It was a heck of an article, a heck of a story. Essentia Health had commissioned what must be one of the most extensive penetration tests ever conducted on a healthcare system (two years). That, in itself, is brave. But then, in a move the article’s author rightly describes as “remarkable and laudable,” it allowed those results be publicized. And the results were not pretty — Essentia had some big holes (which likely appear in all health systems), some of which were so novel they’re still being remediated.
It was such a “healthcare” story. Healthcare, as you know, has a feel to it that other industries lack. It has that warm and fuzzy, collaborative tone which is so pleasant to revel in, and brings many folks who leave it back to the fold. When we interview CIOs, we feel it. When we ask them to share their successes on Webinars, we feel it. At industry conferences, we feel it.
Sure, we know there’s competition for patient volume among hospitals in the same area, but they still do their best to collaborate for the good of patients. And sure, we know there is fierce competition among vendors, but most understand that there must be some degree of collaboration with their peers for the good of all customers. And to have collaboration, you need trust, respect and professionalism.
Which is why athenahealth’s parting salvos to the EHRVA last week were so stark, so disturbing. They blew the customary harmony and collaboration out of the water. Rarely do you see an organization taking such a vitriolic public and written stance against its competitors, let alone those it had so recently been working alongside.
First came the formal resignation letter, which sounded more like a press release for potential customers than one actually designed simply to resign from anything.
“At present, unfortunately, too much EHRA advocacy is in our view focused on preservation of government subsidies and other policy buttresses for outdated, non-interoperable technologies that by their continued prevalence in the marketplace actively impede efforts to bring health IT into the 21st century.”
After plunging the knife, the company raised its hands in innocence.
“Please understand that these observations are not intended primarily as criticisms of either the EHRA or its leadership … I look forward to continued collaboration with you and with the EHRA on those issues where our priorities do align.”
But apparently, the attack wasn’t clear enough, and so had to be followed on by an even more vitriolic blog post, also by Dan Haley, atheanhealth VP of Government Affairs. And this leads me to believe that the end was a publicity stunt, and the means resignation from the EHRVA, rather than the former being an unfortunate but unavoidable byproduct of the latter.
And that, in my opinion, is the most disturbing part of the whole nasty affair — athenahealth’s attempt to portray itself as the poor, unfortunate victim of some type of industry association bait and switch.
“At the end of the day, athenahealth left the EHRA because we never really belonged there in the first place,” Hailey plaintively writes.
But this simply rings hollow. If the company never belonged in the first place, shame on it for wasting everyone’s time. It should have just bowed out gracefully and not disparaged those who accommodated or even embraced its presence. That’s just bad form, even among competitors.
In an amazing coincidence, I looked at our site after I wrote this column to see Kate had posted a new piece from Bonnie Siegel: “Are You Prepared To Exit Gracefully?” In it, she writes: “Whatever your reasons for change, you will best be remembered if you leave your current organization with respect, dignity and hopefully a strong legacy.”
She continues: “Refer to the organization you are leaving in positive terms.”
Too bad we didn’t publish it a few weeks ago.
In his post, Haley wrote, “We are ready for 21st century standards, and we ensure that our clients are, too.”
But while athenahealth may be ready for tomorrow’s technology standards, it could take a lesson from its erstwhile EHRVA brethren on some timeless standards of behavior. In response to the resignation letter, the industry organization disputed some factual points, but otherwise declined to slip into the mire. To them, I say kudos and, like Essentia Health, bravo.
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