This past fall, the HOA issued a grievance related to Michigan Medicine's changes to email access. Our goal at the time was to see whether it would be possible to adjust the new policy to reflect the reality that many House Officers rotate off-site, conduct home-call, and are in many situations where a remote desktop is just not adequate. After many discussions with Labor Relations, Facilities, and even the Chief Information Security Officer of the Health System, it appears this will not be possible.

The stronger likelihood appears to be that, due to the difficult IT security environment the hospital finds itself in, access to UM systems from personal devices will only get more restricted in the coming years. As such, there is only one solution left.

The hospital must issue House Officers laptops.

The HOA has been discussing this in almost every meeting we have had recently with a decisionmaker. It will again be a topic at our upcoming Labor Management Committee meeting with Labor Relations, Facilities, and GME representatives on May 21. The primary impediment is inertia, with no office at the hospital willing to take on the expense required to purchase the laptops.

We would like to recruit all of your help with this. Raise this issue in your departments and get your department heads to use their voices as well. The new budget year is upcoming, and this will be a part of the fight. Stay tuned for more ways to get involved.