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News 4/10/23

April 10, 2023 News Comments Off on News 4/10/23

Top News

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A survey of opioid use disorder virtual care patients finds that 46% believe seeking in-person treatment would be challenging, due either to the fact that they don’t have a regular primary care doctor or would not feel comfortable discussing OUD treatment with their current physician. The survey of 460 patients was conducted in light of the DEA’s proposed rules that would limit the prescription of certain medications via telemedicine.

The findings bolster a more recent, rigorous NIH study that found that Medicare patients who took advantage of virtual care services for OUD during the pandemic had a 33% lower risk of fatal drug overdose.

Virtual care companies that prescribe controlled substances are facing the very real possibility that the DEA will reinstate a pre-pandemic rule requiring patients to undergo an in-person visit before having such medications prescribed virtually.


Webinars

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present or promote your own.


People

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Eitan Shay (Vynca) joins DarioHealth as chief product officer.

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Tia names Stacey Irving (DaVita) COO.

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Cano Health hires Mark Kent (Care Management Resources) as chief strategy officer.

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Ophelia names Alexandra Minarik (Babylon) chief commercial officer and Chris Sharon (Omada Health) COO.


Announcements and Implementations

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The Palm Plastic Surgery & Medspa (FL) implements EClinicalWorks.

Advanced Orthopedics New England goes live on Athenahealth.


Other

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Only in Alaska(?): A young moose wanders into the lobby of Providence Health Park in Anchorage, momentarily sidetracked by scrumptious potted plants before being carefully shooed out of the building. The moose then plopped down outside of the oncology wing for an after-meal nap in the snow.

Amazon Clinic General Manager and Chief Medical Officer Nworah Ayogu, MD shares a few thoughts with CNBC on the company’s plans for changing the healthcare status quo:

  • Amazon thinks of people as customers rather than patients: “It kind of shifts the power dynamic where the customer is the one who is deciding what happens, they are directing things, and the rest of us are going to serve the customer. It’s a frame that I like because it puts us in kind of a servant mentality and mindset.”
  • Regarding the company’s Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh grocery businesses, “We know that care and medication are two important pillars but there’s more – there’s food, there’s nutrition, there’s products. We have some unique assets to bring to bear to also connect patients to those things that they need for their care as well.”
  • He believes Amazon can stand out amongst retail clinics run by the likes of CVS, Walmart, and Walgreens: “I think we’re … becoming more of that as a marketplace where you can find your providers and producer groups for your issue. So right now, that focuses on connecting people rapidly to common conditions.”

Sponsor Updates

  • Clark Health (FL) sees a 200% growth in services since investing in EClinicalWorks technology over a decade ago.

Blog Posts


Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 4/5/23

April 5, 2023 News Comments Off on News 4/5/23

Top News

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Practice management and patient engagement vendor Engage Technologies Group acquires APX Platform, which specializes in practice management software for aesthetic practices.

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APX founder and Co-CEO Terri Ross will join Engage as president of its aesthetics division, while co-CEO Izhak Musli will become SVP of Engage’s product development and data science.


Webinars

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present or promote your own.


Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

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Signify Health CEO Kyle Armbrester tells Axios that being acquired by CVS Health will enable the senior-focused, home healthcare company to build out products, pursue mergers and acquisitions, and prioritize pharmacy services and medication adherence programs for its patients. Remote patient monitoring is also an area of focus, according to Armbrester, who was formerly an SVP and chief product officer at Athenahealth.

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An article in Health Affairs looks at the implications of the $50 billion “investment frenzy” of corporations like Amazon, CVS Health, and Walmart gobbling up and building out primary care practices. CMS-compelled reimbursement policies and value-based care contracts are, according to the authors, what will lead to increased costs, monopolization, and a stagnant market that does not favor the patient.


People

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Amar Desai, MD returns to UnitedHealth as executive-in-residence, serving as a senior adviser to CEO Andrew Witty. Desai left the payer last October to join CVS Health as head of its new healthcare delivery division, overseeing clinical services delivered through the company’s retail health, chronic disease management, and behavioral health service lines.


Research and Innovation

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An MGMA survey of 569 medical group leaders finds that 10% use AI tools in their practices. Top uses for those tools include patient communications, capturing clinical documentation, and improving predictive analytics and billing operations. The majority of those who don’t use AI-enabled solutions say they won’t until they see more evidence of their ROI.


Other

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Just in time for HIMSS: Inviza Health debuts self-charging smart insoles that can track a wearer’s steps, heart rate, body temperature, and blood oxygen levels. Embedded GPS tracking and fall detection make them suitable for those with Alzheimer’s. The wearables pair with a companion app and clinical dashboard for remote patient monitoring.


Sponsor Updates

  • AdvancedMD releases 31 updates with enhancements to telehealth, medication cards, claims status, and mobile prescription drug monitoring program features.
  • Nordic releases another episode of its In Network podcast feature, Designing for Health: “Designing for Health: Interview with Dr. Archana Tedone.”

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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Become a sponsor.

Jenn_125

News 4/3/23

April 3, 2023 News Comments Off on News 4/3/23

Top News

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Primary care provider Cano Health sees its stock slump on the news that three directors have resigned. Former director Barry Sternlicht was, upon his departure, vocal in his criticism of the company’s management team and operating decisions, which have caused the company’s stock to drop 90% from its debut.

Cano operates 141 primary care centers across the country. Both CVS Health and Humana considered acquiring it last fall.


Webinars

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present or promote your own.


People

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Peter Licursi (Abacus Insights) joins Pager as chief growth officer.


Announcements and Implementations

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Direct primary care-focused health IT vendor Hint Health announces GA of Hint All-in-One, a technology platform that includes EHR, billing, and patient/member relationship management capabilities. The new offering likely includes software developed by AeroDPC, which was acquired by Hint Health last November.

Pager will incorporate Google Cloud’s Healthcare API, Dialog flow, and BigQuery data platform into its patient engagement platform that includes care navigation and virtual care capabilities.


Research and Innovation

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Researchers determine that family physicians working in federally-run practice settings are more likely to collaborate with behavioral health professionals than those that work in private practice settings. Strong correlations were also seen amongst female physicians, core/salaried faculty, working in Southern states, and working in states with higher concentrations of psychiatrists. Forty percent of the 25,222 family physicians surveyed reported working collaboratively with behavioral health professionals.


Sponsor Updates

    Blog Posts


    Contacts

    Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

    More news: HIStalk.

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    News 3/29/23

    March 29, 2023 News Comments Off on News 3/29/23

    Top News

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    HHS announces nearly $124 million in grant opportunities focused on helping clinics establish and manage Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, as well as on enhancing and supporting existing CCBHCs.


    Webinars

    None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present or promote your own.


    People

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    InterMed (ME) promotes Wai-Houng Leung to CIO.

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    Raintree Systems names Vu Nguyen (BARBRI Global) chief product officer.


    Announcements and Implementations

    Healthcare Outcome Performance Company, a value-based orthopedic care organization, will leverage Luna’s in-home physical therapy technology and services as part of its new HOPco at Home program. HOPco will also integrate Luna’s technology into its recently acquired MSK.ai musculoskeletal platform.


    Government and Politics

    AHRQ adds physician practice files to its Physician and Physician Practice Research Database, offering insight into physician practice characteristics at the state level. The database is intended to “address supply-side policy questions and to support policy-relevant health services research.”


    Other

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    The local paper digs into the factors influencing Maryland’s physician shortage and the resultant lack of timely, available appointments for patients. A few highlights:

    • Maryland ranks highest in the nation for ER wait times, no doubt due to an increasing number of patients using the ER in place of primary and urgent care.
    • Increased access to health coverage and health equity efforts have resulted in an increasing number of patients served by a decreasing number of clinicians.
    • Primary care physicians are in shorter supply due to burnout, retirement, high patient loads, increasing practice costs, and a lack of up-and-coming PCPs.
    • Nurses and nursing support staff are also part of the state’s healthcare labor shortage, a problem exacerbated by Maryland’s licensing bottleneck.

    Sponsor Updates

    • Nordic publishes a new episode of its In Network podcast.
    • Censinet and KLAS Research recognize Nordic for achieving and sustaining its KLAS Cybersecurity Transparent designation.

    Contacts

    Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

    More news: HIStalk.

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

    Jenn_125

    News 3/27/23

    March 27, 2023 News Comments Off on News 3/27/23

    Top News

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    CVS Health is set to wrap up its acquisition of Signify Health later this week. Rumors of the deal first began to circulate last August, quickly followed by reports that Amazon was also interested in Signify, which provides analytics-enabled home healthcare services. Several weeks later, CVS formally announced its intent to acquire the company in a deal valued at $8 billion.

    CVS Health expects to close its $10.6 billion acquisition of primary care provider Oak Street Health later this year.


    Webinars

    None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present or promote your own.


    People

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    TigerConnect names Saurin Shah (Medallia) chief product officer and Scott Parsons (Pluralsight) chief sales officer. 


    Announcements and Implementations

    In Kansas, the Saline County Health Department will transition from paper-based documentation to Patagonia Health’s EHR.

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    New Mexico-based Satori Healing selects EHR software and RCM services from EClinicalWorks.


    Other

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    Walgreens pharmacies and VillageMD primary care practices launch a pilot program in Florida and Texas that will help coordinate medications for mutual patients after they’ve been discharged from the hospital. The medication reconciliation process will be initiated once VillageMD providers receive notification that their patients have been discharged, presumably through the provider’s proprietary DocOS platform.


    Sponsor Updates

    • Potomac Urology achieves growth with EClinicalWorks EHR and Healow patient engagement solutions.
    • Nordic releases a new episode of In Network’s Designing for Health podcast.

    Blog Posts


    Contacts

    Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

    More news: HIStalk.

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

    Jenn_125

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