Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1007936
52 CIO / HEALTH IT IBM lays off at least 40 Watson Health employees, reports say By Julie Spitzer I BM laid off an undisclosed number of employees from its Watson Health group, with at least 40 workers cut from its Cleve- land office, according to cleveland.com. Online commenters at eLayoff.com and a Facebook page called Watching IBM said nearly 50 to 70 percent of staff had been af- fected, noting Watson Health's Dallas office employs 230 people, but its Cleveland office and its health analytics unit — the Ann Ar- bor, Mich.-based Truven Health Analytics — likely staff more. Although the actual scope of the cuts is unclear, some online commenters shared their experiences. Many posted anony- mously and said the company told them the layoff was the result of a resource ac- tion. Others suggested this is only the first wave of layoffs. Posting anonymously to the Facebook page May 25, one former employee wrote, "Part of Watson Health layoff today. Over 50 years old. IBMer over 30 years. e mes- sage was that there are about 7,000 people in Watson Health today and this was a cost-cutting exercise. 90 days notice with 30 days severance." Another former employee wrote May 29 on eLayoff.com that he or she had been "axed last week" from Watson Health. "ey are keeping about 15 people to close the shop, will happen in early 2019. ... is round of cuts is much bigger than anyone is report- ing, they [are] cutting deep and wide, there is no recovery from this one. ... We all knew it was coming but nobody expected it'll be this fast and rampant," the poster wrote, al- though it is not clear which location he or she had been cut from. In March, the company announced plans to scale back staffers in certain areas, includ- ing Watson, cloud and sales, but no specific numbers or timelines were provided at the time. n Health IT consulting firm touts success of Mayo Clinic's completed Epic go-live By Jessica Kim Cohen M ayo Clinic's main campus in Rochester, Minn., successfully complet- ed one of the nation's largest Epic EHR implementations to date, ac- cording to a news release emailed to Becker's Hospital Review May 23 by HCI Group, a health IT consulting and technology solutions firm that aided Mayo Clinic in the go-live. For the May 5 go-live, HCI Group provided Mayo Clinic with more than 1,400 resources and training, activation and command center service desk support. "Successfully delivering one of the largest and most complex go-lives our in- dustry has ever seen has been a blessing," said Richard Caplin, CEO of the HCI Group. "[Mayo Clinic has] a fantastic culture, and it's truly been a pleasure to partner with their remarkable team." The Epic implementation is part of a multiyear technology modernization proj- ect across Mayo Clinic, which officials estimate will encompass $1.5 billion worth of investments. Mayo Clinic's Arizona and Florida campuses will go live on Epic's EHR in fall of 2018. Mayo Clinic has also tapped HCI Group to support in the Arizona and Florida campuses' go-lives. In the weeks following the go-live, Minnesota Public Radio released a report that seven licensed nurses recruited by the consulting firm to train Mayo Clinic employees on how to use the new software left the project, citing mismanaged assignments, housing troubles and harsh treatment. Mayo Clinic declined to comment on the alleged personnel issues to Minne- sota Public Radio, but said the Epic overhaul had gone smoothly. HCI Group repeated the message in its statement to Becker's Hospital Review, calling the completed go-live a success. "We have met with front-line Mayo Clinic staff, all the way up to senior lead- ership, and have been humbled by the overwhelmingly positive reaction and praise for the success of the go-live," Mr. Caplin said. n Meet Epic's newly registered lobbying firm, Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas By Julie Spitzer E pic registered with a new lobbying firm, Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas, according to a disclosure registered in April and reported May 15 by Politico Morning eHealth newsletter. On its disclosure form, Epic noted four lobbying focus areas — computer indus- try, health issues, veterans affairs and science/technology — on topics it speci- fied as, "general representation and issues relating to health IT, health policy, technology policy and government contracting." An unnamed Epic source told Politico the registration has nothing to do with the Department of Veterans Affairs slow-moving contracting process with Cerner. Instead, it represents a natural progression of Epic's public affairs strategy. n