Everyone knows the saying “go big or go home.” Well last week, LRS went bigger than ever, and now we’re happy to be back home where we can unpack boxes of brochures and rest our swollen feet.
At this year’s Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) show in Orlando, the LRS team got a chance to meet thousands of healthcare IT professionals and discuss their printing needs. This year’s event featured the largest display booth in our history, the highest number of booth visitors, and the most employees we’ve ever brought to a show. By most measures, it was also our most successful event ever.
So, what did we learn from our customers? We learned that as in years past, hospital systems still struggle a lot when migrating from one Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system to another. And that print problems seldom rear their ugly heads until after the proof of concept phase — sometimes even during go-live, when real-world workloads reveal scalability issues with Windows Print Server farms. Luckily, LRS healthcare solutions are specifically designed to address problems like these.
We also learned that Cloud-based solutions are moving into the healthcare space just as in other industries. Furthermore, security and compliance officers are in a frantic battle to minimize unsecured PHI… otherwise known as those patient documents you forgot to retrieve from the printer tray when your colleague stopped to ask about your big weekend plans.
This year, we collaborated with a nearby print hardware vendor to demonstrate how LRS secure pull printing software can improve document security. Visitors could print documents from a computer in the LRS booth, then walk over to an MFP print device across the aisle and swipe a proximity badge to retrieve their documents. This may be the most direct way for customers to understand the security benefits of a true output management system.
On a lighter note, we learned that it takes 7000 pounds of ice to produce the fantastic sculptures that draw thousands of visitors to our booth. Fun fact: that amount of ice weighs the same as 13 polar bears or 116 adult emperor penguins. It also takes 820 gallons of pure water and 92 days of freezing to produce those three and a half tons of ice. One lesson we’ll surely remember is that the electric chain saws used by the sculptors attract a lot of attention – from attendees and exhibit hall officials alike. Chisels end up being a quieter (though less exciting) option. Who knew?
After long days in learning sessions and trekking around the show floor, our customers and staff looked forward to unwinding at the famous ICEBAR Orlando, the coolest place in central Florida.
While the HIMSS event is over until March 2020, the real work has just begun. There are many healthcare organizations to visit, customer questions that require follow-up, and several new products to launch before next year’s show. Until then, we’d like to thank everyone who stopped by to visit us. See you next year!
