Healthcare Solution Provider Switches from Unix, Cuts Development Time 50 Percent

“As soon as we talk about our products running on the Microsoft platform, our customers relax. And when we tell them what the price is, they smile.”

Tyler Patterson, Vice President Product Marketing, Misys

Misys Healthcare Systems wanted to both increase the market share of its new products and get those products to market quickly. Offering Misys solutions in a Microsoft®environment helped the company address customers’ needs—such as improving the exchange of patient data, expanding homecare using mobile devices, and reducing costs with user-friendly and easy-to-maintain applications—and required up to 50 percent less development time.

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Document published June 2006

Business Needs

Misys Healthcare Systems, a division of Misys plc, currently serves more than 110,000 physicians in 18,000 practices, 1,200 hospitals, 600 homecare providers, and hundreds of commercial laboratories, clinics, managed services organizations, integrated delivery networks, and other related organizations. Misysdevelops and supports reliable, easy-to-use software so physicians and caregivers can more easily manage the complexities of healthcare delivery. Misys products include electronic health records for ambulatory, acute, and post-acute settings; departmental systems; practice-management systems; and Electronic Data Interchange connectivity.

With 25 years of experience in the industry, Misys has a deep understanding of different market influences that challenge its customers, and it uses this understanding to tailor its products to meet evolving client needs. In light of the growing importance of mobile solutions in home healthcare, an increasing need for data interoperability to facilitate the exchange of patient information, and a burgeoning demand for electronic medical records (EMR) solutions in mid-sized clinics and doctors’ offices, Misys began to reevaluate its products’ platform.

“Misys EMR had been running on the AIX version of the UNIX operating system, and we found that it wasn’t answering our customers’ demand for smaller footprints and lower price points,” says Tyler Patterson, Vice President Product Marketing, Misys. “We wanted to expand our market with a focus on the ability to exchange data between practices, between doctors, and between clinics and facilities, making it affordable for all practices, small and large.”

In the homecare arena, Misys wanted a more broadly compatible development platform so it could offer its Homecare solution on a variety of personal digital assistants (PDAs). In both the EMR and Homecare cases, Misys needed to re-architect its applications quickly to position itself ahead of its competitors with new solutions that answer customers’ need for mobility and interoperability.

Solution

While Misys has been a Microsoft® Gold Partner for 3 years, in the last 18 months the company made a strategic commitment to intensify its relationship with Microsoft and to increase its focus on a Microsoft environment, particularly for its smaller customers. Initially, the two companies developed a joint business plan that outlines goals for the relationship, which has focused, until now, on transitioning select Misys products to the Microsoft environment.

Today, Misys is offering its PDA add-on to its Homecare solution running on the Microsoft .NET Compact Framework version 2.0, Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005 Mobile Edition, and Windows Mobile® software for Pocket PCs. Misys EMR is available on Tablet PCs running the Windows® XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 operating system.

Over the last year, Misys worked closely with a Microsoft architectural design consultant and took advantage of technical support through the Microsoft Services Partner Advantage program. Misys developers also are learning about new technologies through the Ascend program, which gives them a competitive edge in solution design. Ascend programs provide ISV’s a pre-release view of upcoming technologies with an emphasis on early deployment of new solutions based on these technologies.

“The difference in a Microsoft partnership is that once we decided to commit ourselves to Microsoft, they were ready and made a commitment to Misys immediately,” says Patterson. “So far, we have seen increased marketing assistance from Microsoft and are excited for what the future holds in store. They provided a speaker for our national user conference, supported our booth at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, and contributed to our product launch for Misys EMR.”

Next steps will involve more participation from the Microsoft U.S. healthcare group, which will focus on sales engagements and go-to-market strategies. “We got off to a great start getting our technologies aligned,” says Patterson, “and have the right resources in place to hit the ground running when we go to market.”

Benefits

Early vindication of Patterson’s enthusiasm came when Misys’s Homecare PDA solution won the 2006 Towards an Electronic Patient Record “Hot Products” Award in May. In addition to industry recognition, Misys expects to benefit from its Microsoft partnership through:

Reduced time to market: Misys cut more than 50 percent in development time for its Homecare PDA solution, enabling the company to launch the product at its industry’s largest trade show for maximum exposure. And for the EMR solution, Patterson reports: “The Microsoft Visual Studio® 2005 development system and the Microsoft Visual C#® 2005 development tool provided a rapid development environment. Our latest Windows-based Misys EMR solution was one of our largest, but more efficient releases, allowing us to build more functionality into the product at reduced cost.”

Compatible code, increased product options: Creating applications using Microsoft .NET connection software enables Misys to save money by reusing design components for any number of devices—Tablet PCs, PDAs, desktops, or laptops—offering customers more choice.

Improved user experience: “Microsoft technologies help us make products that our customers want to use,” says Patterson. “Exciting form factors, intuitive user interfaces, easy maintenance: All these features make our products more appealing to small and midsized customers. Yet the same products scale to meet the needs of large facilities.”

Meeting market needs: To facilitate data interoperability, Misys is building new functionality with its Windows-based products, providing cutting-edge solutions for customers that are demanding interoperability to streamline patient care and save money. “We are excited to align our products with the growing adoption of .NET-based applications that erase barriers to sharing patient data,” says Patterson.

High brand recognition, low price point: “As soon as we talk about our products running on the Microsoft platform, our customers relax,” Patterson reports. “And when we tell them what the price is, they smile.”