Morning Headlines 3/24/14

Metro Detroit health systems Beaumont, Oakwood and Botsford sign letter of intent to merge

In Detroit, Beaumont, Botsford, and Oakwood health systems announce plans to merge, citing integrated medical records as a driving factor behind the decision. The new system will span eight hospitals and consolidate $3.8 billion in annual revenue.

McKesson Technologies Anesthesia Care: Recall – Patient Case Data May Not Match Patient Data

The FDA issues a Class-1 recall of McKesson’s Anesthesia Care product. The decision suggests that the FDA sees clinical applications, ones that provide CDS but do not control medical devices, as falling into the high-risk category that warrants a class 1-level recall. McKesson issued a voluntary recall of the system in 2013 after customers reported that anesthesia data had been erroneously saved to the wrong patient’s record..

‘Flawed’ patient record system led to crisis on jubilee weekend

In England, the troubled Meditech go-live at Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust is profiled by a local paper, which says that after a four-year install, the system go-live compromised key cancer treatment schedules, ER workflows, outpatient appointment bookings, and generated $17 million in cost overages.

Conn. health official accuses Mass. of hoarding federal grant for New England health insurance collaborative

Connecticut officials are seeking $10 million from Massachusetts over a $45 million federal grant that had been issued to Massachusetts in 2010 to build an HIE infrastructure that was supposed to then be shared with other New England states. The project never resulted in a platform that other states could use, prompting Connecticut to seek reimbursement for work it eventually had to do on its own.