Weekender 3/30/18

Weekly News Recap

• South Australia reportedly halts the rollout of its troubled, Allscripts-powered EPAS systems.
• President Trump fires VA Secretary David Shulkin via Twitter and nominates as his replacement White House Physician Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson, MD, who has no significant management experience.
• Investors in the largely defunct lab startup Theranos sue the company, hoping to get some of their money back from the proceeds of selling the company’s patents and by going after the rumored $100 million fortune amassed by former President Sunny Balwani.
• FDA says it will expand its digital health pre-certification program to more companies by the end of the year.
• Finger Lakes Health (NY) pays a hacker an unnamed sum to recover its systems after a week of ransomware-caused downtime.
• Israel announces plans to make the health data of its 9 million citizens available to researchers and private companies for work on preventive and personalized medicine.

Best Reader Comments

Can someone explain the value of LinkedIn? It’s handy when looking someone up at times, but the amount of spam and vendors asking to make a connection is overwhelming. (2 antisocial?)

Women tend to use LinkedIn differently – more privacy settings and fewer public announcements, posts, or interactions. I wouldn’t be surprised if this extends to other aspects of online identity, like being less likely to email Mr. HIStalk to notify him of a promotion. (People/ LinkedIn)

Market Research Study Reader Feedback

Reader Steve works for a market research company and applauds my calling out of offshore firms whose reports – written in nearly undecipherable fractured English — fail to notice that companies they cover have been acquired or have exited the market. He provides this commentary.

I’m increasingly seeing the industry plagued by “report factory” outsourced studies. As you rightly state, the model seems to increasingly involve investment in masses of PR on every topic and keyword imaginable, yet always with high growth forecasts to entice busy health tech execs and VC’s desperate for data to reach for their Amex. More interesting is that if you dig into many of these firms, their report announcements are copycat replicas (same forecast title and keyword, just different company name).

Here are five quick pointers to aid in calling BS on these cowboys.

1. Contact the analyst behind the report. A quick email conversation or phone call is the quickest way to know (a) if they know what they are talking about, and (b) if they even exist. Also check their LinkedIn / Google press mentions. Good analysts should build up a reasonable online presence of industry press mentions and well-written market insights.
2. Ask for a detailed view of how the data is put together. The best analysts and firms are acutely aware of the accuracy of their data and both the pros and cons of their chosen methodology. I expect every party that is seriously interested in my research to grill me on methodology behind it.
3. Beware of big growth rate headlines. Markets go both up and down. I’m still yet to see one of the report factories putting out PR showing a market decline.
4. Buying market research should not be a single interaction. You are buying a report, but also included should also be analyst time and support to help you disseminate the information, ask questions, and mine the knowledge of the author. The best analysts I know are not just good at producing reports and PR, but as advisors to their customers. Avoid firms where analyst access is restricted or interaction is limited to an account manager or salesperson.
5. Question timelines. Good data and insight takes time to put together. Market research based on primary research (vendor or consumer) involves investment financially as well as established industry relationships. There are rarely shortcuts that can be made. Compiling a high-quality, detailed report on complex markets is not possible in a few weeks. Short timeline reports usually resort in low quality, mistake-laden research or a very expensive bookend.

Watercooler Talk Tidbits

Readers funded the DonorsChoose teacher grant request of Ms. F in West Virginia, who asked for programmable Lego robots for her special needs high school class. She reports, “We have been very busy learning about coding. My students have learned the hard way that you must follow ALL directions in order or your creation will not work. I get excited when they come in and show their classmates what they have done and what they have learned. When their creations run, they are so proud of themselves, and when they don’t, my students don’t get frustrated (which is a really big deal) —  they just look to see what they did wrong. Thank you for making learning exciting for my students and for building skills and confidence!”

First grade special education teacher Ms. M from North Carolina says of the math games we provided, “My students have a hard time grabbing these new math concepts, but I have learned that learning through play makes retention much easier. The students are showing signs of understanding and they are able to focus on the problem at hand. Some have even told me they did not want my help, that they wanted to try to figure it out themselves, now this blew me away. I am ever so grateful for your generosity with this project and this great new way for my kiddos to learn math concepts.”

The US Attorney’s Office wants to take millions of dollars and several replica cars as part of its investigation into their Cleveland owner’s for-profit addiction treatment companies, which submitted $49 million in Medicaid claims in 29 months of which $31 million was paid. The reproduction cars, which were used in Hollywood movies, include a 1981 DeLorean from “Back to the Future,” a 1959 Cadillac hearse from two “Ghostbusters” movies, and a Batmobile replica.

A California OB-GYN on the first day of his medical malpractice trial rushes to the aid of a prospective juror who is undergoing cardiac arrest, raising concerns that the doctor’s actions might bias jurors in his favor. More interestingly, James Nilja, MD is one of several former drummers for rock band The Offspring and is rumored to have suggested the band’s name. He parted ways with the band in 1987, with front man Dexter Holland explaining in a blog post that, “He was so intent on getting into medical school that he didn’t really even practice with us much, which is part of why he‘s not our drummer any more … I hope his patients don‘t find out that he once helped write a song called “Beheaded!” Here’s video of the now-doctor playing in the band in 1987.

In Case You Missed It

• News 3/30/18
• EPtalk by Dr. Jayne 3/29/18
• News 3/28/18
• Curbside Consult with Dr. Jayne 3/26/18
• HIStalk Interviews Nancy Ham, CEO, WebPT
• Monday Morning Update 3/26/18
• What I Wish I’d Known Before … Being Admitted to a Hospital or Being Seen in the ED

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