Monday Morning Update 1/23/23

Top News

Fitch Ratings downgrades the bonds of Marshfield Clinic Health System, blaming its Oracle Cerner implementation for aging receivables, throughput errors, lower collections, and an unexpected level of productivity disruption that has impacted top-line revenue.

Fitch says the conversion of several legacy systems to Oracle Cerner will eventually provide significant benefit once the implementation is complete.

HIStalk Announcements and Requests

Most poll respondents have used some form of social media in the past week, with the most common platforms being LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube. Twitter places a surprisingly distant fifth place.

New poll to your right or here: Does your employment agreement limit who you can work for when you leave? If you have insisted that an employer change the employment agreement before signing, click the poll’s comments link and describe the changes you required and how you brought it up. You could probably get away with making an identical version, removing objectionable terms (or perhaps adding your own personal golden parachute or something), and then printing and signing a copy since the HR clerk probably won’t check every word.

Webinars

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present your own

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

India-based telehealth and lab test startup MediBuddy reportedly lays off 200 employees, 8% of its headcount.

Sales

• Seattle’s UW Medicine will implement cloud-based Visage 7 Open Archive, Workflow, and Viewer in replacing its legacy PACS.

People

Tower Health promotes Tom Bartiromo to CIO.

VantageHealth.ai promotes Brian Unell, MBA to CEO.

Art Nicholas (Strata Health) joins Interlace Health as chief commercial officer.

CareConnectMD hires Ray George (Third Eye Health) as chief growth officer.

Steve Evans, MBA (LivePerson) joins Netsmart as VP of consulting sales.

Privacy and Security

NextGen Healthcare confirms a hacker group’s claim that its systems were attacked by ransomware on Tuesday. NextGen says it secured the network and has returned to normal operations.

Other

In the UK, newly retired doctor poses beside the forms that are required to admit a patient to an NHS hospital, estimating that nurses spend 70% of their time on paperwork. He says every new issue results in someone creating a new form that then carries over to electronic systems. 

Sponsor Updates

• The American Oncology Network and RxLightning partner to offer AON’s community oncology practices with an all-digital approach to financial assistance enrollment for specialty medications.
• Veradigm adds Sphere’s TrustCommerce patient payment tool to its practice management software.
• TigerConnect remains a leader in the Clinical Communication and Collaboration category on G2 for Winter 2023.
• West Monroe releases a new This is Digital Podcast, “How to Shift from a Project to a Product Mindset.”
• VisiQuate will exhibit at the HFMA Western Region Symposium January 22-25 in Las Vegas.
• Zynx Health parent company Hearst Health, in partnership with the UCLA Center for SMART Health, is accepting submissions for the 2023 Hearst Health Prize through February 24.

Blog Posts

• Honoring His Legacy, In Service to Others (Netsmart)
• See a Mumpsimus? Stop a Mumpsimus! (Nordic)
• How do you decide which staffing model is right for you? (Optimum Healthcare IT)
• Make your website search conversational and consumer-friendly: Healthcare’s next-generation digital front door (Orbita)
• Revenue Cycle Outsourcing: To Do or Not to Do? (Pivot Point Consulting)
• Improving Data in Healthcare: The Discussion We Should Be Having (Clearsense)
• Clinical Communication in 2023: Trends and Predictions (PerfectServe)
• What Makes a “Good” Peer Group? (Premier)
• How ENT and Allergy Associates Automatically Corrects 82% of Their Claim Errors (RCxRules)
• How to Document and Bill for Home-Based Outpatient PT Services (WebPT)

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
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