Two frequent questions I heard from customers and prospective clients in the early days of Handel were:
How are we going to teach our employees to use a computer?- Who is going to do the data entry for us?
Most of you will be reading this blog on the Internet which indicates you already know how to use a computer, but 20 years ago many people were bewildered and frightened by the technology. And as recently as 10 years ago we were working with customers who assumed somebody else would do the “data entry” for them. If you entered the work force say, before 1980, this may not seem like a strange concept. At that time fortunes were made building companies whose main function was outsourced data processing. However, in the era of social-media, the concept of having somebody else enter your data on your behalf seems foreign. The devices we use to communicate today--cellphones, laptops, tablets, gaming devices, etc., have literally become extensions of ourselves. Today we cannot imagine handing over our smartphone to a third-party data-entry person to send an SMS on our behalf. Yet this was the resistance we faced as recently as a decade ago. From prospective clients we would frequently hear concerns such as “Our employees don’t have time to enter data into an electronic case management system. They already have their hands full with paperwork as it is.”
So what changed? I believe there are two fundamental and interrelated changes that have taken place over the last decade. One, the widespread adoption of the Internet has caused almost everyone (at least those with access) to embrace computer technology in their everyday lives. Second, the tremendous growth in the adoption of technology has provided more resources for vendors to build better and more user-friendly apps. The latter has clearly also been driven by consumer demand and competition to constantly invent better (and easy-to-use) technology.
In the consumer world we see rapid growth in Internet usage, social media, and devices like smart-phones and tablets which are even replacing the need for traditional computers. However, in niche markets such as human service software where we operate, these changes have been slower to develop. Yet, as sure as I am that the sun will rise tomorrow morning, I am convinced that our industry will see the same transformation. Government regulation (think HIPAA as one example) and slow-adoption (people in the human services field generally do not adopt new technology early on) are just making it take a bit longer. In the next few years I am confident that most social workers and other employees in our industry will do “data entry” on their clients in real-time, and with no more effort than they update their FaceBook statuses today. They will be out in the field taking pictures and updating progress notes on devices that use voice command, hand gestures, and other input methods that will replace the keyboard.
You need look no further than the current generation of young kids to realize that this is where we are headed. At a recent 24-month medical check-up for my son I had to fill out a long paper form (by the way, I hope the dreaded clipboard and paperwork you fill out every time you see your doctor is also soon a thing of the past) indicating his developmental progress. How many wooden blocks can he stack? Can he turn pages in a book? How many animals does he recognize? Instead, I handed Nicholas my iPhone and he promptly demonstrated to the doctor that he knew how to unlock it and navigate to and open the game folder. Then he proceeded to start playing Angry Birds in front of the bemused physician. It was clearly a testament to the evolution of technology that devices now have become so easy to use that a 20-month-old toddler can figure out how to use a computer before he learns to talk.
I am excited to bring out the next generation of RiteTrack, which promises to revolutionize how we interact with information in the world of delivery of human services. I am confident it will bring about as much change to our industry as companies such as Apple, Facebook, and Netflix have brought to the consumer world in recent years. If you want to learn more about how RiteTrack can make a difference in your agency tomorrow, don’t hesitate to contact us today.