Weekender 3/1/19

Weekly News Recap

• Medsphere acquires Wellsoft
• WellSky acquires HCS
• House VA committee Chairman Mark Takano (D-CA) chastises VA Secretary Robert Wilkie for failing to turn over documents related to the Mar-A-Lago trio’s influence on VA software purchasing decisions
• Crossover Health acquires Sherpaa Health’s technology platform
• More than half of surveyed home care clinicians say they can’t access the hospital EHR records of their patients to reconcile patient medications
• Cedars-Sinai pilots the use of Alexa-powered devices in patient rooms to route their verbal requests and to control their TVs

Best Reader Comments

Over the past month, I’ve been seen several times a week at different specialists within Emory. Every time I’ve checked in, I’ve been handed a printed medication list, asked to make any edits or changes on the paper, these are then confirmed verbally by both nurse and clinician in the exam, and by the next visit (sometimes two hours later, sometimes five days), the new printed list is always accurate. The changes are reflected in the patient portal too (which is to be expected, but God knows that doesn’t always happen…). They’re also the first healthcare org I’ve visited where *every* person who comes into the exam room confirms my name, DOB, and why I’m there. They even squirt on hand sanitizer as they’re walking in the room. Those are seemingly small things, but it’s been one of the most cohesive patient experiences I’ve ever had the pleasure of being involved in, especially considering my case is pretty complex and I’m bouncing around different offices all the time. (AtlantaPatient)

Every time I visit a provider (many different EHR systems), I bring a “yours truly”-generated, printed copy of my current meds (generic name, brand name, dosage, type, instruction; e.g., ALENDRONATE SODIUM (FOSAMAX) 70 MG TABLETS, 1 tablet by mouth weekly) because many of my meds are ordered by different providers. In addition, I take the time to explain the differences between the list they are viewing on their screens and my list. Last, I personally ask the provider to make sure they update their information exactly as I have noted in my list, which typically includes some additions, deletions, dose changes, etc. When I later recheck via my portal to see if the updates occurred (often having to wait until the next provider visit), I notice the same, damn, original list! When I later inquire as to why my requested updates have not been entered in their system, typically the response has been, “Our system doesn’t accept the information in the manner you provided.” (Woodstock Generation)

I wonder/wish if there was a way to quantify how much of Epic’s perennial higher ratings comes from the fact that they made extensive training with proven methods a mandatory part of their contract and implementation? (Smartfood 99)

Watercooler Talk Tidbits

Readers funded the DonorsChoose teacher grant request of Ms. I in California, who asked for take-home science projects for her dual-immersion (English and Spanish) fourth grade class whose families are mostly farm workers. She reports, “With your donation, my students were able to work on science projects we normally would not be able to do in fourth grade. Many of my students were so excited at having the ability to look at things under the microscope and would run out to the yard to find things to bring back in to look at. My students particularly liked the bubble science project and looking at different books about projects to do at home with their parents. Any project that allows a student time to spend with their parents is more beneficial than you would imagine.”

I’m not finding much I like among the Oscars “Best Picture” nominees. I though “Bohemian Rhapsody” was toe-tapping, formulaic fiction and “Roma” was beautifully filmed and directed but never really went anywhere. I rented “Green Book” and surely it’s the worst movie to ever win, full of clichés, filmmaking mistakes, and an eye-rollingly sappy story that first presents just a tiny bit of racial unjustice to make us privileged white people feel shame, then let us off the hook with a heavy-handed, feel-good message that we’re all decent people who just need to understand each other better to get along (ample evidence, much of it contemporary, to the contrary). I’m seeing “BlacKkKlansman” next, but it has tough competition from “A Star Is Born,” which ranks above the best movies I’ve seen (I’ve watched it at least four times and will happily do so again). “Green Book” is a middling movie at best, joining other embarrassing Best Picture winners like “The Artist,” “Shakespeare in Love,” and “Chariots of Fire.”

NPR reports that the car problem diagnostic process used by the Magliozzi brothers in its former “Car Talk” program is being used to teach medical students how to solve patient problems by collecting data, defining the problem, and choosing from several possible solutions.

The newly launched Onward offers a “post-breakup concierge service” for outsourcing-comfortable millennials who are “leaving cohabitation” and don’t have friends or family nearby to help. Customers pay $99 to have their housing and moving managed and can buy extra services such as therapist matching, weekly check-ins, and personalized neighborhood guides. It even manages to work in the meaningless millennial word magnet of “curated.”

This might be more dramatic than a Steve Jobs “one more thing” reveal. A surgeon in Barcelona, Spain directs a remote surgery via 5G-powered, high-definition video from the stage of the Mobile World Congress conference. 

Cleveland Clinic confiscated 30,000 weapons from patients and visitors in 2018, which might be a gauntlet throw-down to inner city trauma centers that surely see more weapons (and the result of them) in their EDs.

A baby whose entire life of 572 days was spent in Oishei Children’s Hospital (NY) goes home for the first time, saved by “countless” surgeries after being born weighing just over one pound. He was cleared for discharge months ago after 10 months in the NICU and five in the PICU, but the family couldn’t find homecare nurses who could care for his ventilator. A GoFundMe project has raised $3,700, which will probably cover a few hours of his 19-month hospitalization and none of lifetime expenses afterward (the family needs 16-20 hours of nursing help each day). Meanwhile in Japan, a baby born at just 9.45 ounces leaves the hospital after five months.

A hospital in Jamaica, where pollution makes tap water unsafe to drink, installs hydropanels from Zero Mass Water that absorb water vapor from the air to create 800 gallons of drinking water each month.

A study finds that crematorium workers are exposed to radiation when processing the bodies of people who have undergone radiation therapy or PET scans, with the urine of the single employee tested showing radioactivity that apparently came from inhaling volatilized radiopharmaceuticals. An expert but suggests that crematory workers wear masks and gloves, which seems like an excellent idea.

Illinois health officials warn anyone who flew through Chicago’s Midway Airport last week that they may have been exposed to measles, courtesy of an unvaccinated passenger who flew while infectious. A second warning was issued to anyone who visited Delnor Hospital, where he sought treatment.

Officers from police, fire, and emergency medical departments in Arkansas mobilize via a fellow officer’s Facebook request to line the highways leading to Arkansas Children’s Hospital, where a nine-year-old boy with a terminal illness was making what is expected to be his final journey.

In Case You Missed It

• News 3/1/19
• EPtalk by Dr. Jayne 2/28/19
• HIMSS Financial Highlights
• News 2/27/19
• Curbside Consult with Dr. Jayne 2/25/19
• HIMSS19 Reader Impressions
• Monday Morning Update 2/25/19

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