Becker's Spine Review

50 HEALTHCARE NEWS Fairview CEO Bashes Epic, Calls for March on Madison By Julie Spitzer J ames Hereford, the president and CEO of Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services, called Epic an "impediment to innovation" and told healthcare leaders they should exert more influence over the EHR giant, according to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. Epic's headquarters is located about 10 miles outside of Madison, in the nearby city of Ve- rona, Wis. Fairview is a longstanding Epic client, hospital spokeswoman Marie Gentile told Becker's Hospital Review. "I will submit that one of the biggest imped- iments to innovation in healthcare is Epic, because the way that Epic thinks about their [intellectual property] and the IP of others that develop on that platform," Mr. Hereford said at a panel discussion hosted by the Business Journal last week. "ere are literally billions of dollars in the Silicon Valley chasing inno- vation in healthcare. And yet Epic has archi- tected an organization that has its belief that all good ideas are from Madison, Wisconsin. And on the off chance that one of us think of a good idea, it's still owned by Madison, Wisconsin." Mr. Hereford called on healthcare leaders to play a bigger role with health IT vendors. "ere is an opportunity for us to go to Epic and say, 'Look, you have to open up this plat- form,'" he added. "It's for our benefit in terms of having an innovative platform where all these bright, amazing entrepreneurs can ac- tually have access to what is essentially 80 percent of the U.S. population that is cared for within an Epic environment. I would love for us to get together to see how we march on Madison." Ms. Gentile added that "given Epic's promi- nence as an [EHR] provider, they are unique- ly positioned to support collaboration for innovation in healthcare" but that Fairview welcomes "the opportunity to work with [Epic] for the benefit of our patients." In a statement to the Business Journal and reiterated to Becker's Hospital Review, Epic pointed to its App Orchard as an example of its openness. e App Orchard is an online store that enables soware developers to sell their Epic-compatible apps. "We are proud of our open platform that many health systems and third parties have put to use," Epic spokeswoman Meghan Roh wrote in a statement to the Business Journal. "We are also excited about the hundreds who have joined our developer program, as well as the many whose innovations are now avail- able on the App Orchard." n Tenet's Detroit Medical Center to Eliminate up to 300 Jobs By Ayla Ellison D etroit Medical Center plans to cut up to 300 jobs as its parent company, Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, moves forward with its cost reduction initiative, a source knowledgeable about the matter told Crain's Detroit Business. Detroit Medical Center CEO Tony Tedeschi, MD, sent a memo to employees Monday outlining the reorganiza- tion plan. He said the hospital has already eliminated 14 management positions and plans to cut additional jobs in the near future. He did not specify how many jobs would be eliminated, but said workforce reductions will occur in coming weeks. "Realistically, we won't be able to place every displaced as- sociate in a new job within the company, but we will make every effort to place as many as possible," Dr. Tedeschi said. He did not specify which departments would be affected by the job cuts. Three sources familiar with the matter told Crain's Detroit Business support staff and middle manag- ers in several clinical departments, dietary and food ser- vice workers, and nursing unit clerks will be affected by the layoffs. Dr. Tedeschi said several factors led to the changes, includ- ing admissions stagnating, patients shifting toward outpa- tient services, declining government reimbursement and increasing uncompensated care costs. "As a result of these local and national trends in healthcare, and the challenges they have created, Tenet Healthcare has undertaken companywide plans to meet these new re- alities head on," said Dr. Tedeschi. "And Tenet is not alone in the healthcare space, as other hospital operators are tak- ing similar actions." After reporting a net loss in the third quarter of 2017, Ten- et launched a $150 million enterprisewide cost reduction initiative, which involved renegotiation of contracts with suppliers and vendors, as well as the elimination of about 1,300 jobs. In December, 2017 the company expanded the cost-cut- ting plan to $250 million, but did not disclose whether ad- ditional jobs would be cut. In a presentation to investors at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco in January, Ron Rittenmeyer, executive chairman and CEO of Tenet, said 2,000 jobs, or about 2 percent of Tenet's work- force, would be eliminated under the cost-cutting plan. n

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