Under new leadership from Bill Brehm, HIS Inc made progress in completing modules but struggled with cash flow issues due to wavering public investor confidence. In 1987, HIS Inc declared bankruptcy. George Weinberger acquired the software and founded American Healthware in 1988 with former HIS Inc colleagues, concentrating on the NYC market. Led by Joe Smith, American Healthware found success with their "Eagle" software which addressed NYC's complex billing regulations. They gained major NYC hospital clients. In 1997, before being acquired by Siemens, SMS bought American Healthware for $68.91 million, recognizing the value of the established "Eagle" software in NYC.
2. So Who Shot John?
(er, rather, HIS Inc…)
• Last week we got to the point where the original HIS
Inc. was hurting, due to the same problems that
plague many new products (think Paragon in 1996 or
Soarian in 1998 – a decade before being finished!):
– Late programming – no matter how many and how
bright, programmers always deliver late…
– Bits & pieces – when code finally comes, it’s in a
series of releases and modules spread over years…
– Frustrated clients warn prospective buyers not to
fall for the same story they bought…
– Worst – they hold back payments! No matter what
the contract says, at some point, they stop writing
checks and cash flow at the vendor shrivels…
3. Change At The Top
• Like a true scumbag, I saw the handwriting on the wall and bailed
out early, just not up to the challenge of all these obstacles.
– Sales was just not my thing – marketing, yes, but closing deals,
no. So I joined Sheldon I. Dorenfest & Associates (SIDA) and
found my niche in HIS consulting, learning from the master!
• Who took over after I left? Another irony in the
HIS world, the same guy who seemed to be
dogging my feet at both SMS and McAuto, and
an earlier HIS-tory Hero from Gerber/Brehm:
Bill Brehm!Bill Brehm!
- One of the nicest, hardest-working and
smartest guys in the business with an
amazing track record of over 30 years.
4. So Close!
• Under Bill’s tutelage, HIS Inc. made even
greater strides, as more PL/1 code was
translated, and modules completed.
• HIS Inc. even started work on a clinical suite to
compliment their excellent financials…
• But even Bill’s talent and leadership couldn’t
overcome the greatest challenge: Wall St.!
• Like Sentry Data in Chicago, HIS Inc was
publically held, and their stock rode the
bull/bear roller coaster (sound familiar
today?)
• Prospects got nervous as the stock wavered,
investors got nervous as sales declined…
• The sad denouement: in 1987 HIS Inc.
5. A Phoenix Rises!
• George Weinberger just would not give up, however,
and he went to the bankruptcy auction and acquired the
PL/1 software at a bargain price – who else would bid?
• Corralling together the same group of Brooklyn-ites who
had started HIS Inc. in 1978, he tried again in 1988!
- Heshie, Gershon, Bert, Dale, Izzie, etc.
• To disassociate themselves from the old firm, they
named their company “American Healthware” and
wisely concentrated in the NYC market only,
forgetting dreams of national prominence.
• To reinforce the fact that the product was finally
completed this time, they named it “Eagle” and
launched an ad campaign claiming:
• “The Eagle Has Landed!”
6. Third Time’s a Charm!
• Heading up sales & marketing this time around was Joe
Smith, with decades of experience in HIS at:
– Continental, McAuto and Systems Associates (SAI)
• Hard work and chutzpah finally paid off as one large medical
center in NYC after another bought Eagle due to its ability to
handle NYC’s challenging third-party regulatory environment.
– Remember, no “Uniform Billing” (that great oxymoron) back
then – it was every intermediary for themselves, and both
NY City and NY State made IP & OP billing a nightmare!
– The boys from Brooklyn mastered it superbly, having one
state to master, leaving the other 49 to other HIS vendors.
• Their client list read like the “who’s who” in NYC:
– Montefiore Hospital, NYU Medical Center, Columbia-
Presbyterian, St. Lukes-Roosevelt, Mt. Sinai, etc, etc.
7. Forethought!
• Joe’s team came up
with this amazing ad –
first time anyone ever
used the phrase
“2000” for an HIS
product, about a
decade before it
became de rigueur in
HIS circles circa Y2K.
• Eagle sold so well in
NYC even beat SMS’
superb sales machine
often in the large
hospital NYC market
so close to Malvern...
• So what did SMS do?
8. If You Can’t Beat ‘em, Buy ‘em!
• Just before being bought itself by Siemens, in 1997, SMS bought
American Healthware for, are you ready? Remember:
– The firm went bankrupt as HIS Inc., in 1987…
– Bill Brehm & I could not quite make it work…
– George bought the code at a Chapter VII auction…
• So how much money did George get from SMS for American
Healthware just 10 years later? Read the press release yourself:
– “Malvern-based Shared Medical Systems Corp. has acquired American
Healthware Systems Inc. of Brooklyn, N.Y., in a stock deal valued at about
$68.91 million$68.91 million. American Healthware provides financial information
systems and outsourcing services to 21 of the largest hospitals in New York.
Shared Medical, a $767 million provider of health information systems, will
buy American Healthware in exchange for 1.25 million shares of SMS stock.”
• So there you have it: a mini system morphed into a mainframe!
– To this day, the “Eagle” PL/1 software still runs in dozens of NY
hospitals under the Siemens banner – an amazing HIS-tory!
