HIStalk Quotes
Monday Morning Update 2/5/07
posted 02/03/2007
HISsies voting is open, but not for much longer.
From RonA: "Re: QuadraMed speculation. QD will sell to whoever is dumb enough to pay a premium market cap plus $100M to preferred shareholders. That's way too much for Quantim client base revenue and an HIS at the end of life cycle in Affinity. Well, then again, there are suckers out there ... look over the pond."
From Jay: "Re: Linux. Despite loving Vista, I occasionally use Linux. If you want to try it out, look at Ubuntu Linux. You can put it on a flash drive, boot to that drive, and run the OS from there. Nothing is wiped on your hard drive and it gives you a chance to try everything before actually installing it on your PC." Link. They have a free downloadable CD installation or will send free CDs. Says you can run it from the CD without installing anything. I'm downloading it now.
From Venny: "Re: Dairyland. I have heard from more than one source that the Dairyland principals are looking for potential suitors. I haven't heard any reasons, though."
From Anonymous: "Re: Jim Turnbull. I hear Jim Turnbull is no longer leading the charge at Children's of Denver. Is this another EPIC install gone mad? What is the rest of the story - anybody got the news?" Supposedly gone, but not related to Epic. I know people keep trying to link Epic to dearly departed CIOs, but I believe causal effect is absent. If you're a CIO who works in a place big enough and progressive enough to afford and install Epic, odds are you will part ways with your employer sooner rather than later, but that's normal attrition when you're in The Show.
From Anonymous: "Re: Misys recruiting. Misys is running a product development manager for CPR that starts with 'Your future is waiting at Misys Healthcare Systems.' That would scare you. The job description's comments about ISO and standards would let you believe you were going to see a crack development shop instead of a ghost town. March is soon, but not soon enough, I’m sure, for Misys Healthcare employees and clients." Interesting job, requiring both cost-cutting and to "progressively improve CPR client ratings for the product over the next 3 years." Taking a job running a product line that could be in jeopardy is risky enough, but putting your hide out to make it better with unstated resources and a spotty product history doesn't seem like a good idea.
Here's an interesting development. I ran a mention that a big Misys CPR client had considered buying the CPR intellectual property from Misys and then linking up with other customers to support themselves, figuring it would cost less than buying a replacement product. I suggested aligning with investors to not only support those CPR users, but to keep marketing it commercially. A non-anonymous reader says they know interested parties on the investor side. If your organization wants to talk, either as a customer or potential investor, e-mail me and I'll swap whatever names I get just to keep everyone anonymous otherwise. Given Mike Lawrie's March announcement, time may be of the essence.
Australia's privacy commissioner wants to know why an insurance company gave the confidential medical information of 370 mental patients to McKesson Asia Pacific, whose agents then called the patients to push their follow-up care program. The McKesson agents told at least one patient to ignore her doctor's advice and sign up for their program. She passed, but they then wrote to her doctor requesting her clinical information, falsely stating that she had given her OK for them to have it.
Shares in Cerner hit a multi-year high after their earnings announcement after Thursday's market close. CERN shot up 10.5% Friday to $50.61 even though their numbers only met the expectations of analysts.
Speaking of Cerner, the city council recommends approval of $80 million of revenue bonds to help Cerner pay for a 135,000 square foot backup data center and its equipment.
Three New York hospitals, including Vassar Brothers Medical Center of Poughkeepsie, get a $5 million grant from the Dyson Foundation to expand their medication barcoding applications, broaden their Vocera wireless communication system. and implement RFID equipment tracking. I figured it was the sweeper guy, but this Dyson was an investment banker.
I knew within 50 miles where the hospital in this article is located after reading the first few words of the story: "You can order a sandwich at Sheetz, scan groceries at Giant Eagle ..." Hint: think Dan Marino's diet food commercial where the former QB (who didn't play for the "Stillers" despite being from their town) talks about eating "minn food like barrgers." Pittsbargh area, near the mahn-tans where there's a Gynt Iggle. Anyway, the Sewickley paper (pronounced "Swickley" there) mentions patient check-in kiosks being implemented in several local hospitals. Yuns are dun good.
Elsevier will provide electronic versions of its Mosby's nursing information to Kaiser Permanente.
The health insurance records of over 100 employees of the Wisconsin legislature, including its privacy advocate and the head of its consumer protection committee, are stolen from a state HR employee's car while she works out at a gym. Politicians there are suddenly hot to pass laws against removing data from state workplaces. I didn't understand from the article why the data file, identified as an "insurance report for Epic (Systems)", contained government employee information, but another said all of the individuals were covered by Epic's dental plan.
"Guess what company claimes to be the 'leading provider of software and consulting solutions to the healthcare industry.' Wrong. No, guess again. OK, it's GRASP Systems. Really. Me neither."
Sutter Health is up to 359 VISICU-monitored ICU beds, with one of their hospital 425 miles away from the mother ship.
Acronis says that 50 healthcare facilities now use its disk imaging and storage management software.
Michael Weintraub joins investment banking firm Leerink Swann. His healthcare background includes MEDSTAT Group, MediQual, and Amherst.
Cardinal Health joins Dossia Founders Group, which is developing a web-based PHR. You may remember the recent announcement of Dossia's founding, with money provided by Wal-Mart, Intel, BP, Pitney Bowes, and Applied Materials. Dossia will be managed by Omnimedix Institute, run by J.D. Kleinke.
The British Medical Association's membership computer system dies without a data backup, leaving the doctor's union with no idea who its members are. If you want to be a member for free and aren't bound by ethical considerations, this could be your chance. Or, if you're a CIO who always wanted to deride doctors who think IT is easy, you can pile on, too.
Singapore's government recommends standards for electronic medical records sharing, part of the Health Ministry's vision: "One Singaporean, One Family Physician, One Electronic Medical Record." Sounds like the government will provide the infrastructure. Sweet.
A Harvard-affiliated, Joint Commission-accredited medical tourism hospital in India provides a case study: a Texas woman who needed total knee replacement was quoted up to $60,000 to get it stateside, but paid less than $10,000 total for the procedure, hospitalization, all travel expenses for her and her husband, meals, laundry, hospital-arranged sightseeing, a car and driver, airline tickets, and a cake for her birthday. The surgeon was trained in England and the nurses "treated her like a queen." Her husband, apparently loaded with Deliverance-quality teeth, got three root canals, four fillings, five caps, a partial bridge, and dinner with the dentist (soup, I'm guessing) for $1,400. Check out the medical services you get for $190, including transportation to and from the airport and breakfast. All staff speak English, all rooms are private and have broadband-connected computers, color TV with DVD player, sleeper sofa, room service, and laundry service. A CABG runs $7,500 and gastric bypass $9,500. I think I'd do it, especially since a big chunk of doctors here came from India anyway and not all of our docs and hospitals are stars. Would you? I found this Indian eye foundation that will do Lasik surgery for less than $850 for both eyes, still plenty expensive considering it takes about 10 minutes of an ophthalmologist's time, but cheaper than $2,500 and up here (those $299 teaser ads never apply to real patients.) Somebody ought to run cheap medical charters to and from India since air travel is the biggest cost and inconvenience.
TenFold co-founder Adam Slovik joins RemedyMD as sales VP. Software developer TenFold was just about the hottest thing going in the heady days of the dot-bomb era and the RemedyMD press release even mentions that company's one-time $2 billion market cap. RemedyMD CEO Gary Kennedy was also CEO of TenFold, so that's the connection with the new guy. Anyway, the press release made me wonder whatever happened to TenFold since a company I used to work for did some kind of deal with them that went nowhere. It must not have been pretty: TenFold's current market cap is $17 million and they nearly went bankrupt in 2002. Forbes had a 2001 story on their near-death experience. None of that has anything to do with RemedyMD, of course, but the press release jogged some old memories.
Lila Sobel, formerly VP of medical operations for Geisinger Health Plan, joins claims management company MDwerks as COO.
CPSI announces Q4 and FY2006 results. For the year, revenue increased 6.6% to $116 million, net income was up 8.5% to $15.8 million, EPS was $1.49 vs. $1.38.
Senator Daniel Akaka, Homeland Security subcommittee chair, didn't like the answer that interim ONCHIT coordinator Rob Kolodner gave about a GAO report criticizing HHS's privacy and security progress. Akaka wants faster action in getting privacy and security standards built into the nascent NHIN. ONCHIT doesn't have a strategic plan for its activities, as it turns out, but will create one after a March 31 report, Kolodner said.
AHIMA merges its CHP and CHS certifications into single Certification in Healthcare Privacy and Security credential, with the new test available in April. Sounds like they've parted ways with HIMSS, which co-sponsored the original certifications and offered CE credits for them at the HIMSS annual conference.
Speaking of HIMSS, they've announced that Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen will speak at the annual conference on Tuesday morning. He's sponsored by a business law firm whose members include Geraldine Ferraro and that advises vendors on getting government business (ONCHIT, Katrina), developing favorable IT legislation, and doing deals. HIMSS sure is friendly to big companies, especially if they're Diamond Members or conference sponsors. Maybe it's time to create a providers-only organization that can cheerlead something other than big government IT spending and vendor-friendly legislation (and without its own for-profit vendor subsidiary.)
A reader pointed out that CHIME is doing a one-day Habitat for Humanity project in New Orleans on the Saturday before the conference. It implies that peons can participate, although it may be too late to sign up. Bravo to them. It seems like HIMSS itself could have arranged a more constructive use of the energy of its attendees instead of the usual 5K Fun Run (hopefully not being chased by muggers) or a chance to spend $45 to see the One Top (the one remaining original member of the Four Tops) or The Temptation (the one remaining original member of the Temptations.) Darn, I was hoping for The Beach Boy, either one or two original members, depending on which half of the rancorous legal split you're talking about. Or maybe the only real Beach Boy, Brian Wilson, who has little to do with those other two tribute groups.
News, rumors, my Indian CABG gift certificate: e-mail me.
comments (4)
1. Wisconsinite left...
02/03/2007 9:06 pm
My wife used to work for the state of Wisconsin and had Epic Dental
Insurance. They are in no way affiliated with Epic Systems Corporation, so
the article is probably incorrect about associating the report with the EMR
vendor.
2. Broken Levee left...
02/04/2007 7:27 am
I actually think that HIMSS has done enough just by not moving their
conference from NO when they could have. The monetary infusion to the area
is huge in all kinds of ways. If people want to do some house-building on
the side (I'm not one of them) then they can do it on their own time.
3. Anonymous left...
02/04/2007 11:11 am
Re: Epic Insurance - here is their web site:
http://www.epiclife.com/index.html
4. Millie Helper left...
02/04/2007 3:40 pm
re: Misys Recruitment. Ill conceived ploy in attempt to calm potential CPR
customers (and current ones) product commitment by vendor. I wonder how
they posted the position of the marketing genius that emailed the entire
company to vote for Misys on histalk? Maybe it's the same position.
