News 4/25/17

Top News

Zoom Health – the insurance arm of Portland, OR-based ZoomCare – decides to close up shop after state insurance regulators deem it financially unstable. ZoomCare clinics, which have made news over the last several years for their unwillingness to accept Medicare and Medicaid patients, remain unaffected. Zoom Health is the third payer in the state to exit the market since the ACA became law in 2010.

Webinars

April 26 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “SSM Integrated Health Technologies Clinical Data Migration: Functional and Technical Considerations.” Sponsored by Galen Healthcare Solutions. Presenters: Sandy Winklemann, MHA, RHIA, project manager, SSM Integration Health Technologies; Tyler Mawyer, MHA, managing consultant, Galen Healthcare Solutions; Kavon Kaboli, MPH, senior consultant, Galen Healthcare Solutions. GE Centricity and Meditech to Epic EHR transition. Join us for a complimentary webinar as present the decisions that are important to consider when performing a clinical data migration from the point of view of  the healthcare organization program manager, the clinical analyst, and the technical implementation team. Our expert panel will survey data migration considerations, best practices, and lessons learned. The webinar will present a unique client perspective, offering insight into considerations surrounding staffing, clinical mapping, legacy application support, and validation and testing.

April 28 (Friday) 1:00 ET. “3 Secrets to Leadership Success for Women in Health IT.” Sponsored by HIStalk. Presenters: Nancy Ham, CEO, WebPT; Liz Johnson, MS, FAAN, FCHIME, FHIMSS, CHCIO, RN-BC CIO, Acute Care Hospitals & Applied Clinical Informatics – Tenet Healthcare. Join long-time C-level executives Liz Johnson and Nancy Ham as they share insights from nearly three decades of navigating successful healthcare careers, share strategies for empowering colleagues to pursue leadership opportunities, and discuss building diverse executive teams. This webinar is geared toward female managers and leaders in healthcare IT seeking to further develop their professional careers. It’s also intended for colleagues, executives, and HR personnel who are looking to employ supportive techniques that ensure diversity in the workplace.

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

Announcements and Implementations

Medsphere Systems adds a scheduling tool to its ChartLogic EHR for physician practices and OpenVista EHR for hospitals.

Allscripts announces that its EChart Courier service has helped physician practices digitally exchange 10 million medical records with payers since becoming part of the company’s EHR in 2015..

Nonprofit Cumberland County CommuniCare (NC) implements Mediware’s AlphaFlex EHR to better enable its behavioral health services.

Square Care, a physician-owned IPA and management company based in Long Island, NY, rolls out Athenahealth technologies at its 20 locations.

EHR vendor ISalus Healthcare will offer RCM services from AXO HMS.

Telemedicine

The American Telemedicine Association’s annual conference concludes in Orlando. Looking through the tweet stream, I’m surprised no one brought up MDLive’s class-action lawsuit related to patient privacy. As a former MDLive user, I’m wondering if I’ll get paperwork in the mail alerting me to the legal wranglings.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Philadelphia-based HealthVerity raises $10 million in a Series B round led by Flare Capital Partners and Greycroft Partners. The company will likely use the funds to further develop its new Web-based Marketplace, which aggregates de-identified health data for research and marketing purposes.

Government and Politics

The problem with paper: The Center for Children’s Digestive Health (GA) pays HHS a $31,000 HIPAA fine, incurred after it sent PHI to document storage company FileFax without first requiring the company sign a business associate agreement. The matter came to light while OCR was investigating FileFax’s failure to properly dispose of unwanted documents (think unlocked dumpsters instead of shredders).

Research and Innovation

A PwC report on consumer receptivity to AI finds that the majority of its 2,500 survey takers believe it will benefit mankind in a number of ways – though they scale back their enthusiasm for healthcare-related advances. Just 22 percent of respondents – the lowest percentage across 10 categories – believe AI will replace physicians in the next five years. Other findings include:

• Over 40 percent feel AI will expand access to medical services for low-income patients
• Fifty seven-percent would share data to further medical breakthroughs. (Sixty-two percent would so to help relieve local traffic.)
• Seventy-seven percent, however, prefer an in-person doctor’s visit to a robotic smart kit-assisted assessment performed at home.

Other

Independent physicians in Vermont band together to form a state chapter of the national Association of Independent Doctors. Over the past year and a half the state has seen 20 independent MDs leave Vermont, sell their practices to a health system, or opt for hospital or community health center employment. A chapter spokesperson believes the new chapter will help connect Vermont’s independent physicians “with the independent doctors across the country who are dealing with the same sorts of issues, and it really helps us get our message out more nationally about the value of independent practices.” Vermont will become the AID’s fifth chapter.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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

News 4/24/17

Top News

Remote monitoring company CardioNet will pay $2.5 million to settle an HHS fine related to an unsecured, PHI-containing laptop stolen from an employee’s car in 2012 and the company’s lack of follow up in instituting corrective actions. It is the first company of its kind to incur such a fine.

Webinars

April 26 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “SSM Integrated Health Technologies Clinical Data Migration: Functional and Technical Considerations.” Sponsored by Galen Healthcare Solutions. Presenters: Sandy Winklemann, MHA, RHIA, project manager, SSM Integration Health Technologies; Tyler Mawyer, MHA, managing consultant, Galen Healthcare Solutions; Kavon Kaboli, MPH, senior consultant, Galen Healthcare Solutions. GE Centricity and Meditech to Epic EHR transition. Join us for a complimentary webinar as present the decisions that are important to consider when performing a clinical data migration from the point of view of  the healthcare organization program manager, the clinical analyst, and the technical implementation team. Our expert panel will survey data migration considerations, best practices, and lessons learned. The webinar will present a unique client perspective, offering insight into considerations surrounding staffing, clinical mapping, legacy application support, and validation and testing.

April 28 (Friday) 1:00 ET. “3 Secrets to Leadership Success for Women in Health IT.” Sponsored by HIStalk. Presenters: Nancy Ham, CEO, WebPT; Liz Johnson, MS, FAAN, FCHIME, FHIMSS, CHCIO, RN-BC CIO, Acute Care Hospitals & Applied Clinical Informatics – Tenet Healthcare. Join long-time C-level executives Liz Johnson and Nancy Ham as they share insights from nearly three decades of navigating successful healthcare careers, share strategies for empowering colleagues to pursue leadership opportunities, and discuss building diverse executive teams. This webinar is geared toward female managers and leaders in healthcare IT seeking to further develop their professional careers. It’s also intended for colleagues, executives, and HR personnel who are looking to employ supportive techniques that ensure diversity in the workplace.

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

Announcements and Implementations

DiagnosisAI develops a medical reference skill for Amazon’s Alexa that gives users the ability to ask for and receive medical advice based on physician-curated content.

Shin Imaging Center implements ERad’s RIS, PACS, speech recognition, communications, and patient and physician portal technology at its two centers in California. It will roll out the same functionalities at a third site expected to open later this year.

HealthCost launches a Web-based marketplace that gives physicians the ability to set prices for their outpatient services, and patients the ability to comparison shop for those services.

Jackson Clinics, a chain of 15 facilities in Northern Virginia, agrees to a limited roll out of Phzio home physical therapy technology from EWellness. 

Telemedicine

Perhaps looking to take advantage of the hype cycle surrounding the American Telemedicine Association’s annual conference taking place this week in Orlando, Austin-based startup Medici announces that its secure messaging app is now available in all 50 states. Medici’s technology, which includes video-based communication, is slightly different from traditional telemedicine platforms in that it gives patients the ability to invite their providers into the Medici network – a plus if you’re looking to dive into telemedicine but don’t want to seek treatment from a total stranger.

Salus Telehealth adds 24/7 urgent care consults to its VideoMedicine service.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s virtual consult business launches AASM Sleep Select, which seems only slightly different from its flagship platform in that it offers providers simpler technology options for quicker integration into their practices.

People

Healthcare compliance and credentialing company Symplr hires Kyle Allain (API Healthcare) to lead its new Cactus Provider Management operation. Symplr and Cactus Software merged several weeks ago.

Government and Politics

HHS will soon create its own cybersecurity center. Based on the Dept. of Homeland Security’s National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, the HHS version will look to get off the ground sometime in June and will seek to educate stakeholders about the risks of using mobile apps and sharing resultant data. “[T]here’s so much noise out there about cyber threats to security and privacy,” says HHS CISO Chris Wlaschin, who explains that the new center will “analyze those and deliver best practices and the two or three things that a small provider, a small office, a doc in a box can do to protect his patient’s privacy and information security around those systems.”

Other

The Carter Center will work with Liberian government officials to expand access to mental healthcare for Liberians affected by the Ebola outbreak, which killed over 11,000 in West Africa between 2014 and 2016. “After the civil war, people didn’t go through enough counseling,” explains Francis Kateh, MD Liberia’s deputy health minister and CMO. “You have people already going through post-traumatic depression. Then Ebola came, and that built on what was already going on.” It seems to me that some of the money being poured into showcasing innovations at the ATA conference this week could be diverted to helping virtually care for the mental health issues of Liberia’s 4.2 million people, including 4,000 Ebola survivors.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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

Population Health Management Weekly Wrap Up 4/23/17

The University of Vermont Health Network promotes Stephen Leffler, MD as chief population health and quality officer.

HealthPartners rolls out Welltok’s personalized healthcare incentive plan to individual and small group plan members this month. It will offer the technology to its commercial large group markets next year.

Cynthia Yannias (Better Health Network) joins eQHealth as state director, Illinois, government operations.

Allen Kemp, MD (Centura Health Physician Group) joins Erdman’s Board of Directors.

Caradigm announces that it will reduce its workforce as part of a reorganization that it hopes will streamline operations. The company went through similar motions last fall, reorganizing product teams and its Services organization.

Prime Healthcare ACO (CA) implements population health analytics and benchmarking from Persivia to assist its 70 practices with 2016 reporting requirements.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System partners with Independence Blue Cross in a care coordination and data sharing deal – part of the Independence Facilitated Health Networks model – that both hope will decrease costs and improve care quality. The partnership, which begins July 1, includes:

• Shared accountability; for example, PHS will offer Independence members a 30-day no-readmissions guarantee for all inpatient services.
• Real-time exchange of EHR and claims data for better decision-making.
• Collaborative assessments including on-site visitations from Independence clinical teams and quarterly meetings for benchmark analyses.

Sponsor Updates

• Intelligent Medical Objects will exhibit at the European Federation for Medical Informatics meeting April 24-26 in Manchester, England.

Blog Posts

• The role of secure communications in your clinical integration strategy (PerfectServe)
• We Are Not a Bank: Changing the Payment Culture (Aprima Medical Software)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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

News 4/20/17

Top News

HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD announces that HHS will provide $485 million in 21st Century Cures Act-funded grants to all 50 states in an effort to help them combat the opioid epidemic. Distributed through SAMSHA, the funding will help public health officials in each state provide training, invest in technology, support PDMPs, and establish treatment and prevention programs. Price added that a further $500 million will be distributed next year based on the effectiveness of this year’s round of funding.

Webinars

April 26 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “SSM Integrated Health Technologies Clinical Data Migration: Functional and Technical Considerations.” Sponsored by Galen Healthcare Solutions. Presenters: Sandy Winklemann, MHA, RHIA, project manager, SSM Integration Health Technologies; Tyler Mawyer, MHA, managing consultant, Galen Healthcare Solutions; Kavon Kaboli, MPH, senior consultant, Galen Healthcare Solutions. GE Centricity and Meditech to Epic EHR transition. Join us for a complimentary webinar as present the decisions that are important to consider when performing a clinical data migration from the point of view of  the healthcare organization program manager, the clinical analyst, and the technical implementation team. Our expert panel will survey data migration considerations, best practices, and lessons learned. The webinar will present a unique client perspective, offering insight into considerations surrounding staffing, clinical mapping, legacy application support, and validation and testing.

April 28 (Friday) 1:00 ET. “3 Secrets to Leadership Success for Women in Health IT.” Sponsored by HIStalk. Presenters: Nancy Ham, CEO, WebPT; Liz Johnson, MS, FAAN, FCHIME, FHIMSS, CHCIO, RN-BC CIO, Acute Care Hospitals & Applied Clinical Informatics – Tenet Healthcare. Join long-time C-level executives Liz Johnson and Nancy Ham as they share insights from nearly three decades of navigating successful healthcare careers, share strategies for empowering colleagues to pursue leadership opportunities, and discuss building diverse executive teams. This webinar is geared toward female managers and leaders in healthcare IT seeking to further develop their professional careers. It’s also intended for colleagues, executives, and HR personnel who are looking to employ supportive techniques that ensure diversity in the workplace.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Arizona Health-e Connection rebrands to become Health Current. The statewide HIE, which launched in 2007, has seen its participants grow to over 300 organizations, including 80 focused on behavioral health and newer entities representing first responders, ACOs, correction health, and long-term care.

Medical transport and technology startup Circulation opens a new call center to accommodate its continued growth. Since opening last fall, the Uber-partnered company has signed on 700 healthcare facilities in 25 states, and claims a 95-percent rate for on-time appointment arrivals.

People

Nina Antoniotti (Southern Illinois University School of Medicine) joins SnapMD’s clinical advisory board.

The California Academy of Family Physicians elects Michelle Quiogue, MD (Southern California Permanente Medical Group) president.

Elaine Comeau,RN (Philips Healthcare) joins virtual nursing care company PointNurse as CEO. Consultant Nannette Spurrier has joined the company’s advisory board.

Announcements and Implementations

Advanced Diagnostic Imaging Center implements ERAD’s RIS, PACS, and speech-recognition technology. The Orangeburg, SC-based center plans to implement the company’s patient and physician portals within the next few weeks.

Resurgens Orthopaedics (GA) will replace its EHR with Athenahealth technology. It is the largest medical group of its kind in Georgia, with 100 physicians across 21 locations.

Telemedicine

MobilDrTech launches an online store for telemedicine equipment.

A Utah-based resident files a $5 million class-action lawsuit in a Florida court against MDLive for violating patient privacy. The lawsuit contends that the company captured screenshots of virtual consults without telling patients, and then transmitted them to a third-party IT company tasked with maintaining the company’s mobile app. The suit also claims MDLive places no restrictions on who can access the images.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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

News 4/19/17

Top News

The State of Michigan successfully updates the Michigan Automated Prescription System, which enables prescribers to see which controlled substances have been prescribed to patients. New PDMP features include data-sharing between states, a decrease in look-up time from 10 minutes to a few seconds, and real-time data uploads. The upgrade is the result of a deal the state made with Appriss Health last fall that called for an overhaul of the MAP system. Implementation of the new technology took six months.

Webinars

April 26 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “SSM Integrated Health Technologies Clinical Data Migration: Functional and Technical Considerations.” Sponsored by Galen Healthcare Solutions. Presenters: Sandy Winklemann, MHA, RHIA, project manager, SSM Integration Health Technologies; Tyler Mawyer, MHA, managing consultant, Galen Healthcare Solutions; Kavon Kaboli, MPH, senior consultant, Galen Healthcare Solutions. GE Centricity and Meditech to Epic EHR transition. Join us for a complimentary webinar as present the decisions that are important to consider when performing a clinical data migration from the point of view of  the healthcare organization program manager, the clinical analyst, and the technical implementation team. Our expert panel will survey data migration considerations, best practices, and lessons learned. The webinar will present a unique client perspective, offering insight into considerations surrounding staffing, clinical mapping, legacy application support, and validation and testing.

April 28 (Friday) 1:00 ET. “3 Secrets to Leadership Success for Women in Health IT.” Sponsored by HIStalk. Presenters: Nancy Ham, CEO, WebPT; Liz Johnson, MS, FAAN, FCHIME, FHIMSS, CHCIO, RN-BC CIO, Acute Care Hospitals & Applied Clinical Informatics – Tenet Healthcare. Join long-time C-level executives Liz Johnson and Nancy Ham as they share insights from nearly three decades of navigating successful healthcare careers, share strategies for empowering colleagues to pursue leadership opportunities, and discuss building diverse executive teams. This webinar is geared toward female managers and leaders in healthcare IT seeking to further develop their professional careers. It’s also intended for colleagues, executives, and HR personnel who are looking to employ supportive techniques that ensure diversity in the workplace.

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

Announcements and Implementations

Practice EHR announces e-prescribing capabilities for controlled substances.

Melville, NY-based Sequel Systems, developer of the SequelMed EHR, makes a similar announcement.

Outcome Health will serve up educational patient content from the American Urological Association to AUA-member practices via its digital content technologies, which include anatomy boards, educational tablets, and mobile connectivity.

Integrated Medical Services, a multispecialty group with 50 locations across Phoenix, AZ, signs on for RCM software and services from Zotec Partners.

In an effort to better serve home healthcare providers, CareTime adds EHR and PM capabilities from InSync Healthcare Solutions to its electronic visit verification software.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Patient-provider matching tech company Grand Rounds opens its first office on the East Coast. The San Francisco-based business, which targets its solution to employers, expects to bring 150 jobs to the new 22,000 square-feet facility in Lewiston, ME over the next five years. Local employer Dead River Co. has signed up for its services.

People

Amazing Charts founder Jon Bertman, MD joins MTBC to lead the final development and launch of the company’s new AI-powered TalkEHR. Bertman also seems to still be involved with AfraidtoAsk.com, a website he launched in 1996 that promises to provide “detailed and personal information on topics that most other healthcare websites are afraid to show.”

Telemedicine

San Francisco-based PlushCare rolls out a homegrown EHR to its 50 physicians providing direct-to-consumer telemedicine services in 16 states. The new Lemur EHR includes features powered by Surescripts, Eligible, and Elsevier.

Other

Phys.org profiles the ways in which disabled gamers are creating special controllers to help them overcome the challenges that many video games present, including the need to quickly and repeatedly press buttons, and the need to keep up with a game’s overall pace. One gamer – paralyzed from the neck down – has invented an on-screen keyboard that he controls with head motions via a specially designed “headmouse.” Disabled gamers interviewed for the article emphasize that games are a reminder that “you need to fight to succeed, especially us with difficult diagnoses.”

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks will exhibit at the MPCA Spring Symposium April 19-20 in Helena, MT.

Blog Posts

• Consulting-Life Balance (Culbert Healthcare Solutions)
• Extend Your Reach: Care Coordination for Chronic Care Patients (Healthwise)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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