Weekender 11/30/18

Weekly News Recap

• Amazon will launch a software product for payers that combs through electronic patient records to find incorrect coding or diagnoses in an effort to improve quality and lower cost.
• The GAO will investigate rumored VA meddling by three political supporters of President Trump who said they “were anointed by the President” as private citizens, and whom some contend influenced the no-bid, $10 billion Cerner contract.
• Xealth develops software that enables providers to send patients digital recommendations for over-the-counter healthcare products, apps, and services from within their EHR and patient portal.
• CMS and ONC seek feedback on draft recommendations for reducing regulatory and administrative burdens caused by health IT and EHRs.
• Unsealed court documents reveal that two Iranian hackers were responsible for SamSam ransomware attacks on 200 organizations in the US and Canada, including Allscripts.
• CVS Health wraps up its $70 billion acquisition of Aetna, promising to include digital health tools in its “new innovative healthcare model.”

Best Reader Comments

Simply put, PE involvement is one more sign that US health care is first and foremost driven by the pursuit of money rather than promoting the good of our society. (kevin hepler)

Amazon API to mine EHR…to sell ads to medical products
My main issue as an MD is that this sounds VERY sketchy from my standpoint.
The medical record is NOT a place to mine for diagnoses so medical supply companies can send ads to you to purchase their products. Its a super slippery slope and has MANY HIPAA issues. Makes me want to vomit to think all this data entry I am doing is being bought sold and scammed on the patient by the medical industrial complex. (meltoots)

I definitely see the CIO strategic influence reduced, but I think it is more of a reflection of the IT departments in general. As someone trying to push new innovation in this industry, 90% of the conversations stall when the CIO and IT teams engage. The CIO is no longer seen as a champion of innovation, but a roadblock. CIOs need to rise above the vendor pushed roadmaps, go collaborate with their stakeholders, and be a partner in innovation. IMHO (inNOvation)

Setting aside the insanity of the American healthcare system, does the patient expect to be approved for the list and receive a heart (depriving the next person on the list) only to lose it to non-compliance with her immunosuppressive regimen? Transplant drugs can be expensive. The hospital certainly wants to do the transplant. It’s a well compensated procedure along with the bevy of tests that go with it. Spectrum isn’t being cold-hearted, they simply have an approval process that they are following. (Transplant Guy)

Watercooler Talk Tidbits

Megan Callahan (Change Healthcare) joins Lyft as its first VP of healthcare.

Motherboard profiles Australian software developer Mark Watkins and the open-source software he has developed for sleep apnea sufferers. Dubbed “SleepyHead,” the software gives patients the ability to hack into their CPAP machines to retrieve typically inaccessible data they can then use to tweak settings. The software has made all the difference for some: “None of the doctors could get my AHI down and none of them seemed particularly concerned about it, to be honest,” says Christy Lynn. I can see the numbers every day on SleepyHead and I can tweak my settings. I cannot tell you enough how different my CPAP experience is with this software. It’s the difference between night and day. I’m possibly alive because it exists.”

Slate looks at the ethically dubious trend of medical students moonlighting as Instagram influencers/product peddlers. A snippet: “On Instagram, med students already toe the line by advertising for products like protein supplements, which can be high in added sugar and can strain kidney function. It doesn’t take an extraordinary leap of imagination to envision a med student being paid to promote a product on Instagram like Juul—a potentially useful harm reduction tool for smokers but a dangerous recommendation for doctors to make for most people. And for better or worse, the stakes are pretty high—for patients and their health, but also for doctors and their credibility. Many of these influencers, with access already to audiences as large as 60,000 followers and growing, will go on to become the next faces of American medicine.”

Staff at a South African medical practice are “gobsmacked” when cyclist Shaun Wayne walks in after being attacked while cycling along a popular route in Cape Town. After being transferred to several hospitals, Wayne was stitched up and kept for observation, with no apparent brain damage.

Brian Foley, a Cerner IT specialist, is arrested for uploading child pornography after a five-month investigation that netted 13 additional criminals in New Jersey.

In Case You Missed It

• News 11/30/18
• EPtalk by Dr. Jayne 11/29/18
• News 11/28/18
• Curbside Consult with Dr. Jayne 11/26/18
• A Machine Learning Primer for Clinicians–Part 6
• Monday Morning Update 11/26/18

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