Hard agree, and not just because I'm a spreadsheet nerd. Why are we all here? Isn't it in the service…
News 10/24/07
From Ninny: “Re: NHIN. HHS’ ONC said at the NHIN Trial Implementation startup meeting on Friday that the NHIN TI awards were under protest. Who’s protesting it? Often companies protesting Federal awards publicize their efforts. ONC did say that Kaiser Permanente and ‘Federal Partners’ (VA, DoD, CMS, SSA, etc.) are also part of the NHIN Collaborative, #10 and 11. KP is footing their own way.” I’m interested in who’s protesting, if anyone knows.
From Big Fan: “Re: interview. It’d be cool if you could interview Jocelyn DeWitt at the University of Michigan. They run their own homegrown EMR and CDR, are slowly implementing Eclipsys Orders, McKesson scheduling, have over 400 employees in IT, and run a buttload of best-of-breed systems. The curious part – how can they justify all that cost and overhead, how do they keep it all running, and manage all those interfaces. Are they/have they considered consolidating on a handful of vendors?” Good idea. I shall ask Inga to attempt contact.
From The PACS Designer: “Re: PHR list. AHIMA has a myPHR page that lists free PHRs.” Link.
From Digger O’Dell: “Re: CliniComp. John Reardon is out as CEO of Clinicomp, the third person as CEO in the last 3 1/2 years (Kremsdorf, then Witonsky). The founder wishes to retain control and has reinstated some previous staff in executive roles.”
From Wompa1: “Re: GE. Any idea how many organizations are using IDXtend/classic/flowcast/Centricity Business?”
Philips unveils its CliniScape wireless handheld device. I found a picture here.
A reader sent this link, showing that EDIS vendor Emergisoft is spending $100K a year on lobbyists. I don’t know what their cause is.
I’ve gotten several e-mails wanting to know more about the rumored Kaiser layoffs and their progress with HealthConnect (apparently highly touted at Epic’s user meeting). If you have information, let me know.
Orlando Portale tells me that Pomerado Hospital in San Diego has been evacuated because of the fires there, although IT systems are running normally. A million residents have been displaced, emergency shelters are filling up, and at least 1,000 homes have burned in San Diego County alone. You know the insurance companies are already poring over policy fine print looking for ways to get out of paying fire-related claims.
Cerner’s Neal Patterson buys a 1,308 pound steer named Chuck for $150,000, obviously unaware that the market price for ground Chuck is quite a bit less than $115 per pound. Actually, kidding aside, that’s a fine gesture and true to his (previously) humble roots.
The move of Eclipsys from Boca Raton to Atlanta will cost 54 employees their jobs.
HIMSS and Microsoft are taking MS-HUG worldwide, both apparently unsatisfied with anything less than world domination.
Premise CEO Eric Rosow is profiled in a local newspaper article on entrepreneurism.
Announced HIMSS keynoters: Steve Case, Bill Frist, Rob Kolodner, Mike Leavitt, Steven Levitt, and Eric Schmidt. Numbers 1,2, and 6 add up to quite a few billion in net worth. I’m waiting to see if anyone interesting will be on the View from the Top panel (longing for the Neal and Judy days).
Initiate Systems announces GA of its Initiate Provider provider management application. Also announced: Initiate and IBM will implement its Initiate Patient EMPI at Ochsner Health System (LA). IBM’s contribution is some HealthLink mumbo jumbo intended to make consulting sound packaged and proprietary: “Prolink4 is IBM’s process-centric, top-down project methodology that works to transform organizations from current to future states based on overall goals and objectives,” aka doing Gantt charts.
AMICAS announces that it signed 15 new contracts in Q3.
The former owners of shuttered Greater Detroit Hospital are fined $1 million after an owner was caught burning piles of medical records on his farm and others were found blowing down the street.
Nuance, apparently intent on closing a new acquisition each week, announces that it will acquire call center solutions vendor Viecore.
According to poll results so far (to your right), 11% of HIStalk readers keep a reliable, electronic personal health record. Higher than I expected, maybe inflated by PHR keepers anxious to be counted. On the other hand, that means that at least 89% of healthcare technology experts, many of the clinicians and software evangelists, don’t find enough value in PHRs to keep one for themselves. So, the Joe Sixpack number is probably something far less than 11%, although that’s still potentially dozens of millions of people. If PHRs were a TV show, they’d have been cancelled already.
The new Sunquest gets its first sale, a $1.4 million LIS contract for Children’s New Orleans. In the pipeline under Misys, no doubt, but still cool.
A fun Monty Python surgery sketch, featuring the machine that goes BINGGG. Note the irony: key player Graham Chapman really was an MD.
E-mail me. I need your rumors and ideas.
Inga’s Update
Despite my glamorous image (everyone does think I am glamorous, right?) I feel like such a nerd because I got so excited by the HIMSS keynote line-up! Mike Leavitt, Dr. Kolodner, the author of Freakonomics, the Google CEO … if only they could add George Clooney coming to discuss HIPAA privacy, it would be perfect!
Zagat, the restaurant rating guys, are teaming up with Wellpoint for a doctor rating guide. Patients will be able to rate their doctors based on trust, communication, availability and office environment. Too bad they left out clinical outcomes. Would have been fun to walk into an office and say, “Doctor, I hear you do an exquisite brain surgery.”
This is such great news that I am going to eat chocolate cake tonight to celebrate! Canadian researchers claim “jolly” women (those with higher BMIs) show fewer signs of depression, anxiety and negative moods. And all this time I thought the key to happiness was being a size 4.
First, the AHIMA site myPHR is not that great as roughly a third of the PHR vendors listed are out of business and I’d claim that another third have suspicious business practices and a consumer should avoid them at all costs. though it appears t be the only site .
Second, last year it was Ballmer, this year Schmidt – hmm, will this be the official launch/unveiling of Google Health. Maybe HIStalk can do a poll on that – placing bets anyone.
Third, 11% of HIStalk readers have a PHR, not bad, not bad at all. Having just attended the Connected or Health conference here in Boston, quite a bit of talk about PHRs with many believing the future will see very discrete PHRs for specific diseases, vast majority chronic care. Chronic care is ~20%of population, thus potential market for PHRs maybe only 25-30% of population, unless off course the big drive to CDHC really takes off, consumers start managing their HSAs and services start providing some real transparency in market regarding cost and quality.
Last, kind of funny the Zagats ratings partnership with Wellpoint and the complete lack of ratings on what is most important, quality and cost. Also surprised that they will not be rating hospital food.
Re: Clinicomp- we have them in our ICU and their customer service has been terrible! Though our staff is wedded to the software, the lack of accountability and response from the company has the hospital hoping to find a different vendor.
Also, re: Zagat and doctors, this is the major problelm with all these transparency initiatives- patients dont pay attention, including the most educated ones. Most people will still go to the surgeon who plays in their brother-in-law’s card game over the guy with the best rating that they may find on a website. Every doctor who’s ever been recommended to me by someone outside the profession is always “the best in the city.”