News 2/20/23

Top News

Primary care EHR vendor Elation Health acquires Lightning MD, which sells billing and payer connectivity systems to independent practices. Elation will begin offering existing customers its technology combined with Lightning MD’s capabilities this summer.

Elation raised $50 million last summer, bringing its total raised to $109 million.

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Webinars

February 28 (Tuesday) 1 ET. “Words Matter: Simplifying Clinical Terms for Patients.” Sponsor: Intelligent Medical Objects. Presenters: Whitney Mannion, RN, MSN, senior terminologist, IMO; David Bocanegra, RN, nurse informaticist, IMO. The language of medicine can be confusing and contradictory to patients, challenging their ability to prepare for a procedure or pay their bills. This webinar will explore how the words that are used to communicate – online, in print, and in person – must be chosen carefully to allow patients to comprehend their diagnoses, treatments, and care plans. The presenters will also describe how the ONC Final Rule for the 21st Century Cures Act will make clinical and technical language more directly accessible through patient portals.

March 7 (Tuesday) noon ET.  “Prescribe RPA 2.0 to Treat Healthcare Worker Burnout.” Sponsor: Keysight Technologies. Presenters: Anne Foster, MS, technical consultant manager, Eggplant; Emily Yan, MPA, product marketing manager, Keysight Technologies. Half of US health systems plan to invest in robotic process automation by the end of this year, per Gartner. The concept is evolving to help with staff burnout and physician productivity. The presenters will introduce RPA 2.0, explain how to maximize its value, demonstrate how to quickly start on RPA 2.0 and test automation in one platform, and answer questions about healthcare automation.

Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present your own.

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Announcements and Implementations

Sunrise Mountain Family Medical Clinic (NV) selects cloud-based EHR technology from EClinicalWorks.

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Government and Politics

Noel DeLeon, a former office manager for a practice in New Jersey, pleads guilty to a charge of conspiracy to distribute amphetamines. DeLeon or the practice’s doctor would typically collect cash payments before providing patients with prescriptions for Adderall. Patients would contact him directly via text message for refills, and pay via a personal payment app. Some patients bribed DeLeon for faster fulfillment. The practice had little to no record-keeping, with some medical records only containing contact and prescription information. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

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Research and Innovation

Primary care physicians who engaged the services of remote, audio-only scribes report lower levels of burnout, improved workflow satisfaction, and less EHR stress compared to their counterparts who did not, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Physicians with scribes avoided nearly an hour of documenting in the EHR.

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Other

The local paper profiles Frank Tursi, DO and David Levy, MD physicians in Erie, PA who have been seeing patients for more than 40 years. Neither has any plans to retire. Both have seen multiple generations of the same family, and have interesting stories to tell about the changes in treatments, business, and technologies. Both have become employed with local health systems, a situation Tursi says is a “double-edged sword. I no longer had to worry about staffing or equipment breaking down. It was an adjustment. The employees technically didn’t work for me any longer. But the practice itself didn’t change at all.”

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Sponsor Updates

Blog Posts

• Taking the temperature of health systems (Nordic)
• 4 Ways to Modernize the Hospital Call Center (PerfectServe)
• Choice architecture to the rescue (Nordic)
• Behind the Scenes: DEI in Health Education Illustrations (Healthwise)

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Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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