News 6/18/15

Top News

The House approves Bill H.R. 2570, which includes a clause that patient visits to ambulatory surgical centers will no longer be treated as patient encounters under the Meaningful Use program, and that physicians won’t be penalized for failing to fulfill MU requirements for those visits. The clause ends three years after a facility’s EHR is certified under the program.

Webinars

June 30 (Tuesday) 11:00 ET. “Value Based Reimbursement – Leveraging Data to Build a Successful Risk-based Strategy.” Sponsored by McKesson. Presenters: Michael Udwin, MD, executive director of physician engagement, McKesson; Jeb Dunkelberger, executive director of corporate partnerships, McKesson. Healthcare organizations are using empowered physician leadership and credible performance analysis to identify populations, stratify risk, drive physician engagement, and expose opportunities for optimized care. Attendees will learn best practices in laying a foundation for developing a successful risk-based strategy.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Sikka Software raises $10.5 million in Series C funding led by OrbiMed, with participation from Sierra Ventures and ATA Ventures, both previous investors. The company, which specializes in cloud-based technologies for the hearing, vision, dental, and veterinary markets, will use the investment to ramp up sales and marketing initiatives.

Announcements and Implementations

Practice Fusion optimizes its EHR for Android- and iOS-based tablets.

ClinicMind introduces revenue cycle management software for mental healthcare practices.

PokitDok introduces an identity management system designed to identify, map, match, and merge patient data for more personalized care. The HL7-compliant API is compatible with a variety of EHRs including Greenway Health, Athenahealth, Allscripts, DrChrono, and OpenEpic.

Research and Innovation

An AHIMA, eHealth Initiative, and Greenway Health study on ICD-10 preparedness finds that the majority of respondents have been preparing for the transition, yet still lag behind in terms of internal and external testing. Physician practices have fallen far behind their hospital counterparts in overall prep work. Top physician challenges include clinical workflow and productivity, vendor readiness, competing healthcare IT priorities, lack of testing, and timelines.

A team from MIT develops a USB-powered mobile stethoscope and companion smartphone app to offer health workers a cost-effective way to diagnose lung disease.  The team will use its $100,000 prize from last month’s Vodafone’s Wireless Innovation Project to field test the device.

NIH researchers develop a “placenta-on-a-chip” to study the structure and function of the placenta, and model the transfer of nutrients from mother to baby. Researchers hope the new biomedical device will enhance studies of placental processes and disorders.

Telemedicine

The New England Telehealth Consortium connects its 300th facility, Sebasticook Family Doctors (ME), to the network. The consortium launched in 2007 after receiving a $24.6 million grant from the FCC’s Rural Health Care Pilot Program, and anticipates connecting an additional 25 facilities in the near future.

Government and Politics

The House Appropriations Committee votes to approve a fiscal year 2016 spending bill, giving ONC just $60 million and eliminating AHRQ funding altogether, prompting industry outcry from several organizations and a #SaveAHRQ Twitter campaign. The bill would also slash mandatory funding for patient-centered outcomes research by $100 million and cut funding for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation by $6.2 billion. (I can’t help but notice that October 1 – the start of the federal government’s fiscal year – is a popular date in healthcare these days. Dare I mention it’s also the day on which I consistently turn a year older?)

Other

Humana and the American Diabetes Association collaborate to develop an educational, evidence-based diabetes curriculum for consumers in the hopes of slowing the disease’s progression. Included in the materials will be digital tools, support groups, and peer-to-peer services.

Fresh off a new funding round of $30 million, Aledade CEO Farzad Mostashari, MD, sporting a spiffy new headshot, tweets (and keynotes) from the ACO Summit in Washington, D.C. I’d love to hear from an attendee or two as to how worthwhile the event was. Registration rates ranged between $1,200 and $1,800, which would make me take a long, hard look at the bang I’d likely get for my buck.

Contacts

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

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News 6/17/15

Top News

Doctor on Demand closes a $50 million round of Series B financing led by Tenaya Capital. The company, which also announced Union Bank & Trust as its 200th employer customer, has raised $74 million to date. 

Webinars

June 30 (Tuesday) 11:00 ET. “Value Based Reimbursement – Leveraging Data to Build a Successful Risk-based Strategy.” Sponsored by McKesson. Presenters: Michael Udwin, MD, executive director of physician engagement, McKesson; Jeb Dunkelberger, executive director of corporate partnerships, McKesson. Healthcare organizations are using empowered physician leadership and credible performance analysis to identify populations, stratify risk, drive physician engagement, and expose opportunities for optimized care. Attendees will learn best practices in laying a foundation for developing a successful risk-based strategy.

Announcements and Implementations

Drug development solutions vendor Icon launches the Firecrest Patient Portal to help eligible patients view and understand clinical trial and treatment information before consenting to participate.

Nextech Systems adds personalized scheduling and electronic prescribing of controlled substances to its EHR and PM solution.

United Radiology Group (KS) selects revenue cycle management services from Zotec Partners.

Research and Innovation

A Physicians’ Alliance of America EHR survey of predominantly pediatric, family medicine, and internal medicine practices reveals that an overwhelming majority of respondents feel comfortable with the technology, and prefer electronic to paper records. Physician frustrations with charting and loss of productivity were clear: Thirty-five percent spend 60 minutes or more every day on their end-of-day charting, while 74 percent note their productivity is the same or worse. Over 20 EHRs were represented in the survey. Top systems included Allscripts, EClinicalWorks, Office Practicum, Greenway/Vitera, and PCC (a PAA partner).

A look at ACA surveys over the last five years paints a slightly optimistic picture of physician acceptance, highlighting several studies that show an aggregate uptick in ACA favoritism. It’s no secret that the majority of providers have not yet warmed up enough to give the act an overwhelming “A.” Those who do view it favorably are more likely to be primary care providers, younger, and female.

People

Deven McGraw (Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP) joins the HHS Office for Civil Rights as deputy director for health information privacy. McGraw was also former chair of the Health IT Policy Committee’s Privacy and Security Workgroup.

Telemedicine

The Georgia Partnership for Telehealth offers telehealth training through three Web-based certification courses from the National School of Applied Telehealth, formed as part of an outreach program between GPT, the California Telehealth Resource Center, HomeTown Health University, and the Southeastern Telehealth Resource Center. Students can study with NSAT to become a Certified telemedicine clinical presenter, telehealth coordinator, or telehealth liaison.

Local drug stores are getting in on the telemedicine act: Canton, MS-based Mosby’s Drug Store partners with TelehealthOne to offer customers a new walk-in medical clinic.

Government and Politics

HHS seeks software developers to become Entrepreneurs in Residence for two development projects: an FDA cancer and hematology data aggregation analysis platform and a CMS system that connects providers to their Medicare interactions.

A GAO report reveals that CMS has doled out $18 billion worth of improper Medicaid payments, $9.6 million of them related to care for 200 deceased beneficiaries. The massive discrepancy is likely tied to the fact that the Social Security Administration’s “Death Master File” website shows that 7 million dead people still have active Social Security numbers.

Other

The Tennessee Dept. of Health issues an alert to healthcare providers urging them to ask their patients about recent travel in light of the MERS outbreak in South Korea. I’d be interested to hear from Tennessee physicians as to how EHR prompts left over from the Ebola scare are helping them remember to ask such questions.

Sponsor Updates

• ADP AdvancedMD offers “ICD-10 billing & coding help – just in the nick of time.”
• GE Healthcare General Manager of Monitoring Solutions Didier Deltort explains in The Financial Times how the demand for digital talent will change the healthcare job market.

Contacts

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

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News 6/16/15

Top News

The Senate HELP Committee hosts its latest hearing on EHRs, this time focusing on usability. Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD (R-LA) chaired the hearing, noting physicians are frustrated at having to spend more time entering data and less time examining patients. He added, “that time is better spent looking into a patient’s eyes to make sure that she comprehends that even though she has cancer, there is hope, as opposed to clicking through a computer screen to document something unimportant to her, but required by someone far removed from the exam room.”

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) made the case for more effective use of HIEs, citing Rhode Island’s CurrentCare as a model of interoperability in the making. The HIE has enrolled over 400,000 residents and now pulls data from 78 hospitals, labs, and physicians. Future plans include pulling real-time claims information from payers and developing health management apps for patients.

Webinars

June 30 (Tuesday) 11:00 ET. “Value Based Reimbursement – Leveraging Data to Build a Successful Risk-based Strategy.” Sponsored by McKesson. Presenters: Michael Udwin, MD, executive director of physician engagement, McKesson; Jeb Dunkelberger, executive director of corporate partnerships, McKesson. Healthcare organizations are using empowered physician leadership and credible performance analysis to identify populations, stratify risk, drive physician engagement, and expose opportunities for optimized care. Attendees will learn best practices in laying a foundation for developing a successful risk-based strategy.

Announcements and Implementations

Chase Clinical Documentation releases a remote scribing tool, enabling physicians to dictate patient encounters in real time. The tool then converts the dictation to text and inserts it in the appropriate area of the EHR.

Azalea Health incorporates real-time dictation from Scribe Healthcare Technologies into its EHR.

Planned Parenthood announces plans to release its Direct mobile app to California residents, offering users a way to confidentially order STD tests through their cell phone and receive treatment if they test positive. The new app is part of the organization’s push to offer sexual health and reproductive services digitally. It launched the Care mobile app in Washington and Minnesota last year, offering residents video consults with Planned Parenthood providers.

Research and Innovation

Swedish researchers test the idea of texting 10,000 certified volunteers to alert them about nearby cardiac arrests requiring CPR. Texting volunteers increased rates of Good Samaritan CPR among 667 instances of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, prompting researchers to consider further trials.

Black Book ranks the Quest Diagnostics Care360 EHR as number one in satisfaction among physician practices and groups with two to five practicing physicians.

A corporate wellness study of user health data from 10,000 Withings smart devices finds that 70 percent of employees sit for extended periods, 56 percent prefer to eat at their desk, and a third snack throughout the day. Most employees also seem to gain weight when they start a new job. Overall, survey results point to higher-paying jobs being more detrimental to employee health. “People-facing” industries such as education, arts, media, or tourism and hospitality are among the most active. Health professionals are in the middle of the pack when it comes to activity level, while software developers and IT services managers near the top of the inactivity scale.

Telemedicine

MyIdealDoctor receives an undisclosed amount of funding from holding company ValorBridge Partners, which it will use to scale up its telemedicine and digital health services. ValorBridge Partners will receive a seat on MyIdealDoctor’s Board of Directors. The funding comes just over a week after MyIdealDoctor announced a partnership with healthcare navigation app developer Zest Health.

The local paper highlights the progress telemedicine is making in Minnesota. Recent legislation includes requiring payers to reimburse for telemedicine appointments at the same rate as for in-person exams, and streamlining interstate physician licensure by joining the Federation of State Medical Board’s Interstate Medical Licensure Compact. (Check out my interview with FSMB CEO Humayun Chaudhry, DO here.)

People

The Electronic Health Record Association nominates Leigh Burchell (Allscripts) as its chairperson and Sarah Corley (NextGen) as vice chair. Rick Reeves (Evident) has rejoined the association after a three-year hiatus.

Former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Brendan O’Grady (Teva Pharmaceutical Industries) join American Well’s Board of Directors. It’s likely an interesting time to join the company, given the recent filing of a patent infringement lawsuit against competitor Teladoc. Both companies haven’t been shy about trading barbs in the media. Teladoc has been quick to assert it was around long before American Well, though American Well Chairman and CEO Ido Schoenberg, MD was just as quick to point out that “Comparing the original Teladoc service to American Well is like comparing 1-800 catalog shopping to ordering on Amazon.”

Other

United Airlines Senior Vice President of Corporate Safety Michael Quiello highlights the high cost of mid-flight medical diversions, pointing out the need for a cost-effective technology that uses cabin-based Wi-Fi to help air and ground personnel communicate quickly about a passenger’s vital signs to determine if a medical diversion is necessary.

Contacts

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

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5 Questions with Humayun Chaudhry, DO President/CEO, Federation of State Medical Boards

Humayun Chaudhry, DO joined the Federation of State Medical Boards as president and CEO in 2009. Prior to FSMB, he practiced in New York for many years, and still maintains a medical license in the state. In addition to his current position, Chaudhry also serves as a clinical associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.

Chaudhry, FSMB staff, and the Council of State Governments provided support and resources during the development of the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, an initiative driven by state medical board representatives that aims to streamline the process of medical licensure across state lines. Nine states have enacted the compact, triggering formation of the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Commission, which will develop and administer the interstate licensing process.

Did the FSMB realize when the Compact was created last year that it would be a driving force behind telemedicine adoption across the country?
One of the anticipated benefits of the Compact has been that it will increase access to telemedicine services by making it easier for physicians to practice telemedicine across state lines.

Did you expect that it would be triggered this quickly?
Many medical boards have been very supportive of the concept of the Compact since boards first gathered in early 2013 to explore various pathways in which states could expedite multi-state licensure. This early enthusiasm continued as the framework of the Compact was developed over the next 18 months. Given this strong support, we anticipated the Compact would be established relatively quickly once the framework was in place.

What are the next steps as far as the Compact Commission and its work moving forward? Who will be involved?
We anticipate that the transition period for the Compact to become operational will be 12 to 18 months. The Interstate Commission will meet later this year and establish various committees to draft the bylaws, rules, and processes that will be used by participating states as they begin expediting licensure for eligible physicians, create the technical infrastructure necessary to facilitate licensure, and perform necessary outreach.

The Interstate Compact Commission’s membership will be comprised solely of representatives from states that have enacted the Compact legislation. The FSMB will have no formal role on the Commission. It will continue to be available to provide support when requested by the Commission.

Do you have an idea of what this new, streamlined licensure process will look like? How long do you think it will take to develop?
Many details on how the Compact will actually operate will be worked out by the Interstate Commission in the months ahead. In general, physicians eligible to participate in the Compact would designate a member state as the state of principal licensure and select the other member states in which a medical license is desired. The state of principal licensure would verify the physician’s eligibility and provide credential information to the Interstate Commission. The Interstate Commission would then collect applicable fees and transmit the physician’s information and licensure fees to the additional states. Upon receipt in the additional states, the physician would be granted a license. The Compact would substantially reduce the time it takes to receive multiple licenses. As soon as eligibility is verified and fees are transferred, additionally selected states would issue a full and unrestricted license to the physician. Interested physicians can find more information at www.licenseportability.org.

What are the FSMB’s ultimate goals for the compact and the physicians it will serve?
The FSMB’s goal is to continue to support the state medical boards as they work to make the Compact operational. Our hope is that the Compact will help the states achieve expedited multi-state licensure, facilitate access to telemedicine services, and increase access to care in underserved areas.

Contacts

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

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News 6/15/15

Top News

Aledade raises a $30 million Series B funding round led by Arch Venture Partners with additional investment from Series A investor Venrock. The company, which made the announcement on its first anniversary, will use the hefty infusion of cash to continue building software for partner practices, create new ACOs and expand existing ones, develop value-based arrangements with commercial payers, and expand its workforce. Given that the company is just a year old, I wonder how it will avoid falling into the typical startup trap of growing too big, too fast. CEO Farzad Mostashari, MD offers this explanation: 

“Both our rate of growth and the amount of this funding round were driven by the demand we’ve seen across the country for our unique ACO model – and for the expertise our team is bringing to the table. But we’re extremely conscious of growing in a way that maintains the concierge medicine-level of engagement we want with our partner practices, and their patient populations. We’re putting in place structured customer feedback mechanisms, and taking full advantage of the scaling power of cloud-based analytics and technology tools. But at the end of the day it comes down to talent. We’ve built an all-star team of health care policy, technology, and regulatory experts at Aledade – and that team has been foundational to our success so far.  We’ll be doing a lot of hiring over the next several months – data scientists, engineers, and business and operations staff.  But for every new team member we bring on, we’ll be asking ourselves the same questions we have since day one: Does this person share our North Star? Do they want to help primary care doctors lead the biggest transformation in healthcare we’ve seen in this country in generations? If we stay true to that mission, and bring on individuals who share it, we’re confident that we’ll maintain the same – or better – level of service and success for our partners.”

HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests

Did you know June is National Migraine Awareness Month? I didn’t until an intrepid PR staffer sent me an email alert about it and the iHeadache app developed by neurologist Brian Loftus, MD. Given that I suffer from them maybe a half dozen times a year, I don’t know how much I’d benefit from using it, though I know of one close family member – and chronic sufferer – whose interest might be piqued.

One of my favorite radio stations honors ER and urgent care workers as Work Day Heroes. It’s a nice idea, given that these types of clinicians don’t have the opportunity to establish long-term rapport with their patients and probably aren’t the recipients of hand-drawn thank you notes and new baby photos from grateful patients and parents.

Webinars

June 30 (Tuesday) 11:00 ET. “Value Based Reimbursement – Leveraging Data to Build a Successful Risk-based Strategy.” Sponsored by McKesson. Presenters: Michael Udwin, MD, executive director of physician engagement, McKesson; Jeb Dunkelberger, executive director of corporate partnerships, McKesson. Healthcare organizations are using empowered physician leadership and credible performance analysis to identify populations, stratify risk, drive physician engagement, and expose opportunities for optimized care. Attendees will learn best practices in laying a foundation for developing a successful risk-based strategy.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

CVS acquires Target’s retail clinic and pharmacy business for $1.9 billion. CVS will rebrand the Target operations under its MinuteClinic and CVS/pharmacy names, and anticipates opening an additional 20 Target-based MinuteClinics within the next three years. The companies will also develop up to 10 smaller TargetExpress stores, each including a CVS pharmacy.

Catalia Health secures $1.25 million in seed funding from Khosla Ventures and other investors. The personal robotics and chronic-disease management company will use the funding to scale up development of its Mabu Personal Healthcare Companion, including putting its first robots on the market by the end of 2015.

Announcements and Implementations

Software company ThoughtWorks partners with nonprofit Save the Children to develop an open-source EHR for use in highly infectious medical outbreaks such as Ebola. The EHR features an adaptable user interface, catering to healthcare workers in constraining protective gear or those working in less restrictive environments.

People

Nordic Consulting promotes Abby Polich to VP of affiliate solutions.

Alfred Hamilton (George Washington University) joins CTG as vice president and general manager of its healthcare and life sciences practice.

Government and Politics

ONC releases detailed information on every healthcare professional who attested to the Medicare Meaningful Use program since its inception through April 2015. The massive file includes national provider identifier numbers, details related to when and what stage of MU attesters achieved, and the EHR vendor and product (including certification year) used to attest.

And speaking of MU … EPs have until midnight tonight to comment on the proposed rule from CMS that would modify MU standards for the next several years, including the hot-button issue of eliminating nearly all patient engagement measures. MGMA is a big fan of the proposed rule, which it believes will “decrease the administrative burden for EPs already participating in the program and increase the number the EPs joining the program for the first time.”

This article highlights the shady privacy practices of the government data warehouse used to store information indefinitely on consumers who have registered at Healthcare.gov, even those that didn’t sign up for coverage.

Research and Innovation

MetaOptima debuts the MoleScope at the World Congress of Dermatology in Vancouver, offering physicians and consumers a microscope attachment for smartphones that allows them to take, store, and share images of moles and other suspicious skin lesions.

PatientsLikeMe and the FDA agree to collaborate on research that will determine how patient-reported data can offer new insights into drug safety. The FDA will now be able to access and analyze data from the 350,000 PatientsLikeMe member network, including 110,000 adverse event reports on 1,000 medications.

Telemedicine

Iowa passes legislation allowing a first-time patient visit over telemedicine if the standard of care doesn’t demand an in-person visit.

The local paper profiles John Shufeldt, MD and his Scottsdale, AZ-based MeMD telemedicine company. The state of Indiana recently joined the roster of MeMD’s service locations as part of a pilot project to test the telemedicine waters. State officials will decide this fall after the pilot concludes whether or not to allow virtual appointments between physicians and patients with no previous in-person relationship.

Other

I can’t decide whether this is creepy or useful: Plastic surgeon Carrie Stern launches MirrorMe3D to offer prospective clients 3-D renderings of how surgery could impact their features. Printouts range from $60 to $300 for a full-sized head. 

The American Medical Association passes a proposal that calls for the AMA to create ethical and professional guidelines for media doctors such as Dr. Oz, whose evidence-lacking claims reach millions of TV viewers who aren’t aware of his paid endorser status and his off-center positions on scientific topics. The AMA will also issue guidelines disciplining unethical media doctors through existing channels such as state licensing boards and medical societies.

Sponsor Updates

• Medicity recaps its HIStalk webinar, “Successful HIEs DO Exist: Best Practices for Care Coordination.”
• Billian’s HealthData offers an Essentials licensing tier of its market intelligence database that includes key hospital and health system executives.
• Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta goes live with Clockwise.MD in its urgent care centers, allowing patients to reserve their spot in line and receive wait time updates.
• Versus Technology offers “How Your Hospital can Easily Track Nurse-to-Patient Ratios.”
• Greenway Health chooses Talksoft as Partner of the Month for June 2015.
• Nordic Consulting focuses on intervention in the latest episode of The HIT Breakdown podcast series.

Contacts

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

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

Get HIStalk Practice  updates.
Contact us online.