United States of America et al v. Somina, Inc., et al.

Filing 110

Stipulated Order re: discovery of electronically stored information for standard litigation, signed by Magistrate Judge Erica P. Grosjean on 1/7/2019. (Rosales, Otilia)

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Wilmer J. Harris, SBN 150407
[e-mail]
Stephanie T. Yu, SBN 294405
[e-mail]
SCHONBRUN SEPLOW
HARRIS & HOFFMAN LLP
715 Fremont Ave., Suite A
South Pasadena, CA. 91030
Telephone No.: [phone]
Facsimile No.: [phone]
[Additional counsel on following page]

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Attorneys for Plaintiff Nicolle O’Neill

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
UNITED STATES and the STATE OF
CALIFORNIA ex rel. NICOLLE O’NEILL,
NICOLLE O’NEILL
Plaintiffs/Relator

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vs.
SOMNIA, INC., PRIMARY ANESTHESIA
SERVICES, PST SERVICES LLC, ROBERT
GOLDSTEIN, M.D., ROY WINSTON, M.D.,
BYRON MENDENHALL, M.D., QUINN
GEE, M.D., AND MARGARET VASSILEV,
M.D, and DOES 1 through 10, inclusive
Defendants.

Case No. 1:15-CV-00433-DAD-EPG
STIPULATED ORDER RE: DISCOVERY
OF ELECTRONICALLY STORED
INFORMATION FOR STANDARD
LITIGATION

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Andrea Gold (admitted pro hac vice, DC Bar. No. 502607)
[e-mail]
TYCKO & ZAVAREEI LLP
1828 L Street NW, Suite 1000
Washington, D. C. 20036
Telephone No.: [phone]
Facsimile No.: [phone]

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Michael D. Seplow, SBN 150183
[e-mail]
SCHONBRUN SEPLOW
HARRIS & HOFFMAN LLP
11543 W. Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064
Telephone No.: [phone]
Facsimile No.: [phone]
Attorneys for Plaintiff Nicolle O’Neill

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I.

PURPOSE

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This Order will govern discovery of electronically stored information (“ESI”) in this

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case as a supplement to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, this Court’s Guidelines for the

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Discovery of Electronically Stored Information, and any other applicable orders and rules.

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II.

COOPERATION

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The parties are aware of the importance the Court places on cooperation and will

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cooperate in good faith throughout the matter consistent with this Court’s Guidelines for the

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Discovery of ESI.

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III.

LIAISON

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The parties shall identify liaisons to each other who are and will be knowledgeable
about and responsible for discussing their respective ESI.
Relator’s liaison is Andrea Gold, TYCKO & ZAVAREEI LLP, 1828 L Street NW,

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Suite 1000, Washington, D. C. 20036, Telephone No.: [phone], E-mail:

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[e-mail].

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The liaison for Defendants Somnia, Inc., Primary Anesthesia Services, Byron

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Mendenhall, M.D., Quinn Gee, M.D., and Margaret Vassilev, M.D. (“Somnia Defendants”), is

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Erin Holyoke, NIXON PEABODY LLP, 300 S. Grand Ave, Suite 4100, Los Angeles, CA

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90071, Telephone No. [phone], E-mail: [e-mail]..

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Each e-discovery liaison will be, or have access to those who are, knowledgeable about

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the technical aspects of e-discovery, including the location, nature, accessibility, format,

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collection, search methodologies, and production of ESI in this matter. The parties will rely on

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the liaisons, as needed, to confer about ESI and to help resolve disputes without court

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intervention.

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IV.

PRESERVATION

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The preservation of potentially relevant ESI is reasonable and proportionate. To reduce

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the costs and burdens of preservation and to ensure proper ESI is preserved, the parties agree

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that:

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a) Only ESI created or received between December 1, 2011 and final judgment in this

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matter will be preserved;

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b) The following types of ESI should be preserved and the custodians, or general job titles

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or descriptions of custodians, for whom they believe ESI should be preserved, e.g., “HR

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head,” “scientist,” and “marketing manager”:

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i.

Custodians of Somnia Defendants: Robert Goldstein, Roy Winston, Byron

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Mendenhall, Quinn Gee, Margaret Vassilev, Kimberly Carriere, Karen Bennett,

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Brent Sommers, Adam Dorin, Margaret See, Michelle Martinez, Mattie Cantu,

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Fitz George, Erin Murphy-Haston, Heather Lee, and Thomas Schares (“Somnia

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Defendants’ designated custodians”).

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ii.

Custodians of Relator: Relator Nicolle O’Neill (“Relator’s designated
custodians”).

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iii.

The parties agree to add or remove custodians as reasonably necessary.

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iv.

Sources for Somnia Defendants:
 Sources for each Custodian: all document management systems, computer

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archives, backup tapes or disks, hard drives, and/or electronic mail, or

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instant messaging.
 Sources not attributable to a Custodian: servers, electronic document

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repositories, or any other electronic file storage media, relevant shared

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network folders or repositories which Somnia Defendants identify

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following a reasonable and diligent investigation as likely to contain

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responsive ESI.

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v.

Sources for Relator:

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 Sources for each Custodian: all document management systems, computer

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archives, backup tapes or disks, PDAs, smart phones, personal computers,

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hard drives, and/or electronic mail, instant messaging, or text messaging

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accounts.

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c) The parties have agreed on the number of custodians per party for whom ESI will be
preserved as set forth in paragraph (b) above;

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d) These data sources are not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost

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pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(2)(B) and ESI from these sources will be preserved but

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not searched, reviewed, or produced: none known at this time;

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e) The following sources need not be preserved: backup media created before December 1,

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2011, digital voicemail, instant messaging, automatically saved versions of documents;

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f) In addition to the agreements above, the parties agree that data from these sources (a)

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could contain relevant information but (b) under the proportionality factors, should not be

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preserved: none known at this time;

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g) Nothing herein is intended to or does waive any objections based on burden or

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proportionality that the parties may have with respect to documents or information sought

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by specific requests.

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V.

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SEARCH
The parties agree that in responding to an initial Fed. R. Civ. P. 34 request, or earlier if

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appropriate, the parties will meet and confer about methods to search ESI in order to identify ESI

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that is subject to production in discovery and filter out ESI that is not subject to discovery. The

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parties have met and conferred in response to the Fed. R. Civ. P. 34 requests propounded to date

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in this case. The parties have agreed on a list of search terms provided by counsel for Relator and

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attached to this Agreement as Exhibit A. Defendants shall run the list of search terms against the

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Sources for each of Somnia Defendants’ designated custodians identified above in paragraph

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4(b), as well as the Sources not attributable to an designated custodian which Somnia Defendants

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identify following a reasonable and diligent investigation as likely to contain responsive ESI.

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VI.

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PRODUCTION FORMATS
The parties agree to produce documents in one of the following formats: ☒ PDF, ☒

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TIFF, ☒native and/or ☐paper file formats or a combination thereof (check all that apply)] file

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formats. If particular documents warrant a different format, the parties shall cooperate to

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arrange for the mutually acceptable production of such documents. The parties shall not

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degrade the searchability of documents as part of the document production process.

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VII.

DOCUMENTS PROTECTED FROM DISCOVERY
a)

Pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 502(d), the production of a privileged or work-product-

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protected document, whether inadvertent or otherwise, is not a waiver of privilege

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or protection from discovery in this case or in any other federal or state

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proceeding. For example, the mere production of privileged or work-product-

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protected documents in this case as part of a mass production is not itself a waiver

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in this case or in any other federal or state proceeding.

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b)

Communications involving trial counsel and in-house counsel managing this
litigation that post-date the filing of the complaint need not be placed on a

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privilege log. Communications may be identified on a privilege log by category,

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rather than individually, if appropriate.

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VIII. MODIFICATION
This Stipulated Order may be modified by a Stipulated Order of the parties or by the
Court for good cause shown.

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DATED: January 7, 2019

SCHONBRUN SEPLOW
HARRIS & HOFFMAN LLP

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/s/ Wilmer J. Harris
By: __________________________________
Wilmer J. Harris
Attorneys for Relator/Plaintiff, Nicolle O’Neill

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DATED: January 7, 2019

NIXON PEABODY LLP

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By:

/s/ Jason Gonzalez
__________________________________
Jason Gonzalez
Attorneys for Defendant
SOMNIA, INC., PRIMARY ANESTHESIA
SERVICES, PST SERVICES, LLC, BYRON
MENDENHALL, M.D., QUINN GEE, M.D., and
MARGARET VASSILEV, M.D.

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ORDER
The above stipulation of the parties is hereby adopted as modified in section VI.
IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated:
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January 7, 2019

/s/
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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EXHIBIT A

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Search Terms – United States ex rel. O’Neill, Case No. 1:15-cv-00433-DAD-EPG

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chart! /20 “medical direction”

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chart! /20 “medical supervision.”

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MD /20 practic* /10 “independent* anesthes*” /20 "medic* direct*"

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anesthes! /20 “medic! supervis!”

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TEFRA! /20 “medic! direct!”

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TEFRA! /20 “medic! supervis!”

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criteria /20 “medic! direct!”

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criteria /20 “medic! supervis!”

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fals! /20 “medic! direct!”

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fals! /20 “medic! supervis!”

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overpay! /20 “medic! direct!”

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overpay! /20 “medic! supervis!”

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Medicare /20 “medic! direct!”

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Medicare /20 “medic! supervis!”

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Medi-Cal /20 “medic! direct!”

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Medi-Cal /20 “medic! supervis!”

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CMS /20 “medic! direct!”

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CMS /20 “medic! supervis!”

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Nicolle /20 “medic! direct!”

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Nicolle /20 “medic! supervis!”

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Nicolle /20 resign!

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ONeill /20 “medic! direct!”

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ONeill /20 “medic! supervis!”

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ONeill /20 resign!

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“concurrent” /20 “medic! direct!”

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“concurrent” /20 “medic! supervis!”

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“alone” /20 “medic! direct!”

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“alone” /20 “medic! supervis!”

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“lunch” /20 “medic! direct!”

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“lunch” /20 “medic! supervis!”

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“absent” /20 “medic! direct!”

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“absent” /20 “medic! supervis!”

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“golf” /20 “medic! direct!”

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“golf” /20 “medic! supervis!”

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immediat! avail! /20 “medic! direct!”

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immediat! avail! /20 “medic! supervis!”

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“mendenhall” /20 “medic! direct!”

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“mendenhall” /20 “medic! supervis!”

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“mendenhall” /20 “golf”

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“mendenhall” /20 “lunch”

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“mendenhall” /20 “absent”

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“mendenhall” /20 “alone”

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“mendenhall” /20 “TEFRA”

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“mendenhall” /20 “criteria”

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“mendenhall” /20 chart! /10 sign!

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“gee” /20 “medic! direct!”

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“gee” /20 “medic! supervis!”

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“gee” /20 “lunch”

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“gee” /20 “absent”

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“gee” /20 “alone”

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“gee” /20 “TEFRA”

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“gee” /20 “criteria”

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“gee” /20 chart! /10 sign!

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“roy” /20 “medic! direct!”

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“roy” /20 “medic! supervis!”

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“roy” /20 “golf”

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“roy” /20 “lunch”

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“roy” /20 “absent”

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“roy” /20 “alone”

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“roy” /20 “TEFRA”

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“roy” /20 “criteria”

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“roy” /20 chart! /10 sign!

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“vassilev” /20 “medic! direct!”

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“vassilev” /20 “medic! supervis!”

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“vassilev” /20 “golf”

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“vassilev” /20 “lunch”

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“vassilev” /20 “absent”
• “vassilev” /20 "under-staff*" w/20 “O.R.” OR “oper*”

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“alone”
“vassilev” /20 “TEFRA”
“vassilev” /20 “criteria”
“vassilev” /20 chart! /10 sign!
criteria /20 “medic! direct!”
criteria /20 “medic! supervis!”
criteria /20 “QZ”
staff! /20 “upcod!”
staffing /20 “medic! direct!”
staffing /20 “medic! supervis!”
TEFRA /20 “staff!”
“short-staff!” /20 “medic! direct!”
“short-staff!” /20 “medic! supervis!”
“short-staff!” /20 “TEFRA”

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“short-staff!” /20 “concurrent”

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“short-staff!” /20 “Medicare”

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“short-staff!” /20 “upcod!”

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“short-staff!” /20 “overpay!”

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“under-staff!” /20 CRNA

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“under-staff!” /20 MD

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"under-staff!" w/20 “O.R.” OR “oper!”

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fraud! /20 bill!

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bill! /20 irregular!

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EMR /20 chang!

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“electronic medical record” /20 chang!

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ratio! /20 supervis!

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ratio! /20 MD

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ratio! /20 CRNA

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chart! /20 MD

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“chart* w/20 “O.R.” OR “oper!”

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chart! /20 CRNA

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“Economics of Somnia”

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