The embryonic ProCARE was developed in 1988, based on a paper system used at the development site in Island Bay, Wellington. There were no checks and balances, either the right keys where hit in the right order or there was instant agony - which was OK at the time, as the only person using it was the programmer - and he knew how it worked .... most of the time ... and it saved him hours of work.
It was then tidied, refined and de-bugged and put into a Pilot site in Waitara. The new operator had never worked on a computer and said that he didn't even know a typewriter keyboard (letters were all written in longhand), in other words, the perfect trial situation.
It was a major mistake, the programmer should have then made a career decision in favour of turkey farming.
However, after two or three on-site visits per day for about six months, with lots more development on program warning, blocking, guiding and informing every step of the way, ProCARE started to shape up.
In 1991, after 11,000 development hours, the ProCARE Series 100 was released.
It wasn't a good time for the industry, politicians made public confidence-sapping public statements, the Health system was in flux, Authorities came and went, each making new demands on Rest Home administration.
Some Homes weren't even sure that they were going to be still in business the following month.
From the Rest Homes came the calls, "Now they want us to do this / report that / supply them with the other..."
ProCARE kept pace, providing the means to comply.
We did some not-so-clever things. We introduced a multi-level capability, up to 16 Rest Homes (or divisions of a rest Home) on one database with optional links between various functions (e.g. to make wages common to some levels - or all - with separate reporting). Mild interest, but nobody actually used it. Deleted after two years as it was slowing the rest of the system down too much.
The 100 Series had an 80 page written Manual. This turned out to be not so clever either.
Support requirements were starting to develop a pattern. Some Homes needed heaps, others picked up the ball and ran - and we rarely heard from them.
This meant that support on a 'per call' basis was preferable to a fixed annual charge arrangement.
The logistics of support also needed sorting. Galloping around the countryside by car made for slow response times, while parking a warm body in every town made it far too expensive for everyone.
We started work on ProLINK, the instant "man in your chair' data link. When it came on line, all support could be done from one location - no more travelling. In fact, it reduced costs so much that the ProCARE package price took a tumble. It was $2800.00 in 1993, even now, it is only $2394.00.
By 1994, it was becoming apparent that the Series 100 was approaching the end of its useful upgrade life and needed some major revision. Technology had changed, computers were faster, green screens were out, 360K 5" diskettes were looking shaky and development software had improved.
After a year's development, the Series 200 was released in two versions, the SL240 (cut-down version - wages, staff, residents - Head Office does accounts) and the SL280 (fully optioned version).
Existing Series 100 Users got cheap upgrades.
We introduced mouse capability and got laughed out of town. ProCARE is pure 'in-tray' data entry. The rest is automatic. No-one was going to use something that actually made the job slower, but we thought it might have made it more attractive and 'up-market' to prospective Homes who hadn't found that out yet. Live and learn.
We deleted the mouse.
But apart from that, the Series 200 was an even bigger success than the earlier version. It was faster, easier to use, more intelligent and cut administration time and accountant's costs down even further.
ProCARE has since been evolving according to industry demands. We rely on the our Rest Home userbase to tell us what they want.
We then notify the userbase at large when the new features are incorporated and ready for Link transmission (more on this later).
We had long since discovered that the main function of a written Manual was to keep the dust off the top shelf. Added to that, the sometimes rapid evolution of ProCARE would demand that additional Manual pages fly around NZ like confetti.
To counter that, the Manual was built into the Series 200 software. The chapters were split into 'UserGuides', the relevant UserGuide being available when working a particular subject. It was further split into five levels of help - right down to cursor level.
Being part of the program meant, of course, that text for new features was immediately available to the User.
There is an old saying "Never buy the first model of anything". This holds true for software. Although all care is taken by manufacturers and checks before release are exhaustive, 'bugs' are a fact of life.
The advantages of buying 70% solution second generation software off the shelf is that all the bugs from the initial release have been ironed out.
The disadvantage with the now 'bugfree' program is that it is static, it never changes with your environment, but degenerates to a 60% solution to your work load, then 50 40, 30 etc. until eventually you hurl it out and buy a later one.
ProCARE attempts to be a 100% solution to your work load, suggestions and ideas from all over the country are incorporated to keep it up to current industry requirements. Some are done on the spot and uploaded to the instigating Home. Everyone else gets it on their next routine update.
Curly ones take longer.
But there is a penalty associated with this sort of approach that is not found in 'static' software.
The occasional bug can still pop out of the woodwork.
The only thing that takes precedence to fixing it, is a Home in immediate trouble of some kind.
Technology took another giant leap forward.
Plug & Play modems scuttled the ProLINK software, but we still needed a remote support facility. We looked at commercial remote access programs such as PCAnywhere, but these require purchase and licensing by each individual Home.
The cheapest and most effective option was the Internet.
After having waded through all the security implications, we arrived at an Internet solution which worked well for 3 years while ProCARE went through further upgrades.
The last chapter in the saga involved the 'killer asteroid" - Windows XP, which runs on an NT based system (no DOS). This effectively rendered the DOS-based ProCARE obsolete.
The question was ... did I have the time and energy and ability (at aged 62) to do it all over again with a new programming language? ProCARE is one of the most complex DOS applications ever written.
Well, I tried, but it didn't work out. Besides, I would be obliged to support a brand new version for at least another five years - by which time I could be in a Rest Home myself.
So there you have it .... 1988-2002. ProCARE has had a very loyal following and thanks to all of you, but it's time for you to move on into the 21st century with a new generation of bright-eyed bushy-tailed young gurus.
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