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"We Just Discovered The Internet and Want The Whole World To Know!"

Glendale (CA) Adventist Medical Center offers its patients in-room web access and e-mail and finds the occasion worthy of a press release.

The hospital believes the service helps it "...stand out from competitors." They may be right, more's the pity.

In a connected world, consumers long-ago learned to expect "anytime, anywhere" connectivity. Even the lowliest coffee shops have been wired for years. So I fail to see how a hospital's quest for strategic separation is aided by ANNOUNCING such a belated entry to the modern world. More likely, they embarrass themselves with further proof (as if more proof was needed) of exactly how far behind the times they'd fallen.

What's next? A press release saying "...all rooms are now air conditioned?"

Yeah I know. I can hear the excuses. "You don't understand...it's a complicated issue...lots of things to worry about...security, privacy, cost, support..." All true. And all misleading from the real headline which should read "We shoulda done this 10 years ago. We weren't paying attention to trends in consumer expectations and didn't understand how important the wired world has become. Now we're having to play catch-up."

Eh, it's difficult admission for a narcissistic industry and probably a bit long for a headline.


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