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September 21, 2016 Headlines 8 Comments

Mixed reactions to CMS tool predicting impact of MACRA on providers’ bottom line

During an HHS Advisory Panel on Outreach and Education, CMS agreed to developing an online tool that will help providers estimate the impact choosing either the MIPS or APM track of MACRA will have on revenue.

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan Pledge $3 Billion to Fighting Disease

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan announce that they will invest $3 billion over the next decade on projects that align with an overall goal of preventing, curing, or managing all diseases by the end of the century.

athenahealth Works with CDC and other Specialty Societies to Combat Opioid Abuse

Athenahealth launches a data visualization dashboard trending data related to the nation’s opioid epidemic.

Anthem, Cigna Have Accused Each Other of Merger Breach

A legal filing by the Justice Department reveals that both Anthem and Cigna are accusing one another of violating the terms of their merger agreement. The Justice Department is suing to block the merger on anti-trust grounds.



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Currently there are "8 comments" on this Article:

  1. Re: News piece on Epic’s cafeteria:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAy9Zv5x7bk

    So this is where your Epic fees go to…I find it nauseating as a front line provider that gets no time for meals due to terrible software.

    Second: There is no link for the CMS MACRA calculator AND does it including the COST of implementing certEHR/software/time to click/attest etc in the calculation?

    • I’m not sure fighting insults with insults is the best way. This epic guy will probably be Judy’s staff meeting warning about not replying on message boards.

      What I will say is that you may not get lunch, but much of their staff is putting more hours in than you to try to make your life easier. Maybe if every company tried to feed their employees the way Epic did, there’d be fewer unhealthy people to fill your day. Further it’s not even clear that you use it given your pronoun usage.

  2. The three primary reasons why I believe that Epic’s cafeterias exist.

    1-Productivity. Normally, I can eat a meal at Epic in 15 minutes or so. But even if I spend 30-40 minutes eating and socializing with my coworkers at the Farmer’s Market, King’s Cross, or Cass, that’s still faster than the alternative. Walking to the parking ramp and driving to Subway, Culver’s, McDonald’s, Arby’s, or any other ‘fast’ restaurant, and then searching for a parking spot on the way back in can easily exceed 45 minutes. Multiply that time savings across all of the salaried employees in Verona and by 260+ days a year and those savings start to add up. (Epic prices food based on the cost of the ingredients. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if the ‘unhealthy’ options are priced a bit higher.)

    2-Health. Epic is a healthcare company and is committed to providing healthy options. Without a cafeteria, Epic’s employees would be eating at the above-mentioned fast food places daily. Epic gets healthier employees. Fewer sicks days. Lower health insurance premiums. No pop at Epic anymore.

    3-Recruiting. Besides being a healthcare company, Epic is also a software development company. At career fairs, we are recruiting against Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, and every other software company – some of which offer their food for free. Being able to serve ethnic meals is also helpful in recruiting, since the restaurant options in Verona are otherwise limited.

    I’d love to see a comparison of the financials between Epic’s food service and a standard 3rd party cafeteria contract. [speculation]As Epic has the food prep space (land is cheap in Verona), has purchased the equipment for the long term, and the team gets more efficient at preparing meals at large scale, whatever gaps there are in the comparison may not be all that big. [/speculation]

  3. Re: Guy mad about ‘Epic fees’ – once you voluntarily give someone your money, it’s no longer your money. As such, best practice is to worry less (ie. not at all) about what’s done with it. Why? Cause it’s no longer your money. Hope this helps.

  4. “2-Health. Epic is a healthcare company and is committed to providing healthy options. Without a cafeteria, Epic’s employees would be eating at the above-mentioned fast food places daily. Epic gets healthier employees. Fewer sicks days. Lower health insurance premiums. No pop at Epic anymore.”

    As a former Epic employee, I can tell you that most of their options are far from healthy. Their desserts have been known to have over 1k calories per and the main dishes are loaded with refined carbs, sugar and sodium.

    You can always get a salad or one of the less bad options and the food is healthier than McDonalds for the most part, but it’s still not exactly healthy.

    Epic has the cafeteria because then their employees don’t have to leave campus (which means they are on campus to do more work). The cafeteria is nice but honestly, it’s overrated. The portions are pretty small and prices are not as good as they used to be.

  5. Former as of when? The menu options were revamped a few months ago to be more healthy. Your information is out of date.







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