I spent 34 years at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center working in the Information Systems Department. Over that time, I worked on many challenging and rewarding computer system applications. Some were complex. Some were high-stakes. Some were quietly critical to keeping the place running.
But nothingānothingāwas more rewarding than my involvement in building MSKās homegrown patient portal: MyMSK.
It was 2004 when our director gathered us together and said something that, at the time, felt both obvious and radical:
āWe really need to think about giving patients access to their information.ā
People were just starting to use the phrase patient portal back then. We did what any responsible IT organization would doāwe looked at what was already out there. We evaluated portals from leading vendors like Allscripts and Epic, along with several third-party developers.
And to be blunt: they were all pretty awful.
They were clunky. Unfriendly. Built more for systems than for people. And they completely missed the emotional reality of what MSK patients were dealing with.
So we made a decision that would shape the next two decades of my career:
We would plan our own destiny and build our own patient portal.
With a small team of just 3 developers, we went live with MyMSK in 2006.
Over the years, we expanded and refined it relentlesslyāadding functionality, improving usability, responding to real patient needs, and listening carefully to feedback.
By 2018, MyMSK had grown to more than 100,000 active users.
Patients relied on it.
Families depended on it.
Clinicians trusted it.
It became part of how care happened at MSK.
We didnāt stop at a web portal.
We built full mobile versions for iPhone and Android, because patients donāt live their lives at desktop computers.
We also created a separate but tightly integrated application called Portal Secure Messaging, which allowed patients to securely message their care teams. Behind the scenes, we built a robust backend system that enabled nurses and physicians to log in, triage messages, and respond efficiently. It wasnāt just a featureāit fundamentally changed how communication happened between patients and providers.
Building on that foundation, we developed an onboarding application that sat on top of the portal called MSK First.
MSK First was designed to meet patients at one of the most stressful moments of their livesātheir very first appointment. It guided them through scheduling, preparation, and everything they needed to know before walking through the door. From there, patients seamlessly transitioned into MyMSK for ongoing care, follow-ups, and communication.
That application went on to win MSKās Quality Assurance Award the year it was introducedārecognition that meant a great deal to the entire team.
No system like this is built by one person.
I was fortunate to have a manager who was just as deeply committed to the success of MyMSK as the team itself. We also consistently had the full support of our leadership and the many hospital departments we partnered with along the way. That collaborationāespecially with Nursing, Medical Staff, Public Affairs, and the Innovation Teamāwas essential to making MyMSK successful.
I had the privilege of leading a dedicated team of 14 people who consistently put the integrity of the project first. They cared deeply about the patients who depended on these systems and never treated this as ājust another application.ā
They worked long hours.
They worked nights and weekends.
They worked whenever it took to get something doneāand to get it done right.
That level of dedication canāt be mandated. It comes from pride, ownership, and belief in the mission. I will always be grateful to them.
MSK eventually made the decision to transition to Epic and use the Epic portal. Thatās how healthcare works nowāstandardization, consolidation, enterprise platforms.
And then last night, I heard from a former colleague:
They pulled the plug on MyMSK.
I wonāt pretend it didnāt sting.
But I also know this: all things change, and all things eventually go away.
We went live in 2006.
They shut it down in 2026.
In healthcare IT, thatās not just a good run.
Thatās something to be proud of.
MyMSK wasnāt just software.
It was a statementāthat patients deserve access, clarity, and respect.
It was proof that thoughtful, in-house systems could outperform big vendors.
And it was, without question, the most meaningful work I ever did.
And that legacy?
That doesnāt get unplugged.
