This document discusses the origins and early history of the healthcare IT company CliniCom. It describes how CliniCom was founded in 1984 by Peter Gombrich to create a handheld device for nurses to scan patient and medication barcodes to help prevent medication errors. Though a novel idea at the time, the company faced challenges in convincing hospitals to adopt the new technology and invest in supporting infrastructure. The document teases the upcoming story of how the company grew with the help of consultant Marjorie Rodell and was eventually acquired by another healthcare IT vendor.

1. “H.I.S.-tory” by
Vince Ciotti
© 2011 H.I.S. Professionals, LLC, all rights reserved
Episode # 44:
CliniCom
Part 1

2. It All Started with Dorenfest…
• I was working for the HIS pioneer Sheldon Dorenfest back in 1984,
when he ran a well-attended annual seminar for hospitals and HIS
vendors that gave a vey insightful review of the HIS industry:
– Market size, vendor review, leading products by segment, etc.
• One of the many vendor attendees that year was a gentleman
named Peter Gombrich, new to the HIS field, but a very smart
engineer and eager to learn every aspect of the HIS industry.
• Peter stayed awake during all of our presentations, even mine
(during which I sometimes dozed)
• A few days later, he showed up
at our offices in Northbrook in
suburban Chicago and signed a
deal with Shelly for us to study the
idea he had for a radically new
product for the mid-80s.

3. Impressive Background…
• We were just winding down the sale of Sentry Data to CDC, so I
got assigned to the project – Peter liked my SMS experience, so
erroneously thought I might help him build an equal success…
• The more I learned about Peter, the more impressed I was with
him; check out his background:
– BS in Electrical engineering and MBA from University of Denver
– Held various sales & marketing positions with Medtronic and
Beckman Instruments, both supply giants in those days…
– Co-founder of St. Jude Medical, one of the largest heart valve
company in the world, back when valves were a daring idea…
– Co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Integrated
Microcircuits, an outgrowth of St. Jude from 1980 to 1984
• So even though he was turning to us for advice in penetrating the
HIS market, the man knew his stuff!

4. Sad Beginnings…
• The roots of Peter’s idea for a breakthrough
product are a sad testimonial to all too
human side of healthcare:
– Decades before the 2000 IOM report on
“To Err Is Human” and medication errors,
– Peter had a relative who suffered from, a
drug mis-administration in a hospital, and
his product idea was to use the latest in
technology to prevent them in the future.
• To appreciate Peter’s genius, you have to go back to 1984 and
remember how crude medication administration was back then
- The concept of a “unit dose” had only started to become
popular
- Most nurses administered drugs with none of the Med Rec,
eMAR and BMV of today. Indeed, MARs were totally paper.

5. A Deceptively Simple Idea
• In today’s high-tech world of ubiquitous Web access via WiFi, it’s
hard to remember how daring a concept like this was back in
1984:
– A handheld device (decades before PDAs & i-everything…)
– For nurses (who in 1984, had but a single CRT for Order Entry)
– To bar code their ID badge (when UPC copes were just starting)
– Then the patients wrist band (which were all typed by hand)
– And the Unit Dose med being administered (w/manual labels)• These 3 data elements were then
transmitted via radio frequency to
• Plexus Microcomputer in the data
center, where a program checked
what the doctor had ordered,
• And sent back a red or green light
to tell RNs if it met the 5 rights!!!!

6. Now For The Business Plan…
• Shelly and I were very impressed by the concept, and
wrote a report for Peter pointing out the enormous
potential (which he already knew) and a few drawbacks:
– Bar codes were not placed on Meds in advance by
Pharmaceutical companies back then, so printing
them in the Pharmacy and affixing them on every unit
dose would be an added cost to hospital buyers…
– I had a hard time explaining to Peter that he needed
to offer installation too: a team of pros to go out to
hospitals and lead them through the whole process.
• It seemed obvious to me from my SMS background as an ID
– Plus the fund a customer service center, training
department, technical writers for documentation,
etc.
• Again, from my personal contributions to SMS’ early days…

7. Product
Launch
• Peter charged ahead, and
the ad on the right shows
the amazing splash ad that
graced the pages of HIS
magazines back then:
• Nurses were thrilled to
finally get a product
designed specifically for
them, and the leads came
flying in, handled by a
team of sales pros like:
– Mike Meyer & Brain Higgins
– Both of whom from McAuto

8. So Whatever Happened?
• So did Peter Gombrick strike it rich again?
• What ever happened to him after CliniCom
• Did anyone buy the amazing new CliniCare?
• What became of the both company & product?
• Stay tuned for the answers next week when we’ll cover the growth
of this amazing breakthrough thanks to a HIS-tory Heroine:
– MARJORIE RODELL - an amazing lady as smart & hard-working
as she is pleasant to work with (and look at!), whose consulting
firm SMG provides help to vendors, and who promises to dig
through her archives from when she worked at both CliniCom
and the HIS vendor that eventually bought it.
• Anyone else have any CliniCom stories to tell? Please call or write:
– Vince Ciotti: 505/466-4958 vciotti@hispros.com