BlackBerry was not at my medical conference
- I am an Emergency Medicine Physician, and this week our annual meeting took place at McCormick Place in Chicago. There were approximately 7000 professionals in attendance at the 4-day event, the vast majority of which were physicians of ages 25-65. From my observations most were not carrying BlackBerrys. There were hundreds of exhibitors, many of which were in the medical technology space showing the gamut of new software and tools to both care for patients as well as make physicians more productive. There was at least one company that specializes in connecting mobile healthcare providers by providing secure communications between smartphones and other devices. Yes BlackBerry would have fit right in.
Now I was not expecting to see BlackBerry at the conference. First of all my medical specialty is relatively small compared to some of the other larger areas of medicine, so there may be other venues that would offer even greater opportunity for the BlackBerry sales staff. And although I am aware that BlackBerry talks about having a presence in the medical space, such as that commercial that shows a chest x-ray on the Passport, I have not seen the results of that effort so far.
But I keep thinking about how great would it have been for BlackBerry to have a booth there with a big "Work Wide" banner: showing off medical images on the beautiful Passport, and even allowing attendees to download the same image on their narrow device and showing them a side by side comparison in real time. They could discuss how BlackBerry communications fit perfectly under HIPAA (patient privacy) regulations. They could show how physician practices might benefit from communicating and coordinating through BBM. And any other number of ways that BlackBerry could benefit medical professionals. Just having a presence would alert what I would assume is a subset of one of their target audiences that BlackBerry is back in a big way with a killer device, which would be especially timely considering the lack of publicity we have seen for the Passport in the US so far. Let alone educate on how BlackBerry's secure communications could play a huge role within medicine. I am not privy to BlackBerry's business plan, but if they are serious about becoming a bigger player in the medical field, I hope they are getting out there and being visible at some of these events.11-01-14 12:41 PMLike 7 - When they said they were targeting the medical industry you didn't expect that that meant that would mean trying to sell devices to them did you? Sarcasm but BlackBerry has never put much effort into selling anything to anyone or any group of people that they say they are targeting. They have always seemed to have this mentality that if they are the best at X, Y, and Z, then the business will fall in their lap. I'm hoping that at some point this changes under Chen, but I haven't seen anything since he has taken over that shows a change in marketing and sales tactics.
Posted with a BlackBerry Z1011-01-14 03:20 PMLike 3 -
On topic, when Chen announced the company's desire to focus on specialized industries and particularly the health care field, I was left with the feeling that they had made the decision but didn't have a concrete plan in place nor an actual product to demonstrate. Even with the Passport, the screen can show more of an image, but what services/applications are on the way to give providers access to, for example, that chest x-ray?
I'm not privy to the internal workings of BlackBerry and for all I know they may already have exactly what I'm waiting for ready to show in a few weeks at that enterprise meeting, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's still a bit of time before we see anything.
Posted via CB10sungay likes this.11-01-14 05:09 PMLike 1 - Seems to me that it might be ill advised to have a booth like you describe while the exclusive US carrier is still not carrying it.anon(2313227) likes this.11-01-14 05:12 PMLike 1
- Great read. I'm in the southern California region and a few of the hospitals I've rotated to use blackberry. Also, I was at the AORN conference last year and I was surprised to find multiple people using a blackberry at different booths. They were booths for different products but the reps either had them in hand when I walked up, or they had a BlackBerry holster on the belt.
Posted via CB1011-01-14 07:57 PMLike 0 - I wasn't really expecting a BlackBerry sales force to be at this conference, but I kept thinking about how cool it would have been had they been there. Even without the Passport being available in US retail stores yet, a good number of attendees might have gone back to their respective hospitals with a different view of BlackBerry. And then when their colleagues asked them what innovative things they saw at the conference some of them might mention this wild new BlackBerry called the Passport that's going to be coming out soon. Good reviews on the internet are important, but I think for those who are not currently considering a BlackBerry for their next device it really helps to see this beauty in person, otherwise they will probably stick to an Android or Apple phone in part because they don't know what else is out there. And with AT&T being the only retail carrier at this point, and who knows when that will happen, it seems to me BlackBerry has to get creative in showing this off to the individual consumer.
Posted via CB1011-02-14 06:47 PMLike 0 - Dr. was there anyone representing nan health there? It may be seen as a conflict if BlackBerry shows up without their support. Although I agree that blackberry seems to miss these screaming opportunities were they could really shine, as you pointed out.
Posted via CB1011-02-14 08:49 PMLike 0 - That's a good point that I did not consider, but I just checked the list of exhibitors and Nanthealth wasn't there.11-02-14 10:07 PMLike 0
- 11-02-14 10:10 PMLike 0
- There were no smartphone manufacturers there, and only 1 firm that crossed into the space BlackBerry wants to get into - a company that reportedly provided solutions for connecting mobile healthcare providers with secure communications no matter what device. I agree with you somewhat, especially when it comes to where are the best places for BlackBerry to spend their marketing dollars. I have no marketing background and of course no inside knowledge of BlackBerry's business plan. In terms of medical conferences they would probably be better off attending venues that bring together healthcare IT folks. But physicians do have some influence into some of the purchase decisions at hospitals. In addition my group is fairly large (over 200 docs) and we continue to struggle with communications, especially when it comes to the exchange of private health information. I have been lobbying our leadership to look at BES as a possible solution. Lastly I do think BlackBerry is going to have to market directly to consumers as well. After all isn't that how the whole BYOD movement started, when people wanted to use their new "non-company" devices at work, ie, bottom-up instead of top-down? It's an interesting dilemma when the financial resources are limited. I just want to see BlackBerry more active in healthcare in general as it seems to me like a good fit for a variety of reasons.sungay likes this.11-02-14 10:23 PMLike 1
- Prem WatsAppCrackBerry Jester of JestersThere were no smartphone manufacturers there, and only 1 firm that crossed into the space BlackBerry wants to get into - a company that reportedly provided solutions for connecting mobile healthcare providers with secure communications no matter what device. I agree with you somewhat, especially when it comes to where are the best places for BlackBerry to spend their marketing dollars. I have no marketing background and of course no inside knowledge of BlackBerry's business plan. In terms of medical conferences they would probably be better off attending venues that bring together healthcare IT folks. But physicians do have some influence into some of the purchase decisions at hospitals. In addition my group is fairly large (over 200 docs) and we continue to struggle with communications, especially when it comes to the exchange of private health information. I have been lobbying our leadership to look at BES as a possible solution. Lastly I do think BlackBerry is going to have to market directly to consumers as well. After all isn't that how the whole BYOD movement started, when people wanted to use their new "non-company" devices at work, ie, bottom-up instead of top-down? It's an interesting dilemma when the financial resources are limited. I just want to see BlackBerry more active in healthcare in general as it seems to me like a good fit for a variety of reasons.
ASKING
or handing out simple survey forms would have sent a strong signal.
"We're BlackBerry, our focus is security, we're a mobile solutions provider and we're interested in your opinion and your expectations and ask for your participation in our survey to find out how we can serve you best as a medical professional or health-care provider / institution.
We do EMM/MDM, offer secure messaging, secure devices and are actively seeking your input.... yada, yada... " you get the drift.
A booth wouldn't have cost a fortune, and creating a few feedback forms (haha, "Docs" to go) is easy enough to accomplish.
:-)
? ? ? Passposted via CB Chen ? ? ?11-03-14 03:35 AMLike 0 - They wouldn't even have needed to come along with a fully packaged portfolio of products or solutions for health-care providers, but just being present and
ASKING
or handing out simple survey forms would have sent a strong signal.
"We're BlackBerry, our focus is security, we're a mobile solutions provider and we're interested in your opinion and your expectations and ask for your participation in our survey to find out how we can serve you best as a medical professional or health-care provider / institution.
We do EMM/MDM, offer secure messaging, secure devices and are actively seeking your input.... yada, yada... " you get the drift.
A booth wouldn't have cost a fortune, and creating a few feedback forms (haha, "Docs" to go) is easy enough to accomplish.
:-)
? ? ? Passposted via CB Chen ? ? ?
Posted with a BlackBerry Z1011-03-14 06:52 AMLike 0 - Prem WatsAppCrackBerry Jester of JestersExactly, but I think the fact that they are not doing these things points to them not being ready. They have the security locked down and are second to none there, but I'm sure the issue is the specialized medical apps, which unfortunately Apple has the lock on. Without these they won't make much inroads, at least not with their own devices. Hopefully they are courting the big name medical apps if they truly plan to target the market.
Posted with a BlackBerry Z10
Are these medical apps available in the App Store or are they loaded via other means?
I currently haven't got an iOS device near me to check.
Any clarification on that?
Appreciated. :-)
? ? ? Qchen ? ? ?11-03-14 11:53 AMLike 0 - How come then Apple refuses to admit certain apps in the App Store, allegedly because of HIPAA compliance or liability issues .... as far as I understand? Or was that only about iCloud HIPAA compliance fears?
Are these medical apps available in the App Store or are they loaded via other means?
I currently haven't got an iOS device near me to check.
Any clarification on that?
Appreciated. :-)
? ? ? Qchen ? ? ?
Posted with a BlackBerry Z1011-03-14 01:41 PMLike 0 - How come then Apple refuses to admit certain apps in the App Store, allegedly because of HIPAA compliance or liability issues .... as far as I understand? Or was that only about iCloud HIPAA compliance fears?
Are these medical apps available in the App Store or are they loaded via other means?
I currently haven't got an iOS device near me to check.
Any clarification on that?
Appreciated. :-)
? ? ? Qchen ? ? ?
To ensure compliance, many health orgs probably would prefer to deliver apps like this via Citrix XenApp+Receiver. The approach might even be recommended by the vendor. And if you're taking this approach, it doesn't matter what device you use so might as well use whatever devices the users want or what meets your needs from an EMM perspective.
But, I agree that this is an area BBRY could/should have capitalized on. Security, compliance, and productivity are key in this industry, so that's where they should be focusing their R&D efforts. Innovate here.MarsupilamiX and 00stryder like this.11-03-14 06:43 PMLike 2 - Epic MyChart is available (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mych...mt=8&at=10l3Vy) though I'm guessing it's more of a patient-centric app. In addition to HIPAA compliance, another potential issue is that apps like Epic and Cerner can be highly customized to a particular organization's needs. That's difficult to replicate in the mobile world without custom app development.
To ensure compliance, many health orgs probably would prefer to deliver apps like this via Citrix XenApp+Receiver. The approach might even be recommended by the vendor. And if you're taking this approach, it doesn't matter what device you use so might as well use whatever devices the users want or what meets your needs from an EMM perspective.
But, I agree that this is an area BBRY could/should have capitalized on. Security, compliance, and productivity are key in this industry, so that's where they should be focusing their R&D efforts. Innovate here.
Posted via CB1011-03-14 08:05 PMLike 0 -
It's also of importance to get hospital management on board and to get to them to support your products.
Which won't happen if you don't try.
I see the problem lying somewhere else all together though:
That med professionals are a target audience for the Passport and BlackBerry, was a hoax/strawman not even BlackBerry believes themselves.
It was corporate talk to appease investors and shareholders, just like the prosumer nonsense.
Posted via CB1011-04-14 03:01 AMLike 2
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