Hi, I am just the Driver

I have been in the IT industry for a little over 15 years. I have spent the majority of my career in the Healthcare Sector. Over the years I have definitely seen my fair share of vendor demos. Last week, I saw a presentation that truly piqued my interest in a way that I haven’t felt in a very long time. When the vendor arrived onsite we went through the formal introductions. I introduced myself to the person I was somewhat familiar with due to phone conversations and emails. I then turned to introduce myself to the other gentleman and he said, “Hi, nice to meet you, but I am just the driver”.  I got the team settled so that they could setup for their presentation that was scheduled the following day. The next day after seeing the presentation, I was very impressed by the level of detail that was put into the product. You could tell by design that every data element, display, and integration points selected, truly had the patient and clinician as the primary focus point. As the presenter was engaged in conversation, I turned to the driver and started inquiring more about the history of the company. I tried to hide my enthusiasm but I had such an appreciation for the development work that I simply had to share it. My gut was telling me that it wasn’t profit that was the motivation for the build of this product, but it was simply the desire to make a difference. I then stated, “I have a feeling that there is a back story to the build of this product. As if the CEO has a personal connection to this product and I wish I knew what it was.” He then turned to me, reached in his pocket and handed me a business card. I read it, paused, looked up and then asked, Are you David Linetsky, the CEO?” He said yes, and then he shared the personal story that I knew existed, which was the motivation to bring this product to market. Meeting this team was such a refreshing encounter. The icing on the cake was that Tim Rollins, who was the presenter, was not a sales rep, but the Chief Technology Officer, who has played a major role in the product development.

If you are the type of person in the room whom only seek out people based on their position, you would have missed out on the opportunity to be inspired by the guy who was simply known as just the driver!

Thanks to the Medi+Sign team for the golden nugget of inspiration. It was awesome to see new innovation in the marketplace that I truly feel has the potential to make a positive impact on patient safety, as well as improve the patient’s overall experience.