Because I am a semi A-type personality and it puts me at ease. Seriously. Let me share with you a recent experience that makes me say hallelujah to all the developers out there working on custom applications for niche industries.
Recently, I found that my terrible habit of grinding my teeth at night has led to a cracked tooth and the potential need for a root canal which, by the way, they are now calling by the delightful euphemism of endodontic therapy. Are your knees starting to feel all jello-y yet? Mine are. Anyway, my dentist doesn’t do this, but referred me to several folks that specialize in this area. I picked one who could take me sooner rather then later, and man it paid off.
When I first got there, they had me sign in and fill out the typical medical history. But it was in a fairly atypical fashion – everything was electronic! No paper, no need to contend with my crappy handwriting for which I am infamously known – yeah, should have been a doctor I guess. Then they took my picture with a digital camera. Say what? Holy cow, I was totally stoked.
The awesomeness of this paperless, electronic office did not end there. Once I made it back to the dental cubby and sat in the oh-so-ergonomically-fitted chair Dr. CoolHighTech, as he shall now forever be called, came in and introduced himself and proceeded to position a large LCD monitor close enough for me to see that all my patient history, my picture and my x-rays I’d brought with me had been digitally scanned into the computer and were instantly available to him. As they were probing around my mouth to determine the extent of the damage and decide if I actually needed to undergo said terrible procedure, they recorded everything electronically; they took digital pictures of my teeth, digital x-rays of my mouth (cutting down on my exposure), and voice notes of the procedure.
When it came time for Dr. CoolHighTech to give me his advice, he could show me the areas that seemed to have problems and he also had a program that digitally modeled a tooth and he could demonstrate where my issues might be. Picture it, you can see and hear all the advice at the same time.
This was a supremely excellent experience. I felt like I was completely involved in my medical decision and I loved the fact that all my information was stored in one place and easily accessible to Dr. CoolHighTech. Could this story get better? Hell yes, he even said – “Why don’t you email me with any questions you have? I don’t often have time to talk by phone, but I answer email three times a day and can provide you with answers you can refer back to later when making a decision.” What!!??
I am still in the process of determining if this is a procedure that I have to have done, but I can’t say thank you enough to Dr. CoolHighTech for having a digital paperless office. It made a huge difference and really was a big relief.
But you know who deserves a bigger thank you? The people out there they developed the software that makes it possible for Dr. CoolHighTech to run his office in such an efficient and calming manner. It’s not easy to think about having a root canal, but having technology out there to help you make an educated decision is an extreme value I think few would argue against.
*Update: I just realized this title might be confusing. What I mean here is that no matter what software you are working on, how big, how small, how custom, it can make a huge difference to the person on the other side. If you don't hear it enough from your customers, what you do matters!