News 2/12/18

Top News

OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma slashes its sales force to 200 and announces it will stop promotional opioid sales visits to physician practices. The move comes in the of wake of a federal investigation and 14 state-based lawsuits that claim the company deceptively marketed opioids to physicians.

An open letter on the company’s website assures readers it is an advocate of combatting the opioid epidemic through limiting prescriptions and improved utilization of PDMPs.

Webinars

February 13 (Tuesday) 1:00 ET. “Beyond Sliding Scale: Closing the Gap Between Current and Optimal Glycemic Management Practices.” Sponsor: Monarch Medical Technologies. Presenter: Laurel Fuqua, BSN, MSN, EVP/chief clinical officer, Monarch Medical Technologies. The glycemic management practices of many hospitals and physician staff differ from what is overwhelmingly recommended by experts and relevant specialty societies. As a result, they are missing an opportunity to improve the quality, safety, and cost of care for their patients with diabetes and hyperglycemia, which commonly represent more than 25 percent of their inpatient population. Hospitals that transition from sliding-scale insulin regimens to consistent use of basal / bolus / correction protocols are seeing reductions in hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, and costs. Making this shift more effective and efficient is the use of computerized insulin-dosing algorithms that can support dedicated staff using a systematic approach.

February 14 (Wednesday) 2:00 ET. “Time is Money: Aurora Health’s Journey of Implementing and Advancing Cost Accounting.” Sponsor: Strata Decision Technology. Presenter: Patrick Nolan, VP of finance, Aurora Health Care. Aurora Health Care’s implementation of Strata’s Decision Support module involved not only building an improved cost accounting model, but improving the process to engage a cross-functional team in cost development. It now has accurate, consistent cost data to support decision-making. Aurora’s next phase will be to use actual procedure and visit times to allocate costs. This presentation will provide a detailed view into both the implementation and future direction of the Strata Decision Support program within Aurora.

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

People

Shenandoah Community Health (WV) names Mike Hassing (Community Link Consulting) CEO.

Announcements and Implementations

Detroit-based Reliance ACO selects cloud-based population health management technology from The Garage.

Banyan integrates automated reputation management technology from BirdEye into its marketing services for providers.

LW Consulting adds Practice360’s registry for MIPS reporting to its line of services.

Practice management company Continuum Health offers RCM software and services from Gebbs Healthcare Solutions.

Precision Imaging Centers (FL) selects RadNet’s ERAD technology including an RIS, patient and physician portals, and communications capabilities.

Outcome Health will offer up CardioSmart educational content for patients from the American College of Cardiology through its proprietary digital devices in physician practices.

Government and Politics

President Trump signs into law a funding bill that includes the CHRONIC Care Act, which expands telemedicine access for ACOs and Medicare Advantage plans, and allows for reimbursement of telestroke care and home dialysis treatment.

Telemedicine

Texas-based Cohen Veterans Network rolls out mental telehealth services to post-9/11 veterans.

The local paper profiles the launch of two telemedicine companies by PCP Tony Ruffa, DO. Ruffa launched EUrgicare and Psychxpress after working with Gannon University’s Small Business Development Center, which helped him develop the websites and identify and reach target markets. He hopes to soon offer telemedicine services to local employers for $10 a month per employee.

Other

This article highlights shared medical appointments and the impact they are having on primary care for diabetic patients in rural and underserved areas. What stands out is the group support these programs offer, particularly for patients who lack social support systems so vital to improving and maintaining their health.

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones will investigate Aetna’s claims review process after it comes to light that the payer’s employed physicians don’t typically review patient medical records when deciding whether or not to approve care. The records review process came to light during the deposition of Jay Ken Iinuma, MD a former Aetna medical director called to share his experience as part of a lawsuit brought by a former Aetna member suing over denied coverage.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks will exhibit at the 2018 AAD Annual Meeting February 16-20 in San Diego.
• Healthwise exhibits at the 2018 South ACE User Group Conference in Raleigh, NC.

Blog Posts

• You can never be too rich or thin – but you can have too much data (Medicomp Systems)
• Patient Education can Eliminate 3 of Your Biggest Challenges (Healthwise)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 2/7/18

Top News

Athenahealth continues its leadership restructuring with the appointment of Jeff Immelt as chairman – a position previously held by CEO Jonathan Bush. Immelt, who helmed GE as chairman and CEO for 16 years, plans to purchase $1 million in Athenahealth stock, and invest in the company. Not one to rest on his laurels, Immelt has also joined venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates as a venture partner.

Webinars

February 13 (Tuesday) 1:00 ET. “Beyond Sliding Scale: Closing the Gap Between Current and Optimal Glycemic Management Practices.” Sponsor: Monarch Medical Technologies. Presenter: Laurel Fuqua, BSN, MSN, EVP/chief clinical officer, Monarch Medical Technologies. The glycemic management practices of many hospitals and physician staff differ from what is overwhelmingly recommended by experts and relevant specialty societies. As a result, they are missing an opportunity to improve the quality, safety, and cost of care for their patients with diabetes and hyperglycemia, which commonly represent more than 25 percent of their inpatient population. Hospitals that transition from sliding-scale insulin regimens to consistent use of basal / bolus / correction protocols are seeing reductions in hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, and costs. Making this shift more effective and efficient is the use of computerized insulin-dosing algorithms that can support dedicated staff using a systematic approach.

February 14 (Wednesday) 2:00 ET. “Time is Money: Aurora Health’s Journey of Implementing and Advancing Cost Accounting.” Sponsor: Strata Decision Technology. Presenter: Patrick Nolan, VP of finance, Aurora Health Care. Aurora Health Care’s implementation of Strata’s Decision Support module involved not only building an improved cost accounting model, but improving the process to engage a cross-functional team in cost development. It now has accurate, consistent cost data to support decision-making. Aurora’s next phase will be to use actual procedure and visit times to allocate costs. This presentation will provide a detailed view into both the implementation and future direction of the Strata Decision Support program within Aurora.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Former 21st Century Oncology patients vote to continue with their lawsuit over a 2015 data breach of over 2 million health records. The status of the lawsuit was in question pending the outcome of 21st Century Oncology’s bankruptcy proceedings. Those proceedings have concluded, leaving the company with a new management team and its $1.1 billion debt reduced by half. Patients involved in the lawsuit, which may become a class-action, may be entitled to nearly $22 million in damages.

People

CDI company Enjoin promotes James Fee, MD to CEO.

Caresyntax hires Paul Summerside, MD (Summerleigh Associates) as CMO.

Announcements and Implementations

UniNet Healthcare Network selects Innovaccer’s InData data aggregation tool to improve care coordination efforts for patients in Nebraska and Iowa.

VitalHub works with blockchain experts at the Hyperledger Foundation to develop the new WellLinc EHR for mental health providers.

Community Care of North Carolina will implement VirtualHealth’s population health management technology to better manage care for Medicaid and Medicare patients across 1,800 practices.

Government and Politics

ONC and CMS will hold a listening and feedback session on reducing provider burdens related to EHRs February 22.

Telemedicine

EWellness will put its Phzio PT technology on the blockchain in August. The announcement mentions that patients will be able to digitally confirm the completion of sessions, thus hopefully reducing patient fraud.

Research and Innovation

A late January study of family physician reaction to Meaningful Use offers a retrospective look at benefits versus burdens in an effort to help policy makers craft (or adjust) regulatory programs. Four of MU’s 31 criteria were designated as both high benefit and high burden:

• Recording electronic notes in patient records.
• Maintaining a current problem list with active diagnosis.
• Performing medication reconciliation when receiving a patient from another setting or care provider.
• Using CPOE for new or renewal medication orders.

The authors conclude that, “Roughly one-third of MU criteria were perceived as useful in less than 50 percent of patient encounters, which means that time is taken away from typical patients for these non-value-added tasks (i.e. system waste) that must be performed for compliance. Hence the policy becomes a burden on the quality of care that physician can provide to their patients. In total, these findings provide insight into CMS’ comment that MU has ‘lost the hearts and minds of the physicians.’"

Other

In Ohio, state medical board officials extend the medical licensing renewal deadline for 1,100 providers to February 14 after the bumpy mid-January addition of government administrative software to the state’s ELicense system. The new OH/ID system will be turned off to address several kinks that have left 400 providers unable to renew.

Sponsor Updates

• PerfectServe publishes a new customer success story, “Chicago-based ACO and managed care organization Advocate Medical Group (AMG) strengthens continuity of care for patients.”
• AdvancedMD will exhibit at the Association of Dermatology Administrators & Managers February 12-14 in San Diego.

Blog Posts

• Is Managed Services a good option for your healthcare organization? 5 FAQs (Nordic)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 2/5/18

Top News

Alliance Physical Therapy Management will acquire Agility Health’s US operations for $45 million. Agility manages 84 outpatient physical rehabilitation clinics in 16 states, and develops related PM software. The Canadian arm of its similarly named parent company operates 12 podiatry clinics and manufactures orthotics and prosthetics.

Webinars

February 13 (Tuesday) 1:00 ET. “Beyond Sliding Scale: Closing the Gap Between Current and Optimal Glycemic Management Practices.” Sponsor: Monarch Medical Technologies. Presenter: Laurel Fuqua, BSN, MSN, EVP/chief clinical officer, Monarch Medical Technologies. The glycemic management practices of many hospitals and physician staff differ from what is overwhelmingly recommended by experts and relevant specialty societies. As a result, they are missing an opportunity to improve the quality, safety, and cost of care for their patients with diabetes and hyperglycemia, which commonly represent more than 25 percent of their inpatient population. Hospitals that transition from sliding-scale insulin regimens to consistent use of basal / bolus / correction protocols are seeing reductions in hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, and costs. Making this shift more effective and efficient is the use of computerized insulin-dosing algorithms that can support dedicated staff using a systematic approach.

February 14 (Wednesday) 2:00 ET. “Time is Money: Aurora Health’s Journey of Implementing and Advancing Cost Accounting.” Sponsor: Strata Decision Technology. Presenter: Patrick Nolan, VP of finance, Aurora Health Care. Aurora Health Care’s implementation of Strata’s Decision Support module involved not only building an improved cost accounting model, but improving the process to engage a cross-functional team in cost development. It now has accurate, consistent cost data to support decision-making. Aurora’s next phase will be to use actual procedure and visit times to allocate costs. This presentation will provide a detailed view into both the implementation and future direction of the Strata Decision Support program within Aurora.

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

Announcements and Implementations

Golden Shore Medical Group (CA) enlists Apollo Medical Holdings subsidiary Network Medical Management to manage 100,000 health plan members across 17 clinics using AMH’s population health management technology.

Health Endeavors develops the One Touch Health Smart Record app, giving patients the ability to send and receive data – including care prompts – from their provider’s EHR via Direct messaging.

Sunwave adds a real-time communication tool to its software for substance abuse treatment providers.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Pediatrics-focused health IT company Office Practicum secures an undisclosed amount of funding from Pamlico Capital.

Digital health coaching company Pack Health will invest $2.9 million in a company expansion that will include renovating new office space in downtown Birmingham, AL and hiring another 175 employees over the next four years.

Oncology EHR vendor Elekta becomes a reseller of Equicare Health’s Active Patient Portal and cancer care coordination technology. The reseller agreement comes on the heels of Elekta’s agreement with IBM to offer Watson for Oncology as a complementary clinical decision support tool.

Government and Politics

CMS creates a table of its Alternative Payments Models based on their MIPS or Advanced designations. Ten of the 39 qualify as both.

Sponsor Updates

• The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association and Nordic help University of Colorado Health and Saint Francis Hospital – both Epic sites –  optimize quality measure reporting for stroke patients using the ASA’s Get with Guidelines-Stroke program.
• Medicomp Systems will host Medicomp U 2018 May 21-24 in Reston, VA.
• Nordic will exhibit at the HIMSS Wisconsin Dairyland Event February 8 in Madison, WI.

Blog Posts

• Physician Burnout? See how Speech Recognition Can Help! (NVoq)
• Who should maintain the EHR problem list? (Nordic)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 1/31/18

Top News

CDC Director Brenda Fitzgerald, MD resigns after reports surface she purchased stocks in a Japanese tobacco company after joining the organization. Fitzgerald’s pre-CDC investments, which she divested as a condition of job acceptance, included shares in five other tobacco companies (strange choices for a life-long healthcare professional) and in healthcare companies like Merck, Bayer, and Humana – all of which HHS deemed to be conflicts of interest. Fitzgerald’s financial dealings have led to her recusal from overseeing a number of high-profile CDC efforts including the opioid epidemic and IT. Her resignation deepens the black eye the Trump administration incurred when former HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD (no stranger to scrutinized investments himself) resigned last year after his use of taxpayer-funded private jets came to light.

CDC Principal Deputy Director Anne Schuchat, MD has taken on the role of acting CDC Director, a position she held for several months before Fitzgerald came to the agency.

Webinars

February 13 (Tuesday) 1:00 ET. “Beyond Sliding Scale: Closing the Gap Between Current and Optimal Glycemic Management Practices.” Sponsor: Monarch Medical Technologies. Presenter: Laurel Fuqua, BSN, MSN, EVP/chief clinical officer, Monarch Medical Technologies. The glycemic management practices of many hospitals and physician staff differ from what is overwhelmingly recommended by experts and relevant specialty societies. As a result, they are missing an opportunity to improve the quality, safety, and cost of care for their patients with diabetes and hyperglycemia, which commonly represent more than 25 percent of their inpatient population. Hospitals that transition from sliding-scale insulin regimens to consistent use of basal / bolus / correction protocols are seeing reductions in hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, and costs. Making this shift more effective and efficient is the use of computerized insulin-dosing algorithms that can support dedicated staff using a systematic approach.

February 14 (Wednesday) 2:00 ET. “Time is Money: Aurora Health’s Journey of Implementing and Advancing Cost Accounting.” Sponsor: Strata Decision Technology. Presenter: Patrick Nolan, VP of finance, Aurora Health Care. Aurora Health Care’s implementation of Strata’s Decision Support module involved not only building an improved cost accounting model, but improving the process to engage a cross-functional team in cost development. It now has accurate, consistent cost data to support decision-making. Aurora’s next phase will be to use actual procedure and visit times to allocate costs. This presentation will provide a detailed view into both the implementation and future direction of the Strata Decision Support program within Aurora.

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

Announcements and Implementations

Kareo’s Clinical EHR for independent physicians achieves 2015 Edition health IT certification.

InSync Healthcare Solutions adds Encoda’s BackOffice RCM platform to its line of cloud-based health IT software and services.

Drchrono integrates HDP Health’s clinical trial patient eligibility software with its tablet-based EHR.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Health IT collective Cambia Grove develops a directory of startups based in its home state of Washington, with plans to include companies in Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and British Columbia.

People

DocuTap names Robert Rueckl (Edementum) CFO and Jared Linsby (PointClear Solutions) SVP of sales.

Research and Innovation

A study involving Kaiser Permanente Southern California Medicare patients with one or more chronic diseases finds that text-based medication reminders increased refill rates by 14 percent.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks outperforms Allscripts, Athenahealth, Epic, and NextGen in physician satisfaction, according to a Reaction Data report.
• Intelligent Medical Objects CEO Frank Naeymi-Rad speaks at Harvard Medical School as part of its clinical informatics lecture series in Boston.

Blog Posts

• The Secret to Creating the Most Satisfied Patients (Healthwise)

HIStalk Practice Sponsors Listed in Best in KLAS 2018

Best in KLAS: Aprima – Small-Practice Ambulatory EMR/PM

Overall Physician Practice Suite: EClinicalWorks – #7

Overall IT Services: Nordic – #6

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 1/29/18

Top News

Surfside Non-Surgical Orthopedics (FL) files a class action complaint against Allscripts, saying the company’s ransomware-related outage caused it to lose revenue and spend money coordinating with patients. The practice says the industry has known about SamSam ransomware since March 2016 and Allscripts failed to take reasonable security measures to protect its systems.

Webinars

February 13 (Tuesday) 1:00 ET. “Beyond Sliding Scale: Closing the Gap Between Current and Optimal Glycemic Management Practices.” Sponsor: Monarch Medical Technologies. Presenter: Laurel Fuqua, BSN, MSN, EVP/chief clinical officer, Monarch Medical Technologies. The glycemic management practices of many hospitals and physician staff differ from what is overwhelmingly recommended by experts and relevant specialty societies. As a result, they are missing an opportunity to improve the quality, safety, and cost of care for their patients with diabetes and hyperglycemia, which commonly represent more than 25 percent of their inpatient population. Hospitals that transition from sliding-scale insulin regimens to consistent use of basal / bolus / correction protocols are seeing reductions in hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, and costs. Making this shift more effective and efficient is the use of computerized insulin-dosing algorithms that can support dedicated staff using a systematic approach.

February 14 (Wednesday) 2:00 ET. “Time is Money: Aurora Health’s Journey of Implementing and Advancing Cost Accounting.” Sponsor: Strata Decision Technology. Presenter: Patrick Nolan, VP of finance, Aurora Health Care. Aurora Health Care’s implementation of Strata’s Decision Support module involved not only building an improved cost accounting model, but improving the process to engage a cross-functional team in cost development. It now has accurate, consistent cost data to support decision-making. Aurora’s next phase will be to use actual procedure and visit times to allocate costs. This presentation will provide a detailed view into both the implementation and future direction of the Strata Decision Support program within Aurora.

Here’s the video from last week’s Versus webinar titled ““Location, Location, Location: How to Deploy RTLS Asset Management for Capital Savings.”

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

Announcements and Implementations

ClinicTracker adds performance measurement reports to its EHR for mental health and substance abuse treatment providers.

PeakMed, a chain of Colorado-based direct primary care facilities, will implement Drchrono’s EHR and text-based telemedicine capabilities from CirrusMD alongside its integration of behavioral health services. The company is in the process of expanding its flagship office in Colorado Springs, and adding additional locations later this year.

Drchrono adds “Holly” –  a text-based virtual scheduling assistant from Nimblr – to its EHR/PM software. (When will we see a male-named virtual assistant? Iron Man’s JARVIS makes it look – and sound – so cool.)

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Primary care-focused population health management company ConcertoHealth moves its headquarters from Irvine to Aliso Viejo, CA – part of a five-year growth plan that includes adding 120 FTEs over the next several months.

People

Scott Rongo (Active Network) joins EMDs in the new role of chief experience officer.

Sanjay Vaswani (Center for Corporate Innovation) joins Nuance’s Board of Directors.

Telemedicine

ClearHealth Quality Institute releases draft standards for its updated Telemedicine Accreditation Program, which it took over from the American Telemedicine Association last May. Comments are due February 9 so that the program can launch in March.

Government and Politics

President Trump and Vice President Pence swear in Alex Azar as the 24th HHS Secretary.

Research and Innovation

Researchers from HealthPartners Institute in Minneapolis develop an EHR-linked clinical decision support tool that, after a two-year trial at 20 primary care clinics, helps improve recognition and management of pediatric hypertension.

Other

Military analysts realize that a data-tracking map put together late last year by fitness tracker company Strava can be used to pinpoint military bases and operations by following the exercise routines of military personnel who use the Strava app.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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