News 3/23/17

Top News

Milwaukee, Portland, and Minneapolis take the top spots for shortest wait times in the latest Vitals report. The study shows that, on average, a patient spends 18 minutes and 35 seconds waiting to see a physician – a decrease of over a minute compared to 2016. Wait times have decreased 13 percent since the annual study launched in 2009. The study’s authors surmise that wait times will continue to decrease as options like telemedicine and urgent care facilities continue to proliferate.

Webinars

March 29 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “Improving patient outcomes with smartphones: UW Medicine Valley Medical Center’s story.” Sponsored by Voalte. Presenters: James Jones, MBA, MSN, VP of patient care services and nursing operations, UW Medicine Valley Medical Center; Wayne Manuel, MBA, SVP of strategic services, UW Medicine Valley Medical Center. UW Medicine Valley Medical Center dramatically improved patient outcomes after moving to a smartphone-based platform for clinical communication and alarm and alert notification. Before-and-after analysis shows a reduction in hospital-acquired pressure ulcers and skin integrity events, fall and slip events, and medication errors. By limiting overhead paging, the medical center also created a calmer, quieter environment and improved engagement among nursing and hospitalists. Hospital executives will describe their experience and vision for the future in addressing quality, cost, and the patient-caregiver experience.

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.

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

Announcements and Implementations

Santa Monica, CA-based Casetabs develops a surgery coordination app for Iphone users, especially ideal for physician practices, ambulatory surgery centers, and hospitals that want to coordinate care amongst caregivers, send and receive real-time patient updates, and reduce cancellations and delays.

Zynx Health will integrate Healthwise patient engagement and educational resources with each step of its care plans, giving providers a more efficient way to pull such content from their EHRs.

People

Sam Karam (Optum) joins AMC Health as CTO.

Endotronix hires Mike Dilworth (Nanosphere) as VP of manufacturing and operations, Katrin Leadley, MD (HeartWare) as CMO, and Richard Powers (CardioMEMS) as CIO. The Woodridge, IL-based company has developed cloud-based technology and sensors to help providers and patients detect the onset of heart failure.

Senior-focused primary care medical, management, and tech company ChenMed hires George Wheeler (Bon Secours Health System) as market president for JenCare Senior Medical Center (VA), Donald Trexler (Acadia General Hospital) as market president for JenCare Louisiana, Jim Whitling (Alcon) as chief of HR, and Gaurov Dayal, MD (Lumeris) as EVP, chief of strategic growth.

Government and Politics

The House vote to repeal and replace the ACA is postponed due to a lack of Republican support.

Other

The South Florida Business Journal looks at the waves Miami-based EZLabz is making in the world of mobile lab testing. Launched in 2015 by Physicians Group of South Florida MDs Jordan Hackmeier and Joel Lusky, the company is working to offer local physicians and their patients a cheaper and less time-consuming alternative to blood work done in house or by more well-established companies like Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp. It added an online platform to its mobile in-office services this week. Its founders have yet to draw salaries; instead, they are pouring revenue back into the company in hopes of securing additional investment and launching a mobile app.

The local news profiles the innovative yet tech-less ways in which one local pediatrician is teaching her patients and their parents some pretty basic concepts about good nutrition. Nimali Fernando, MD started Yum Pediatrics (VA) in 2014 to offer traditional healthcare appointments and cooking classes via her Doctor Yum nonprofit. “This way,” she says, “I can see patients on one side of the building or go into the kitchen side and participate in whatever is happening. It’s proven to be a really interesting way of practicing pediatrics, but it’s absolutely different and fun every day.” 

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Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 3/22/17

Top News

GE Healthcare CEO John Flannery says the company will double its workforce of 5,000 software engineers within the next several years as part of a previously announced broader plan to invest $500 million in software talent and development. Flannery says the engineers will most likely be put to work making the company’s Predix industrial cloud platform more medical-app friendly. He added that, “We’ll be hiring software engineers, data analysts, imaging analysts, to develop our own apps, but also to develop the platform and the capability of the platform to host hundreds of other applications.”

Webinars

March 29 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “Improving patient outcomes with smartphones: UW Medicine Valley Medical Center’s story.” Sponsored by Voalte. Presenters: James Jones, MBA, MSN, VP of patient care services and nursing operations, UW Medicine Valley Medical Center; Wayne Manuel, MBA, SVP of strategic services, UW Medicine Valley Medical Center. UW Medicine Valley Medical Center dramatically improved patient outcomes after moving to a smartphone-based platform for clinical communication and alarm and alert notification. Before-and-after analysis shows a reduction in hospital-acquired pressure ulcers and skin integrity events, fall and slip events, and medication errors. By limiting overhead paging, the medical center also created a calmer, quieter environment and improved engagement among nursing and hospitalists. Hospital executives will describe their experience and vision for the future in addressing quality, cost, and the patient-caregiver experience.

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.

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

Announcements and Implementations

CareWire adds predictive analytics from Connance – including behavioral and socio-demographic data – to its text-based appointment reminder and patient engagement platform.

The Center for Family and Child Enrichment (FL) selects TenEleven Group’s behavioral health EHR to streamline administrative functions and better serve families in Miami-Dade County.

Entrada adds enterprise mobile scribing capabilities to its physician documentation solution, giving physicians EHR-friendly options based on their note-taking preference in one solution.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

HIE image-exchange and clinical referral technology vendor EHealth Technologies will invest $310,000 in expanding its headquarters in West Henrietta, NY by nearly 12,000 square feet. It also plans to hire an additional 84 staffers over the next three years.

Telemedicine

Salus Telehealth partners with Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors to offer military family members virtual grief counseling at no cost.

Austin Regional Clinic (TX) partners with local telemedicine company EMD Access to launch virtual urgent-care consult services in May. It is in the process of developing a similar offering for patients with chronic conditions. ARC, which has 20 locations, seems to be on a bit of a health IT buying spree: It added evidence-based clinical guideline support from Wolters Kluwer to its Epic HER earlier this month.

People

Richard Moran (Menlo College) joins VideoKall’s Board of Directors. The Potomac, MD-based company is preparing to launch a line of virtual consult kiosks that seem similar in scope to HealthSpot, which, as readers may recall, sold its assets to Rite-Aid for $1.5 million after shutting down for unspecified reasons last summer. None of the company’s three presumably full-time employees ties to healthcare, which makes me wonder how well the company will fare.

Government and Politics

My “Government Faves” Twitter list has been relatively quiet since the Trump Administration took over (with the exception of one former CMS staffer.) Eight tweets in, CMS Administrator Seema Verma seems to be getting the hang of the social media tool.

Sponsor Updates

• CompuGroup Medical will exhibit at CLMA KnowledgeLab 2017 March 26-29 in Nashville.
• EClinicalWorks will exhibit at AMGA March 22-25 in Grapevine, TX.
• Healthwise exhibits at Ehealth Initiative’s annual conference March 21-22 in Washington, DC.

Blog Posts

• 4 Ways Independent Practices can Thrive with Streamlined Workflow (AdvancedMD)
• The Perfect Storm (Culbert Healthcare Solutions)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 3/21/17

Top News

Former Rep. John Fleming, MD (R-LA) will join HHS in the new role of deputy assistant secretary for health technology at an unspecified date. The job will effectively put him at the head of ONC (which is facing an uncertain organizational future in light of potential budget cuts) and in good company with former National Coordinators Vindell Washington, MD and Karen DeSalvo, MD – both natives of Louisiana. Fun fact: Fleming is a third-degree black belt, and was one of the first family physicians in his area to offer evening and weekend hours to better accommodate patient schedules.

Webinars

March 29 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “Improving patient outcomes with smartphones: UW Medicine Valley Medical Center’s story.” Sponsored by Voalte. Presenters: James Jones, MBA, MSN, VP of patient care services and nursing operations, UW Medicine Valley Medical Center; Wayne Manuel, MBA, SVP of strategic services, UW Medicine Valley Medical Center. UW Medicine Valley Medical Center dramatically improved patient outcomes after moving to a smartphone-based platform for clinical communication and alarm and alert notification. Before-and-after analysis shows a reduction in hospital-acquired pressure ulcers and skin integrity events, fall and slip events, and medication errors. By limiting overhead paging, the medical center also created a calmer, quieter environment and improved engagement among nursing and hospitalists. Hospital executives will describe their experience and vision for the future in addressing quality, cost, and the patient-caregiver experience.

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

Announcements and Implementations

Specialty care technology company Integra Connect develops a set of services – including patient risk analysis and stratification, and real-time care coordination and management – for oncology practices participating in the CMS Oncology Care Management program.

Gainesville Radiology Group (GA) extends its PM and RCM agreement with Zotec Partners.

HBI Solutions enlists health IT services firm J2 Interactive to assist its predictive analytics end users with implementation, adoption, and training.

People

The Massachusetts Academy of Family Physicians elects Flora Sadri-Azarbayejani, DO president.

Telemedicine

Navigating Cancer adds telemedicine and remote-monitoring capabilities to its Care Management technology for oncologists.

Research and Innovation

WebMD and the Scripps Translational Science Institute embark on a pregnancy study using WebMD’s Pregnancy app to better understand contributing factors to a healthy pregnancy. Using Apple’s ResearchKit software, study participants will be able to record and share information during and after pregnancy, including medication use, vaccinations received, blood pressure,and weight change. Women will also be able to share biometric data from connected wearables, and receive visualizations of their data and that of their peers. I sincerely hope they’ve taken mental health into account. How comforting would it be for an expectant mother to realize that the crying jag she’s been on for the last two days is fairly normal for her peer group? Or, for her OB to determine that the pre-baby blues she’s experiencing are indicative of the depression she may sink into after her due date?

A JAMA Pediatrics analysis of 37 studies finds that mobile health interventions had a small but significant effect on the health outcomes of the 30,000 minors aggregated in the studies. The researchers conclude that, “Given the ubiquity of mobile phones, mobile health interventions offer promise in improving public health.” “Promising” seems to be the key word here, as physicians have yet to fully figure out the best way in which to receive and act on the data, not to mention get reimbursed for it.

Other

The local paper highlights the love Michigan State University College of Medicine students showed family medicine on Match Day. Nearly 43 percent of the 200 students accepted into residency programs chose primary care. It’s an encouraging statistic given a study released earlier this month that found the US will face a shortage of up to 43,000 PCPs by 2030.

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Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 3/20/17

Top News

Physician billing and coding company RevMD opens its first office in Puerto Rico. The Scottsdale, AZ-based company, which also has a presence in Bangalore, India, will initially employ 12 at its office in San Juan. It plans on hiring an additional 38 staffers by this September.

HIStalk Practice Musings

I finally blocked an afternoon out to spend watching Hidden Figures – one of the best films I’ve seen in quite awhile. (You can read a synopsis of the plot here.) It painted such a vivid picture for me of that era, and gave me a great excuse to talk about civil rights, women’s rights, and the importance of life-long learning and a strong work ethic and with the young female family member who accompanied me. We both were happy to learn that former NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, who I considered to be the film’s main character, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. If you’re interested in catching up and keeping up with the work women have done and are doing for the space program, check out "From Hidden to Modern Figures” at NASA.gov. 

Webinars

March 29 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “Improving patient outcomes with smartphones: UW Medicine Valley Medical Center’s story.” Sponsored by Voalte. Presenters: James Jones, MBA, MSN, VP of patient care services and nursing operations, UW Medicine Valley Medical Center; Wayne Manuel, MBA, SVP of strategic services, UW Medicine Valley Medical Center. UW Medicine Valley Medical Center dramatically improved patient outcomes after moving to a smartphone-based platform for clinical communication and alarm and alert notification. Before-and-after analysis shows a reduction in hospital-acquired pressure ulcers and skin integrity events, fall and slip events, and medication errors. By limiting overhead paging, the medical center also created a calmer, quieter environment and improved engagement among nursing and hospitalists. Hospital executives will describe their experience and vision for the future in addressing quality, cost, and the patient-caregiver experience.

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

Announcements and Implementations

Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates (GA) connects to the statewide HIE via GaHIN’s Georgia ConnectedCare technology, which includes deep patient search functionality and access to Medicaid data via the Georgia Dept. of Community Health.

PCIHIPAA adds an online HIPAA checklist tool to its OfficeSafe technology to help physicians understand and track HIPAA compliance.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Dallas-based startup Blockit raises $152,000 in seed funding to further develop a real-time physician and patient scheduling app for episodes of care that will also include referral and stand-alone appointment-making capabilities. CEO Jake McCarley’s background includes stints with GuideIT and Dell, while CMO Mark Carver, MD is a practicing anesthesiologist and corporate medical director at Mednax.

Telemedicine

New York-based Upstate Concierge Medicine rebrands its virtual services for employers to United Concierge Medicine to better reflect its reach beyond Upstate New York. The company has also upgraded its UCMnow app, which as is or via white label.

Teladoc adds Accolade’s concierge healthcare services to its telemedicine package for employers and payers. The partnership comes just a few weeks after Accolade announced that it will embark on a $2 million office expansion project that will include the hiring of an additional 250 employees at its headquarters in Plymouth Meeting, PA.

Government and Politics

HHS offers dedicated resources to help consumers understand repeal and replacement efforts. “We’re taking action to improve choices for patients, stabilize the individual and small-group insurance markets, and expand access to more affordable coverage,” say Secretary Tom Price, MD. “This page will be the place to go for updates on our ongoing efforts.”

Other

WEDI publishes a helpful primer (a great read for anyone new to the industry) on the rampant growth of data breaches in healthcare.

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Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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Population Health Management Weekly Wrap Up 3/19/17

Virginia Gurley, MD (Cultiva Health Consulting) joins AxisPoint Health as CMO.

The Los Angeles County Dept. of Health Services selects ClientTrack Care Coordination technology from Eccovia Solutions to support a five-year pilot program that will deliver social and healthcare services to 50,000 of the county’s most vulnerable Medicaid patients.

Texas-based Seven Flags ACO enlists the population health management technology and consulting services of Innovista Health Solutions to help it manage 10,500 patients in value-based contracts. The ACO has also leaned on the expertise of the Texas Medical Association’s PracticeEdge value-based consulting firm.

BCBS licensee Blue Health Intelligence offers a new analytics platform to help providers and payers address population health and financial management issues.

Hawaii’s leading health plan HMSA selects Sharecare’s consumer health and messaging platform for a statewide rollout and also makes an unspecified investment in the company, started in 2010 by WebMD founder Jeff Arnold and TV’s Dr. Oz. Sharecare acquired the population health business of Healthways in July 2016.

Sponsor Updates

• Billings Clinic Hospital (MO) goes live with Versus Wi-Fi RTLS asset tracking.
• Intelligent Medical Objects and PerfectServe will exhibit at AMGA 2017 March 22-25 in Grapevine, TX.
• NVoq will exhibit at the ACC Annual Scientific Session & Expo March 17-19 in Washington, DC.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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