Morning Headlines 1/15/16

Walgreens, UnitedHealth Are In Talks To Buy WebMD

Rumors of a buyout send WebMD share prices up nearly 10 percent today, but prices tumbled after the company issued a press release stating that no acquisition was being planned. Share prices ultimately overcorrected, closing down 7.7 percent.

Medical Taylorism

An opinion piece published in NEJM argues that EHRs, while “introduced with the laudable goals,” have undermined patient care by monopolizing the provider’s limited time during patient encounters. The author explains, “Open-ended interviews, vital for obtaining accurate clinical information and understanding patients’ mindsets, have become almost impossible.”

Athenahealth CEO uses CPR to resuscitate a stranger

Athenahealth CEO Jon Bush, a former EMT and combat medic, provides CPR to a man who had collapsed, commenting about the encounter afterwards, “It was like the US health care system. Everybody was standing there, nobody was helping.”

Chief Information and Technology Officer

In England, the NHS publishes a job description for a national chief information and technology officer to lead “the strategic procurement and successful implementation of the information and technology priorities that will support a modern, sustainable health and care system.”