News 7/17/19

Top News

Long Beach, CA-based Agilon Health is reportedly considering an IPO. The company offers primary care practices value-based care transformation services that include proprietary technology and analytics.

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.

July 31 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “Modern Imaging Technology for the Enterprise: Mercy’s Approach That Improved Imaging Cost, Speed, Capacity, and Care Quality.” Sponsor: Mercy Technology Services. Presenter: Jim Best, executive health IT consultant, Mercy Technology Services. Enterprise imaging has become as critical as EHRs for transforming patient care, but many health systems are struggling with the limitations and costs of dated, disconnected PACS even as imaging volumes grow and radiologists report increasing levels of burnout. Radiologists at Mercy were frustrated by its nine disparate PACS, which required them to toggle between workstations, deal with slowdowns and poor reliability, and work around the inability to see the complete set of a patient’s prior images, even as demands for quick turnaround increased. In this webinar, MTS — the technical backbone of Mercy — will describe the lessons they learned in moving to a new best-of-breed PACS platform that increased radiology efficiency by 30%, with the next phase being to take advantage of new capabilities by eliminating third-party reading services and distributing workload across radiology departments to improve efficiency, capacity, and timely patient care.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Specialty retina practice NJRetina launches Prism Vision Group, an ophthalmology-focused practice management company. NJRetina founding partner Steven Madreperla, MD will head up the new business.

Bertie Bregman, MD and Rachel Bregman, MD – the husband and wife team at Westside Family Medicine in New York City – launch Qwell, an online appointment booking and social networking site.

Medical screening device distributor PreCheck Health Services acquires practice management and billing company JAS Consulting and its sister business, CPD Integrated Health Care, which operates seven behavioral health and primary care clinics in Texas and Oklahoma.

Announcements and Implementations

The Network of Behavioral Health Providers (TX) selects ClientTrack Community Care Coordination software from Eccovia Solutions. The technology will be used as part of a two-year pilot project that will deliver medical, behavioral, and social services to 300 mental health patients.

Stanly County Imaging (NC) selects RCM and MIPS compliance services from Healthcare Administrative Partners.

NextGen integrates Appriss Health’s prescription monitoring and tracking analytics into its Office EHR and practice management software.

Diagnostic Imaging Centers implements patient engagement software including online scheduling, appointment reminders, and digital registration capabilities from OpenDoctor across its eight locations in Kansas and Missouri.

Telemedicine

A report from Doximity finds physician interest in telemedicine opportunities has grown 20% each year over the last several years, and that the number of MDs who list telemedicine as a job skill has doubled since 2015. Women were more interested in such jobs than men, though men were more interested in locum tenens opportunities.

Other

Tech Crunch profiles Brave Care, a pediatric urgent care clinic in Portland started earlier this year by pediatrician Corey Fish, MD and tech entrepreneur Darius Monsef, the father of several of of Fish’s patients. The clinic, which has raised $1.5 million and is participating in Y Combinator, is working to develop a triage app for parents and may eventually look at adopting telemedicine.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 7/15/19

Top News

SPH Analytics will merge MIPS software and consulting company SA Ignite with its population health business.

SA Ignite VP Matt Fusan will become GM of population health at SPH Analytics. SA Ignite founder and CEO Tom Lee will move into an advisory role.

HIStalk Practice Musings

I’ve been meaning to mention the weekly #HTreads tweet chat for some time now. The chats are a sort of online book club, focusing on books that are typically related to business or professional and personal development. They are held every Tuesday at 9pm ET. Check out the hashtag and @HealthTechReads account for more info.

Fun: Just in time for Christmas, Metallica will publish a children’s book titled, “”The ABCs of Metallica,” with proceeds going to their All Within My Hands charity.

Not-so-fun: A serial book vandal seems to be on the loose in England. Officials in Kent say the “Herne Bay Book Ripper” has been ripping pages and putting books back on the shelves at the local library and charity shop. They believe 120 books have been damaged by the vandal over a six-month period.

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

PE Hub reports that primary care management company VillageMD is seeking $150 million in funding. The Chicago-based company has raised nearly $120 million since launching in 2013. It no doubt wants to expand beyond the 10 markets it serves, including adding more clinics to its partnership with Walgreens. It’s set to open five primary care clinics next to the retail pharmacy in Houston by the end of this year.

Health IT reseller Microwize Technology begins offering Aprima EHR and practice management software from EMDs.

Announcements and Implementations

West Cancer Center & Research Institute implements interactive digital patient education tools from PatientPoint at its 13 facilities in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

People

Federal health IT vendor A-Tek hires Ted Schmitt (Salient CRGT) as VP and account manager.

Telemedicine

Bighorn Valley Health Center in Montana will use a $188,000 USDA grant to purchase telemedicine software and supplies that it will use to help patients with opioid addictions. CEO David Mark say the clinic’s new virtual capabilities will be game-changing for patients across the state’s frontier towns.

Other

In New York, Adirondacks ACO notifies 25,000 patients of a March data breach that may have exposed PHI found in a spreadsheet related to a population health analysis. The ACO handles analytics for several area hospitals and the Hudson Headwaters Health Network.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks publishes a podcast titled “Interoperability: The Key to Complete Patient Information.”

Blog Posts

• How to start your career in health IT as a Managed Services associate (Nordic)
• New CEO Guillaume Castel: Joining PerfectServe is all about improving healthcare (PerfectServe)
• Healthwise’s Commitment to Health IT Innovation (Healthwise)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 7/10/19

Top News

Cancer-focused social network Belong.Life raises $14 million in a funding round led by Iqvia, which was formed in 2016 through the merger of IMS Health and Quintiles. The app-based startup will use the financing to advance patient engagement software for a variety of conditions launched in May.

HIStalk Practice Musings

Thanks to Amy for reminding me about “The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah. The novel tells the story of two very different sisters who survive the German occupation of France during World War II. I couldn’t put it down, though parts of it were hard to get through. I’m sure I haven’t been the only one to shed a tear or two by book’s end.

Please keep your book recommendations coming! Email me with your guilty summer pleasures.

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

Bloomberg profiles Well Health Technologies, a Vancouver-based startup focused on dominating Canada’s ailing primary care market. The company has focused on acquiring clinics and EHR vendors, including KAI Innovations and NerdEMR Services. It seems to have hopes of building a national chain of practices that surpasses Canada’s largest, which only has 34. In addition to offering its physicians EHR technology, it plans to roll out telemedicine services in the near future.

Announcements and Implementations

Innovaccer launches an ACO solution that helps member providers aggregate, analyze, and act on population health data from various sources across their networks.

Genesis Chiropractic Software announces GA of the XDocs EHR.

Specialty EHR and practice management vendor WRS Health develops an EHR for Ob/Gyns.

Rimidi adds a cardiovascular disease view to its chronic disease management software, which also helps providers aggregate and act on data associated with diabetes, heart failure, and nonalcoholic fatty liver.

Nextech adds RCM capabilities from Health IPass to its EHR and practice management software for specialty physician practices.

People

Brian Boyd (SAP Fieldglass) joins Modernizing Medicine as chief revenue officer.

Telemedicine

CVS Health expands access to MinuteClinic virtual visits to eight additional states. Launched last August in 18 states, the telemedicine service is powered by Teladoc.

HNC Virtual Solutions develops a device-agnostic application that enables providers to view, edit, share, and consult on radiology images.

Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) awards $226,348 from the USDA’s Distance Learning and Telemedicine program to two counties that will invest the funds in telemedicine efforts to combat opioid abuse.

Sponsor Updates

• AdvancedMD publishes a new e-guide, “Untangling Large Group Techno-Spaghetti.”

Blog Posts

• The Patient Portal App Saved Me From Surgery (EClinicalWorks)

• Patient Access Centralization – Far More Complicated than Anticipated (Culbert Healthcare Solutions)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 7/8/19

Top News

Patient intake software vendor Phreesia expects to raise $125 million in a mid-July IPO that will see shares priced between $15 and $17. The company, which announced its IPO plans last month, took in $104 million during the last fiscal year and has raised over $100 million since launching nearly 20 years ago.

HIStalk Practice Musings

I’m back from a week of “roughing” it in Northwest Georgia. While our converted train car cabins did have ice-cold AC, it’s been nice to enjoy centralized cooling at home. My small talk with new friends typically includes asking what they’re reading at the moment, and camp was no exception. The camp nurse, who did a brisk trade in ice packs and Band-Aids throughout my stay, couldn’t stop singing the praises of “Mary: Mrs. A Lincoln,” which tells the story of Abraham Lincoln’s widow after her only surviving son has her committed to an insane asylum. I’m looking forward to checking it out soon.

I’m also adding “Founding Mothers” by Cokie Roberts to my growing summer reading list. Thanks to Dr. Jayne for the recommendation. You can read her review in her latest Curbside Consult.

Please email me your recommendations of books – fiction or biographies – that dig into the back stories of our country’s early leaders and their families. There’s typically so much more to these larger-than-life historical figures than the average school book has room for.

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

VertitechIT and its physician practice-focused sister companies, Akiro Consulting and Baytech IT, will expand their operations at the Open Square mixed-use development in Holyoke, MA. Built in the 1800s, the former textile and paper factory is now the country’s largest zero net energy development.

Forum Health opens for business in Salt Lake City as a membership-based precision health medical group offering its physicians access to Power2Practice’s EHR.

Announcements and Implementations

MedEvolve announces GA of AI-powered RCM workflows.

Nashville Oncology Associates enlists the practice and clinical research management services and technologies of Verdi Oncology.

Progressive Radiology implements RoyalPay eligibility verification and payments software from Royal Solutions Group at its 15 imaging centers across Illinois, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC.

Anesthesia Associates NW implements Plexus Technology Group’s anesthesia information management system at its Salem Endoscopy Center, in Salem, OR.

Inbox Health adds Healthpac’s billing software to its billing and patient communication software.

People

EHR and practice management vendor Aesthetic Record names Tiphany Lopez (Galderma Laboratories) chief growth officer.

ONC promotes Steve Posnack to deputy national coordinator, effective August 19.

Telemedicine

Medical supply company Agile Medical partners with sleep care physician network Welltrinsic and sleep apnea testing company CleveMed to launch Sleep Care Online. The new telemedicine business will offer consultations; testing and post-testing analysis; and access to recommended equipment, coaching, and longer-term care.

MedHealth Urgent Care in Montgomery, AL launches a GoFundMe campaign in hopes of raising $1 million to fund new telemedicine services. Assuming its patients are already strapped for cash, which I assume most patients are these days, it seems like a counter-intuitive way to raise money for new technology.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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Contact us online.
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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.

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