Going to ask again about HealWell - they are on an acquisition tear and seem to be very AI-focused. Has…
Monday Morning Update 3/16/20
Top News
The American Medical Association creates a CPT 2021 code for the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus, which will allow tracking of cases. The code is available for immediate use.
AMA has also published “A Physician’s Guide to COVID-19.”
CDC and AMA have published a video interview with a highly cited physician who heads a hospital’s anesthesia and ICU departments in northern Italy. The interview calls out the death rate they have seen in Italy, which is minimal for younger people, but jumps to 8% for those aged 60-69, 34% for those 70-79, 44% for 80-89, and a likely statistical aberration of just 9.3% for those patients over 90. The doctor’s takeaway message is to increase ICU and ventilator beds now.
Reader Comments
From Beyond the Pale: “Re: Epic’s announcement to employees. Here’s the full text. Epic’s failure to invest appropriately in collaboration tools and its reliance on physical proximity positions them poorly to work from home. I worked several years for Epic in a leadership role, where I ardently defended them, but this is disappointing to see.” The email says those employees who can report to work on campus should do so. If that isn’t possible, then work from home is allowed for the two weeks starting Monday, March 16, but customer issues, project readiness meetings, or internal meetings may require coming to campus. The message seems mixed – you can work from home if you can’t come to campus, but you might have to come to campus anyway.
From Joyous Boys: “Re: COVID-19. I would like to see you include more news about it that isn’t necessarily health IT specific.” Jenn told me she thinks it is a bit tone-deaf to stay in our non-COVID lane when we are pretty good at extracting truly insightful or newsworthy items. My counterpoint is that even though we stay on top of COVID-19 news that we could summarize efficiently, that kind of information is amply available elsewhere. I will let readers decide what if any changes are needed with a poll. HIStalk readership is high lately, so it’s good for me to understand what people are looking for. But as my life’s motto explains, I’m not looking for extra work.
From Top Gun: “Re: HIMSS20. HIMSS was to let us know in 14 days about hotel and registration refunds. My team made reservations through the HIMSS site, so I didn’t do anything while I waited to hear. Since then, HIMSS updated its FAQ to say – without notifying anyone – that it’s up to individual hotels whether to offer refunds. Now that we’ve waited, hotels won’t refund anyone, and registration has rolled over to HIMSS21. What if we can’t go or won’t have as many attendees? I want my money back. I already swallowed flight costs for several people, and now I have to swallow hotel and registration as well? Anyone else mentioned this? I’m considering protesting the charges on my credit card.” Above are the original and current versions of that FAQ. I don’t quite get the “14 working days” (why 2.8 weeks?), but HIMSS said in the original item that “an advisement will be sent” and the replacement wording says only that HIMSS won’t object if the hotel wants to refund your payment and the hotel should be called as soon as possible. You could protest the charges (hint: say “billing error”) and the charge will probably be reversed, but that will last only until the credit card folks contact OnPeak, which will claim it did everything correctly and get the charge reinstated. If you didn’t have travel insurance that covers cancellation, you may be out of luck, even if you’re contemplating suing since there’s probably a force majeure clause hiding somewhere. At least non-exhibitor attendees had a theoretical but heavily discouraged option to book lodging on their own – the HIMSS exhibitor contract requires them to pay for two OnPeak rooms per 100 square feet of booth space.
HIStalk Announcements and Requests
It’s a bit surprising that one-third of poll respondents – presumably healthcare people — are making no effort to avoid crowds and unnecessary travel, but I’ll generously assume that early voters from a week ago – or about a year in COVID-19 news – have since changed their practices to those of the majority. Or perhaps low-risk people, those who are blessed with youth and vigorous immune systems, don’t understand that such restrictions are intended to prevent them from inadvertently killing Grandpa or Grandma by introducing them to their microorganism tenants.
I can’t even comprehend that I should be fresh off a return from a HIMSS20 trip right about now. The conference was cancelled just 10 days ago as I write this, but it seems like it’s been a couple of months. Meanwhile, interest in our webinars has picked up as an alternative to the HIMSS that never was, so ask Lorre nicely and she will extend her previously offered webinar discount.
New poll to your right or here, for health system employees: what strategies have changed with COVID-19?
We ran a mention last week from the local paper that United Community & Family Services (CT) was moving to Epic from Greenway Health’s Prime Suite, which the paper said was necessary because Prime Suite is being discontinued. That article was incorrect, as Greenway very kindly let me know – Greenway is still investing in the development of Prime Suite and has no plans to discontinue it. Prime Suite had 48 software releases in 2019 and last year saw the introduction of Prime Suite Reporting 2019 and Prime Suite v18.00.01.00. Thanks to Greenway for just alerting me nicely instead of going nuclear with indignation for assuming the local reporting to be accurate.
I ran accidentally across a HIStalkapalooza video that recalled happier times when industry folks danced the night away, complete with fleeting thoughts that maybe I should do a scaled-back version at HIMSS21, assuming we emerge on the other side of COVID-19 and will need cheering up. Year-by-year highlights:
- 2008, Orlando. A reception for 200 attendees in what was then the Peabody Hotel, with some outstanding food in an upscale setting. I was worried that nobody would want to attend, and figuring I should offer some kind of stage presentation, I quickly threw together the first HISsies voting to fill time.
- 2009, Chicago. Trump Tower failed us a bit in being so expensive that we had to limit attendance, food cost was ridiculous so we could offer only a few passed snacks, and they neglected to provide a decent stage and sound system and thus few attendees could see or hear Jonathan Bush present the HISsies. But the view was fantastic and the attendees were fun.
- 2010, Atlanta. We took over Max Lager’s pub, a bagpiper played outside, Judy Faulkner wore the “No Pie for Me” sash that I ordered to celebrate Neal Patterson’s pie-in-the-face HISsies win, Ross Martin did his “Meaningful Yoose Rap” live, and JB turned his allotted five minutes to present the HISsies into a long, crazy stage show on a day when ATHN shares had tanked.
- 2011, Orlando. I first used the term “HIStalkapalooza” that year at BB King’s. JB did the awards again and we had a blues band.
- 2012, Las Vegas. This is still my favorite because ESD sponsored the event and Brittanie Begeman was delightful to work with. We had last-minute panic when the venue we had booked closed its doors for good, leaving us to scramble to find a new place in First Food & Bar in the The Shops at the Palazzo (which is also closed now). See how many faces you recognize from the excellent video highlights reel. We had roses for the ladies, a DJ, the usual stage antics with JB as he drank a family-sized beer, two Elvis impersonators (a pro and Ross Martin as dueling Elvi), and probably the best food and drinks of any of the events. I watch that video every few weeks.
- 2013, New Orleans. We headed to Rock ‘n’ Bowl, Ross and Kym Martin performed, JB’s performance was as wild as his shirt, we had a big-name zydeco band playing, and we ended with a bowling tournament. Video.
- 2014, Orlando. Buses took folks to the House of Blues at Downtown Disney, we had the amazing Party on the Moon playing, and several entertainment booths were doing caricatures, magic tricks, and other fun stuff. Video.
- 2015, Chicago. This was the first time we did the event on our own without allowing a single company to pay and thus call the shots to some degree. House of Blues Chicago was the best venue we’ve used with its opera boxes and lofty interior views. Party on the Moon was predictably outstanding and Judy Faulkner and Jonathan Bush presented each other with awards. Video.
- 2016, Las Vegas. House of Blues hosted, JB did his Donald Trump imitation, and the band played on. Video.
- 2017, Orlando. We ended the 10-year HIStalkapalooza run at House of Blues, whose box office got calls all week from folks thinking they could buy tickets and then trying to crash during the event when they heard the band rocking from outside. Party on the Moon, who loves our crowd, captured the final moment in the photo above as their set reached an explosive finish over the filled dance floor and the confetti blasted for the final time. Video.
Listening: new from reader-recommended Tame Impala. It’s a man rather than a band, following the modern configuration of one multi-instrumentalist guy recording the music tracks on his computer, making no money even with popularity since streaming pays next to nothing, and then grabbing some pick-up musicians to cash in by touring. He/they headlined Coachella last year with their brand of psychedelic music. I’m not sure how I feel about music being composed in computer-enhanced solitude since that sounds kind of deliberate and cold, but I like this OK and at least it doesn’t involve the “we’re a band” model of creativity by committee that usually isn’t sustainable.
The pandemic will get worse before it gets better, but imagine how it would be without the Internet and the ability it provides to to work from home, see patients remotely, inform the public, stash stay-at-home kids in front of streamed cartoons, and stay current on scientific developments. It has often brought out the worst in people (or perhaps just the worst of people), but let’s give some credit to Sir Tim Berners-Lee for inventing the World Wide Web in late 1990 that is benefitting the entire world now more than ever.
Webinars
March 25 (Wednesday) 1 ET: “Streamlining Your Surgical Workflows for Better Financial Outcomes.” Sponsor: Intelligent Medical Objects. Presenters: David Bocanegra, RN, nurse informaticist, IMO; Alex Dawson, product manager, IMO. Health systems that struggle with coordinating operating rooms and scheduling surgeries can increase their profitability with tools that allow for optimal reimbursement. This webinar will identify practices to optimize OR workflows and provider reimbursement, discuss how changes to perioperative management of procedures can support increased profitability, and explore factors that can impede perioperative workflow practices.
March 26 (Thursday) 12:30 ET. “How to Use Automation to Reduce ‘My EHR is Slow’ Complaints.” Sponsor: Goliath Technologies. A common challenge is that a clinician is ready to work, but their technology is not. EHRs can be slow, logins not working, or printers and scanners are offline. Troubleshooting these end user tickets quickly is nearly impossible, especially in complex environments that might include Citrix or VMware Horizon. This webinar will present real-world examples of how leading health systems are using purpose-built technology with embedded automation and intelligence to proactively anticipate, troubleshoot, and prevent end user performance issue across their IT infrastructure and EHRs.
Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present your own.
Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock
WebMD Health acquires Merck subsidiary The StayWell Company, which offers employee well-being, patient education, and patient engagement platforms.
Announcements and Implementations
QliqSoft releases a white-labeled COVID-19 patient screening and education tool package for hospitals that will need to manage an expected surge of patients.
A Black Book survey finds that EHR interoperability remains a challenge for hospital network physician practices, half of hospitals aren’t using outside patient information, and some hospitals are waiting for their current vendors to release solutions before buying anything new.
Another Black Book survey of 3,000 hospital nurses finds that their nearly universal dissatisfaction with EHRs in 2014 has swung to the positive. Nurses say that a hospital’s choice of EHR is among their top three criteria for deciding where to work, and nearly all of them say that EHR expertise is a highly sought employment skill. The hospital nurses ranked Meditech as the #1 EHR for nurse functionality and usability.
DocClocker pitches its patient wait time app, saying it cuts down on potentially infectious patient waiting room time and allows them to make short-notice appointments for available slots. The company also offers a version for families waiting for OR updates, publishes current and average provider wait times, collects user reviews, and sends notifications of appointments and delays.
Privacy and Security
CI Security polled security experts to come up with a list of items to help control security risks for healthcare workers who are telecommuting. It includes a work-from-home security assessment questionnaire. I was thinking as I read this that it would be awful to send employees home to prevent spread of a virus only to be hit hard with the computer kind as a result.
Other
Health systems are using technology to conserve resources that will be needed for treating COVID-19 patients:
- Online questionnaires and chatbots to allow people to determine if they may have coronavirus infection, which helps keep the “worried well” from showing up for testing and treatment.
- Virtual visits.
- Thermometers and pulse oximeters for symptomatic patients to take home, with daily follow-up.
- Videoconferencing and messaging systems to help coordinate efforts and for consulting with other facilities.
The CEO of a South Korea technology company says the country’s success in beating back coronavirus has been aided by the use of big data and AI:
- The government’s platform stores the information of citizens and resident foreign nationals, integrates all government services with that system, and populates other AI-based apps.
- A positive COVID-19 test sends notifications to everyone in the area with that person’s travel details, activities, and commute maps for the previous two weeks.
- Government-run health services are notified of the person’s contracts to allow tracking and testing.
- The country has offered drive-through COVID-19 testing for weeks. It has performed 250,000 tests versus just 22,000 in the US, at a rate of nearly 5,000 tests per million people there versus 65 here.
- The drive-through labs are powered by 5G, and drivers are notified of the nearest testing location.
- When someone who lives or works in a large building tests positive, the government sets up temporary medical centers to test everyone.
- Distribution of masks and other supplies is managed via AI-based regulation. Residents can buy two masks at a time using their ID cards. Price gouging has not occurred.
- The government is running all offices digitally, with employees working from home.
New York looks at a potential COVID-19 care demands for 170,000 hospital beds versus the 53,000 total and 19,000 available in the state, with Governor Andrew Cuomo saying that patients may need to be moved from the high-concentration lower part of the state to other areas. He is asking retired medical professionals to contact their old hospitals to see if they can help and deploying National Guard medics and medical students to pitch in. The Department of Health will monitor available beds, ventilator beds, and isolation units as well as ED activity.
I give this editorial recommendation a good chance of happening. A medical student and a physician epidemiologist urge the federal government to create a military-operated healthcare system for coronavirus to take the load off hospitals that are likely to be overwhelmed. They recommend that the US Public Health Service oversee the operation of setting up COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment centers outside of city centers, but easily accessible to them. The advantages are that the US military is very good at training and deploying people rapidly and they could oversee unused medical resources such as retired physicians and nurses, residents, and laypeople who could be quickly trained similar to emergency medical technicians. Such facilities could also innovate technology to provide ventilator support, which has been the most precious commodity worldwide.
Sponsor Updates
- ACG Utah presents Health Catalyst with its 2019 Deal Maker of the Year Award.
- Clinical Computer Systems, developer of the Obix Perinatal Data System, announces a reseller agreement with AlertWatch to distribute their maternal safety system.
- PatientPing launches an educational website dedicated to CMS’s interoperability and patient access rule.
- Pivot Point Consulting creates a checklist of key considerations for COVID-10 preparation and offers phone appointments to assist organizations with planning and configuration.
- QliqSoft launches a COVID-19 virtual patient communication kit.
- The CEO Forum Group features Waystar CEO Matt Hawkins in a radio interview.
- Wolters Kluwer Health offers coronavirus tools and resources for clinicians and medical researchers.
Blog Posts
- The Power of Voice: Strengthening Communication in Health Care (PMD)
- The Best Ways Self-Insured Employers Can Manage Healthcare Costs (Lightbeam Health Solutions)
- ONC Cures Act Final Rules – Another Milestone for the Empowered Healthcare Consumer (Loyale Healthcare)
- Expanding Access to Care With healow TeleVisits (EClinicalWorks)
- How to create a culture that values patient safety (Meditech)
- 8 Tips for Issuing a Statement to Your Physical Therapy Practice Patients Regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19) (MWTherapy)
- #EachforEqual: improving gender equality on International Women’s Day (Nordic)
- Combating sepsis: How to improve sepsis response [with case study] (Spok)
- Are your Home Healthcare clinicians frustrated with the amount of time spent on patient charting? (NVoq)
- How COVID-19 will change how we work forever (OpenText)
- How Adopting Wearable Technology Could Increase Your Healthcare Organization’s Market Share (PatientBond)
- Don’t Rely on Luck for Your Patient Collection Strategy (Patientco)
- Population Engagement Amid COVID-19 Crisis: Health Systems Respond (Qliqsoft)
- What I wish I had known about selling to health systems (Redox)
- MEDITECH Receives Black Book Research’s Highest Client Satisfaction Award for Inpatient EHR (Meditech)
- Using Patient Engagement Software to Help Patients Navigate COVID-19 (Relatient)
- HIMSS is Cancelled, but Our Focus on Patient and Staff Safety will Continue (Vocera)
- The Independent Clinic’s Guide to Competing with Corporate PT Giants (WebPT)
- The Value of Body Systems Care Plans (Zynx Health)
Contacts
Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
Get HIStalk updates.
Send news or rumors.
Contact us.
Have hospital IT departments sent their employees to work from home? Given that Epic needs to provide support to a large percentage of the healthcare organizations in the US, it makes sense that they don’t send everybody home.
Sorry Eddie. At KP (and several other institutions in the bay area), most IT staff is working from home.
Not defending Epic, but while our very highly ranked academic medical center’s infectious disease specialists are being quoted in the national news media about social distancing, we are being told there are no changes to telework policies. Even better, we are being told to come in, but convert some meetings to teleconferences that we can attend from our desk to “socially distance”. Luckily our cubes are about a magical seven feet apart. Between this and toilet paper, I don’t even know what to say about the irrationality that is going on in the world right now.
What a contrast between the US based AMA response (the much awaited for… CPT code for billing purposes…?!?…) vs. the South Korean way of dealing with this epidemic.
Where are the leaders of the medical establishment in the USA nowadays ?
Why aren’t they shouting out loud that COVID-19 is nothing like the old flu
https://rentry.co/covid-19-is-not-like-the-flu
As obviously nothing else is available right now (vaccine, anti-viral) – the only way to slow this monster is social distancing, but it needs docs to start talking so mayors and governors would have the scientific back-up for very un-popular decisions.
Didn’t we learn anything from Philly vs. St. Louis 1918 ?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/03/12/pandemic-parade-flu-coronavirus/
Great recommendation Mr. HIStalk! I do think your recommendations for a military supported MASH overflow unit is spot-on. I believe we will need to leave capacity in traditional long-term care for recovery units that are completely isolated from knee/hip folks. Hotels have some theoretical capabilities but the air handling is n issue. Maybe some readers with influence can get some attention to the concept!
Epic is allowing to people to work from home if they feel to need to self-isolate. That work-from-home includes sending a daily work plan to your team lead (i.e. manager) which is not something that you are required to do normally. It really exemplifies the fact that they just don’t seem to trust their employees if they can’t control them as much as possible. They are still traveling so long as the clients need it and if you aren’t comfortable traveling you have to have a replacement… which there aren’t many jumping to fill your spot. The losers in this is are the employee and the community. They are unnecessarily bringing thousands of people together where the rest of Dane County has limited groups to 50 people, allowed restaurants to stay open only if they cut capacity to 50% (many of which are closing now), closed all schools and religious institutions, among several other restrictions. They are also not providing any guidance for the employees that have children that are now out of school or daycare for the foreseeable future. I feel for the employees that are trying to navigate doing the right thing for the community, while not getting reprimanded from the company that preaches “Do Good” while also feeling trapped by the non-compete that constantly changed while they were there (where the employee may have a year but companies and health systems may now have agreed to 2-years to continue their relationships with Epic)
Completely irresponsible response from Epic.
As exhibitors we are forced to book hotel rooms through OnPeak with 100% pre-pay of all hotel nights! We received this email from the hotel. Looks like no one wants to take responsibility. If we’re forced to use OnPeak and forced to pay thousands up front it would seem only right to provide refunds. Here’s the weak response; Good Day,
We want to first thank you for booking your reservation at the Marriott Village for the HIMSS conference and for your continued patience during these circumstances. It has come to our attention that HIMSS is now directing all attendees to the hotels for information regarding advanced deposits. At this time a final directive and resolution on the HIMMS deposits has not been determined.
Presently we are awaiting further direction and will communicate any updates as quickly and timely as possible. Please note, the timeline for this communication may be as late as 03/31/2020.
Again thank you for your continued patience and we appreciate your understanding during this time.
Have a great day!
MARRIOTT VILLAGE ORLANDO Avenue, Orlando, FL 32821
Seems like a reasonable response to me.
I will think twice before ever booking our hotel rooms through OnPeak again. If we would have booked through the hotel directly we would have been able to cancel with no fees. If you book with OnPeak/HIMSS, you lose your shirt. For what? A small room discount? Live and learn.
Thanks for the HIStalkapalooza memories, Mr. H! It’s nice to be reminded of more carefree times. I started attending in 2012. One of the highlights of my health IT career? Being asked to judge the shoe contest and presenting awards/sashes on stage. A journalism degree will take you to unexpected places!
From the front lines of Epic hospital. Busy weekend at hospital, Epic changes happening on urgent basis. Changes that can take weeks took two days (new clinics, tents, tracking, order sets, hardware/beds in lobbies…). IT is busy trying to get 100s more admin staff remote, while shortages in industry on WFH networking tools (partially backed up from China covid shut down, and every company in US needing at same time). Service desk is swamped. I am so angry at the lack of testing for this virus, I can hardly see straight. But doesn’t stop the work that has be done and hopefully this thing stays below the curve.
News is becoming tiring, but I would enjoy seeing front line stories.
I have to say I watched the news conference put on by NY Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Federal Government could learn a few things from him and how his team is presenting information and assembling data and coordinating assets. The information was presented in a concise, factual manner with every other word say great of a job they were doing.
I have to say that watching the Federal Coronavirus Task Force press conferences seem to be more about telling the public how great a job they are doing and a quasi presidential campaign advertisement versus facts and what to do and when to do it. The Feds seem to be in a follow role, by how they are reacting to what NY and WA are doing respectfully in their states.
It’s really concerning to see how ill-equipped the Feds have demonstrated they really are in dealing with this pandemic. They might have better used those billions used on building out the lastest aircraft carrier for more ventilators and testing equipment and infrastructure for such a situation. Just my opinion, but I’ve been doing this for 30+ years and its sad to see the status of our healthcare in the US.
I really try not to get political on HIStalk even though I certainly have opinions. But this outbreak has really shown what happens when an administration purges career employees and experts because they don’t ardently support the politics of the president. This president ran on a number of generally anti-scientific and anti-intellectual policies. Anybody who studies history could tell you that the bumbling at the top of the federal government is the predictable result of hollowing out government agencies. Going back to ancient times, giving high level civil service posts to friends and cronies has generally been a mark of decline of empire. Watching top people in the executive branch working harder to placate the president with nice words rather than give the American people the direct truth has been painful. I am at least pleasantly surprised by how quickly state, local, and private entities have acted to lead the way as the feds flail.
Seriously? I’ve read your comments for years and am amazed at this one. Drink the koolaid, keep your tv tuned to MSNBC (and similar) and in no time at all you’ll have all the answers you need.
It is appalling that our society has devolved to the degree that life threatening issues become political ping pong balls and that our ‘leaders’ cannot some how find a way to come together and bring the considerable resources of the federal government to work to solve the issues at hand and protect our folks.
“Anybody who studies history could tell you that the bumbling at the top of the federal government is the predictable result of hollowing out government agencies. Going back to ancient times, giving high level civil service posts to friends and cronies has generally been a mark of decline of empire.”
Could we perhaps have a few links or references to support this silly statement? Is it in Gibbons’ book, or some strange history of the time of Napoleon? Where in the world are you pulling this from?
It’s always disappointing when you watch someone step off the high dive and land with a belly flop…….
I’d say the most recent declining empire is the Soviet Union. I think the right-wing perspective would be that the USSRs decline was marked by political purges and subsequent yesman style corruption. Its first modern authoritarian purged everyone who didn’t agree with him, including doctors. Then he couldn’t find a doctor while he was dying. Many historians mark that as the start of the decline.
It’s hard to come up with a neat citation for declining empires have particularly high degrees of corruption. I think most people can agree that the current president is particularly corrupt with respect to the presidents of the recent past and that this isn’t a good sign for the American empire.
Sigh…… Is this really what you have been taught in your journey through education in modern day America? If so this is indeed scary. Somehow you have accepted (in a non-critical fashion) an assessment of our current President as presented by some parts of our media.
Perhaps you would be well served to go back and review the actions of ALL of the presidents of the 20th century (um, for the learning impaired that would be from 1900 to 1999).
” I think most people can agree that the current president is particularly corrupt with respect to the presidents of the recent past and that this isn’t a good sign for the American empire.”
Really? Really?
This isn’t political ping pong. This is the highest levels of federal government failing in their duties as public servants. This isn’t how the president is being “presented by some parts of our media”. This is how the president is presenting himself directly to the American public. Here’s some direct quotes and Tweets from Donald Trump:
-“I don’t take responsibility at all”
“[Coronavirus will] go very quickly”
-“we’re very close to a vaccine”
-“We are doing a great job”
-Told a PBS reporter (not MSNBC, I don’t watch cable news) that she asked a “nasty question” about how he cut White House pandemic response staff
-“Doesn’t bother me at all” when a reporter asked about his rallies being a vector to spread the virus
-“”My rallies are very big. They’re very big rallies”
-“I have the right to do a lot of things that people don’t even know about”
-“You have to remember, the stock market, as an example, is still much higher than when I got here.” (lol)
-“Well, I think the Democrats won’t be having rallies, but nobody showed up to their rallies anyway, so what difference does it make?”
He’s making up nonsense about the Obama administration and unspecified “rules” preventing us from acting more quickly. He tried to buy vaccine rights and price grouge the rest of the world.
Coming together? Do not utter another word about “coming together” politically. Leadership is the responsibility of those in charge. And all he’s done is mislead, complain, and deflect.
Yikes, you seem blinded by partisanship. The federal government is presently taking measures that are certainly reasonable, and there exist experts and organizations handling this crisis at all levels of government. The baseless speculation that all of this would be handled better under another administration/”my team” has never actually helped anything.
Oh you’re right I just completely mischaracterized those direct quotes from the president, he never said anything of those things and is in fact doing an incredible job of leading the American people. How could I have been so wrong?
Thank you president TRUMP! MAGA.
I take comfort in the fact the government isn’t just the president, and there are more responses to this than letting him run his mouth. Again, I think it’s willful ignorance to assume we wouldn’t have similar responses and criticisms with another administration. If you look for something to dislike, you will always find it.
We’ll agree to disagree on this one item. As I mentioned earlier – I’ve read your comments for years and appreciate your contribution to the discussions over that period.
In addition to being a healthcare IT guy (for the last 13 years) I have a son who is an ICU nurse in our of our VA facilities and is almost finished with his coursework to earn his NP. NOTHING we are hearing about the impact of the current crisis begins to reflect the reality on the ground.
When you get still and contemplate good things – think good things for all of front line care givers who are doing their best to navigate these difficult times…
We declined access to WHO tests because Trump didn’t want to look bad in January. The Republican governor of Maryland just went on PBS Newhour and said that states and governors are leading the way because they’re not getting guidance or enough assistance with ventilators from the federal government. The feds are starting to get aligned, but it is simply too little too late. Very poor coordination and slowness to act. We will get through this thanks to the still robust government and healthcare institutions at state and local levels.
In an attempt to keep things civil, here are two articles that I’ve recently read from conservative media orgs pointing out the corruption of the current POTUS. At least some media orgs on both sides of the aisle assess the POTUS as corrupt.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/trumps-corruption-is-obvious
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/trump-commutes-former-illinois-gov-blagojevichs-corruption-sentence/
I’d prefer not to discuss my education or the last hundred plus years of “recent” presidents.
Leadership in action:
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-trump-told-governors-get-medical-equipment-on-their-own-2020-3
Trump latest suggestion to US governors: go get the medical equipment and ventilators you need by yourselves. Basically, you’re on your own.
Atta boy !
Is complaining, “sacrament”, for liberal atheist healthcare IT junkies? Give me a break. We’re dealing with a virus which has transmission rates never observed before on a massive scale and yet you still feel the need to inject a political critique and virtue signal into the situation. Stop filling the spiritual void in your heart with politics. I live in California and feel like both the Newsom and Trump administrations have done a pretty good job with this. In times of struggle, we need to unite. Divisive rhetoric from either side of the aisle (conservatives with Media Derangement Syndrome, liberals with Trump Derangement Syndrome,) doesn’t help anyone.
There were major failures by our government to keep us prepared for this. Not sure it’s limited to certain admins. Personally I feel this current admin was caught flat footed, who know what went on behind closed doors, but the public information was bluster and lies. They can’t be blamed for lack of respirators, masks and the simple things that regular citizens like me figured were just “givens”. We have family in another country, and hear about their testing and such, and how well the country was prepared to ramp up testing (infrastructure was in place, always ready and staffed).
You are happy with your Governor and President, everyone has opinions and feelings. Myself, I’m happy with my Governors “response”, unhappy with my Presidents response and mad as hell about our entire governments lack of “preparedness”. This has nothing to do with politics and decisiveness. Do not brush it off as such or nothing will change after we make it through this pandemic.