News 2/11/19

Top News

Veritas Capital and Evergreen Coast Capital (an Elliott Management affiliate) wrap up their $5.7 billion acquisition of Athenahealth. As previously reported, Veritas Capital’s Virence Health business will combine with Athenahealth under the Athena name. Virence Chairman and CEO Bob Segert will lead the new business at Athena’s headquarters in Watertown, MA.

Webinars

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre for information.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

New Jersey-based Medical Transcription Billing Corp. rebrands to MTBC to reflect its broader health IT capabilities.

People

Patient engagement and management vendor HealthKos hires Mercedes Varas (Kipu Systems) as senior director of implementation and client experience.

Announcements and Implementations

Community Care of North Carolina implements VirtualHealth’s Helios care management technology.

Ophthalmic Consultants of Long Island (NY) joins the Healthix HIE. OCLI providers across 19 locations can now take advantage of Healthix’s real-time clinical alerts to stay on top of care events like admissions and discharges. OCLI is the first group of its kind to join the HIE.

NextGen Healthcare leverages Availity’s health information network to make patient pre-registration solutions like insurance and verification and cost estimates available to its customers in real-time.

Government and Politics

HHS proposes a new rule that would enable patients to access their health data from federally-funded providers at no cost and without delay. The rule, which would go into effect next year, would necessarily require providers and payers to adopt technology to make this real-time data-sharing possible. It would also give HHS the authority to call out organizations that don’t comply.

Research and Innovation

A Kareo survey finds that, due to the increasing complexity of patient payments and healthcare costs, nearly a third of providers surveyed expect to outsource their billing services within the next two years.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 2/6/19

Top News

The DoJ announces that Greenway Health will pay $57 million to settle allegations that include:

• Falsely obtaining 2014 Edition certification for its Prime Suite EHR by modifying test-run software that hid the fact that required clinical vocabulary was missing.
• Failing to correct an error in its 2011 Edition software that led users to unknowingly apply for Meaningful Use incentive payments that they were  not actually eligible for.
• Giving kickbacks to users who recommended Prime Suite to their colleagues.

In addition to the financial penalty, Greenway will be required for the next five years to abide by a Corporate Integrity Agreement that includes letting current users upgrade to other Greenway software for free, or migrate their data to another vendor without penalty or extra fees.

“In the last two years, my office has resolved two matters against leading EHR developers where we alleged significant fraudulent conduct,” said attorney Christina Nolan, referring to the $155 million EClinicalWorks settlement, which was similar in nature though larger in scope. “EHR companies should consider themselves on notice.”

Webinars

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre for information.

Announcements and Implementations

Simple Interact adds on-demand patient email and text messaging capabilities to its line of patient engagement and front office software.

Alliance Cancer Specialists (PA) selects patient relationship management technology from Navigating Cancer.

Petaluma Health Center (CA) selects Carium’s customized patient engagement and care coordination app.

Insight Imaging (CA) and Naugatuck Valley Radiology (CT) select cloud-based medical image management software from Ambra Health.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

PerfectServe acquires physician scheduling company Lightning Bolt Solutions and patient engagement vendor CareWire. Terms of the deals weren’t disclosed. PerfectServe acquired Telmediq earlier this year. The acquisitions are, according to PerfectServe CEO Terry Edward’s recent interview with Mr. HIStalk, part of the company’s broader strategy to “build the care team collaboration platform of the future.” You can read the rest of the interview here.

Population health management company EQHealth Solutions opens a new office in Little Rock, AR, to better accommodate its its work with the state. Several divisions within its Department of Human Services have selected medical management technology and services from EQHealth to assist them with prior authorizations, reviews, referrals, consultations, and overall support.

People

Fishers Direct Family Care founder Risheet Patel, MD joins direct primary care management company Freedom Healthworks as medical director.

Telemedicine

Online birth control and at-home testing company Nurx expands its services to Oregon. It now covers patients in 22 states plus Washington, DC.

Sponsor Updates

• Culbert Healthcare Solutions will exhibit at the WRUG Winter Conference February 14-15 in Las Vegas.

Blog Posts

• 4 reasons to connect with Nordic at HIMSS19 (Nordic)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 2/4/19

Top News

Health IT integration vendor Bridge Connector will move from Miami to expanded office space in Nashville, TN and expects to hire 50 more employees later this year – essentially doubling its workforce. It has raised $10 million since launching two years ago.

Webinars

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre for information.

Announcements and Implementations

CitiusTech announces GA of BIC-Audit, which leverages the company’s BI-Clinical software to help providers run audits on demand and ensure compliance with quality measurements.

Florida Orthopaedic Institute integrates DocASAP’s patient matching, navigation, and scheduling software with its GE Centricity EHR and practice management system across its nine locations.

North Carolina-based ACO Triad HealthCare Network selects referral management software from Proficient Health to better enable communication and collaboration between providers at over 300 practices.

Digital Health Solutions develops a screening module within its tablet-based Child Health Improvement through Computer Automation (CHICA) software to help pediatricians better assess a patient’s risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. CHICA was developed by IU School of Medicine professor Stephen Downs, MD through the university’s Innovation and Commercialization Office.

Martin’s Point Health Care implements email and file protection software, as well as secure data retention and archiving technology, from Egress. Martin’s Point serves military families and Medicare Advantage members in seven facilities in Maine and New Hampshire.

Telemedicine

HeyDoctor adds opioid overdose prevention medication Naloxone to its direct-to-consumer telemedicine services.

Workit Health secures Series A funding in a round led by Blue Cross Blue Shield Venture Partners that it will use to scale its online addiction treatment service, which includes in-person care, telemedicine, and personalized online recovery courses.

Other

Pharmacists at Lake Odessa Pharmacy in Lansing, MI go above and beyond during last week’s polar vortex, delivering medications via snowmobile to snowbound patients who needed refills. Temperatures in Lansing got down to 4 below zero with wind chills hovering between minus 25 and minus 40. “We’re so grateful that we live in a small community and they’ll do things like that,” said one customer. “We were surprised when we found out and we’re thankful.”

Sponsor Updates

Blog Posts

• Successful Patient Engagement Strategies (EClinicalWorks)
• Powering Patient Relationships – How We Can Help People Prepare for the Future and Still Hope for the Best (Healthwise)
• Better Technology for the Patient’s Sake (EClinicalWorks)
• The Changing Role of the CIO: The Patient Experience (Culbert Healthcare Solutions)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 1/30/19

Top News

The 42 physicians breaking away from Novant Health announce their intent to join Holston Medical Group, a physician-owned chain of practices with locations in Tennessee and Virginia, that will expand into the Charlotte area. The newly-minted HMG MDs will experience a bit of a health IT learning curve as they transition from Novant’s Epic system to HMG’s Allscripts software.

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre for information.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Bloomberg profiles Gobiquity, a Nashville-based startup that has developed an eye-screening app for pediatricians. The company has raised $20 million since launching in 2013 from investors like Salesforce founder Marc Benioff. Its GoCheck app has helped 4,000 pediatricians across the country screen nearly 1 million kids – all without screening devices that typically cost upwards of $20,000. The app uses proprietary software to analyze eye photos for signs of abnormalities, and then sends that analysis to a patient’s EHR. An adult version of the app is in the works.

People

Nagi Prabhu (Icertis) joins Solutionreach as chief product officer.

Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative President Paul Grundy, MD (HealthTeamWorks) joins Innovaccer as chief transformation officer.

Other

Faced with dwindling federal grants, Metro Inclusive Health (FL) includes co-working and event space in its renovated headquarters as a way to test out new revenue streams. The four-facility nonprofit plans to launch a telemedicine app and apply for FQHC status later this year.

In other non-traditional revenue-stream news, Walgreens and CVS add dental services to select locations as they continue to try out ways to become one-stop healthcare shops, and stave off the implications of Amazon’s direct-to-consumer healthcare takeover. In an effort to attract more seniors, Walgreens has added an Aspen Dental practice to one of its Florida stores, while CVS has partnered with invisible aligner company SmileDirectClub.   

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 1/28/19

Top News

A study of over 70,000 adults with and without a designated primary care doctor finds that those who do identify as having primary care more high-value care, less low-value care, and better patient experiences. Perhaps even more interesting is the fact that 25 percent of surveyed adults didn’t take advantage of primary care services even though they had health insurance coverage. That finding, according to the study’s authors, point to a lack of primary care access, physician shortages, and the propensity of younger patients to seek care outside of the traditional primary care business model – all signs that point to the value technology could play in connecting more adults with primary care services.

Webinars

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre for information.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Seattle-based startup Vyrty raises $3 million to scale a its mobile Sync.MD PHR, which it claims gives patients the ability to download their health data from any source and share it with their providers. I  have to admit I’m surprised this type of company is getting funding given Apple’s increasingly wide health record app reach, not to mention the already saturated EHR/PHR market. Granted, technology like Sync.MD might be appealing to Android users. The company has also developed a health record card that can be read by providers using a special card reader.

Global investment company Investcorp acquires practice management company Health Plus Management for an undisclosed amount. Health Plus CEO Stuart Blumberg, who founded the company in 1994, will remain with the business.

CNBC profiles 98point6, an on-demand primary care service that offers patients access to care via chatbot and messaging for a monthly fee. The company has raised $86 million since launching in 2015, and recently announced its availability to patients in all 50 states. The leadership team includes former Amazon Prime head Rob Schwietzer and family planning software developer Robbie Cape. Its bread and butter thus far seems to be contracts with self-insured employers like Seattle Children’s Hospital and

People

EHR and practice management company CentralReach names Cheryl Michael (Envera Health) chief product officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Northern Virginia Pulmonary and Critical Care Associates selects EHR and practice management software from TSI Healthcare, plus cloud-hosting services, and help with MIPS.

Government and Politics

CMS launches the What’s Covered Medicare app to give members easier access to program resources, especially coverage information. The app is part of the government’s EMedicare initiative, which launched last year as a set of digital tools that give patients better insight into their Medicare coverage and healthcare costs.

Other

New York City-based direct primary care company Parsley Health opens its first stand-alone clinic using a design aesthetic based on principles that mimic nature. The calming effect is grounded in science: Research shows that natural references within a space can lower heart rate and blood pressure. LED lights are used instead of fluorescents, which produce slight flickers that can be irritating to the nervous system and the cause of headaches. Even the clinic’s hallways, which mimic nature, are designed to reduce stress, improve comfort, and provide a greater sense of safety. The company, which also operates three clinics inside of WeWork co-working offices, also plans to open a clinic in Los Angeles.

Sponsor Updates

Blog Posts

• Why We’re Fixing EHRs Where They Hurt at HIMSS19 (Medicomp Systems)
• How to capture positive online reviews for your practice (PerfectServe)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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