Pros
Stability, good pay and automatic raises well beyond inflation, work impacting millions of patients across the world — including yourself. Solid business cemented in the industry. Good food, real offices, smart coworkers, nice fringe benefits. Great health insurance. Light travel for devs, with nice accommodations along the way. Lots of autonomy — most successful epic folks pave their own path. Opportunities are plentiful if you want to work for it. Also equally normal to settle into a comfortable role and live your life outside of work.
Cons
The work is not for everyone. From a developer perspective, it’s full stack and you’re responsible for specs and project management. No one will stop you from working as hard as possible, so you’re on your own for balancing career progression with a personal life. Management culture is insular. There’s no real sense of advancement for Individual Contributors — tenure is the only real proxy and it’s unreliable. Compensation is a black box even if it’s generous. Expectations and stakes are high. Employees are type-A and used to being the smartest person in the room. Many have a tough time adjusting to that no longer being true. Lots of recent college graduates eager to make a career but understandably not sure if health IT is for them, leading to a feeling of a revolving door but the numbers don’t necessarily match that perception. It takes an inordinate amount of effort to advance to a position of power. If you seek control, this is probably not the place for you. Decisions are regularly made from on high, from the impactful to the banal. We’re behind on the trendy perks like remote work, reflecting the whims of aging upper management and the generally slow-moving nature of the health IT industry. Can’t compete with Silicon Valley behemoths for talent.
