News 12/28/10

Sign of the times: more physicians look to escape the hassles of non-clinical obligations and improve life balance by leaving private practice. In Chattanooga, TN, one hospital reports it has tripled its number of employed physicians over the last three years, from 40 to 120. A second hospital says it has grown from 10 employed physicians to 25 in the last three years. Meanwhile, WakeMed Health & Hospitals (NC) adds three new practices and 13 physicians to its physician practice division.  |

More tidbits of information on eClinicalWorks’ new 100,000 square foot office space. The site will include workout facilities (including showers), a cafeteria with an on-site chef, and an outdoor volleyball court. Also, plenty of natural lighting and glass conference rooms throughout the building.

Practice Velocity, a developer of VelociDoc urgent care EMR, is named a semi-finalist in Innovative Illinois 2010, which recognizes entrepreneurial and innovation achievement.

JPS Health Network (TX) launches an innovative initiative to increase the number of physicians in rural areas. JPS is asking small communities to pay the salary of new doctor resident. In exchange, the doctor must make a five-year commitment to the community. According to JPS officials, underserved communities are willing to participate because the program improves access to healthcare, which can drive economic growth.

A Cleveland physician submits a guest column to the local paper, complaining about his recent EMR implementation. He claims that after three months, the product has not saved time or money or improved practice efficiency or employee morale. Patients don’t prefer it over paper, but he points out it is a “bonanza” for document-scanning companies. He continues to rant about how EMR “disrupts the doctor-patient relationship” and suggests that EMRs could be the end of medical rapport (he also writes that Obamacare is unconstitutional, so maybe he’s not going to like very many government-sponsored changes to the practice of medicine). He sounds like every vendor’s worst nightmare. I hope he writes  a follow-up report in another six months to let the world know if things have improved.

I’m only semi-working this week, in part because I am in a location with horrible Internet access. Good thing it will likely be a slow week in HIT, unless you are a vendor trying to pad year-end revenue by implementing as many last-minute systems as possible. Or, perhaps a desperate sales type attempting to close a big deal or two. Regardless of whether you are one of the really working folks, a semi-worker type like me, or perhaps just a bored vacationer, I’ll do my best to make sure you get your HIT news fix this week. 

E-mail Inga.