5 Questions with Peter Weigel, MD Medical Associates of Westfield

Peter Weigel, MD is a PCP at Medical Associates of Westfield (NJ). The practice sees between 25 and 35 patients a day via its two full-time physicians and one part-time physician. MAW also employs a part-time NP and two full-time receptionists. It attested for Stage 2 Meaningful Use this year using Hello Health’s EHR and patient portal, and began participating in the Medicare chronic-care management incentive program earlier this year.

1. How long has the CCM initiative been running, and what type of outcomes have you seen?
We started participating in CCM in June. It’s too early to see any significant outcomes; however, we have several patients to whom we were alerted that there was a problem. This allowed us to reach out to them and address the problem, either over the phone or by an office visit earlier than scheduled.

2. What types of technology have enabled your practice to participate in CCM strategies?
Our EHR offers CCM services. We have been working with our vendor from the outset. They have a call center, and can access our EHR to obtain patient information and enter phone-call content.

3. What are your practice’s CCM goals?
I hope to enroll all eligible patients, and to use CCM to improve their overall health and decrease hospitalizations.

4. Have you received any incentives yet?
We have submitted charges to Medicare and are beginning to see some payments. Medicare pays between $42 and$48 dollars per patient per month for CCM. They are paying in the same timely fashion as they do for all other submitted charges, on average in about two weeks. They pay 80 percent of allowable and the patient’s secondary insurance pays the other 20 percent. There has not been an issue so far. 

I think that, with a large enough practice, this could be a significant revenue generator, especially because you as the physician do not have to do the majority of the work. You just have to review what has been done and sign off on the note. Of course, if you use a company such as Hello Health, you’ll need to split the income, but you would in essence be splitting it if you did it all in your office because you would have to pay someone to be the coordinator and make the calls. All in all, I think it is a reasonable amount of income for the amount of work necessary. It is also a way for physicians to “get their feet wet” in outcomes-based reimbursement, which will be the payment model in the future.

5. What advice do you have for other independent physicians looking to undertake CCM projects?
It probably does not make sense from a monetary or personnel standpoint to attempt to do CCM on your own, especially if you are a solo or small group practice. It makes more sense to connect with a vendor that offers a turnkey service so that you can get set up and hit the ground running. The money you spend for the service is more than made up for in decreased personnel costs and headaches.

Contacts

Jennifer,  Mr. H, Lorre, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg, Lt. Dan

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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

Ensuring the Patient’s Voice is Heard – #HIStalking Tweet Chat Thursday, November 19 at 12pm ET

Join @JennHIStalk and @healthwise (a nonprofit provider of health content and patient education) for a discussion on ensuring that the patient’s voice is heard via advances in technology and policy. Preview #HIStalking discussion questions below and brush up on how to participate in a tweet chat towards the end of this post.

By Dave Foster, Healthwise vice president of research operations and innovation

Despite national efforts to encourage and require patient engagement for the past two decades, our health system still has major gaps in achieving widespread patient inclusion. It’s time we embrace the important role patients play in transforming healthcare. When patients have access to their health information and are educated about their choices, they have the knowledge and the confidence to help determine the care they need, say NO to unnecessary care, and do as much as possible for themselves.

As the healthcare landscape continues to change, the practice of medicine must start to empower patients to take a more active role as part of the care team. Think about the last time you (or a family member) dealt with the healthcare system. Did you feel like you were part of the conversation? Included in the decisions? A valued member of the team? If you’re a physician, think about your patients. Are they given the tools to be full participants in their care? What is missing to make that happen?

Several significant changes are coming that we need to both prepare for and capitalize on. Major population shifts — including aging Baby Boomers and maturing Millennials — will challenge us to find ways to engage these groups. The technology advances that are giving providers and health systems innovative tools to improve healthcare also offer us a huge opportunity to better engage patients.

From policy and technology design to research and treatment, we think it’s important that the patient’s voice is heard. The questions in this tweet chat will address five areas where this can happen.

#HIStalking Discussion Questions:

Q1: Seventy-four percent of patients want more info related to their care at discharge. How do we ensure they receive it?

Q2: Only 38 percent of patients have access to their medical records. What technology and policy changes need to happen to change that?

Q3: Only 3 percent of older adults have proficient levels of health literacy. How do we engage and support this population in their care?

Q4: Now that Medicare is reimbursing end-of-life conversations, what’s needed to ensure patients are informed and their wishes respected?

Q5: How can FHIR, SMART, and standards-based interoperability improve patient engagement?

We are excited for the opportunity to host this Thursday’s #HIStalking tweet chat about including the patient’s voice in healthcare!

Tweet Chat Instructions

It’s easy to join the Twitter conversation by logging into TweetChat, which automatically keeps you in the conversation by tagging all tweets with the #HIStalking hash tag. If you are unable to access the TweetChat room, simply search in Twitter for #HIStalking and follow the conversation. To contribute, be sure and tag your tweets with #HIStalking so they can be seen by other chat participants.

Contacts

Jennifer,  Mr. H, Lorre, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg, Lt. Dan

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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

News 11/16/15

Top News

AMA heads to Atlanta for its 2015 Interim Meeting, where its House of Delegates had the opportunity to vote on a number of healthcare IT-related resolutions, including:

• Ethical standards for practicing telemedicine.
• How physicians should recommend apps and software to patients.
• A report to Congress and HHS explaining the shortcomings of EHRs.
• Lobbying Congress to do away with unwarranted information blocking.
• Opposing the expansion of Meaningful Use without interoperability.

AMA President Steven Stack, MD makes no bones about his frustration with healthcare IT during the meeting, and inadvertently makes a great case for the association’s push to revise curricula in medical schools.

HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests

Confession: I started listening to Christmas Jazz on Pandora over the weekend. (I know, I know … I still need to check Spotify out.) It’s hard to resist getting into the holiday spirit now that colder temps seem here to stay, and holiday-themed events are popping up everywhere. Don’t judge me too much. I still refuse to buy a Christmas tree before Thanksgiving, and prefer Black Friday baking to shopping.  

Webinars

November 18 (Wednesday) 2:00 ET. “Making VDI Secure and Simple for Healthcare.” Sponsored by Park Place International. Presenters: James Millington, group product line marketing manager, VMware; Erick Marshall, senior systems engineer of virtual desktop infrastructure, Park Place International. Deployment of a virtual solution can optimize the experience of clinician users. Attendees will learn how to address the evolving demands of security and mobility in clinician workflow to improve the quality of care.

November 20 (Friday) 2:00 ET. “The Athenahealth Leadership Institute Presents: Dr. John Halamka Interviewed by Jonathan Bush.” Sponsored by Athenahealth. Presenters: John Halamka, MD, MS, CIO, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Jonathan Bush, CEO, Athenahealth. Providers are fed up with interface fees and the lengthy, fragmented narratives we’re exchanging today. But what is the right course of action to help deliver better care across the continuum? Bring your questions as we join Dr.Halamka and Jonathan Bush to discuss the current state of healthcare and how we can improve care coordination and interoperability.

December 2 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “The Patient is In, But the Doctor is Out: How Metro Health Enabled Informed Decision-Making with Remote Access to PHI.” Sponsored by Vmware. Presenters: Josh Wilda, VP of IT, Metro Health; James Millington, group product line manager, VMware. Most industries are ahead of healthcare in providing remote access to applications and information. Some health systems, however, have transformed how, when, and where their providers access patient information. Metro Health in Grand Rapids, MI offers doctors fast bedside access to information and lets them review patient information on any device (including their TVs during football weekends!) saving them 30 minutes per day and reducing costs by $2.75 million.

December 3 (Thursday) 2:00 ET. “501(r) Regulations – What You Need to Know for Success in 2016.” Sponsored by TransUnion. Presenter: Jonathan Wiik, principal consultant, TransUnion Healthcare Solutions. Complex IRS rules take effect on January 1 that will dictate how providers ensure access, provide charity assistance, and collect uncompensated care. This in-depth webinar will cover tools and workflows that can help smooth the transition, including where to focus compliance efforts in the revenue cycle and a review of the documentation elements required.

Contact Lorre for webinar services. Past webinars are on our HIStalk webinars YouTube channel.

#HIStalking Tweet Chat – Ensuring the Patient’s Voice is Heard

The next #HIStalking tweet chat will take place Thursday, November 19 at 12pm ET. Nonprofit Healthwise (@healthwise) will host. Check out topics here.

Announcements and Implementations

Durham, NC-based 20202EHR launches MDoffice Cloud, its first cloud-based EHR and PM solution for ophthalmologists.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

ScribeAmerica acquires scribe management company Essia Health for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition is the company’s third this year.

People

Alan Becker (Huron Consulting) joins Kurt Salmon as a partner in its healthcare group.

Interoperability collaborative Carequality elects its 2015-16 steering committee, including new members from LifeImage, CVS MinuteClinic, and NATE.

Telemedicine

Texas Medical Board President Michael Arambula, MD sticks up for the state’s handling of telemedicine in an Austin American-Statesman op-ed, perhaps finally giving in to the pent-up need to fire back at Teladoc, which has been litigiously challenging the state in which it’s headquartered for several years. “There is continued widespread misperception that Texas is behind the times and restricting access to health care when it comes to telemedicine,” he contends. “It is critical to clarify that Texas has been at the forefront of this issue by acknowledging the importance of telemedicine in the delivery of health care and by being among some of the first states to pass legislation and adopt guidelines directly addressing its use in medical practice. TMB recognizes that as technology evolves, so too must regulations governing telemedicine.”

An AAFP/Anthem survey finds that nine out of 10 physicians would use telemedicine as part of a patient’s treatment if compensated for it. Of the 1,557 physicians surveyed, nearly half have performed real-time video consults in the last year, and 15 percent have incorporated it into their practice on a regular basis. Family physicians use it primarily for diagnoses or treatment, followed by chronic-disease management, second opinions, and follow up.

MindCare Solutions Group raises $12.8 million, part of an eventual $14.5 million financing round that will enable the Franklin, TN-based startup to ramp up development of its telemedicine solution for mental healthcare.

The telemedicine price wars continue as My Personal ER offers unlimited monthly consults for $18.95. The company is confusingly “powered” by Scottsdale, AZ-based MeMD, which offers its own consults for $49 apiece.

Government and Politics

Senator Joe Donnelly (D-IN) and Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) take to the local airwaves to stump for their pieces of bipartisan legislation that look to help speed up the clinical trials process for patients. Donnelly’s  Medical Innovation Agenda (actually a series of bills) is winding its way through the Senate, while Upton’s 21st Century Cures Act is being reviewed by the Senate HELP Committee.

Research and Innovation

“System sluggishness” tops the list of physician’s technology pain points, according to a JDL HealthTech survey of over 10,000 providers. (I could have sworn it was interoperability.) Software malfunction, lack of user friendliness, and the inability of EHRs and PM systems to integrate with each other (there it is!) didn’t fall far behind in the list of physician IT irritants.

California Institute of Technology scientists develop a pair of smart glasses that converts images into sounds in an attempt to help the blind “see” by echolocation.

Other

CVS Health collaborates with Family Medicine for America’s Health Is Primary campaign to help increase care coordination between PCPs and retail clinics. The initiative seems to still be in the planning stages, organizers plainly state they’ll work to ensure every patient has access to a PCP, and to help patients understand their local primary care options via educational materials and resources.

Facebook COO and Lean In originator Sheryl Sandberg gives Queen Elizabeth a run for her money: Sandberg will sponsor the USS Massachusetts, the US Navy’s newest attack submarine. Sponsors, who christen the ship, have traditionally been women with close ties to the Navy or politicians. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus chose Sandberg (not Facebook) to sponsor the vessel in an effort to better connect the American people with their Navy.

Contacts

Jennifer,  Mr. H, Lorre, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg, Lt. Dan

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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

Population Health Management Weekly Wrap Up 11/15/15

Evolent Health announces Q3 results: adjusted revenue up 45 percent, adjusted EPS –$0.16 vs. –$0.31. Shares rose 13 percent on the news, but are still down 20 percent from their first day of trading in June.

Los Angeles-based IPC Healthcare acquires Amity Health, a post-acute services provider in Wichita, KS, for an undisclosed sum. “Amity’s focus on post-acute services will help complement and broaden our capabilities for population health management in the Wichita area, where IPC has had an established presence since 2013,” says R. Jeffrey Taylor, IPC’s president and COO. “With the Amity acquisition, we will be adding several additional post-acute facilities and clinicians to IPC’s footprint in the market."

The University of Mississippi Medical Center selects remote care management solutions, data analytics, and application integration services from Intel-GE Care Innovations. The five-year deal builds on the existing partnership between the two organizations, which operate the Center for Telehealth as part of Mississippi’s Diabetes Telehealth Network.

OSF HealthCare, an 11-hospital system in  signs a five-year supply chain solutions and services agreement with Premier Inc. in support of its transition to population health management.

ApolloMed will leverage Helynx’s analytics engine to identify high-risk patients and potential hospital costs within its ACO and Maverick IPA.

XG Health Solutions launches XGLearn, an educational platform for population health management that uses approaches developed by Geisinger Health System.

Here’s the recording of Thursday’s webinar titled “Top Predictions for Population Health Management in 2016 and Beyond,” sponsored by Medecision.

Sponsor Updates

• AdvancedMD offers a $10 Amazon gift card to anyone who requests their information kit.
• PerfectServe will exhibit at the American Association for Physician Leadership Fall Institute through November 17 in Scottsdale, AZ.

Blog Posts

• Pro Tips for Implementing Epic’s MyChart (Nordic)
• Dictation Made Easy (NVoq)

Contacts

Jennifer,  Mr. H, Lorre, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg, Lt. Dan

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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

News 11/12/15

Top News

Practice Fusion names Tom Langan permanent CEO. Langan, who joined the company in mid 2014 as chief commercial officer, had been interim CEO since August. Langan’s title jump caused a bit of an uproar, with some  insiders speculating that the ouster of former CEO Ryan Howard was a board decision rather than a personal one on Howard’s part. At the time, rumors swirled that the company was preparing for an IPO, a development that might be escalated now that Langan seems to have found his permanent footing in the C-suite.

Webinars

Medecision experts Laura Kanov and Tobias Samo, MD presented 12 population health management predictions during today’s HIStalk webinar, spanning physicians, consumers, and technology. My new favorite buzzphrase, coined by Kanov, is “payvider space.” Check out my tweet recap of their presentation here.

November 18 (Wednesday) 2:00 ET. “Making VDI Secure and Simple for Healthcare.” Sponsored by Park Place International. Presenters: James Millington, group product line marketing manager, VMware; Erick Marshall, senior systems engineer of virtual desktop infrastructure, Park Place International. Deployment of a virtual solution can optimize the experience of clinician users. Attendees will learn how to address the evolving demands of security and mobility in clinician workflow to improve the quality of care.

November 20 (Friday) 2:00 ET. “The Athenahealth Leadership Institute Presents: Dr. John Halamka Interviewed by Jonathan Bush.” Sponsored by Athenahealth. Presenters: John Halamka, MD, MS, CIO, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Jonathan Bush, CEO, Athenahealth. Providers are fed up with interface fees and the lengthy, fragmented narratives we’re exchanging today. But what is the right course of action to help deliver better care across the continuum? Bring your questions as we join Dr.Halamka and Jonathan Bush to discuss the current state of healthcare and how we can improve care coordination and interoperability.

Contact Lorre for webinar services. Past webinars are on our HIStalk webinars YouTube channel.

#HIStalking Tweet Chat

The next #HIStalking tweet chat will take place Thursday, November 19 at 12pm ET. Nonprofit Healthwise (@healthwise) will host. Stay tuned for topics.

Announcements and Implementations

The Canada-based Centre for Effective Practice will offer its evidence-based tools and programs via CognisantMD’s Ocean Platform, which acts as an interface between patient tablets, secure messaging, and data collected in EHRs. The integration will launch with CEP’s patient poverty screening tool, followed by an opioid manager and lower-back pain screening tool.

Dougherty Laser Vision (CA) rolls out VersaSuite’s EHR and PM platform across its four locations.

AtlantiCare implements online scheduling via ZocDoc for its primary care and specialty physicians.

People

David Smith (EEI Global) joins OptimizeRx as vice president of client services.

Government and Politics

Newly released documents show that the State of Vermont has invested $1.3 billion in 132 IT projects, the bulk of which focus on healthcare. Coming in at just over $866 million, healthcare IT projects include the ongoing development of the Vermont Health Connect insurance exchange, which is set to cost $302.3 million to implement and maintain between this year and next. It’s the state’s most expensive project to date.

Research and Innovation

Accenture expects the number of retail clinics to increase 47 percent, at a minimum, between 2014 and 2017, creating capacity for 25 million patient visits. The forecast validates Walgreen’s recent decision to move its Healthcare Clinics over to Epic. The company, which currently operates over 400 clinics, wouldn’t share with me its expansion projections for the coming year (or the cost of the implementation), but I think it’s safe to assume that the big bucks it’s spending will not just be for its current locations.

Telemedicine

Scottsdale, AZ-based HealthiestYou secures a $30 million investment from Frontier Capital. The company will use the cash infusion to ramp up sales and marketing efforts to employer groups, expand its executive team, and develop its technology to capture more of the telemedicine market.

Raintree Systems integrates SnapMD’s telemedicine tool into its EHR and PM system for physical therapists.

Other

Because I know you were wondering: Sony finally decides to discontinue Betamax, the long-ago competitor of VHS tapes. The company halted production of Betamax players in 2002, but carried on making tapes for Japanese recording studios and die-hard fans of the outmoded technology. As Quartz points out, “Betamax was never granted a hipster revival.”

Contacts

Jennifer,  Mr. H, Lorre, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg, Lt. Dan

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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