Dr. Sievers' RHHC Medical Practice - Operations & Website

[IQuestion]

I suspect CWW setup and tweaked the EMR system to meet the needs of the practice. I assume he stayed on in a consultative role and therefore had access to an incredible amount of info. Each chart would likely contain the patient's social security number, a photocopy of his/her driver's license, employer info, address, emergency contacts, DOB, etc... He also would likely have had access to financial info depending on how the office electronically ran debit/credit cards. Basically everything a criminal needs to steal someone's identity.

:goodpost:Ding, ding, ding :goodpost:....That would be a BINGO! for the beautiful & brilliant Ostrich in aisle 3!!

 

[FightTheOstrich]

What if CWW was stealing the identities of Teresa's patients? Maybe TS started putting it together after numerous patients mentioned it during their hour long appointments. The patients likely mentioned it in passing (cause of recent stress) and maybe after a while TS realized the common denominator was her practice.

 

[wondering25]

I suspect CWW setup and tweaked the EMR system to meet the needs of the practice. I assume he stayed on in a consultative role and therefore had access to an incredible amount of info. Each chart would likely contain the patient's social security number, a photocopy of his/her driver's license, employer info, address, emergency contacts, DOB, etc... He also would likely have had access to financial info depending on how the office electronically ran debit/credit cards. Basically everything a criminal needs to steal someone's identity.

Sounds great but we have no indication he did any of that..right? OR I could see him possibly stealing TS' Id but would he murder her for that? Maybe, i dont know.. If he murdered her for that then MS is off the hook and this wasnt a HIT. IMO. Because I believe this was a HIT by CWW, orchestrated by someone else ( MS).. i am going to discount the CWW screwing around with the computer system and profiting from it, as a reason for her murder. MOO

If you believe MS wanted TS dead.. you cant also believe CWW wanted her dead over illegal computer stuff being done by CWW..JMO

Anything i write is just my opinion.

 

[FightTheOstrich]

Sounds great but we have no indication he did any of that..right? OR I could see him possibly stealing TS' Id but would he murder her for that? Maybe, i dont know.. If he murdered her for that then MS is off the hook and this wasnt a HIT. IMO. Because I believe this was a HIT by CWW, orchestrated by someone else ( MS).. i am going to discount the CWW screwing around with the computer system and profiting from it, as a reason for her murder. MOO

If you believe MS wanted TS dead.. you cant also believe CWW wanted her dead over illegal computer stuff being done by CWW..JMO

Anything i write is just my opinion.

The simplest answer is that it was hit ordered by MS, I agree. But it's very strange to me that MS had two concerns after Teresa's body was discovered. The page and keeping the office up and running. This is extremely strange. IMO, if CWW was screwing around with the computer systems, someone else within the office was involved and MS makes the most sense.

 

[TTF14]

The simplest answer is that it was hit ordered by MS, I agree. But it's very strange to me that MS had two concerns after Teresa's body was discovered. The page and keeping the office up and running. This is extremely strange. IMO, if CWW was screwing around with the computer systems, someone else within the office was involved and MS makes the most sense.

Well, LS is no longer employed there......

 

[FightTheOstrich]

Well, LS is no longer employed there......

True, but all of Teresa's staff bailed immediately. Not exactly unusual, they probably all needed a paycheck. I really can't see how LS could have been involved. She wouldn't have had access to patient charts, something she has admitted to (in an interview explaining why she can't help patients get their charts).

Someone like LS is dependent upon doctor referrals. And there aren't a ton of docs out there that are going to find much value in what LS did. She was very fortunate that TS believed in her and included her in the practice. Why kill TS? That's like biting the hands that feed you.

 

[Wyle_E_Coyote]

Each chart would likely contain the patient's social security number, a photocopy of his/her driver's license, employer info, address, emergency contacts, DOB, etc... He also would likely have had access to financial info depending on how the office electronically ran debit/credit cards. Basically everything a criminal needs to steal someone's identity.

RSBM

It just occurred to me. .. I never give my Dr my ssn, and many/most that I have dealt with in recent years don't even request it. Certainly, a Dr that is on a pay to play model would have absolutely no need for a patient's ssn. (I in no way trust a Dr's office staff to secure my ssn)

But agree on all the other data.

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[FightTheOstrich]

RSBM

It just occurred to me. .. I never give my Dr my ssn, and many/most that I have dealt with in recent years don't even request it. Certainly, a Dr that is on a pay to play model would have absolutely no need for a patient's ssn. (I in no way trust a Dr's office staff to secure my ssn)

But agree on all the other data.

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I agree, in a cash pay situation, it wouldn't make sense. It's usually used for filing insurance claims and sending patients to collections when they don't pay their bills.
I wouldn't be surprised if MS asked for it and most patients may have handed it over out of habit. Or had already provided the info years ago when the practice still accepted insurance.
http://patients.about.com/od/costsconsumerism/f/doctorsrequestssns.htm

Remember the patient that shared her story on WS? Originally she was told that the office accepted Medicare. That she would pay cash up front and then the office would provide her with the necessary information so she could file the claim herself. MS then reneged on this and if I remember correctly she reported the office for fraud.

I believe that until very recently Medicare cards still included social security numbers. Might explain the ruse. "Let me just scan your insurance card so that information is included in the claim that you're going to be submitting yourself".

 

[wondering25]

True, but all of Teresa's staff bailed immediately. Not exactly unusual, they probably all need a paycheck. I really can't see how LS could have been involved. She wouldn't have had access to patient charts, something she has admitted to (in an interview explaining why she can't help patients get their charts).

Someone like LS is dependent upon doctor referrals. And there aren't a ton of docs out there that are going to find much value in what LS did. She was very fortunate that TS believed in her and included her in the practice. Why kill TS? That's like biting the hands that feed you.

yes and no.. LS would not have had the legal access or right to the charts to transfer them to another MD because the law says the estate does that.. i forget the terminology.. but MS as heir has to effect the transfer of the charts. That being said.. LS would certainly have access to charts to document what she did for the patient as her role of reiki master, intuologist or whatever the heck she was. The Electronic medical records and precise and thorough DOCUMENTATION is the new normal just about everywhere. It helps to avoid law suits and promotes the continuity of care for patients.

What Happens When a Health Care Provider Dies or Retires?

A provider who terminates a practice (or his executor or responsible relative in the case of death) must inform patients by notice published in a local newspaper and a letter sent to each patient seen within the past three years before the date the practice was discontinued. The patients' medical records must be kept for 60 days after the notice. (DPH Regs. § 19a-14-44).

Everything I write is just my opinion

 

[FightTheOstrich]

yes and no.. LS would not have had the legal access or right to the charts to transfer them to another MD because the law says the estate does that.. i forget the terminology.. but MS as heir has to effect the transfer of the charts. That being said.. LS would certainly have access to charts to document what she did for the patient as her role of reiki master, intuologist or whatever the heck she was. The Electronic medical records and precise and thorough DOCUMENTATION is the new normal just about everywhere. It helps to avoid law suits and promotes the continuity of care for patients.

What Happens When a Health Care Provider Dies or Retires?

A provider who terminates a practice (or his executor or responsible relative in the case of death) must inform patients by notice published in a local newspaper and a letter sent to each patient seen within the past three years before the date the practice was discontinued. The patients' medical records must be kept for 60 days after the notice. (DPH Regs. § 19a-14-44).

Everything I write is just my opinion

The cleaning lady in an office could easily access the medical records too. Some HCP's enter info while they see the patient, others make their nurse sit in the room and do it and others still do it the old school way and have someone else enter the info later like in the old days of dictation.

LS's approach may not have included her entering info into the EMR system while seeing the patient or at all. It's certainly possible that she just emailed her info and that someone else in the office added it to the patient's chart later.

We still do not know how the office was structured. Was LS an employee or did she rent space and run a separate business within the office? She may have had her own "charts" separate from Teresa's.

 

[FelicityLemon]

I am not defending CWW in any way, but just want to say a couple things about having a knowledgeable IT person either on a modest retainer or on-call. (like medical practices are becoming boutique medical service on retainer so to speak)

IT people even come across issues where they themselves need to consult with other IT peeps. There are too many things that can go wrong and in a busy medical practice, it would be imperative to have access to one.

Any time you have computers, no matter how knowledgeable you are, there will be problems. When you have multiple people accessing the system - it can be a nightmare. It's incredibly useful to have someone you can *cough* trust accessing your system remotely to get things running again. We all know what a nightmare it is trying to even contact someone on the phone for support of any kind, let alone the hours of waiting on hold for computer help. A good IT person is just as important as a plumber or an electrician to keep your life running, more so in a business.

A top-notch IT person also handles your backups (raid array if necessary) in case the entire system fails and you need to reinstall everything...good stuff like that. You just can't rely on office personnel to troubleshoot system failures, nor should you. Every employee has their specific functions and IT is not it.

I could troubleshoot my own systems where I worked, but there would be times I had to go outside for help. They are the professionals with software and diagnostic tools and hardware tools if the innards need accessing.

Just sayin, don't read too much into the practice having an IT person, the choice of CWW on the other hand...

 

[Wyle_E_Coyote]

I am not defending CWW in any way, but just want to say a couple things about having a knowledgeable IT person either on a modest retainer or on-call. (like medical practices are becoming boutique medical service on retainer so to speak)

IT people even come across issues where they themselves need to consult with other IT peeps. There are too many things that can go wrong and in a busy medical practice, it would be imperative to have access to one.

Any time you have computers, no matter how knowledgeable you are, there will be problems. When you have multiple people accessing the system - it can be a nightmare. It's incredibly useful to have someone you can *cough* trust accessing your system remotely to get things running again. We all know what a nightmare it is trying to even contact someone on the phone for support of any kind, let alone the hours of waiting on hold for computer help. A good IT person is just as important as a plumber or an electrician to keep your life running, more so in a business.

A top-notch IT person also handles your backups (raid array if necessary) in case the entire system fails and you need to reinstall everything...good stuff like that. You just can't rely on office personnel to troubleshoot system failures, nor should you. Every employee has their specific functions and IT is not it.

I could troubleshoot my own systems where I worked, but there would be times I had to go outside for help. They are the professionals with software and diagnostic tools and hardware tools if the innards need accessing.

Just sayin, don't read too much into the practice having an IT person, the choice of CWW on the other hand...

I see what you're saying, but when I think of a busy medical practice, I think of a practice that's open 40+ hours a week, with multiple docs, seeing possibly hundreds of patients a week.

One doc, working about 24 hours a week, seeing a max of 24 patients a week... I dunno... I just don't see that taxing a computer system.

Moo...

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[FightTheOstrich]

I see what you're saying, but when I think of a busy medical practice, I think of a practice that's open 40+ hours a week, with multiple docs, seeing possibly hundreds of patients a week.

One doc, working about 24 hours a week, seeing a max of 24 patients a week... I dunno... I just don't see that taxing a computer system.

Moo...

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Good points! There are docs that see more patients in a morning than TS saw in a week.

 

[Wyle_E_Coyote]

Good points! There are docs that see more patients in a morning than TS saw in a week.

That's exactly why I give a lot of credence to the idea of financial problems. ... that's a lot of overhead for a part time practice. Very different from a "normal" medical practice.

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[Riversinthedesert]

The cleaning lady in an office could easily access the medical records too. Some HCP's enter info while they see the patient, others make their nurse sit in the room and do it and others still do it the old school way and have someone else enter the info later like in the old days of dictation.

LS's approach may not have included her entering info into the EMR system while seeing the patient or at all. It's certainly possible that she just emailed her info and that someone else in the office added it to the patient's chart later.

We still do not know how the office was structured. Was LS an employee or did she rent space and run a separate business within the office? She may have had her own "charts" separate from Teresa's.

LS was said to be a partner of TS in MSM reports. But we don't know how the business was structured as far as employees/independent contractors. IMO, LS was likely a contractor.

 

[Wyle_E_Coyote]

LS was said to be a partner of TS in MSM reports. But we don't know how the business was structured as far as employees/independent contractors. LS was likely a contractor.

Peeps have sleuthed the practice. .. iirc, it was a single member llc with ms as the member. NOT a partnership per the business filings.

Agree, likely LS was a contractor.



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[FightTheOstrich]

That's exactly why I give a lot of credence to the idea of financial problems. ... that's a lot of overhead for a part time practice. Very different from a "normal" medical practice.

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I'd be willing to bet on it. Her office was missing too many of the money making components of boutique/concierge/alternative medicine.

 

[FightTheOstrich]

LS was said to be a partner of TS in MSM reports. But we don't know how the business was structured as far as employees/independent contractors. IMO, LS was likely a contractor.

Depending upon the nature of their business relationship she may not have had access to Teresa's EMR system. Unlike a nurse with full access to view, modify, transfer, and release records. I suspect that they kept their businesses separate for liability reasons and like many HCPs shared office space for convenience and monetary reasons sort of like a PA or NP that maintains a separate practice vs. working for a doctor (the nature of the relationship between mid levels and docs is of course dependent upon State law).

 

[FelicityLemon]

I see what you're saying, but when I think of a busy medical practice, I think of a practice that's open 40+ hours a week, with multiple docs, seeing possibly hundreds of patients a week.

One doc, working about 24 hours a week, seeing a max of 24 patients a week... I dunno... I just don't see that taxing a computer system.

Moo...

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True. But, I'm not speaking to a workload that taxes the system - it's the people who use it. Too many cooks in the kitchen as they say. It wouldn't matter if she saw a single patient a day. There's a saying in the industry called the Eye Dee Ten T problem. ID10T as in user error. All it takes is one person to break it. Related to her practice, would be her volunteer work as well. She led a very busy life, she was involved in so many things. I'd bet the computer was used for other legitimate issues as well. (Most of us surmise illegal activities via CWW as well) Having a single major snafu may have been the gateway to having CCW be their "guy". The system could well be tied together with their home computers. Office workers would possibly be doing things on the computer unrelated to the business. It happens. Lots of us are the only ones using our computers and there are times we need outside help.

We don't know how often cww was involved "on the record", msm does not know. Maybe it was only twice. Still, people will take it and run and use it on their resume as having been a consultant for XYZ for 12 years. I don't know he was on a retainer, that was only my term. Maybe over the course of the years, CWW was only legitimately on the puters a few times. Maybe the office only had to have his help a few times. Doesn't matter how many patients or how busy the practice was, it only takes one person to cause major problems and there were several people working there.

I will tell you, just because it was an office system, it doesn't mean it was used solely for that business.

When I worked at a real estate office, my computer was my computer. The cheapass owner let one of the agents use it when I wasn't there to do her "newsletter". I don't know what the heck she did, but she "broke" it. Not once, but several times over a period of weeks. I finally had to put my foot down. My point is, it only takes a single person, and that single person doing whatever she did to my puter cost hundreds of dollars in outside professional troubleshooting, hardware and down-time. Long time ago, lol! The only thing she was doing was opening a program and working on her newsletter. That's it. But, whatever she was doing broke it.

On the other hand, there are people who use computers, but don't know the first thing about how they work. They have a problem, they call a specialist. Lots of people drive cars, but still hire a mechanic.

 

[1&2&3]

What Happens When a Health Care Provider Dies or Retires?

A provider who terminates a practice (or his executor or responsible relative in the case of death) must inform patients by notice published in a local newspaper and a letter sent to each patient seen within the past three years before the date the practice was discontinued. The patients' medical records must be kept for 60 days after the notice. (DPH Regs. § 19a-14-44).

Everything I write is just my opinion

Snipped by me for space.

We have read on several occasions that patients were having difficulties obtaining their medical records. According to the above bolded information on medical records being kept for 60 days, what happens to them after that time frame?

Does that statement mean the closed office will only hold them for 60 days?

With MS refusal to release the records to our knowledge, wonder why?