News 7/22/24

Top News

Palomar Health Medical Group (CA) restores its phone, EHR, appointment scheduling, e-prescribing, and patient portal systems after a cyberattack in early May took its computer systems offline. The provider has not yet released details around what type of attack forced it to revert to downtime procedures.

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Webinars

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present or promote your own.

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Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Grocery store chain Kroger will close four in-store Little Clinics in Richmond, VA. The company, through its Kroger Health division, operates over 200 clinics across the country. While at first glance the closures seem to be a localized business decision related to patient volume and reimbursements, I can’t help but wonder if this is a sign of things to come, a la Walmart Health, Walgreens, and CVS Health. Aside from these four closures, The Little Clinic seems stable. It announced earlier this month that its providers will begin offering popular weight-loss management medications via in-person and virtual appointments.

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Announcements and Implementations

Utah Navajo Health System, CenterPlace Health (FL), Access Health Louisiana, and PrimeCare Health (IL) select Suki’s ambient clinical assistant.

Advanced Heart Group (IL) will implement EHR, practice management, patient portal, and AI clinical assistant software from NextGen Healthcare.

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Other

In West Virginia, three people suffer injuries when a car smashes through the front of Charleston Area Medical Center’s Telemedicine Center. Several patients were in telemedicine exam rooms, though the local news reports that some of the injured were outside of the facility at the time of the accident.

Frustrated with a lack of access to primary care and crowded ERs, a group of seniors living in the same condo complex in Ottawa organize a monthly wellness clinic that typically serves 27 patients. The residents have partnered with a local university, pharmacist, paramedic, health center, and aging-in-place program to offer wellness checks, referrals, and lunch in one of the condo’s communal rooms.

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Sponsor Updates

• Nordic releases a new “Designing for Health” podcast, “Interview with Mitesh Patel, MD.”
• EClinicalWorks releases a new podcast, “Say Hello to Easy Joint Documentation with EClinicalWorks.”

Blog Posts

• The 2024 EClinicalWorks and Healow National Conference: Grapevine Awaits You! (EClinicalWorks)
• Navigating Recovery: Helping Patients Who Struggle with Substance Abuse & Addiction (AdvancedMD)

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Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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