CliniCom was an early pioneer in mobile clinical computing, developing some of the first handheld devices for nurses in the 1980s. They created an integrated solution including mobile terminals, a wireless network, and barcode scanning when these technologies did not yet exist. While initially challenging to implement, their systems provided major benefits to nursing workflow and medication administration. CliniCom grew successfully over the years before eventually being acquired by HBOC to form the basis of their clinical software suite. Former CliniCom employee Marjorie Rodell recalls her time at the company and contributions they made as innovators in healthcare IT.

1. “H.I.S.-tory” by
Vince Ciotti
© 2011 H.I.S. Professionals, LLC, all rights reserved
Episode # 46:
CliniCom
Part 3

2. Another Insider’s View
• As we saw the past 2 HIS-tory episodes, CliniCom was an amazing
start-up vendor of bedside nursing systems, that pioneered RF
telecom, bar-coding and handheld devices over 25 years ago.
• After Don Gilchrist’s fascinating input last week, I received a
treasure-trove of pictures and insights from another early CliniCom
team member, Marjorie Rodell, who led software development:
- “If you look at the CliniCare
terminal (on right) you'll see a
precursor to iPad 20 years earlier.”
- (granted Apple’s software is incredible
more user-friendly, but the basic device
pictured on the right was amazingly
prescient. The stylus is even reminiscent
of Apple’s first breakthrough PDA – the
Newton, killed by Jobs after
Doonesbury mocked it’s character non-

3. Marjorie sum up the 3 main breakthroughs of CliniCom:
– “It is interesting to think back on this time when we had to
provide the terminal device, the RF network and the bar-
coding methodology, because none of it existed then. We
were the first to recognized that nurses were mobile.
- There just weren't open
mobile solutions then and
we believed that you had
to provide the whole
solution. CliniCom had a
patent on a frequency-
hopping RF protocol, but
getting it to work in
hospitals without lots of
interference was a real
challenge – both to install
and for ongoing support.”

4. Other CliniCom Insights
• “CliniCom had courageous, creative and loyal customers who were
the visionaries and risk takers of that time. They stuck with us
through the challenges with RF, barcode glue and early stage
software glitches that would not be tolerated today and pushed us
in directions that Peter Gombrich probably never dreamed of.
• Medication administration, as we found
out, forced nursing and pharmacists in
hospitals to cooperate in ways they were
not accustomed to. For example, the
specific times associated with QID had to
be specified per nursing station. We also
had a great sales team (see next page)
and a great services team who made
sure that those of us in development
paid attention to our customer needs.”

5. CliniCom’s Sales Team
The one guy I recognize below is Brian Higgins, in the middle of the
bottom row – he went through my PEP class at McAuto in 1981!

7. Bill Brehm’s Contribution
• As Don Glichrist mentioned last week, Peter Gombrich left CliniCom
early, and Bill Brehm of Gerber-Brehm (IFAS) fame then led the way.
• Bill led ClinCom
through an
amazing growth
spurt, resulting in
its first profitable
year in 1992.
• By 1994, CliniCom
had grown in 10
years to over 100
clients with an
annual revenue of
$35M, which
caught the eye of…

8. Another Acquisition!
• …Charlie McCall of HBOC fame in Atlanta. HBO was riding incredibly
high on its stock in the 90s buying up HIS vendors, and CliniCom
became the basis of their “Pathways” line of clinical systems.
• The “Pathways Care Manager” suite
expanded on CliniCom’s emphasis
on nursing functionality, which
grew over time to encompass
almost every aspect of nursing,
from TPR, I&O, Assessments to Care
Plans.
• Eventually renamed “Horizon,” the
pioneering nursing systems of
CliniCom still run today in hundreds
of hospitals who are reading the
latest press releases on HERM, and
wondering what’s on the horizon

9. Thanks Marjorie!
• So what’s Marjorie doing these days? I first met her when she was
running the consulting division of the Sisters of St. Francis Health
System in Indiana for CIO Bill Laker back in the late 90s. SSFHS was a
heavy user of HBOC’s Pathways, and pushed it to its limits, just as
Marjorie pushes her Kawasaki Ninja 250 (pictured below) to its!
• Through her consulting
firm, SMG Inc, she helps
vendors learn from her
many years at both
CliniCom and
HBOC/McKesson, where
she led clinical software
development, and can
be reached at:
970.948.5837

10. Thanks Marjorie!
• So what’s Marjorie doing these days? I first met her when she was
running the consulting division of the Sisters of St. Francis Health
System in Indiana for CIO Bill Laker back in the late 90s. SSFHS was a
heavy user of HBOC’s Pathways, and pushed it to its limits, just as
Marjorie pushes her Kawasaki Ninja 250 (pictured below) to its!
• Through her consulting
firm, SMG Inc, she helps
vendors learn from her
many years at both
CliniCom and
HBOC/McKesson, where
she led clinical software
development, and can
be reached at:
970.948.5837