Stop Updating My Software

A plea from healthcare professionals who are me.

There is a problem. It's a problem for me every day. The problem is technology, particularly for those working in healthcare. We want reliability. We don't have it. We want things to work in the future. They don't. We still use fax machines. We still use fax machines because they break but in reliable ways.

I don’t want product updates. I want a product that works and I don't have to learn to use it differently every week. I like new features and video games. But I don't like them in my healthcare software.

We learned to use things like scalpels. We learn to use stethoscopes. We learn to read MRIs. These things go through the FDA. They need to be rigorously tested before they get to us. And that means they don't change very often. We learn to use a set of tools, and we get good at it.

I wear Converse. I've worn Converse every day for about a decade. The reason I wear Converse sneakers every day—literally for a decade—is that I started wearing them as a child psychiatrist training…