Transformation is part of that growing process; as industry changes, so must the businesses connected with it. And you’d be hard pressed to find an industry that has undergone more transformation over the past few decades than healthcare IT.
Think about what the world was like 32 years ago – in 1980, when this magazine was founded.
The personal computer had just made its debut three years prior, in 1977, and the first rudimentary PCs for business were just entering the market. No one had heard of the Internet. IBM punch cards gave way to 5-1/4-inch floppy disks, green screens gradually morphed into color CRTs and powerful computers the size of houses have evolved into iPhones that fit in our pockets.
Meanwhile, the models to deliver and pay for healthcare have changed just as rapidly as the hardware and infrastructure, making communication among peers that much more indispensible.
Though the healthcare IT landscape has changed dramatically in 32 years, our mission here at HMT has remained the same: To provide readers with valuable information in their specific fields; to connect them with their counterparts across the country; and to facilitate the exchange of information between vendors and end users. It considerably eases the pains of transformation (read: solutions implementation) when you can read about someone who has been there, done that.
One thing is certain: There is never a dull moment in the ever-changing world of healthcare IT. We look forward to another year of bringing you the best our industry has to offer.
