So I wrote this when I was writing my Week 2 Day 4 summary earlier today, but then realized that I had gone off onto a tangent and took it out. Still, some part of me wanted to vomit it up and get it out, so here it is, as a separate post.

Background

I’ve mentioned previously that one of the roles I took on at work was that of lead designer for our EMR. I used FrontPage and then Expression Web, coupled with Visual Studio to update the front-end of our existing modules and create new pieces as well. With what I’ve learned in only 2 weeks at Lambda, I feel confident that I could now do a lot of that design by hand, albeit much more slowly than when I worked with the aforementioned programs to do it. I now understand more of what goes on under the hood of a web page. There are absolutely changes I’d make to my initial workflow – some of it is based on having a small bit of knowledge of HTML/CSS/LESS and some of it is based on advancing technology.

When I joined the company, most of the installations of our software were done on local servers at our client facilities. We followed the client/server model and the facility servers would share our application to the facility’s users and had to run a local database as well. Yes, licensing for all of this can get expensive. This was in the early 2000s, and had been the case since the mid/late 1990s, before I was a part of the company. Since then, I helped move us to a centralized server at a large datacenter, and we switched to sharing our application via Citrix and Terminal Services. This, naturally made updating the system easier (no more driving for hours to clients in upstate NY and all over the city with disks to perform program updates, or mailing them to facilities with a tech person). That was our state for several years, and finally, maybe around 2008/2009 we transitioned from being a Powerbuilder application to the web. The entire program was reconstructed using HTML/CSS/JS for the front-end and C++ (with snippets of Visual Basic) on the back-end. We used MS-SQL as our database.

We have one genius developer who essentially single-handedly converted our entire application. His role was previously relegated to creating all of the reports that our system produced using SQL and Crystal Reports, and he used some Powerbuilder to help with that, because our main developer(s) had initially used it to write the program.  Converting to web was a big step for us. It was something that he had suggested at least 2 years prior, and I had backed him on, but our founder was concerned about development time and resources to make the change. It was unknown territory for us. He convinced us that he could do it, and lo-and-behold, he was right.

I have a lot of regrets about not knowing how to code, back when this was all happening. Our web developer largely soloed the mission. I helped with error-trapping and revising logic and parts of the design during the transition, but didn’t actually touch the real design until a few years later.

Anyway, HTML5 had only recently become a standard, so the majority of the browsers that our clients used didn’t support it. Our web implementation was built around HTML4, and whatever CSS version was available at the time (I’m going to assume it was CSS2). Nursing homes aren’t like hospitals. They don’t have very modern technology, and they’re slow to adopt it. Responsive design was similarly new in our sphere. I don’t think many of our competitors supported it, except maybe with select modules that were designed specifically for use at the bedside or on the go (like with physical therapy, or occupational therapy).

There were so many design ideas that I had, and so many design specs that I created that we weren’t able to implement, largely because they relied on HTML5 and I didn’t even know the difference between that and HTML4 at the time. Its a different world now. Two weeks at Lambda has shown me how to implement a lot of what was on my wish-list back then, and the majority of the facilities we worked with have upgraded their computers and terminals to specs that can now support HTML5/CSS3.

My company is slowly dissolving. We no longer take on new clients and have been mainly operating is maintenance mode. I don’t think we’re going to last more than 5 more years, which is why I’m pursuing a switch from my current skillsets in networking and support to development. I’ve worked with our development team for years, and I’ve always wanted to BE part of that team. I have hopes of converting our front-end to HTML5 and CSS3, and making it responsive. If we don’t actually implement it to existing clients, its still a learning experience, and its also wish-fulfillment on my part. We’ll see in a year from now if I’ve been able to act on any of it. Right now, Lambda, alone, is occupying most of my time. When I couple that with family life and writing this blog, it leaves me scant time to spend on anything big; but I’ve read that the first few months are the hardest for a lot of people, so if I’m lucky, I’ll actually be able to apply what I’m learning to my old work project sooner than later. I’m not looking forward to poring over CMS requirements and changes to Medicare and Medicaid and nursing standards and all the rest that comes with it, but if it allows me to build and develop and craft something meaningful, I’m more than willing to tackle it.

When our founder passed, she left the company to us as part of her legacy. Its always been a personal desire of mine to transform it into something that would make her proud. I know some of the places that she wanted to take the system, and I’ve had designs about how to go about doing that for years. I finally feel like I’m gaining the tools necessary to actually act on it.