Las Vegas - home of  the Las Vegas Strip, the Chippendales Dancers, Wayne Newton, the Blue Man Group, the Rio Buffet, and the 10 minute marriage was also home to this year's 2005 NDCHealth Annual Reseller Event.  I've attended this event several times (back when I was a Medisoft and NDCHealth employee), however this event gave me a number of new perspectives into the lives of medical software resellers as I mingled with NDCMedisoft and NDCLytec VARs, Software Vendors, NDCHealth Employees, and other Industry Professionals. 

A special thanks to AdvancedMD (www.advancedmd.com) for covering my expenses and giving me the opportunity to have this experience.  I have attended a number of these meetings in the past as an NDCHealth employee, but it was interesting for me to see how this annual event has evolved over the years from an unbiased perspective.

Industry Knowledge:  Here are a few of the things that I picked up or that I was reminded of while in Las Vegas last week mingling with the several hundred resellers and industry professionals there.

Every reseller must have an EMR they sell -- As I visited with a number of attendees at the event, I would often ask them how the meeting was going and what was their favorite part.  Many resellers were lethargic about much of the meeting, however, almost unanimously they would point to one speaker as the highlight.  This guest speaker was Mark Anderson, an Industry Consultant with the AC Group, who declared that practice management sales had plateaud and wouldn't increase significantly over the coming years.  The reasons resellers appreciated his lecture is because he was both knowledgeable and absolutely correct.  Currently, there are very few offices in the US that don't have practice management systems, and for today's practice management reseller, it now becomes a matter of converting offices from existing systems.  The real growth opportunity for resellers right now is in EMRs.  With the recent strong encouragement from the US Government to bring the US Healthcare system into the technology age, it is clear that we are merely on the beginning of a shift from paper charts to electronic charts.

"More than twice as many medical groups are using EHRs than were using them two years ago, according to a survey released this week by MGMA (Medical Group Management Association). Still, only about 30 percent medical groups have any form of electronic health records system." -- M.L. Baker - eWEEK 01.27.05

Every reseller should also have a Web-Based Software System they sell -- A few years back I was inundated with a number of industry professionals who were confident that ASP was the future of the medical software industry.  The problem with their assessment is that they were too early -- the high-speed internet infrastructure was not in place yet to support this shift.  The availability and reliability of high-speed internet have both been gradually improving since that assessment.  AND, there are some compelling reasons to use a web-based system from the standpoint of data security (HIPAA) and system accessibility.  As Gary Gorsline, the President of Easy Business Software, told me how the hurricanes this last year in Florida left many medical offices in ruin -- entire practices were destroyed along with all their computers and data.  Offices that had the foresight to implement a web-based system could continue to work and bill from any location.  Their data was safe and their system was still up.

It was most interesting to me that the two competing practice management companies who had attended the Las Vegas meeting outside the bounds of the NDCHealth realm were both web-based:  AdvancedMD and Per-Se Technologies.  This industry shift from Client/Server to Web-based systems is beginning to feel a lot like the move that happened in the mid-90's when vendors began moving from old DOS-Based Systems to Windows-Based Systems.  Keep your eye on this trend.

The more things change, the more they stay the same -- Seeing old friends I haven't seen in years, many of whom I was their channel manager, was fantastic.  We shared a hug and smile, and spent a lot of time catching up and visiting.  Their concerns are very similar to concerns of resellers nationwide.  Frustrations with their vendor, vendor instability, communication, the quality of the products they sell, changes in vendor policies, a feeling of disconnectedness -- it is the same story I have been hearing for years and one of the reasons that InvestMed was founded.

There are a lot more income opportunities for resellers today than ever before -- On Wednesday Night of the meeting, NDCHealth had a reseller expo that included a number of add-on products and services for resellers.  As I perused the expo and mingled with the attendees, there were some companies and products that I had heard of, but there were several new ones as well.  For your convenience I have added a partial list of the companies at that expo and around the meeting for you to peruse in your own research to discover if these products can help add something valuable to your product mix and provide an additional solution for your clients:

• http://www.advancedmd.com/

• http://www.eppointmentsplus.com/

• http://www.mscashdrawer.com/home.php

• http://www.tech-consultants.com/

• http://www.springmedical.com/

• http://www.designersystems.com/

• http://www.per-se.com/

• http://www.nextrust.com/

• http://www.gatewayedi.com/

• http://www.inborne.com/

• http://www.dentimax.com/

• http://www.epracticesoftware.com/

• http://www.medilync.com/

• http://www.x-link.info/

• http://www.medinotes.com/

• http://www.qmbsolutions.com

• http://www.micron-mgt.com/registrationform.htm

 

LAS VEGAS TRAVELOGUE

Tuesday, January 25th, 2005:  I begin the drive down with Jim Pack (President) and Viggo Madsen (VP of Sales) of AdvancedMD starting at about 12:30 PM.  The 6 hour drive goes rather quickly and we arrive in Las Vegas with our materials for the event.  The event is being held at the Venetian, however, we stayed at the Paris for various reasons.  After arriving at our hotel, we drive to the loading area of the Venetian to unload AdvancedMD's booth, Plasma TV, and marketing materials.  By the time we finished setting up, it was 11:00 PM and time for bed.  I had nearly forgotten how physically and mentally demanding these meetings were, by Day 3 of the event, I would be exhausted as were most of the attendees.

Wednesday, January 26th, 2005:  We awoke at 7 AM and made our way over to the Venetian by 8:15 AM.  The facilities at the Venetian, as always, are incredible.  Its easy to get lost in the conference center, but somehow we manage to find our way to the Bassano Area.  Viggo Madsen, the true morning person of the group was at the Venetian at around 6 AM.  Its tough to keep up with him.  He's already been visiting with resellers and enjoying the continental breakfast the Venetian brought.  Gary Gorsline, the President of Easy Business Software and a good friend, spends time coming in and out of the room.  He is an aggressive and knowledgeable business man (whom I respect) and one of the good ol' boys.  Most of the day is spent introducing AdvancedMD to various resellers and spending time with old friends.  All and all, it is a good day one.  Viggo starts running a fever so he checks out early, however for a few of us, the night is spent with a quick tour of the Reseller Expo and then a cab ride over to the Luxor to attend the Blue Man Group show.   Bed at 1:00 AM and then up at 6:00 AM for more.

Thursday, January 27th, 2005:   We arrive at the Venetian at 7:15 AM this day.  NDCHealth has various breakouts in rooms near our room and we spend a large portion of the day having a steady stream of resellers stop by and visit.  Through out the day, these VARs are genuinely upset that their vendor hasn't spent anytime on the features of the new product, version 10 (NDCHealth will later conduct a quick training on the new version).  Other resellers are frustrated that their vendor is "forcing" them to sign their clients up on a clearinghouse they do not want to use.  I spend a lot of time visiting with them about these concerns and reconnecting with old friends.  Viggo is still not feeling well, however, he attempts to give it a go.  I have a lot of respect for Viggo as he attends both most of this day and the next while being under-the-weather (the sacrifices we make for our jobs).  The day ends at about 6:00 PM.  We hit the world famous Rio Buffet at about 8:30 and get to bed by 1:00 AM.

Friday, January 28th, 2005:  I wake up at 6:00 AM.  I am dragging and barely able to get packed and ready by the time we have to leave at 7:15 AM.  We check out of the Paris and head back to the Venetian.  At 10:30 AM, I am excited to be a part of the AdvancedMD Plasma TV Give-a-Way.  Arliene Koch, an absolutely adorable reseller from California, storms in the room after she discovers she's won.  I get several hugs.  We spend the rest of the day mingling and visiting with resellers.  Macey Bernards, the top salesperson at AdvancedMD, gives several demos of AdvancedMD throughout the day.  I would estimate she probably gave somewhere around 50 demos throughout the conference, but I lost count at some point way back on day 1. We pack up our things around 5 PM and begin the 5 hour drive back to Salt Lake City.  On the drive home I reflect on old friends, family, the healthcare technology industry, and business relationships as I slowly drift off to sleep with my head buried in my crumpled up leather jacket.  It turns out to be the deepest sleep I've had all week.

I would specifically like to thank everyone that was involved in the meeting from the resellers to the vendors.  It was an exceptional experience and it was great to make some new friends and see old friends alike.

-- Kevin Burdick, InvestMed, LLC   

 

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