“H.I.S.-tory” by Vince Ciotti

© 2011 H.I.S. Professionals, LLC, all rights reserved

Introduction & Credits

HIS-tory Episode Files• Blame a reader of HIS-talk who emailed Mr. HIS-talk

the following request back in June:– De ja vu Says: “Vince Cioti’s HIS-tory tidbits are a

sweet stroll through time. Might there be a way to consolidate them and provide a link to them on the left side of the screen?”

• So if you’d like to go back in time to• A former vendor employer• An HIS you ran many years ago• Looking for an old friend who disappeared• Or are just bored to tears some day…

• We’ve loaded all 50-odd (sic) episodes of HIS-tory on our web site, which Mr. HIS-talk has been kind enough to let us link to: hispros.com

• So click away and enjoy those good old HIS days…

Here’s What The Index Looks Like:

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’s tech!”

• The reason is best credited to George Santana who so insightfully said: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

• Being born in 1945 and raised in Philadelphia, PA, the same time & place as ENIAC, I think I was destined to write this history of our HIS industry

• But please, if you learn anything reading this story, give credit to the scores of past friends, new enemies, business associates and voluntary contributors, some of whose names follow:

Da Man!• Prime credit goes first &

foremost to Mr. HIS-talk who so generously printed these weekly HIS-tory episodes in his superb blog all year:

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!!

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…)

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, what were you thinking?)

• Mike Mulhall – first boss & mentor, RIP much too early…• And so many old SMS friends: 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, John Trogge, Alex Cibenko– Sheldon I. Dorenfest (SIDA) – the wisest seer in HIS-tory!

HIS Vendor CEOs• Retired founders of so many HIS pioneering firms who took time off

of their pressing golf & other schedules to tell their fascinating HIS-tories and provided invaluable documents and graphics:– Bob Pagnotta – founder of MDS, Tymshare & HIS Professionals– John Depierro – founder of Gamut and Medical Data Technology– 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

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, 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

Work In Progress…• The 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 tomorrow’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!)