Monday Morning Update 7/2/07

From Anonymouse: “Re: Cerner. Unsubstantiated rumor from a third party vendor: Cardinal to acquire Cerner. Have you heard any of these whispers?” I haven’t. Anyone?

Thanks very much to old HIStalk friend eScription, an early-on sponsor. The company is now the exclusive sponsor of HIStalk Discussion as well, while continuing as a Gold Sponsor. I was cruising around their newly redesigned site and I notice they’re hiring: software engineers, account managers, Java developer, and other technical positions. I can’t imagine that working for super-cool Paul Egerman is anything but great (not to mention they provide over 400 pounds of free fruit each month for employees to munch on!) Continuing my cruising, I see that my sponsor contact Lauren Richman has a Penn undergrad and Columbia MBA, which is impressive even among the educational credentials of her peers: Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, and MIT. Smart company, nice people, kicking butt and taking names in their market. That’s how it ought to work.

Speaking of Penn, UPHS awards CSC a five-year, $67 million contract for IT infrastructure services.

And speaking of old friends of HIStalk, my first-ever sponsor Medicity sent over their electronic newsletter this week. The company has taken over two new floors in the Medicity building, employment will increase 50% this year, they demonstrated at MUSE last month, and several new sales were finalized in the past few weeks. All due to their sponsorship, at least when I’m telling the story.

Wisconsin State Journal is running a fancy series on medical errors, including an online game where you try to staff a nursing unit given ever-changing conditions. From a reader who wishes to remain anonymous: “Interestingly, they don’t mention EMRs at all, or CPOE. They talk about pharmacy robotics and barcoded med administration, but that’s pretty much it. They included some ‘patient safety’ tips, such as writing down your allergies, writing down what meds you’re on and what you take them for, and taking these lists with you to clinics, hospitals, etc. Isn’t that sort of the point of an EMR, so you don’t have to remember? Clearly technology doesn’t solve everything, but I would have thought it worth mentioning in their ‘technology improvements’ article.” It is somewhat surprising, although they seem to focus on the sharp end of the stick, right down to the patients themselves.

Cerner gets 510(k) clearance for its new transfusion and specimen collection system that will be marketed under the Cerner Bridge Medical name. The party must be on: Cerner gets North Kansas City approval for a big blowout, including a barbeque contest, at their headquarters on July 20. I’m positive I’ll be invited so I can report to you live.

Former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy and former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman became former free men after being sentenced to seven years in prison for bribery and corruption yesterday. The judge wasn’t impressed by the chorus line of character witnesses the defense paraded in, with Scrushy even dragging his nine children in to meet the judge (triggering a Groucho Marx thought: “Hey, I like my cigar, too, but I take it out now and then.”) Anyway, the judge sent him straight to jail.

CPSI is named to the FSB100, a fast-growing small company list compiled by Fortune Small Business.

This 29-year-old newly graduated Canadian doctor (Melissa) has gotten a doctor job, written a diet book, and helped design a Web-based EMR system that may be ad-supported later.

Akron Children’s Hospital sues its former foundation director, claiming she downloaded donor information to start her own business.

Imaging vendor Emageon has cut 10% of its workforce so far this year.

Bizarre, only-in-California lawsuits: an LA fire department captain gets $3.75 million, much of it for pain and suffering, because his supervisors retaliated against him for not giving women firefighters easier training. In another case, the city offered a firefighter who was fed dog food by colleagues $2.7 million.

News is slow. If this were a HIT magazine, I’d keep writing crappy stuff just to fill up space. Since I value your time instead of my need to pad out the ads, we’re done here. Have a good July 4th (and fly your flag, please).

News, rumors, my own private Idaho: e-mail me.

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