2. Why Bother?
• A lot of friends asked me that question during the 2 years I’ve
been writing this H.I.S.-story – “why bother, when you can be out
there making money as a consultant charging for your time?”
• I’ve also been warned by many savvy friends: “Be Careful, this will
pigeon-hole you as an ‘old fart’ not in touch with today!”
• The reason is best credited to George Santana
who so insightfully said: “Those who cannot
remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
• Also, being born in 1945 and raised in
Philadelphia, PA, the same time & place as
ENIAC, I think I was destined to write this…
• But please, if you learn anything reading this
HIS-tory, give credit to the scores of past
friends, some new enemies, business associates
and voluntary contributors whose names follow:
3. Da Man!
• Prime credit goes first &
foremost to Mr. HIS-talk who
so generously printed these
weekly HIS-tory episodes in
his superb blog:
http://histalk2.com/
• If you want to stay on top of our industry and read HIS-tory as it
is being made, this weekly blog of news & opinion is the place!
• Not only did he give this series invaluable space, but he
provided encouragement when I was getting blogged down,
gave me many leads on where to find HIS-tory heroes, and
amazing vignettes of HIS vendors from his own experience:
Muchas Gracias!!
4. First Presentation
• Credit must go to HIMSS and in
particular, whoever was on the
selection committee for presentations
for their 2011 annual conference.
• They let me make an absolute fool of
myself dressing like a 1960’s hippy
(actually, Mr. HIS-Talk’s idea – he sent
me the web site for this garb & wig!)
• While I presented a 60-page version of
this HIS-tory. Needless to say, the
audience enjoyed the spectacle!
• If anyone out there would like a
repeat at a national or regional event,
just say the word – I still have the
clothes and, right now, they still fit
(barely…)
5. Former Employers…
• Thanks to many old friends at the HIS firms I once worked at, who
not only told me some great stories of early days, but provided
many documents & pictures that made this dull tome come alive:
– Shared Medical Systems
• Jim Macaleer – who hired me despite my having no
knowledge of hospitals, computers or accounting
– Jim, just what were you thinking??
• Mike Mulhall – first boss & mentor, RIP much too early
• And so many friends there: Karl Sydor, Bill Bogutski, Glen
Marshall, Bob Haist, Jim Carter, Mike Cassidy, Steve Myers…
– McAuto – Dick Schopp, Bill Corum (RIP), Jud Foreman, Ed Gavin…
– HIS, Inc. – Brain Fitzpatrick, Roland Thibault (RIP), Jim Smith
– Micro Healthsystems – Jim Pesce, Jim Trogge, Alex Cibenko
– Sheldon I. Dorenfest (SIDA) – the wisest seer in HIS-tory!
6. HIS Vendor CEOs
• Retired founders of so many HIS pioneering firms who took time
off of their pressing golf & other schedules told their fascinating
stories and provided invaluable documents and graphics:
– Bob Pagnotta – founder of MDS, Tymshare & HIS
Professionals
– John Depierro – founder of Gamut and Medical Data Tech.
– Jim Pesce – of GE Medinet, McAuto, and Micro Healthsystems
– Dave Pomerance – founder of Dynamic Control Corp. (DCC)
– Ray Paris – founder of Keane’s Health Services Division
– Larry Ferguson – of SAI’s (Systems Associates, Inc.) “Saint”
– John Sacco – the eponymous founder of JS Data
– Sheldon Dorenfest – founder of Compucare as well as SIDA
– Frank Poggio – founder of HMDS, the first “Client/Server”
– Mike Kaufman – president of SDK, named after his father
7. HIS Vendor Rank & File
• Veterans of other HIS pioneering firms who shared their stories:
– Gerber-Alley – Brian Curnutt, Karen See, Brian Robson, Connie
Williams, David Salazar, Mark Edelstein, Dave Wellons and Karl
Kiss
– AR/Mediquest – Paul McVicker and Kalon Mitchell
– JS Data – Steve Kilgus, Ron Young and Tom Aikens
– Meditech – Bill O’Toole, former inhouse legal counsel
– CliniCom – Marjorie Rodell and Don Gilchrist
– Eclipsys – Mike Smeraski, formerly of SMS & HBOC
– DATX – Gary Lakin who worked for Tim Zinn & Lou Phillips
– Lockheed – many thanks to these ladies who kindly corrected a
number of egregious errors in one of my earliest stories on MIS:
• Jane Baseflug, Connie Berg, Edith Caesar, Ann Farrell, Deborah
(Debby) Kohn, Elizabeth West
8. Work In Progress…
• This HIS-tory of our business actually never ends; I hope long
after I’m gone, someone will carry the torch and update these
files with the stories of entrepreneurs building today’s systems.
• If you have any stories of HIS days of yore that you’d like to share,
and especially any old photos or graphics, please send them
along • I’ll gladly add your name to the list of credits,
• I hope some day to make a book (probably “e”
since paper seems so out of date…) out of
these PowerPoint files, in which case I promise
you an autographed copy of edition #1!
• So, please, if you know any of early HIS heroes or stories, please
give me their contact info and I’ll add them to this treasure trove:
- vciotti@hispros.com
• Or just give me a call at 505/466-4958 (no dots for we old-timers!)
