News 1/25/23

Top News

ReviveHealth, a membership-based virtual care company that caters to individuals and employer groups, acquires competitor SwiftMD for an undisclosed sum.

ReviveHealth acquired virtual urgent care company ISelectMD and digital pharmacy services vendor ManifexRx in August of last year.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

NextGen Healthcare reports Q3 results: revenue up 8%; EPS $0.26 vs. $0.24, beating analyst expectations on revenue but missing on earnings. Company shares have lost 8% since the beginning of the year.

People

Forge Health names Chad Burkholder (UnitedHealth Group) COO.

Zócalo Health names Sarah Lopez, MD (Harbor-UCLA Medical Center) CMO.

Announcements and Implementations

ACO Health Partners (FL) selects Spatially Health’s Equity Equalizer technology, which helps organizations identify and manage patient barriers related to social determinants of health. ACO Health Partners was recently sold by HealthLynked to Palm Beach ACO.

Research and Innovation

Researchers determine that primary care physicians who use community health exchange services to look up information about transitions of patient care admit fewer patients to the hospital and see fewer return to the ER.

Other

Dermatologist and TikTok “skinfluencer” Muneeb Shah, DO recounts his decision to partner with teledermatology company Cortina on branded content. He joined Cortina as its medical content advisor after making sure the company used board certified dermatologists as part of its prescribing process, noting he had turned down six or seven opportunities with other companies that did not: “I feel strongly that board-certified dermatologists should be involved in that process.”

Sponsor Updates

• AdvancedMD publishes a new e-guide, “2023 MIPS Improvement Activities.”

Blog Posts

• Happiness, recruitment, and retention (Nordic)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

Get HIStalk Practice updates.
Contact us online.
Become a sponsor.

News 1/23/23

Top News

Rx Redefined raises $8 million in a Series A funding round. It offers group practices the ability to directly manage the order of medical supplies and delivery of them to their patients.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

HealthLynked will sell its ACO Health Partners subsidiary to PBACO Holding for up to $3 million. The company offers a network of providers that its members can search for and make appointments with using its online tools, as well as virtual consults and medical record-sharing services. PBACO Holding, which does business as Palm Beach ACO, is considering an IPO in 2024.

People

CVS Health names Amy Bricker (Express Scripts) chief product officer, consumer.

Research and Innovation

An increase in virtual primary care visits during the pandemic did not correlate with an increase in trips to the emergency room, according to a Canadian study that looked to see if the lack of in-person care prompted some patients to seek a similar level of care in the ER.

Other

Dollar General officially enters the retail healthcare market by partnering with mobile medical clinic company DocGo to offer healthcare services just outside of three stores in Tennessee. Given the typically rural locations of most Dollar Generals, it’s no doubt an effort to help offer easier access to patients who live far from traditional healthcare facilities, and to encourage patients to pick up over the counter remedies from the retailer’s shelves.

Sponsor Updates

• TigerConnect remains a leader in the Clinical Communication and Collaboration category on G2 for Winter 2023.
• EClinicalWorks publishes a new customer success story, “Brookhaven Heart & MD365: Streamlining Patient Engagement and Intervention with RPM.”

Blog Posts

• See a Mumpsimus? Stop a Mumpsimus! (Nordic)
• Clinical Communication in 2023: Trends and Predictions (PerfectServe)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

Get HIStalk Practice updates.
Contact us online.
Become a sponsor.

News 1/18/23

Top News

Male fertility-focused provider Posterity Health raises $7.5 million in a seed funding round, bringing its total raised to $17 million. It says it will use the investment to further develop its digital health platform. It offers virtual consults and operates clinics in Colorado and Texas.

Webinars

January 19 (Thursday) 2 ET. “Supercharge Your Clinical Data Searches.” Sponsor: Particle Health. Presenter: Paul Robbins, MSMBA, VP of product, Particle. Particle’s team will preview the exciting results of Specialty Search, a new condition-specific record locator service. This webinar will review how to collect patient records from top Centers of Excellence across the entire country; how healthcare organizations of all types are benefiting from Specialty Search capabilities, using Particle’s simple API; and why a focused search of chronic condition data — in oncology, cardiology, endocrinology, orthopedics, and more — has an outsized impact on care outcomes.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

This tweet thread offers an interesting glimpse into the trend of private equity firms buying up physician practices, with little mention of how these acquisitions impact patient care. A few nuggets:

• The practice is a “large and super active” ASC that does $18M in annual revenue, with seven physicians – two of of whom are the “superstars” that bring in the majority of revenue.
• Practice owners typically stay on for two to five years.
• Standard operating model for a practice, once acquired, typically centers around hiring, better reimbursement negotiations, improving inefficiencies, revenues, etc. This one in particular is probably part of a larger play to help recruit more physicians into a brand.
• Similar deals are being done in the physical therapy, dermatology, med spa, and dental spaces.
• There is interest in pharmacies, but Walgreens and CVS are dominating.
• The most active PE firms doing these deals are Shore Capital Partners, KKR, Sheridan Capital Partners, and Linden Capital Partners.

Independent primary care practice management and optimization company Aledade becomes a public benefit corporation.

Announcements and Implementations

Child & Family Services of Erie County (NY) selects Credible EHR software from Qualifacts.

Research and Innovation

Community health center network AllianceChicago reports an increase in well-child visits and immunizations after implementing QliqSoft’s Quincy chatbot as part of a CHEC-UP digital intervention study.

Other

Publix Pharmacy opens its fourth telemedicine site in partnership with Beaufort Memorial Hospital (SC). Virtual consults are $67.

STAT looks at the lengths telemedicine patients will go to in order to ensure that their prescriptions, particularly those for ADHD, carry over to in-person physicians when their online-only telemedicine physicians close up shop. As online providers like Cerebral face federal scrutiny for their prescribing practices, and pharmacies refuse to fill prescriptions from their doctors, patients face the challenge of shifting to in-person care with new providers, some of whom may not be as quick to prescribe the same medications: “You hear ‘telehealth’ and you’re automatically stuck wearing the ‘pill mill,’ ‘drug seeking’ stigma like a backpack, no matter where you go,” says one patient who shifted from online to in-person care.

Fast Company profiles Bicycle Health, an online provider specializing in opioid use disorder treatment that got its start six years ago in a brick-and-mortar clinic in California. The pandemic initiated a pivot to virtual-only consults, and the company now treats patients in 32 states. When it comes to prescription fulfillment, it seems the company hasn’t faced the same government scrutiny as companies like Cerebral and Done. Bicycle’s internally developed pharmacy finder has helped ensure patients can pick up prescriptions locally in a timely manner.

Sponsor Updates

• Nordic releases another episode of its “In Network” podcast, “Designing for Health: Dr. Zafar Chaudry.”

Blog Posts

• Data Reconnaissance: Understanding your practice’s data landscape (AdvancedMD)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

Get HIStalk Practice updates.
Contact us online.
Become a sponsor.

News 1/16/23

Top News

Actress Kristen Bell becomes a spokesperson for Hers and its virtual mental healthcare service. Bell joins athletes like Michael Phelps (Talkspace), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Antidote Health), and Simone Biles (Cerebral) as brand ambassadors for direct-to-consumer telehealth startups that have seen their popularity with patients and investors skyrocket, as COVID ushered in relaxed telehealth rules. Talkspace has reportedly caught the eye of Amwell, while Cerebral faces federal scrutiny for its prescribing practices. Biles quietly severed ties with Cerebral (where she was technically chief impact officer) in December as its inner turmoil escalated. Hers, meanwhile, has raised $233 million along with partner online wellness company Hims.

Webinars

January 19 (Thursday) 2 ET. “Supercharge Your Clinical Data Searches.” Sponsor: Particle Health. Presenter: Paul Robbins, MSMBA, VP of product, Particle. Particle’s team will preview the exciting results of Specialty Search, a new condition-specific record locator service. This webinar will review how to collect patient records from top Centers of Excellence across the entire country; how healthcare organizations of all types are benefiting from Specialty Search capabilities, using Particle’s simple API; and why a focused search of chronic condition data — in oncology, cardiology, endocrinology, orthopedics, and more — has an outsized impact on care outcomes.

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

Announcements and Implementations

Highland Rivers Behavioral Health (GA) leverages Findhelp’s social and human services search tool.

Government and Politics

Medical billing company Amvik Solutions will pay $153,000 to settle federal allegations that it improperly billed Medicaid for applied behavior analysis services on behalf of customer Helping Hands Academy.

Research and Innovation

Lone Star Circle of Care Austin (TX) pilots an AI-powered nutritional assessment, guidance, and goal-setting platform developed by researchers at the University of Texas and Dell Medical School. Patients input their nutritional data into the Nutri tool, which processes and compares it to dietary guidelines, and then presents it and corresponding nutritional goals via interface for use during appointments.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks releases a new customer success story, “Value-Based Care Achieved Through PCMH and HEDIS.
• Nordic posts a new episode of DocTalk titled “The two sides of digital health.”
• EClinicalWorks customer Children First Pediatrics reports successful process automation, increased patient compliance, and general cost savings using the company’s Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS).

Blog Posts

• How Bedside Manner Improves Patient Recovery (PerfectServe)
• 2023 Top Healthcare Cybersecurity Threats (TigerConnect)
• How Patient Education Can Increase Compassion in Healthcare (Healthwise)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

Get HIStalk Practice updates.
Contact us online.
Become a sponsor.

News 1/2/23

Top News

Online allergy care company Nectar raises an additional $16. million, bringing its Series A round to $24 million. It plans to open its first physical location this year.

Founder and CEO Ken Chahine was formerly a founding executive at AncestryDNA and Ancestry Health.

Webinars

January 19 (Thursday) 2 ET. “Supercharge Your Clinical Data Searches.” Sponsor: Particle Health. Presenter: Paul Robbins, MSMBA, VP of product, Particle. Particle’s team will preview the exciting results of Specialty Search, a new condition-specific record locator service. This webinar will review how to collect patient records from top Centers of Excellence across the entire country; how healthcare organizations of all types are benefiting from Specialty Search capabilities, using Particle’s simple API; and why a focused search of chronic condition data — in oncology, cardiology, endocrinology, orthopedics, and more — has an outsized impact on care outcomes.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Behavioral health IT vendor Telemynd raises $6 million. The Massachusetts-based startup offers virtual care with tailored patient-provider matching and predictive diagnostic services.

People

Aptihealth hires Tim Koehler (Bluestone Physician Services) as president and COO.

Ananya Banerjee (ChenMed) joins Aledade as chief commercial officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Mental Health Resources implements Cantata Health’s Arize EHR at its five offices in New Mexico.

Family Health Center (MS) selects the EClinicalWorks V12 EHR.

Government and Politics

The Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Service, the Virginia Telehealth Network, and the Virginia Association of Free and Charitable Clinics partner to launch the Virginia Telemental Health Initiative, which will offer free, virtual mental health services to eligible patients. The initiative will be staffed by volunteer mental healthcare providers.

Primary care provider Health Specialists of Central Florida will pay $20,000 to settle a potential HIPAA violation concerning the privacy rule’s right of access provision. The practice failed in 2019 to make a patient’s medical records available in the mandated 30-day timeframe, finally providing them five months after the initial request.

Other

NasonCare owner and Medical Director Baron Nason, MD will provide free healthcare services for three months to the employees of 10 local small businesses in an effort to help combat the rising cost of care, which has forced some of his patients to have to choose between paying mortgages or seeking treatment. The North Charleston, SC-based practice offers primary, urgent, and employee-based care.

Maine State Library’s Libraries Health Connect rural telemedicine program will soon expand with additional sites and/or more advanced technology. The program launched at 10 pilot libraries in the spring to offer patrons private areas equipped with hardware and software for virtual appointments.

Authorities charge the former office manager of a dermatology practice in Rhode Island and her son, a former data clerk at the practice after they discover the pair swindled nearly $500,000 from the practice by giving themselves unauthorized pay increases, adding friends and family to the pay roll, failing to deposit patient payments, issuing and cashing checks made out to themselves and others, and using practice funds and credit cards to pay for personal expenses, among other allegations.

Sponsor Updates

• Medicomp Systems features National Coordinator Micky Tripathi, PhD, MPP in its “Tell Me Where IT Hurts” podcast.

Blog Posts

• Unduly noted: Why EHR documentation is creating an informational quagmire (Nordic)
• Nurses of Note Awards 2022: The Manager of Ambulatory Nursing (PerfectServe)
• 4 Tips for Patient Education Governance (Healthwise)
• A Different Point of View: DOJ Suit Against Cigna – It’s Just the Beginning (Medicomp Systems)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

Get HIStalk Practice updates.
Contact us online.
Become a sponsor.