Item 8

Objective.

Vendor’s Marketing/Sales staff should know about and promote IHE quality testing process, based on easy to use tool given to them without technical stuff.

Some material (maybe accessible through web-tools) should be available to marketing and Sales people to present during sales discussions about the capabilities and advantages of IHE compliant products. It is important to outline issues around the reliability and quality of self-certification based on IHE approved self-certification tests (if there are such). The knowledge gained by users will make them confident about asking the right questions in future discussions (maybe with other vendors).

Analysis.

Not all sales personnel are the right persons to discuss IHE matters in a knowledgeable way, so far IHE is just a buzz word to them. Vendor’s staff needs to understand and explain to users and purchasers the process and benefits of the Software certification process and the difference between this and the connectathon results.

This needs to be done as part of the process of informing vendor’s staff about IHE and in particular (and in this order):

Why IHE is important:

1. Why IHE is important to users i.e. Smooth implementation of IT facilities to support their work at the departmental level using methods that are approved and supported by professional bodies
2. Why IHE is important for healthcare enterprises i.e.
   • enables efficient communication of information between departments
   • Reduces costs
   • Enables future proofing of investments
3. Why IHE is important at the local and national level i.e. support for cross enterprise document sharing.

How IHE methodology delivers the benefits:

1. Charles’ slide entitled standards adoption process re-titled “The IHE methodology”
2. Key points:
   • Connectathon (Test ability of a company to produce application software that conforms)
   • Certification that an instance of a product running a specified revision of software conforms to the specification

Important Info to be given to sales persons: Who are the IHE Champions within your company? Can you name them?

The information can be delivered to vendor’s staff by access to a web based learning and, more important, as part of the training given anyway regarding new products. (It may be that IHE-Europe can provide IHE training for the trainers)

Results.

Questionnaire for staff! (Maybe they could win IHE stars! – [as well as possibly new customers])

Roadblocks.

Very broad introduction needed to spread the knowledge to all involved. High effort needed to either train people or produce and distribute material for self-study. This is especially valid for smaller companies not or not regularly participating in IHE meetings. How can IHE catch those? There is a shortage of resource to prepare the necessary documents and presentations.

Work breakdown: Actions and organization and timing

Decide on which way to go from marketing perspectives. Web Tools; Print Media; Others to be decided? Direct Training (visits / Shows). (Maybe arrange meetings for sales staff the day before exhibitions)

Staff the working group with people to work on the decided items. The effort and success of such a project depends critically on available resources.

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