This document discusses the early history of bedside computing terminals in healthcare. It describes three pioneering systems - NCR's PNUT from 1982, CliniCom's CliniCare from 1984, and Patient Technology Inc.'s MedTake from the 1970s. These systems aimed to address the problem of illegible paper notes by allowing nurses to record data at the patient's bedside. The document then focuses on MedTake, describing its acquisition by Micro Healthsystems in 1986 and implementation at two early pilot sites. It introduces some of the individuals involved in developing MedTake.

1. “H.I.S.-tory” by
Vince Ciotti
© 2011 H.I.S. Professionals, LLC, all rights reserved
Episode # 48:
MedTake
Part 2

2. So Why Bedside Terminals?
• This series of HIS-tory episodes covers 3 of the earliest PC/micro
systems that first placed HIS devices at the patient’s bedside:
– NCR’s “PNUT” (Portable Nursing Unit Terminal), circa 1982
– CliniCom’s “CliniCare,” launched by Peter Gombrich in 1984
– Patient Technology Inc’s 1970’s Survalent and 1980’s
“MedTake”
• So why such interest to put devices right at the patient’s bedside?- Well, check out this actual
collection of how nurses
captured data back then:
- Scribbles on med wrappers,
paper towels, anything they
could stuff in the pockets of
their scrubs, to remind them of
what to chart when they got
back to the nurse station.

3. Meanwhile, Back at
the Nurse Station…
- Those scraps of paper were pulled
pulled out and used to inspire these
un-retouched handwritten scribbles
that comprised Nurses Notes.
- Pretty similar to the problem the
IOM saw when they reviewed the
paper nightmare physicians go
through to order meds in a paper
system: illegible scribbles on source
documents (med orders) transcribed
onto equally illegible MARs.
- Imagine being a doctor and looking
at these nurse notes the next
morning to see how your patient
fared over night? These graphics
may help remind your MDs when
they complain about your CPOE

4. MedTake’s New
Owner
• So who was the NJ firm who
bought MedTake from PTI?
• Per their 1986 Prospectus:
– Formed in 1971 as “Claims
Processing Co.” for OP billing
– Grew their products to a full
suite of financial systems
– Running on DEC VAXes, the hot
box in the mid-80s mini mania.
– Later re-Named “Micro
Healthsystems Inc.” in 1982
– With 50 employees serving 50
client throughout NY/NJ.
– Added additional software
such as a Home health Care

5. The Men Behind the Name
• As usual in HIS, there were a number of little-known HIS-tory heroes
behind the scenes who did the heavy lifting and deserve the credit:
Sal Caravetta
Founder and Chairman
of the Board – one of
the classiest guys in
HIS: smart & well-
spoken, sadly passed
away all too soon.
Doug Haas
Sr. VP of Delopment,
Doug led the
hardware team that
pulled the QWERTY
keys off the
keyboards, and
software team that
wrote the code to
automate nursing.
Jim Pesce
Who we first met
many episodes ago
when he worked for
GE’s “MediNet,” then
as the Northeast
Regional CSR
manager at McAuto.
Jim was Health
Micro’s CEO –
running the financial
system division that
met the payroll.
Ron Gliates
VP Product Manager, Ron was another
McAuto alumnus, and one of the best CSR
reps in HIS-tory: clients loved him, and he
worked long, hard hours to keep them happy.
Some bum
we’ll talk
more about
later…

6. Daring MedTake Pilot Sites
• Two daring hospitals served as pilot sites who nursing staff as
“early adopters” deserve credit for many improvements to the
system:
Palisades General Hospital – right
on the NJ banks of the Hudson,
202 beds, managed by HCA at
the time, 108 devices on all
their floors, 1985 pilot.
Northwestern Medical Center – in
frozen St. Albans, VT, where the
warm summer season lasts almost
the entire month of June! 98 beds,
also HCA-managed, 33 units on
their 3 nurse stations. Their hard
drives were prepared with a special
coating of anti-freeze… live in 1986

7. Typical Sales Challenge
• It was actually PTI who found and sold Northwestern in Vermont.
Here’s the great story from JoAnn Karl, RN, one of PTI’s veterans:
– Back in those pre-HIMSS days, the annual IT conference was
AHA’s annual national convention, where PTI bought a booth.
– JoAnn and her team (wo)manned the booth for days, with not
a single decent demo or lead among the hundreds of booths.
• By the end of the week, thoroughly
depressed at the lack of prospects,
they shared a cab to the airport
with a nice gentleman, who turned
out to be the CEO of Northwest!
• With a ½ hour captive audience,
they hooked him on the concept of
bedside terminals, scheduled a
demo, and the rest is HIS-tory…

8. So How Did I Get Involved?
• I was working for Sheldon Dorenfest in the mid-80s, and Shelly’s
wealth of market analyses (his “3000” data base was the precursor
to HIMSS’ “Analytics”) made me acutely aware of the hot market
opportunity for a PC-based product, and working with Shelly on
Peter Gombrich on his CliniCom bedside idea had me primed!
• I knew Jim Pesce from our
McAuto days, and Jim had
watched how we penetrated the
mainframe market at HIS Inc. in
nearby Brooklyn in the early 80s.
• Jim was looking for someone to
head up MedTake sales and
called me asking if I was
interested. Does a bear do-do in
the woods? Sold! Here’s the
note that changed my HIS-tory: