I realize it's been quite a while since I taught - or was in school myself - but I'm distressed…
Morning Headlines 3/13/20
b.well Connected Health Secures $16 Million in Series A Funding
Employee-focused PHR vendor B.Well Connected Health raises $16 million in a Series A funding round, increasing its total to $27 million.
Virtual cardiovascular care management solution vendor Heartbeat Health raises $8.2 million in a Series A funding round.
Epic tells employees to continue ‘essential’ travel, against county health officials’ advice
In addition to considering cancelling its upcoming, on-campus XGM event at its headquarters, Epic makes several social-distancing changes to workplace policies to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Epic’s travel policy is not right. They may think that they are helping us but these people who go from one hospital to another may act as pollinators for COVID-19. We have already determined to cut all non-employees visiting our clinics and hospitals.
What are folk’s thoughts on vendors not following county/state recommendations? Irresponsible or necessary? Are your on-site vendors being held to the same standard as employees who have recently visited “hot” cities/states?
Heading from a lot of friends inside of Epic that things are getting rough. No guidance from HR or the COVID team on what people are to do if schools close, no telework option given to any staff in the Verona office, some divisions (Implementation) have been given the guidance to attend all meetings via WebEx but that they still must physically come to campus. Little to no transparency from the leadership team, and they appear to be one of the only major tech company not implementing remote work.
I’m so deeply disappointed in the leadership team. They of all people should well understand how poorly positioned our healthcare system is to absorb a large number of cases.
Why do our Epic representatives already work from home on the regular? This has been true for years.
This is simply untrue.
Re: Epic: They’re also still planning on having their XGM conference (as of 3/11) despite many customers having seen the light and being on a travel ban. This seems pretty irresponsible all around.
I suggest they read this – Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now:
https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca
Epic cancelled XGM this morning. Email key paragraph:
After careful consideration, and discussion with many, we have decided to cancel XGM 2020. Although this was a difficult decision, we believe it’s the best option to keep our communities healthy. We will miss seeing you, and hope you, your organization, and your patients stay well.
Any vendor who hasn’t banned travel by now is just irresponsible and stupid. What’s the point in keeping kids out of school and banning large gatherings if you’ve got salespeople and implementation teams flitting from hospital to hospital.
Personally, I’m at risk and have told my company I’m not travelling. Immediate leadership has been supportive, we’ll see how it all pans out over the next few weeks/months.
This is maybe where an organization like HIMSS or CHIME could chip in but they’re more interested in making money than being actual thought leaders in the industry.
Epic is allowing WFH as of this morning in response to the outbreak.
Epic is allowing but effectively discouraging working from home. It’s shameful!