August 18th, 2007
SaaS is quick way to medical automation
Need to automate fast? Try Software as a Service (Saas).
With SaaS, you can take it one step at a time. You can bring in one application, or just serve a few desks.
OpSource, which has been delivering SaaS to corporations for a few years now, is seeing enormous growth in health care.
OpSource CEO Treb Ryan says one reason is that HIPAA compliance comes standard.
“It’s so hard to get HIPAA certified, but once you’re past the hurdle you’re past it.” OpSource is past it.
“People writing the applications have to understand security and data protectoin. That makes it a perfect vertical for us. We get people HIPAA compliant.”
A SaaS vendor like OpSource doesn’t write the software you run. It partners with a software vendor on sales calls.
“They’re trying to sell a health care application, and the customer is asking questions about Ethernet cable degradation. This makes it exceedingly difficult unless we’re with them. We can answer that. We actually have an Ethernet cable replacement policy.”
Another advantage of SaaS is that you can automate Web applications, like forms and billing, that can mean both more business and more productivity.
“If anything is going to solve the hospital IT problem it’s software as a service.” Agree or disagree?
Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist since 1978, and has covered technology since 1982. He launched the Interactive Age Daily, the first daily coverage of the Internet to launch with a magazine, in September 1994. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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| 08/21/07
