Going to ask again about HealWell - they are on an acquisition tear and seem to be very AI-focused. Has…
Monday Morning Update 4/1/24
Top News
Atlanta-based teleradiology vendor The Radiology Group pays $3.1 million to settle False Claims Act charges that its US-based radiologists rubber stamped draft image interpretations that were performed by India-based contractors who are not licensed in the US.
Highlighted in the complaint is Radiologist A, who signed more than 10,000 reports in a single month, approved drafts in as little as 16 seconds, and did not check the “critical” tag when it was indicated.
The company notes on its technology page that all of its software is powered by AI.
Reader Comments
From Bollinger’s Band: “Re: Oracle Health. You mentioned Larry’s age and his cheerleading for the former Cerner. They may be re-architecting the former Cerner offering and that will let them come roaring back.” I don’t see that happening, for these reasons:
- A key reason that Cerner was getting kicked out of hospitals was fallout over its deficient RCM product and its “solution” of rolling out a spiffed-up Soarian offering.
- I don’t think that most hospitals that moved to Epic did so because of Cerner’s architecture, so Oracle’s whiz-bang technology may not prove to be competitive differentiator.
- Epic is so far ahead of Cerner in customer KLAS rankings that Oracle Health will never catch up. I don’t see Oracle making the huge investment that would be needed to make their product more competitive.
- Layoffs and attrition has likely caused a big loss of industry knowledge at Oracle Health, and putting a bunch of hotshot technologists in charge of a complicated, industry-specific critical application has never worked that I can remember.
- They’re not getting all those former customers back from Epic, so there’s nobody left to sell to. The only potential greenfield is outside the US, and product localization is always a challenge even for more focused vendors.
- The DoD business isn’t as lucrative as it sounds since Cerner wasn’t the prime contractor, and the VA may or may not ever get widely enough implemented to unleash the gravy train.
- Oracle paid way too much for Cerner and expresses near-embarrassment about its latest jewel in every earnings call. Customers were already sprinting for the Epic door, and raising prices or lowering costs to increase margins to “Oracle standards” will only hasten the exodus.
- Oracle Health is lucky that the company is printing money overall from its cloud business and that Larry Ellison is still enamored with it. At some point, Safra is going to get tired of making excuses for Larry’s plaything, at which time Oracle could strangle it financially or sell it for parts, such as the government business. The Larry-funded Project Ronin had noble aspirations, but was shut down without notice in early March.
HIStalk Announcements and Requests
Most of us who have posed health inquiries to an AI tool were just Dr. GPTing, but two poll respondents took its answer to their doctor who changed their advice or orders as a result.
New poll to your right or here: What single factor would be most attractive in considering a change of employers? I recognize the urge to check more than one option, but pretend you are reading a job posting – what would get your attention first?
Here’s a bonus survey, as suggested by a reader. What single, realistic first step would you take to improve US healthcare outcomes, cost, and accessibility? You get one sentence.
Webinars
None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present or promote your own.
Announcements and Implementations
A study finds that patients who were forced by their employer to switch to a high-deductible health insurance plan were more likely to experience diabetes complications.
Other
DrFirst gets the April Fool’s jump on Epic in rolling out the Magic Med Mash-Up, which squashes all your individual pills into one big capsule. Paging Martin Shkreli for the Daraprim play.
Sponsor Updates
- Vyne is recognized as a Becker’s Top RCM Company in 2024.
- Optimum Healthcare IT adds Mike Jackman (Leidos) to its boards.
- PerfectServe announces several 2023 milestones, including awards and recognition from industry analysts, 10% revenue growth, and a 107% enterprise net customer retention rate.
- QGenda will exhibit at AONL 2024 April 8-11 in New Orleans.
- WellSky launches a Medicare Certified Home Health certification for clinical teams.
- SnapCare and Incite Strategic Partners partner to provide clinical workforce solutions for the senior living and senior care segments.
- Waystar publishes a new e-book, “4 opportunities for healthcare revenue cycle improvement.”
- Wolters Kluwer Health launches Lippincott Ready for NCLEX to help prepare nursing students for the National Council Licensure Examination.
Blog Posts
- Aligning for change: Driving quality performance and risk management with AI (Notable)
- Population Health and the Power of Data (Netsmart)
- Five Proven Strategies to Improve Operating Margins: Part One: Optimize the Healthcare Workforce for Retention and Cost Savings (QGenda)
- The Rise of AI in Healthcare IT & Implications for Hiring Strategies (Revuud)
- Congratulations to all award winners recognized at HIMSS24 (Rhapsody)
- Reducing Pharmacy Costs with Innovative Enrollment Technology (RxLightning)
- Patient experience: the hospitality effect in healthcare (Sonifi Health)
- Helping Healthcare Heal Itself Starts with Collaboration (Surescripts)
- 5 Ways That Outdated On-Call Scheduling is Hurting Your Hospital (Symplr)
- The Outdated Practice of Security Questionnaires in Healthcare – Moving Towards a Real-Time Approach (VisiQuate)
- Revolutionizing Clinical Data Exchange: Healthcare Innovation 2024 Innovator Award Winner (MRO)
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Interesting comment about Oracle coming back and your comments about KLAS. Never been a favor of KLAS ratings when you have to pay for being graded. If you were to ask the line level users Epic is really not that superior and that said there are organizations that have been very successful at running Cerner’s Rev Cycle solution. But never the less everyone has their opinion.
Whether one likes KLAS or not, why do people insist on repeating the lie that “you have to pay to be graded”?
Pretty staggering that David Feinberg having made millions & bought a super expensive mansion in LA after joining & selling Cerner to Oracle is still there. Hard to see anything other than an all Epic future to American health tech, depressing though that is. Larry Ellison remains a joke, like many of the billionaires we indulge because they got lucky once or twice (or in Musk’s case 3 tines!)
Suggesting that Larry (who I’m no big fan of) or Musk got lucky is one of the most ignorant things I’ve ever read on this blog. Do you not have an appreciation for what it takes for an entrepreneur have the vision for a product/service that the market either demands (or in some cases doesn’t even know it demands; Amazon, Uber, Salesforce, etc.) then have the discipline and tenacity to execute in to a multi-billiion dollar organization? Both of those men have created great companies that have employed thousands of people and have a vendor ecosystem spawned from them that has had an immeasurable impact on our economy and individual families. I’m embarrassed for you, especially considering you used your real name for the very small world of HIT to see.
Almost completely agree with you Mr HISTALK. Other than the Soarian Financials part. If Cerner didn’t have the “we’re better than you back east” mindset, they could have integrated SF pretty well. Only after KC figured out that they were really awful at rev cycle and were losing clients, that they did anything. But, quite too late. That happens when you get rid of any folks that have real knowledge. Now, with Larry’s gang in charge, they really don’t have any idea at all about anything in the healthcare space. Sad.