Weekender 6/5/20

Weekly News Recap

• Amwell files IPO documents.
• Two major medical journals retract influential coronavirus-related articles that analyzed encounter data from Surgisphere, a tiny company whose capabilities and transparency were questioned by experts who found flaws in the articles.
• R1 acquires Cerner’s RevWorks RCM outsourcing business for $30 million.
• Private equity firm Rubicon Technology Partners takes a majority position in patient access center platform vendor Central Logic.
• Change Healthcare acquires retail pharmacy technology vendor PDX for $208 million.
• Virtual diabetes clinic vendor Onduo names former National Coordinator Vindell Washington, MD, MHCM as interim CEO.
• Tested hospital EHRs failed to flag potentially harmful medication ordering problems one-third of the time.

Best Reader Comments

[Dr. Jayne] wrote that “a unique patient identifier would help and would bring us into line with many other developed nations.” I think this is a notion that is still up for debate. In fact, the first session of the day spoke to what an identifier gets you and its limitations. Yes, other nations have patient identifiers, but these nations are also single-payer (national health systems). So it’s a bit apples and oranges. (Catherine Schulten)

The new CEO and outside investors have had Cerner on a track to shed low margin business units, such as RevWorks. The Cerner revenue cycle software solutions all remain, an organization just can’t outsource their rev cycle staff and leadership to Cerner RevWorks anymore. They can still do that with companies such as R1 and other RCM organizations. (Dodele)

If the WHO is only feeling mildly petulant, they could simply charge the US for continued access to the ICD an amount comparable to the totality of what we were paying as members. That way WHO efforts will remain financially supported in coping with the pandemic and they won’t have to be bothered with dealing with chaotic input, conspiracy theories, etc. from the US leadership. (WHO fan)

Watercooler Talk Tidbits

Readers funded the Donors Choose teacher grant request of Ms. W in Texas, who asked for microscopes for her third grade class. She reported in February, “With the gift of handheld microscopes, my students were able to dig deeper into understanding how soil is created and the difference between soils from multiple regions. When they actually saw the tiniest of sand crystals that are broken down from larger rocks and bits of leaves and decaying animals of the humus layer, they experienced for themselves the learning that is required of them by the state. When students are involved with their own learning, they take ownership of that knowledge which gets ingrained deeper with that experience than just the surface. It also gave them a glimpse into what scientists really do when conducting science experiments. It is for this reason I believe they need first hand experiences with first class tools. Your donation has helped put these tools into their hands. Without a doubt, you have aided in inspiring future scientists to dream big. Thank you.”

Amazon-owned Whole Foods fires an employee who was keeping a running online count of COVID-19 cases in the company’s stores. Katie Doan was dismissed for “time theft,” which she says involved a 45-minute panic attack. Her list shows 340 workers who have tested positive and four who have died. 

Workers are finishing transformation of the long-shuttered, 4,500-bed Cook County Hospital in Chicago into hotels and medical offices. The developer says the building is 550 feet long but only 80 feet wide, which he says is “like a 50-story building on its side.” The renovation is part of a $1 billion project that includes apartment construction.

Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center fires a nurse whose Facebook rant against protesters concluded with, “It is time we take this country back from you animals so be very careful about what your next step is because it can lead to 6 feet under! Trump is fixing to put your asses in jail or a grave. I hope it is the latter of the 2.” Most shocking is that she didn’t use the two key strategies for people who confidently espouse a position but then regret it when public reaction hits their personal bottom line: (a) claim that their account was hacked; or (b) compose a suddenly literate, thoughtful post about why their original comments were misunderstood and don’t define their consistently saint-like behavior. On the other hand, I’m not sure I’m comfortable with the “cancel culture” of firing someone for comments they make off the clock and unrelated to their jobs purely out of employer embarrassment (I say that as someone who was nearly fired from my hospital job for honestly and anonymously reporting vendor cluelessness in my early HIStalk days).

A Florida celebrity plastic surgeon self-styled as “Dr. Miami” offers drive-through Botox treatments. He says the mobile facial injections make perfect sense in pandemic times, but his website makes it clear patients will need to come inside for his $13,000 Brazilian Buttlift, his $10,000 breast augmentation, and $7,500 nose job. It would be interesting to compare his career to whatever he told Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine to convince them to give him an incoming class spot. Most of his celebrity patients are D-list stars of sleazy reality shows, he wrote a kids’ book titled “My Beautiful Mommy” that pushed elective plastic surgery, and he took heat for a song and video he commissioned titled “Jewcan Sam (A Nose Job Love Story)” that promised Jewish high school boys the chance at romance if they “get their nose circumcised.”

ESPN will award Quebec-based Kim Clavel, RN with the Pat Tillman Award for Service. She took a leave from her nursing job last year to pursue a pro boxing career, after which she won the NABF flyweight championship. She is now working as a night-shift nurse at retirement and elder care centers.

A mother and daughter who graduated from different medical schools this year are matched to residency programs at LSU Health. This is apparently the first time that a parent and child graduated medical school in the same year and then were chosen for residency at the same site. The Ghana-born mother – who is also a RN and family nurse practitioner  — also holds three master’s degrees in nursing, health administration, and leadership.

In Case You Missed It

• News 6/5/20
• EPtalk by Dr. Jayne 6/4/20
• Readers Write: Hospital Vital Signs: The EHR Doesn’t Know Everything
• News 6/3/20
• Curbside Consult with Dr. Jayne 6/1/20
• Monday Morning Update 6/1/20

Get Involved

• Sponsor
• Report a news item or rumor (anonymous or not)
• Sign up for email updates
• Connect on LinkedIn
• Contact Mr. H