-On EHR
- From southern rock: Lynyrd EMRnyrd
- From ska punk: EHRbone
- From rockabilly: Stray EHR
As we near the end of another long, here-we-go-again football season, one more came to mind. For all you fellow long-suffering (some call us just plain stupid) Cleveland Browns fans, here’s one more from a Cleveland-based band, the industrial rock-inspired: Nine Inch NEHR (NIИ).
I dunno … even with a little adapted user interface and some logo reworks to match, maybe others wouldn’t find sitting down to peck away at an EHR with a rock-inspired name to be all that inspiring, but for most folks who seem to suffer in front of their electronic health systems, I bet it couldn’t be any worse!
From the trenches…
“I re-invented my image so many times that I’m in denial that I was originally an overweight Korean woman.” – David Bowie (RIP)
Dr. Gregg Alexander, a grunt in the trenches pediatrician at Madison Pediatrics, is chief medical officer for Health Nuts Media, an HIT and marketing consultant, sits on the board of directors of the Ohio Health Information Partnership, and is the semi-proud author of “Monsters Don’t Fart!”
Contacts
Jennifer, Mr. H, Lorre, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg, Lt. Dan
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PS – Imagine if user interface guru, Dr. Rick, got a hold of this idea and incorporated it into a great UX and workflow-friendly design for a new similarly-themed system, maybe “Stevie Ray EHR.” Maybe some cool guitar licks would play every time an alert popped up, or you’d get a little riff every time you hit “Save.” Now that system would truly be rockin’!!!
Dr. Gregg,
It’s on my To Do list. By the way, I was in a rock band in college too. I played electric bass.