Weekender 12/11/20

Weekly News Recap

• Ro acquires Workpath.
• LeanTaaS raise a $130 million Series D funding round.
• Amazon announces HealthLake.
• Baxter is reportedly offering to acquire Omnicell for $5 billion.
• HHS OCR publishes draft HIPAA changes.
• The federal government warns users of GE Healthcare radiology equipment that default passwords and open ports pose a serious security risk.
• PointClickCare will acquire Collective Medical for $650 million.
• HHS publishes hospital-level COVID-19 data for the first time.
• Non-profit Commons Project announces that it has connected its CommonHealth Android health records app to 230 health systems.

Best Reader Comments

Kudos to GBMC as it was obvious they were prepared for this [systems downtime]. We walked through the downtime command center where I saw an HR station for dropping off time sheets, a clinical station with plentiful stacks of every form, and a wall of giant sticky notes with schedules and protocols including shift sign ups for taking on specific down-time roles include Runner and Safety Nurse – complete with a rack of different colored safety vests that had those roles printed in big letters on the backs. Sadly this situation seems to be more common so it was reassuring as patient that they still seemed to be maintaining safe and effective operations. (SEH)

Baxter might buy Omnicell? Surprising considering that Omnicell is the only one in this space who has kept their original structure. I’ve lost count of how many times Pyxis has changed hands. Then Omnicell ended up with Accu-Dose. Then I recall that back in the mid or late 90’s, Omnicell bought the dispensing business from Baxter. Strange. (David N)

The quality of that data [UHG’s patient data] is quite bad from what I’ve seen. The complexity of that intervention is also hard to scale. Internet advertising has a similar model of collecting data, then trying to deliver an intervention. It is really hard. People get toaster advertisements right after they bought the only toaster they will use for a decade. The successes seem to come when a company dumps a ton of money into buying ads for when someone searches or buys something even remotely related to the company’s product. New toaster means you get a ton of appliance ads and some targeted consumers actually did move and the company snags a few more sales. UHG can’t spam their members without driving up utilization and destroying their margins. (IANAL)

Here is my UHG call summary for big healthcare providers. UHG knows they can do the procedures you make your money on. They know they can do them much cheaper and they actually know exactly how much cheaper. They need to get between you and the patient to direct them to that cheaper service. They intend to do that in a couple ways. First, they intend to be much more convenient for the patient. They want to be the getting an Uber to your calling a cab. Second, they want to track the patient through time and intercept them at the right moment to get them to cheaper care. The first is possible and happening as we speak. The second is harder within the current healthcare landscape. (IANAL)

Watercooler Talk Tidbits

TikTok names Minnesota family medicine resident Rose Marie Leslie, MD to its top 100 list of most impactful creators for her videos in which she provides health and COVID-19 information.

A Wisconsin chiropractor tells his Facebook Live viewers that they should use pepper spray on anyone who asks them to wear a mask in a store, saying the “cool part” is that it is legal (it is not) because they are predators.

The Association of American Medical Colleges says that medical school applications are up 18% this year in what admissions officers are calling the Fauci Effect. Anthony Fauci, MD says that’s flattering, but a more realistic assessment is that prospective students are inspired by local doctors who are trying to improve individual and population health.

A healthcare communications training company offers a telehealth version of its “Breaking Bad News Program,” in which actors simulate real-life scenarios and physicians and nurses are coached to communicate compassionately and effectively when delivering bad news to patients over a video connection. The Orsini Way company was founded by neonatologist Anthony Orsini, DO.

In Case You Missed It

• News 12/11/20
• EPtalk by Dr. Jayne 12/10/20
• News 12/9/20
• Readers Write: Technology: An Essential Element of Holistic Revenue Integrity Strategies for Future Sustainability
• Curbside Consult with Dr. Jayne 12/7/20
• Monday Morning Update 12/7/20
• Katie the Intern 12/4/20

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