There are moments in a career that feel like milestones. And then there are moments that feel like mirrors – quietly reflecting the journey, the people, the lessons, and the countless small decisions that led to that point.
Winning Best in KLAS 2026 for Access Corp is one of those moments.
I had the honor of representing the team at the awards ceremony this year. As I walked up, shook a few hands, smiled for the camera – there was a quiet thought running in the background:
This isn’t just an award.
It’s a reflection of how customers feel when nobody’s watching. When systems are running as designed. When something breaks and they have a person to talk to and it fixed. When they need support to complete a project within deadline and don’t care about your brand story. Winning the award is a testament that we care about these customers and we are there to help them when needed.
See the short clip from the awards ceremony – it captures the energy of the moment far better than I can put into words.
A Personal Full-Circle Journey
This moment also brought back a wave of memories.
Back in 2021, as CEO of Triyam (now merged with Access Corp), we won Best in KLAS for the first time. We followed it up again in 2022. Those wins were special in a very different way. When you build something from the ground up – when every product feature, every customer conversation, every late-night debugging session is personal – recognition hits differently.
See the photo from the 2022 awards – still one of my favorites.
This photo from the 2022 Best in KLAS moment still means a lot – different phase, same obsession with doing things right.
Triyam was never just a company to me. It was a very specific belief: that legacy healthcare data deserved better care, better structure, better life.
Fast forward to today, and the journey has evolved.
Triyam became part of Access.
I moved from being a founder/CEO to a CTO inside a much larger organization. Bigger teams. Bigger challenges to take on. Definitely more meetings (no surprises there).
But also – a bigger opportunity.
And standing there this year, holding the award again, I realized something simple:
Titles change.
Companies evolve.
But the obsession with doing things right… that doesn’t go away if we have the right people.
What Best in KLAS Really Means
Let’s take a step back for a moment.
“Best in KLAS” is one of those phrases that gets thrown around a lot. It looks great on a website banner. It sounds impressive in a sales deck.
But what does it actually mean?
KLAS Research is arguably the most credible benchmark in healthcare IT. Their rankings are not based on marketing narratives or curated case studies. They’re built on direct feedback from healthcare providers – the people who actually use the systems day in and day out.
That distinction matters.
Because healthcare isn’t an industry where you can afford to get things “almost right.” Systems have to work. Data has to be reliable. Outcomes have to be measurable.
So when customers consistently rate a solution highly, it’s not a vanity metric. It’s a signal.
A signal of trust.
A signal of reliability.
A signal that, when it mattered, the solution delivered.
From a leadership standpoint, I’ve always believed this:
This is not a marketing award – it’s an operational validation.
The Hard Truth: Winning is Tough, Staying There is Harder
Now for the less glamorous part.
Winning is hard. Staying there is much harder.
If you look closely at KLAS scores, the margins between top vendors are incredibly tight. We’re not talking about massive gaps – we’re talking about decimal points. Which means every customer interaction, every implementation, every support ticket matters.
There’s no room for complacency.
The competition in healthcare IT today is intense – and that’s a good thing.
Customers are more informed. Expectations are higher. The bar keeps rising.
In 2025, Access was recognized as a consistent high performer. That consistency is not accidental. It’s the result of relentless focus – across teams, across products, across customer engagements.
And here’s the positive side of all this competition:
It benefits healthcare providers.
More competition → better solutions
Better solutions → better outcomes
Better outcomes → better patient care
At the end of the chain, that’s what this industry is really about.
A Moment with the GOAT: Judy Faulkner
One of the highlights of the event – and a slightly surreal moment – was meeting Judy Faulkner, the GOAT in healthcare IT. For those in healthcare IT, she needs no introduction. Epic Systems continues to set the benchmark in many ways, winning across multiple categories yet again.
What struck me most wasn’t the scale of Epic’s success (which is massive), but Judy herself.
She was incredibly grounded. No airs. No theatrics. Just a quiet, steady presence.
And yes – she even let me take a selfie.
See that photo – still feels a bit unreal.
It’s a small moment, but one that stayed with me.
Because it reinforces something important:
True greatness is a combination of scale and humility.
In a space like healthcare IT, where the stakes are so high, there’s room for multiple winners – and a lot to learn from each other.
Industry Perspective: What This Says About Healthcare IT
Stepping back, this year’s KLAS results tell a broader story.
The healthcare IT market is maturing.
We’re no longer in a phase where one or two players dominate entire segments. Instead, we’re seeing multiple strong players emerging across categories.
Innovation is accelerating – particularly in areas like:
AI-driven insights
Interoperability
Data platforms and analytics
Cloud-based scalability
Healthcare systems are also evolving in their expectations.
They’re no longer just buying products.
They’re looking for platforms.
They’re demanding outcomes.
They want partners – not vendors.
This shift is forcing all of us in the industry to rethink how we build, how we integrate, and how we deliver value.
Leadership Reflection: Beyond Awards
Over the years, my relationship with awards has changed.
Earlier, they felt like destinations.
Now, they feel like checkpoints.
Important, yes. Worth celebrating, absolutely. But not the end goal.
If anything, awards raise the bar.
They create expectations – internally and externally. They challenge teams to not just maintain standards, but to improve continuously.
I often think of it like this:
Getting to Best in KLAS is like reaching the top of a mountain.
But the tricky part?
The mountain keeps growing.
And so, the real challenge isn’t just getting there. It’s staying there, adapting, and continuing to climb even when you’re already at the top.
Closing: Gratitude and Forward Momentum
None of this happens in isolation.
To our customers – thank you for your trust, your feedback, and your honesty. It’s your voice that makes this recognition meaningful.
To the team at Access – this is your achievement. The consistency, the effort, the attention to detail – it all shows.
And to the broader healthcare IT ecosystem – competitors, partners, innovators – thank you for pushing the industry forward.
Because at the end of the day, we’re all working toward the same goal: better healthcare outcomes.
As for what comes next?
We stay focused.
We keep building.
We keep listening.
Because recognition is not something you win once.
It’s something you earn – every single day.
The journey continues.
And the bar just got higher.
Curious to hear your take:
How do you see KLAS influencing decision-making today? And more broadly, where do you think healthcare IT is headed over the next 2–3 years?
Would love to hear different perspectives – especially from those in the trenches.
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