[baran]

"The EMR is dead." - Lyle Berkowitz, MD http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSVIAG11OXM&feature=playe...

EMRs were originally built for data legibility, ordering, patient continuity of data (OK, we still dont have this), and better financial tracking. The large EMR vendors have largely already created this functionality, but to an interesting conclusion - the realized value was not nearly as great as the perceived value. As a result, the opportunity for startups is NOT to built a better mousetrap! For the foreseable future docs are going to be stuck with Epic, like it or not. The perceived value of a "better" EMR is not strong enough for institutions to adopt your software. You can only sell on that failed promise once.

The opportunity IMHO lies in small applications that solve the problems of docs (or nurses). Pick a niche market (primary care, ortho, peds, nursing, etc.), talk to them, find their pain points, and build software that makes it easier.