Becker's Hospital Review

28 CIO / HEALTH IT Cringeworthy conversations: 5 health IT leaders sound off on language they find most annoying By Katie Adams H ealth IT leaders have struggled to keep their eyes from rolling at such vague terms as disruption and inno- vation for years, but new abstract and over- used language continues to pop up in their work conversations. Here, five hospital and health system CIOs discuss the conversations they have found the most cringeworthy in 2020. Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edit- ed for clarity and length. Mark Lauteren, CIO, El Centro (Calif.) Re- gional Medical Center: e conversations I dread are with the vendors who "promise" that the interface to our existing system(s) is simple or needs no IT work. However, they have no examples of where their product has interfaced with our EHR or system before. Matt Reich, CIO, McLeod Health (Flor- ence, S.C.): Breach, information blocking and cost transparency are all cringeworthy. Brian Sterud, vice president of IT and CIO, Faith Regional Health Services (Norfolk, Neb.): e one I dread the most (right now) is anything that's related to expiring the tele- health waivers. e waivers have proven to be extremely helpful during the pandemic and most —if not all — need to remain in place if we're going to continue the momen- tum related to telehealth. Many of the waiv- ers are critical components to achieving the quadruple aim! Robert Eardley, CIO, University Hos- pitals (Cleveland): Some cringeworthy terms are "leaning in," as in "we should be leaning in on this item"; "double-click" when talking about diving into the next level of detail, as in "let's double click on that and explore further"; and "traction." This is an old standby sales term, as in "we are gaining a lot of traction in the market- place with this product." These are a few I hear often. I'm sure I use my own cringe- worthy terms from time to time. Terry Wilk, CIO, Effingham Health System (Springfield, Ga.): Here are some cringe- worthy sentences: "Joe Smith (an IT project manager) just test- ed positive for COVID-19 and he will be out for at least two weeks." "All or a part of our data has been destroyed, corrupted or is being held under ransom. e intrusion locked out our ability to recov- er data from our backup copies." "Several people from the state just showed up to conduct an unannounced compliance and security survey. ey need to view some data in our EHR, and the system is locked up." "Our corporate compliance officer investi- gated and uncovered clear evidence that an IT employee inappropriately accessed PHI. Per our policy, you must terminate this employee immediately." n Some US insurers cutting telehealth coverage as COVID-19 cases surge By Laura Dyrda A fter changing policies to cover telehealth more broadly during the pandemic, some insurers are scaling it back even as COVID-19 cases climb in some states, according to USA Today. For example, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas said June 29 that its expiration date for expanded telehealth coverage is Aug. 31. Aetna began charging patients co-payments and cost-sharing for telehealth on June 4. Other insurers said they plan to reduce telehealth coverage for virtual visits sometime in September, according to the report. Some Arizona insurers had begun to decrease telehealth cover- age as hospital intensi filled with COVID-19 patients, but reversed course with last-minute changes. Physicians are checking insur- ance company websites daily or weekly to make sure they're cur- rent with telehealth coverage policies. Some employer health plans have not been required to expand telehealth coverage. n Cerner employees told to work from home through end of 2020 By Jackie Drees K ansas City, Mo.-based Cerner will not re- open its company offices until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Kansas City Business Journal. Cerner told its employees July 16 that it will have them continue working remotely through the end of the year. The EHR vendor shifted employees to remote operations beginning March 16 in an ef- fort to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. Cerner has 13,377 local, full-time equivalent em- ployees across its Kansas City-based headquarters as well as campuses in Kansas City, Kan., and two in southeast Kansas City, Mo., according to the report. In June, Cap Times reported that Epic Systems, Cerner's largest EHR competitor, planned to bring its more than 9,000 employees back to its Verona, Wis.-based campus by the end of August. n

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