News 6/26/19

Top News

Remedy, an on-demand urgent and primary care company that caters to consumers and employers, raises $10 million in a Series A financing round led by Santé Ventures.

HIStalk Practice Musings

HIStalk Practice won’t publish next week, as I’ll be off the grid and deep in the wilds of West Georgia. It’s become an annual summertime experience that I share with a few dozen other adults. While my schedule won’t necessarily be a relaxing one, it will be nice to be away from screens and the pull of digital correspondence.

An interview with Danish philosopher and author Svend Brinkmann caught my eye as I was contemplating the week ahead. His latest book, “The Joy of Missing Out,” delves into our consumerist society’s social media-fueled need to always be on the hunt for the next greatest experience – all to the detriment of the experiences we could be having in the present moment. He even links it to one of my favorite past times:

“I … think things like reading a novel or dwelling on the past can be genuinely useful. It’s about ritualizing your life, developing habits and routines that will make it much easier to focus and to miss out on all the noise and all the distractions.

“This ancient art of reading, of getting immersed in a book, is very disciplining. Many people have lost the ability to sit for hours and read a book. They constantly become distracted and want to check their smartphones. I do that as well. But practicing these routines are small steps we can take to learn to live within a culture that is constantly pulling us in a million different directions.”

Webinars

July 18 (Thursday) 2:00 ET. “Healthcare’s Digital Front Door: Modernizing Medicine’s Mobile-First Strategies That Are Winning Patient Engagement.” Sponsor: Relatient. Presenters: Michele Perry, CEO, Relatient; Michael Rivers, MD, director of EMA Ophthalmology, Modernizing Medicine. Providers are understandably focused on how to make the most of the 5-8 minutes they have on average with a patient during an exam, but what happens between appointments also plays a significant role in the overall health of patients. Modernizing Medicine is driving high patient engagement with best practice, mobile-first strategies. This webinar will describe patient engagement and the challenges in delivering it, how consumerism is changing healthcare, and how to get started and navigate the patient engagement marketplace.

July 25 (Thursday) 2:00 ET. “Meeting patient needs across the continuum of care.” Sponsor: Philips Population Health Management. Presenters: Cindy Gaines, chief nursing officer, Philips Population Health Management; Cynthia Burghard, research director of value-based healthcare IT transformation strategies, IDC. Traditional care management approaches are not sufficient to deliver value-based healthcare. Supplementing EHRs with advanced PHM technology and a scalable care management approach gives health systems proactive and longitudinal insights that optimize scarce resources in meeting the needs of multiple types of patients. This webinar will address the key characteristics of a digital platform for value-based care management, cover the planning and deployment of a scalable care management strategy, and review patient experience scenarios for CHF and diabetes.

Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre for information.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Occupational, speech and physical therapy software vendor Clinicient acquires Intermountain Healthcare’s quality improvement software for physical therapy. Clinicient will incorporate the Rehab Outcomes Management System with its Keet Health mobile patient engagement technology.

Medical co-working space company Clinicube opens its second shared office in New York City. The company bills itself as a physician practice accelerator for millenial doctors who want to start their own practices without incurring crushing financial burden right out of med school. I’ve come across several of these WeWork-type companies opening for MDs, but none that delve into what it’s actually like to practice (or be cared for) in one. Email me if you have a story to share.

People

Digital patient education company Health Monitor Network names Paul Wituschek (Icon) chief commercial officer, Joseph DiCarlo (Westmed Practice Partners) chief people officer, and David Zuern (Benjamin Moore) SVP of operations.

Announcements and Implementations

Tablet-based EHR vendor DrChrono will offer Jamf’s Apple device management service to end users for quick and easy loading of the company’s and its partners’ apps across office devices.

PracticeSuite offers EHR and practice management customers access to chronic care management reporting capabilities from One Healthcare Solutions.

NextGen reseller TSI Healthcare works with Articularis Rheumatology Network to develop a rheumatoid arthritis clinical decision support pathway for EHR workflows.

West Cancer Center and Research Institute implements Flatiron Health’s RCM software and services across its 13 clinics in 13 clinic sites in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 6/24/19

Top News

Oncology EHR and research company Flatiron Health will nearly double its Manhattan office space and add 200 jobs by the end of the year, bringing its total head count to 1,000. The company relocated to its current SoHo office space last summer to accommodate company growth. It also has an office in San Francisco.

Drug maker Roche acquired the company in early 2018 for nearly $2 billion.

Webinars

July 25 (Thursday) 2:00 ET. “Meeting patient needs across the continuum of care.” Sponsor: Philips Population Health Management. Presenters: Cindy Gaines, chief nursing officer, Philips Population Health Management; Cynthia Burghard, research director of value-based healthcare IT transformation strategies, IDC. Traditional care management approaches are not sufficient to deliver value-based healthcare. Supplementing EHRs with advanced PHM technology and a scalable care management approach gives health systems proactive and longitudinal insights that optimize scarce resources in meeting the needs of multiple types of patients. This webinar will address the key characteristics of a digital platform for value-based care management, cover the planning and deployment of a scalable care management strategy, and review patient experience scenarios for CHF and diabetes.

Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre for information.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

ENT and Allergy Associates holds a ribbon-cutting for its new 40,000-square foot headquarters in Tarrytown, NY. The new HQ will employ 300 and house all the back-office functions of the practice, which employs 208 physicians across 43 offices in New York and New Jersey. CEO Robert Glazer says the new facility was a necessary step to better enabling its physicians to focus on caring for their patients, rather than on administrative tasks.

Applied behavior analysis EHR and practice management vendor CentralReach acquires competitor Pathfinder Health Innovations. CentralReach has been on a bit of buying spree over the last year, acquiring Chartlytics in May and Bronco Billing last December.

People

The Massachusetts Medical Society elects Ob/Gyn Maryanne Bombaugh, MD president.

Elligo Health Research names Brandon Cormier chief commercial officer and Jody Case VP of healthcare partnerships.

Announcements and Implementations

The Kings County Department of Public Health in Hanford, CA will offer tuberculosis patients access to Emocha Health’s medication management app.

NextGen implementation and consulting firm Topaz Information Solutions will offer patient engagement solutions from True Mobile Health to its customers.

RxNT will offer PDMP access to its EHR and practice management customers through an integration with Appriss Health’s PMP Gateway software.

PatientPoint adds resources from the the National Comprehensive Cancer Network to its digital waiting and exam room screens.

In Denver, Jade Recovery treatment center will offer Weconnect Health Management’s behavioral health app to help its patients maintain treatment regimens post-discharge.

Other

PainMD patients are left in limbo after the pain management company closes all of its clinics, declares bankruptcy, and reveals that it no longer has access to patient medical records, which ended up being stored in boxes in several storage units. (The storage unit manager contends he does not legally have the right to open the units.) The pain clinic’s bankruptcy was brought on by a federal and state lawsuit that accused the company of unnecessarily injecting patients and then mislabeling the injections so that it could bill Medicare and Medicaid.

Family physician Ashley Denmark, DO publishes “Olivia’s Doctor Adventures” to inspire underprivileged youth in her community. Denmark, who works as a family physician at BJC Medical Group in St. Louis is in the process of launching Doctor Boxes, a subscription box service that includes the book and STEM-related activities.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks will exhibit at the California Primary Care Association Region IX Clinical Excellence Conference through June 25 in Newport Beach, CA.
• Nordic releases a new podcast, “How Managed Services can support your EHR extension partners.”

Blog Posts

• Healow insights – a Value-based Revolution (EClinicalWorks)
• Care Manager Efficiency, Part 3: Training Your Team (Healthwise)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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

News 6/19/19

Top News

ESolutions, an RCM technology and services company based in Overland Park, KS, acquires Houston, TX-based competitor Practice Insight for an undisclosed sum.

HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests

Mr. H is running his annual annual Summer Doldrums Special on webinars and new sponsorships. Contact Lorre, who may offer a little something extra to former sponsors who want to return to the fold.

Webinars

July 25 (Thursday) 2:00 ET. “Meeting patient needs across the continuum of care.” Sponsor: Philips Population Health Management. Presenters: Cindy Gaines, chief nursing officer, Philips Population Health Management; Cynthia Burghard, research director of value-based healthcare IT transformation strategies, IDC. Traditional care management approaches are not sufficient to deliver value-based healthcare. Supplementing EHRs with advanced PHM technology and a scalable care management approach gives health systems proactive and longitudinal insights that optimize scarce resources in meeting the needs of multiple types of patients. This webinar will address the key characteristics of a digital platform for value-based care management, cover the planning and deployment of a scalable care management strategy, and review patient experience scenarios for CHF and diabetes.

Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre for information.

Announcements and Implementations

ClinicTracker adds MIPS reporting capabilities from Health EFilings to its EHR for mental health and substance abuse providers.

Telemedicine

InTeleLabs launches a telemedicine system for at-home pharmacogenomics testing and physician consultations. The Elicity system’s initial offerings will include tests related to mental health, cardiovascular health, and pain management.

Family Practice Center in Atlanta implements telemedicine capabilities from EVisit.

In Rhode Island, Thundermist Health Center uses a CDC grant to launch telemedicine prescribing capabilities with specialists at Codac Behavioral Healthcare. The providers at both facilities will collaborate on getting patients access to medication-assisted treatment for substance use disorder.

Research and Innovation

A Definitive Healthcare survey on outpatient care trends finds investing in and implementing new technologies – especially those related to interoperability – to be the biggest challenge, followed by understanding industry consolidation trends, staffing, and attracting new patients. The field of 200 respondents also acknowledged that new technologies such as telemedicine and mobile apps, as well as streamlined patient technologies, were among the biggest drivers behind outpatient growth.

Other

Residents complain when paperwork left behind the now-shuttered Medical Professional Home Healthcare Center (IL) ends up on the ground and blowing into nearby yards. The papers, which include medical files, were originally left in a locked storage container at the same location. City sanitation crews were quick to clean up the mess after several neighbors called the local news. The center closed in 2017 after losing its state health department license and Medicare certification.

Sponsor Updates

• Aprima will exhibit at HFMA June 23-26 in Orlando.

Blog Posts

• Your practice is nothing without patients (AdvancedMD)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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

News 6/17/19

Top News

In Miami, a federal judge denies attempts by Kipu Systems to withdraw complaints against addiction treatment EHR vendor ZenCharts, citing a disservice to the defendants and the fact that such an action would necessitate relitigating the case in state court. Kipu sued ZenCharts in late 2017 for $30 million for allegedly stealing the intellectual property behind its EHR for behavioral health providers.

In an effort to assuage prospects and customers, ZenCharts has published a timeline comparing the release dates of each company’s product releases. Kipu has made all of the legal documents involved in the case accessible via its website.

Webinars

None scheduled in the coming weeks. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre for information.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Mental healthcare coordination and technology company Quartet Health raises $60 million in a funding round led by managed care company Centene, bringing its total raised to $153 million.

People

Michael Vasoncelles (Unum Therapeutics) joins Flatiron Health as CMO. He succeeds Amy Abernethy, MD who joined the FDA earlier this year as principal deputy commissioner.

Announcements and Implementations

New Hope Treatment Centers (SC) selects EHR and RCM software from Core Solutions.

First announced in April, CPSI subsidiary Get Real Health announces migration capabilities for Microsoft HealthVault users who want to transfer their health data to GRH’s Lydia PHR. Microsoft will shut HealthVault down in November.

Other

N.E.O. Urology in Youngstown, OH recovers from a ransomware attack last week that wound up costing the practice three days of downtime and between $90,000 and $150,000 in revenue. Reports differ as to whether or not the practice wound up paying the $75,000 bitcoin ransom, and whether or not the practice was alerted to the hack via fax.

Sponsor Updates

• Nordic will exhibit at HIUG Interact 2019 through June 19 in Orlando.
• EClinicalWorks will exhibit at the Northeast Regional Telehealth Conference June 17-18 in Portland, ME.
• Intelligent Medical Objects will exhibit at the AMDIS Annual Physician-Computer Connection Symposium June 18-21 in Ojai, CA.

Blog Posts

• Care Manager Efficiency, Part 2: Leveraging Your Data (Healthwise)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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

News 6/12/19

Top News

ChartSpan Medical Technologies raises $15 million in a Series A round led by Blue Heron Capital. The company, which has raised $37 million since opening seven years ago, specializes in chronic care management programs and CMS compliance services.

HIStalk Practice Musings

Don’t miss Mr. H’s review of “The 10 Principles of a Love Based Culture” by health IT heavyweights Ivo Nelson and Dana Sellers. He’s not fond of the title, but I imagine it might sell well in the business world around Valentine’s Day.

Y’all know I love a good library story: The town of Bhilar in India has become a tourist destination for book-lovers thanks to the 25 families who have turned their homes into libraries. Thirty thousand books provided by the government and villager donations have been spread among the homes according to subject and genre. Visitors, which have jumped from a few hundred to several thousand since the project launched two years ago, are welcome to come in and read to their hearts’ content.

Webinars

None scheduled in the coming weeks. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre for more information.

People

David Justus (Avetta) joins Kareo as CFO.

Announcements and Implementations

Ob/Gyn practice management company Unified Physician Management will offer its providers Suki’s digital assistant to help with clinical documentation and EHR integration.

CureMD adds chemotherapy order templates from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network to its EHR for oncologists.

Sweetgrass Pediatrics in South Carolina implements patient-to-practice text messaging capabilities from Rhinogram.

Government and Politics

The New Jersey Innovation Institute will spearhead the state’s Promoting Interoperability for New Jersey Substance Use Disorder Providers initiative, which will use a $6 million grant to help substance use disorder providers transition to EHRs.

Telemedicine

Workplace clinic company Concentra expands use of its telemedicine software to Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Vermont.

A Michigan Medicine study of 48 adults determines that cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia delivered by telemedicine is just as effective as in-person care for improving sleep outcomes.

Other

Patients in the Cornish village of Megavissey are no doubt breathing a sigh of relief after a #WillYouBeMyGP social media campaign goes viral and helps to save their local clinic from closing. Lone provider Katherine James was going to call it quits after deciding she could no longer handle the practice’s 5,300 patients on her own. The campaign helped raise awareness of her plight, catching the attention of local government officials, NHS England, and other local practitioners, some of whom have agreed to sign on as staff.

In other physician recruitment news, HSHS Medical Group in Illinois has taken the unusual (I assume) step of offering patients a $10,000 referral fee if they recommend a physician who ends up becoming employed at the practice.

USA Today profiles Level Ex, a video game company that has developed a series of games for healthcare professionals. The company has created four free games so far – Airway Ex for anesthesiologists, Gastro Ex for gastroenterologists, Pulm Ex for pulmonologists, and Cardio Ex for cardiologists. The games are based on real cases submitted by physicians, and can help players earn CMEs. Star Wars fans might find it fun to learn that Level Ex founder and CEO Sam Glassenberg got his start at LucasArts developing Star Wars video games.

Sponsor Updates

Blog Posts

• Inspire, engage, and activate patients with patient education (AdvancedMD)
• 3 Ways That Telehealth is Improving Healthcare (EClinicalWorks)
• Accessing Epic Data in 3rd Party Business Intelligence Programs – New Features & Benefits (Culbert Healthcare Solutions)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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