GE said the IDX acquisition would significantly its health care offerings and aid in its drive to accelerate the transition to electronic health records. IDX’s administrative, clinical and imaging products will complement GE’s Centricity-brand applications, the company said.“GE and IDX have a shared vision on how to accelerate the adoption of electronic health records across the globe,” Joe Hogan, president and CEO of GE Healthcare, said in a statement.
Category: Business
WSJ Reader Comments: Customer Service & Sears
Hampton P. Wansley writing in the Wall Street Journal, relates his recent experience shopping at Sears.
I visited a Sears store last week for a washer, dryer and microwave. The salesman couldn’t give details about specifications on the machines. A microwave was priced at $119; the salesman said that was wrong price and that it should be $148. I had a terrible conversation with the credit people from the home office. They tried to sell me disability insurance. I said I didn’t need it as I hadn’t purchased anything. Finally, I ended up buying a Sears long-distance phone card and paid cash. After ringing up the sale, they said card wasn’t good until 24 hours had transpired. What a horrible shopping experience. It took over two hours. Sears lost $960 in sales. I went to Home Depot the same day and bought a washer, dryer and microwave for the new home. The transaction took 35 minutes and all the goods were delivered the next day. Mr. Lampert: you’ve got a very serious problem.
Menu Costs
“Occasionally menu costs kick in…Dylan Alexander sends me the following:
Gas at the pump in downtown Birmingham: $3.99/g.
Gas from Hertz when you return it: $3.05/g.
S & P 500 Following Gasoline Price Surges
Chart of the Day looks at how the stock market has responded to significant increases in gasoline prices over the past 25 years.
Small Town USA may be an alternative to Offshore Outsourcing
The rural town of Sebeka, population 710, is not exactly Silicon Valley. It’s hardly the place computer programmer Dave La Reau expected to find employment.
La Reau, who had been job hunting for years, answered a help wanted ad from CrossUSA — one of a half dozen companies actively recruiting workers to small towns in at least eight states.
He traded his suburban home for a 7-acre farm at a fraction of the price. But La Reau is making half of what he earned in Chicago — before outsourcing put his small company out of business.
“I’m hooked up to the computer in Baltimore,” La Reau said while working. “I’ve got the same screen they have.”
All the more reason for Madison to get serious about true broadband service. We’re behind the curve… Slashdot discussion.
Costco Selling Health Insurance in California
Costco, the members-only discount retailer, is testing sales of individual health insurance policies. The pilot program launched last month in California. It targets mom-and-pop business owners, and those without a job or without job-provided health insurance.
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Talking Straight on Wisconsin Economic Development
I like Mike Ivey’s take on Wisconsin’s economic development efforts:
If holding conferences and talking about high-tech were the sole gauges of economic development success, Wisconsin would be booming these days like Dublin, Ireland.
Unfortunately, every other state from Alabama to Oregon is trying to market itself as the next Silicon Valley or Research Triangle.
And Wisconsin is having a particularly hard time shifting gears from its traditional old economy of manufacturing and agriculture into a new economy world where brains count more than brawn.
This type of distasteful cheerleading does no one any good. I’ve worked for entrepreneurs on the west coast and started a business here some years ago. I think our problem is an aversion to risk taking, which manifests itself in our schools and government. These entities typically discuss a “same service’ approach year after year after year, which makes no sense.
There are exceptions to the rule, of course, but we need many more people to take a few risks. We also need a simplified business tax and regulatory scheme. The paperwork is simply out of control.
Northwest Machinist Strike: Well Laid Plans Kept Their Planes Flying
Over the last 18 months, the airline analyzed every job represented by the mechanics’ union at every airport and calculated the skills required to fix each of its planes. It then decided how many of those workers it actually needed and what kind of replacements it would require in the event of a strike.
Some differences between the airline’s old and new approaches began to appear.
Before the strike, union rules specified that only members of the mechanics’ union, known as AMFA, could deliver planes to airport gates. But on Saturday, the pilot of a Northwest 757 in Detroit, upon discovering his plane was not ready, hopped into a pickup truck and went to the hangar to fetch his plane, rather than keep crew and passengers waiting, airline officials said.
Meanwhile, members of the machinists’ union, which usually handles tasks like baggage handling and customer service, took on the task of cleaning Northwest’s cabins between flights at its hubs here and in Minneapolis, a job that was previously done by the mechanics’ union.
Northwest is the Dane County Regional Airport’s (Still without WiFi!) largest airline. More.
Dell Customer Support Hassles
Jeff Jarvis relates his Dell customer service hassles. I’ve had some too – with a just purchased dead printer at home.
Businesses Fight Wisconsin’s “Unlimited” Jury Awards
Businesses are preparing to launch a $2 million campaign to fight a series of state Supreme Court rulings they fear are making Wisconsin an easier place to sue doctors and manufacturers.
They want lawmakers to counter some of the rulings with legislation, and, they say, they want to educate voters on what they calls one justice’s “votes in support of frivolous lawsuits.”
Wisconsin implemented several laws in the mid-1990s in an attempt to limit jury awards for such non-economic damages as pain and suffering in malpractice and liability cases.
But last month, the state Supreme Court threw out the limits on medical malpractice awards. The next day, it cleared the way for a Milwaukee teen to sue several makers of a lead paint pigment his attorneys claim made him mentally retarded – even though they can’t prove the manufactures had any ties to the paint that may have sickened him.