From the Consultant’s Corner 10/20/14

Considering Joining an Employed Physician Network? Three Questions to Ask

In today’s healthcare environment, physician practices are experiencing more and more challenges that impact their ability to deliver quality care and keep the doors open. Along with the pressures of seeing and treating patients, physicians face shrinking margins, declining reimbursement and a lack of capital to invest in needed technology, including EHRs and practice management software. They can also have difficulties with negotiating managed care contracts, particularly in the context of shifting reimbursement strategies.

All these pressures are driving both small and large practices to consider different business models, including an employed physician network.

Primary benefits of an employed physician model

For some physicians, moving to an employed model is a survival strategy to address the challenges of running a practice and maintaining a strong bottom line. By participating in this type of arrangement, a physician can concentrate on delivering optimal patient care and leave the “business” side of the practice to the larger network, gaining a greater sense of security.

Joining an employed network also puts the physician in a stronger position during managed care contract negotiations because physicians have greater bargaining power when they approach negotiations as a group. This is especially important given the current payment landscape because without well-considered contracts, a physician could lose substantial revenue.

Practices need the right technology in place to take advantage of new opportunities for population health management and other programs that generate additional revenue. However, many physicians do not have the financial resources to adopt these solutions. An employed network provides greater support for technology investments so practices can add, upgrade, and maintain new EHRs and revenue cycle systems that enhance clinical quality and financial performance.

Being part of an employed physician network can also help physicians maintain regulatory compliance. Through this model, physicians have access to the knowledge and resources of the larger system to ensure they adequately meet new and emerging requirements. This is particularly helpful given some of the difficulties physicians face with understanding the growing number of federal rules and regulations that impact both care delivery and business operations.

Finally, joining an employed network offers the opportunity to share professional liability risk, which may result in better premium rates and reduce potential exposure.

Three questions to ask when considering an employed network

Although an employed physician model has its advantages, it is not for everyone. As such, it’s important for physicians to engage in robust due diligence to make sure joining an employed network is the right decision. Some key questions to consider during this analysis include:

1. What is the compensation model? I recommend checking any proposed agreement against peer data to ensure compensation is reasonable and fair. MGMA makes a logical starting point for this comparison. I would also suggest looking closely at the way performance is measured. For instance, assess whether incentives reflect both productivity and quality measures, and look for alignment with specific specialty and clinical service line measures as well.
2. How are physicians represented in the governance model? It is important to understand which employed physicians serve on the board and the extent of their responsibilities and duties — as well as the board’s. Physicians should be clear about how and to what degree physician representatives act as the voice for all physicians in the network.
3. What is the future of the health system? By reviewing business results, volumes, strategic plans, and growth projections, a physician can gauge the current and future health of the system he or she is considering joining. Note that if there is a pending merger or other business model or market change, the health system’s future may be less clear. Keep in mind that an acquisition changes organization dynamics and the practice environment.

As changes continue in healthcare, more physicians undoubtedly will seek to participate in employed physician networks. Deciding to remain independent or become part of an employed group requires careful evaluation of the financial, environmental, and operational factors in each scenario. In the end, the best choice will allow the physician to give priority to what he or she is trained to do — care for patients.

Jerry Broderick is an executive management consultant at Culbert Healthcare Solutions.

Contacts

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

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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News 10/16/14

Top News

ONC convenes the first joint meeting of the Health Information Technology Policy and Standards Committees to hear a final report from the Joint JASON Task Force, an update from the Interoperability Governance Sub-Committee, and an interim report from Erica Galvez, ONC’s interoperability and exchange portfolio manager. Galvez explained that physicians are lagging  behind hospitals when it comes to electronically exchanging patient data. She noted that just one-third of physicians could exchange different types of patient data such as lab results, medication lists, and problem lists.

HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests

Don’t miss the HIStalk “Must-See” Exhibitors Guide for MGMA 2014. More than 25 HIStalk sponsors and their offerings (plus a few networking event invitations) are represented in the digital guide, which is also available as a downloadable PDF. Thanks to our sponsors for supporting HIStalk, HIStalk Practice, and HIStalk Connect. Be sure to give them a thumbs up and a few minutes of your time while roaming the MGMA exhibit hall.

Watching: The recent spate of sensationalist and often inaccurate Ebola headlines prompted me to revisit this hilarious “linkalist” clip from Portlandia.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Population health management vendor Welltok closes $25 million of a planned $37 million funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners. The company expects to close the remaining funds by the end of 2014. BVP Partner Stephen Krause will become a member of Welltok’s Board of Directors.

Ability Network acquires MD On-Line Inc., which provides electronic healthcare solutions to ambulatory providers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Mercom Capital Group reports that the top five VC funding deals in Q3 2014 were the $70 million raised by DXY, $52 million by Proteus Digital Health, $50.3 million by Teladoc, $50 million by Chunyu, and $30 million by HealthEdge. Total funding for the quarter amounted to $956 million via 212 deals.

Announcements and Implementations

Riverchase Dermatology (FL) launches online visits through its patient portal via the DermatologistOnCall white-label solution from Iagnosis.

Highlands Physicians Inc. selects MTBC as its preferred vendor partner for EHR, PM and revenue cycle management services. HPI is an IPA that provides group purchasing and managed services to over 1,100 physicians in Tennessee and Virginia.

Regional Medical Imaging (MI) installs the Merge Notifi email appointment reminder system through a partnership with Merge Healthcare and HIT Application Solutions.

The Alaska Department of Corrections implements MedUnison’s DocSynergy EHR throughout its system of 12 correctional facilities.

Allscripts will offer Shareable Ink’s documentation solution for surgical and clinical documentation for Sunrise. The two companies have done a bit of personnel swapping over the last year: Shareable Ink CEO Laurie McGraw was chief client officer at Allscripts, while Greg Shorten, SI’s chief growth officer, previously served as vice president of sales at Allscripts.

Government and Politics

Nonprofit research firm Battelle secures a four-year, $16 million contract to take over the central IT infrastructure CMS uses to develop, maintain, and analyze Medicare quality and efficiency data.

The AMA issues a Meaningful Use blueprint that calls for CMS to make over a dozen changes to penalties, incentives, thresholds, measures, and more. (You can view Mr. H’s breakdown here.) It’s refreshing to see a trade organization offer concrete ideas, rather than nebulous concepts and timetables. The blueprint no doubt echoes the sentiments of many providers, including OCHIN CMIO Tim Burdick, MD, who in a recent HIStalk interview called for a team of industry leaders to come up with “30 clinical data elements that are needed to improve Triple Aim.”

Research and Innovation

Bionym begins shipping Nymi heart rhythm-based password wristbands to developers. Partner Brivo Labs is in the process of using it to develop an access control system that unlocks doors with a person’s Nymi-authenticated identity.

Philips Healthcare begins Netherlands hospital trials of a wearable COPD monitoring sensor that collects information on physical activity, respiratory indicators, and sleep disturbances.

People

ONC names Lucia Savage, JD (UnitedHealthcare) as chief privacy officer, replacing Joy Pritts, who resigned in July.

Other

The local business paper highlights the work athenahealth is doing to create an algorithm within its EHR that assesses Ebola risk. Its developers are also releasing a new platform to help providers ask the right questions around travel, and alert them if a patient has been to an Ebola-affected region. Senior Manager of Clinical Content Brian Anderson, MD noted that, “We’ve gotten a lot of requests from our clients to understand the new guidelines. We get about three a day asking what can they do to meet this new concern that’s emerging.”

CDC and ONC will present a webinar on Thursday, October 16 at 1:00 p.m. ET to encourage providers and EHR vendors to work together to develop Ebola screening tools. CDC’s Ebola team will present its detection algorithms and travel history/medical signs checklists.

Healthcare workers express outrage over a Halloween costume website’s peddling of an Ebola containment suit.

France’s new healthcare bill includes renewed focus on digitizing medical records, which it has attempted in the past with limited success. The bill also includes a binge drinking ban, which might be the harder of the two to enforce in a country that “has long been known for measured – but considerable – booze consumption.”

An enlisted service member experiences Google Glass withdrawal symptoms while undergoing treatment for alcohol addiction through the U.S. Navy’s Substance Abuse Rehabilitation Program. The patient, who had worn the device 18 hours a day for two months, became irritable when stripped of the device, had a hard time focusing, experienced his dreams as if through the narrow view of the headset, and repeatedly placed his index finger to the right side of his face as if trying to turn it on.

Sponsor Updates

• Greenway Health’s SuccessEHS is prevalidated by NCQA to receive 27 points in auto credit toward PCMH 2011 scoring.
• HIMSS Analytics names Leidos Health a Certified Educator of the DELTA Powered Analytics Assessment.

Contacts

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

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

Get HIStalk Practice  updates.
Contact us online.

News 10/14/14

Top News

Lifestyle healthcare company Alphaeon Corp. acquires patient engagement technology business TouchMD for $22 million. TouchMD was founded by Fusion Media Inc., known for touch-screen presentations for luxury real estate developments. The acquisition is an interesting example of a fundamentally non-healthcare company successfully cashing in on the current digital health craze.

Webinars

October 21 (Tuesday) 1:00 p.m. ET. Electronic Prescribing Of Controlled Substance Is Here, What Should You Do? Sponsored by Imprivata. Presenters: William T. “Bill” Winsley, MS, RPh, former executive director, Ohio State Board of Pharmacy; Sean Kelly, MD, physician, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center;  David Ting, founder and CEO, Imprivata. Providers are challenged to use EPCS to raise e-prescribing rates for MU, improve physician productivity, reduce fraud and errors, and meet New York’s March 2015 e-prescribing mandate. Hydrocodone painkillers such as Vicodin have moved to Schedule II, with the higher CS prescribing volume adding another reason to implement e-prescribing. This webinar will describe why organizations should roll out EPCS, presented from the perspectives of pharmacy, compliance, physicians, and technology.

Announcements and Implementations

Behavioral healthcare provider Community Connections (AK) selects Essentia EHR, revenue cycle management, and office administration software from Lavender & Wyatt Inc.

Agility Health launches AgileRPM practice-management software for physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech pathology clinics, as well as hospital outpatient rehabilitation departments..

MMS Analytics launches healthcare price transparency tool MyMedicalShopper.com. The comparison tool will first roll out to patients in New Hampshire, followed by the rest of New England in 2015 and nationally in 2016.

Palmetto Primary Care Physicians (SC) taps eGroup to help it design, deploy, and support the practice’s new IT infrastructure, which will include EHR, care coordination, population health, and revenue cycle technologies. PPCP is building a $135 million, 50-acre healthcare campus in Nexton, which will be the state’s first community equipped with fiber-optic Internet service.

Allscripts announces GA of the FollowMyHealth Achieve care management solution for Touchworks and Sunrise users.

Government and Politics

ONC adds a dozen primary care physicians and administrators to its Health IT Fellows Program. Heading into its second year, the program empowers fellows to promote productive dialogue about healthcare IT within their communities, and to assist local practices in leveraging Meaningful Use.

The local paper details the Military Healthcare System’s use of secure messaging, and the desire to rebrand the Relay Health solution that has been in use since 2010 under one name across all military branches. The Relay Health contract is up for renewal in 2016.

ONC’s annual report to Congress on health IT adoption and HIE (clocking in at 54 pages) reveals that 39 percent of office-based physicians in 2013 reported electronically sharing patient health information with other providers, while 14 percent indicated they shared patient information with providers outside their organization.

Healthcare IT consultant Tom Munnecke, an early developer of VistA, puts ONC’s latest round of statistics in perspective: “Providers see their information as a proprietary advantage over their competitors. They have no intrinsic motivation to spend money to share information with others. They would much rather keep it internal, locking in their patients to their system and their services. It becomes a game: How can they do the least amount of sharing but still earn their incentive payments?”

Opponents of California’s Proposition 46 – which would quadruple the maximum allowed pain and suffering medical practice award, mandate drug and alcohol testing of physicians, and require that physicians and pharmacists look up controlled substance prescription patients in the little-used CURES drug abuser database – launch a voter campaign suggesting that the CURES database would be vulnerable to hacking. Many of the coalition’s members are healthcare providers and member organizations.

Research and Innovation

Google confirms it is testing a service that offers users video chats with physicians when they search online for symptoms, conveniently intercepting them before they get to competing sites like HealthTap or Doctors on Demand. The company is partnering with Scripps Health (CA) and One Medical Group in its pilot project. Lt. Dan provides a more thorough explanation of Google’s likely plans here.

Other

Forbes highlights Privia Health and Aledade as companies helping independent practices stay afloat. Privia, a physician practice management company that deploys athenahealth’s EHR across its practices, received $400 million in funding last month and is set to expand to New York, Florida, Texas, and Atlanta by 2017.

The local paper highlights the process Everett Clinic (WA) has made with healthcare technology such as touchscreen check-in kiosks and Epic’s My Chart patient portal. Online appointment scheduling via the portal will eventually roll out to the clinic’s 44 specialties.

William Thornbury Jr., MD discusses the success Medical Associates of Southern Kentucky has seen with implementation of lean systems principles, including development of the mobile health Me-Visit app. “All of this came from attending that Lean Systems Certification class four years ago,” Thornbury says. “I had no idea how much it would change my life.”

Kaiser Permanente is working on supply chain redesign, hoping to reduce duplicate inventory, increase patient care time of nurses, and manage expired and recalled items. They are also scanning product ID barcodes into the EHR so that product effectiveness can be reviewed electronically afterward.

The Washington Post publishes a comprehensive and haunting piece on the current Ebola outbreak and how the world’s health organizations failed to contain its spread in Africa.

Contacts

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

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

Get HIStalk Practice  updates.
Contact us online.

HIStalk’s “Must-See” Exhibitors Guide for MGMA 2014

We’ve put together a list of wonderful HIStalk sponsors exhibiting at this year’s MGMA conference in Las Vegas. Take a moment to look over the products and innovations (and giveaways!) our sponsors plan to showcase, and map out your trip to the exhibit hall accordingly. We’ve also included contact information for a few sponsors who will not be exhibiting, but will be available for one-on-one meetings.

You can also download a viewable/printable PDF version.

ADP AdvancedMD
Booth 1237

AdvancedMD is a leader in all-in-one, cloud EHRs; practice management with Big Data practice analytics; and medical scheduling software; as well as medical billing services. With AdvancedMD, you can leave behind five or more systems with our all-in-one unified solution that allows you to optimize schedules, simplify check-in and checkout, document patient encounters, prescribe and order, capture and pursue revenue, leverage real-time analytics to improve financial performance, engage with patients, and practice on the go. AdvancedMD simply makes running your small practice easier. Come see us at booth #1237 where we will offer free ICD-10 risk assessments and demo the latest product innovations aimed at helping independent medical practices enhance performance and productivity. Visit us online at www.advancedmd.com  or on Twitter @adpadvancedmd.

Allscripts
Booth 614

Visit Allscripts to experience The Power of All.  We connect people, places, and information across all care settings through our Open, Connected Community of Health. Our full suite of population health solutions build on the power of our comprehensive suite of Clinical and Revenue Cycle core products. We deliver the portfolio flexibility to work with all major EHR applications in the market today. We enable our clients to deliver better outcomes.  Solutions that will be showcased during MGMA include Allscripts TouchWorks EHR, Allscripts Wand for TouchWorks, Allscripts Professional EHR, Allscripts Wand for Professional EHR, Allscripts Practice Management (PM), Allscripts Payerpath, Allscripts Revenue Cycle Management Services, FollowMyHealth, FollowMyHealth Achieve (Press Release), and Allscripts Payer Life Sciences.  The Allscripts Developer Program will showcase more than 80 certified partner apps and devices on the Allscripts Application Store.  These innovative applications were custom built for TouchWorks EHR, Professional HER, and PM.  For more information, contact Laura Mullaney.

Aprima Medical Software Inc.
Booth 901

Aprima offers a fully integrated, single application, single database practice management/EHR solution, as well as complete RCM services. Our no-template design is chief-complaint driven with an adaptive learning capability based on your style and habits. To learn more about how Aprima can help your practice, visit www.aprima.com or email info@aprima.com.

Availity
Booth 715

Don’t miss daily drawings for Tiffany & Co. jewelry at the MGMA 2014 Annual Conference, courtesy of Availity. Stop by Availity booth #715 on Sunday* and enter your ticket for three chances to win. You must be present to win, so be sure to come back during drawing times:  Sunday, October 26 at 6 pm; Monday, October 27 at 1:30 pm; and Tuesday, October 28 at 1:30 pm. While you’re there, spend a few minutes talking with an Availity representative about challenges you face at your organization, and let us pass our expertise on to you! If you’re struggling with patient collections, schedule a 30-minute meeting with a patient access consultant. *You may enter at any time, but will have fewer chances to win. Entries roll over to the next drawing.

Beacon Partners
Booth 1050

For more than 25 years, Beacon Partners has provided healthcare management consulting services to hospitals, academic medical centers, physician groups, and health systems across North America.  We help our clients optimize their operational, clinical, and financial performance by helping them navigate regulatory challenges, integrate clinical and financial systems, manage costs and revenue, and improve patient outcomes.

Billian’s HealthDATA
To schedule a meeting, contact Nathan Lenyszyn at nlenyszyn@billian.com.

Comprehensive physician and group practice intelligence from Billian’s HealthDATA helps clients proactively identify and engage best-fit healthcare buyers. Target clinicians and practice leadership in our online database by size, specialty, location, and Meaningful Use participation and connect via email, direct mail, and social media. Visit billianshealthdata.com to learn more.

CareSync
Booth 1307

CareSync connects people and data to redefine the role of the patient and create a better healthcare experience for everybody. The team will demonstrate how CareSync’s unique combination of technology and services creates the best source of patient data that is accessible, relevant and meaningful, and easily shared, directly from the application. They’ll also showcase the newly released CareSync Pro, the enterprise communication layer that for the first time connects healthcare entities with members, their families, and their caregivers to share valuable health information and facilitate care coordination.  Email team@caresync.com to schedule an appointment, or visit booth #1307 during exhibit hall hours.

Clockwise.MD
Booth 1340

Clockwise.MD addresses the most common source of patient dissatisfaction in healthcare – waiting for care.  It lets patients skip the waiting room, keeps them up-to-date and informed about their position in the queue,  and  lets them know when they’ll be seen.  It also automates the wait list, filling cancellations in seconds.  Visit us in booth #1340 to win Bose QuietComfort Noise-Cancelling Headphones for the flight home!

CompuGroup Medical US
Booth 827

Stop by booth #827 and experience an exciting activity line up with incredible prizes to be won!  CompuGroup Medical US (CGM) will be in Las Vegas for the MGMA 2014 Annual Conference from October 26-29, 2014, and we want to see you there! As a global e-health company with over 25 years of international market leadership, we are here to serve you! Our healthcare software solutions augment the efforts of healthcare providers, enabling them to achieve the best possible outcomes for their patients. Versatile, easy-to-use and intuitive, our solutions offer high productivity and efficiency gains, and are highly configurable to suit the unique needs of physician practices, community health centers, and laboratories as well as several other healthcare organizations. Are you in the market for a population health management solution? We have you covered! We look forward to seeing you there! Visit www.CGMus.com for more information.

e-MDs
Booth 600

Whether your medical group is a single specialty or multi-specialty, e-MDs can meet your needs. Our software is used by physicians in nearly every medical specialty and supports many workflows unique to individual specialties. E-MDs’ integrated EHR/EMR and practice management software solutions, designed with the input of thousands of physicians, enable physician productivity and a superior clinical experience, with proven benefits for the quality of care and business operations. E-MDs also offers a comprehensive and affordable population health management solution used in more than 40 ACOs across the U.S. E-MDs Population Health Management identifies care and quality gaps across the enterprise. Its administrator views and physician dashboards make it easy to manage risk and take action using population-based and patient-specific drill-downs that enable timely point-of-care actions to improve health and financial outcomes.

eClinicalWorks
Booth 215

EClinicalWorks delivers healthcare IT solutions, including EHRs, population health, and patient engagement tools. With medical providers across all 50 states using its solutions, customers include physician practices, patient-centered medical homes, ACOs, university student health services, athletic organizations, out-patient departments of hospitals, health centers, and convenient care clinics. Stop by our booth to hear how several physician-led ACOs have improved quality while significantly increasing savings, learn about new developments, and see live demos.

Emdeon
Booth 631

Join practice operations and revenue cycle management expert Elizabeth Woodcock, MBA, FACMPE, CPC, in Emdeon booth #631 to learn practical, real-world strategies for overcoming the most common roadblocks to practice success. Monday at 9:45: “Eligibility tips & tricks;” Monday at 12:45: “Denied Claims Mean Denied Revenue: Get control of your denials today!”  Tuesday at 9:45: “Getting your patients to pay”    www.emdeon.com

GE Healthcare
Booth 559

From increasing patient throughput to reducing rejected claims, our software and services help you connect productivity with care. Visit GE Healthcare at MGMA booth #559 to learn more about our financial management, care delivery management, and population health solutions. Schedule a demo at this link: http://it.gehealthcare.com/IP_CPS_MGMA_Tradeshow_October_DEMO_2014.html

Greenway Health
Booth 815

Greenway Health will demonstrate how its integrated clinically driven revenue cycle management and integrated EHR/practice management solutions accelerate claims payment, improve workflows, and increase patient satisfaction. Greenway Health will show how its innovative solutions help physicians meet challenges such as ICD-10 transition and Meaningful Use, capitalize on new value-based care models to maximize financial strength, and improve patient outcomes. Along with its RCM/EHR/PM solutions, Greenway Health will also showcase its consumer-engagement solution, PeopleLYNK, and enhanced mobile solutions to improve care delivery and access.

healthfinch
Booth 201

Healthfinch is the leading provider of clinical decision support tools that seamlessly integrate into the EHR and automate and/or delegate the routine and repeatable tasks physicians completes on a daily basis, thus freeing up approximately 40 percent of a physician’s day.

Ingenious Med
Booth 115

Ingenious Med provides the leading patient encounter platform – a cloud-based, Web and mobile point-of-care solution that automates the workflow of care teams in the areas of care coordination, charge capture, and advanced analytics. Ingenious Med continues to break new ground, developing useful, useable solutions to increase the quality of care, protect and bolster revenue, and most importantly of all, put physicians’ time where it is needed most – with their patients. Find out more at www.IngeniousMed.com or visit booth #115 for a 5-minute demo and a chance to win a Pebble Steel smartwatch.

MedData Inc.
Booth 1044

MedData is a leading national provider of revenue cycle management and patient financial lifecycle solutions including billing, coding, collections, and patient satisfaction. From our headquarters in Brecksville, OH, as well as from offices in Grand Rapids, MI, Roseville, CA, Bellevue, WA, and Peoria, IL, we’ve provided innovative billing solutions to the medical community across a variety of medical specialties since 1980.

Navicure
Booth 1007

Stop by booth #1007 to learn more about how Navicure’s cloud-based healthcare billing and payment solutions help healthcare organizations of all sizes increase revenue, accelerate cash flow, and reduce costs in the course of managing insurance claims and payments. Navicure is the exclusive billing and payment solution of the MGMA AdminiServe Partner Network and a MGMA Executive Partner. Make sure to schedule time to attend the following sessions to learn more:

• “Automating the Life Cycle of a Practice Dollar,” presented by Ken Bradley on Monday, Oct. 27, 9:30-9:55 a.m. Location: Halls N2-N4, Booth #154, H1P1
• “Three Steps to Better Denial Management,” presented by Joel Young and Ken Bradley, Oct. 28, 10:15-11:15 a.m. Location: N242

NextGen
Booth 1137

Stop by the NextGen Healthcare booth #1137 to see the future of health IT. Our integrated, interoperable suite of solutions spans the HIT spectrum — from powering collaborative care, PCMHs, ACOs, and HQM, to speeding revenue and managing secure, easy access to patient data. While you are in town, join NextGen for our industry event on Monday, October 27. RSVP by October 24 at www.nextgen.com/mgma14.

Nuance
Booth 1021

Serving 500,000 clinician users at more than 10,000 healthcare institutions, Nuance provides end-to-end transformative clinical documentation, clinical narrative, and image sharing solutions – helping to reinvent the healthcare experience. Contact Laura Serrano-Haggard, 608-230-7150 for more information.

PatientKeeper
Booth 127

PatientKeeper Charge Capture software is the most time-tested electronic solution for streamlining physician charge capture – and now technical and infusion charges, too. PatientKeeper lets physicians record charges electronically on computers and mobile devices, using familiar clinical terminology to generate ICD-9 or ICD-10 codes. PatientKeeper Charge Capture is the “front end” for billing systems at large physician practices nationwide, including many academic medical center physician organizations, preferred for the unparalleled flexibility it affords billers and coders, as well as the intuitive user experience it delivers to physicians. PatientKeeper’s charge capture, analytics, sign out and PQRS applications integrate with hospital and practice EMRs and billing systems to help increase revenue and cash flow, reduce charge lag days, improve billing operations, and comply with PQRS initiatives.

PDR Network
To schedule a meeting, contact Thomas Eck Thomas.Eck@pdr.net.

Population health management is the future. Is your EHR equipped with tools to support providers? PDR Network – the leader in FDA-approved patient drug safety and support services for EHRs – makes easily integrated interactive solutions available for EHR partner companies at no charge to enhance their offerings by improving patient/physician interactions to improve medication adherence and outcomes, and by offering providers real-time information to reduce liability, better understand drug costs, and reduce admin costs. PDR’s suite of interactive EHR solutions includes: PDR® BRIEF – the most critical drug information the moment a product is selected; PDR+ for Patients – customized patient-focused drug education guides directly through the EHR, patient portal; PDR® BRIEF Price Solution – patient-relevant copay information at the point of care. For more, visit PDRNetwork.com/PDR-in-EHR.

PerfectServe
Booth 1046

PerfectServe, healthcare’s only comprehensive and secure clinical communications platform, makes it easy to quickly connect with the right clinician at the right time, in the way that clinician wants to be reached. Using a cloud-based system, PerfectServe routes voice, text, web- and system-generated messages based on workflow and preferences for greater reliability, efficiency, and productivity. More than 35,000 physicians use this mobile app to better coordinate care while nurses spend less time tracking down physicians and more time caring for patients.

Porter Research
To schedule a meeting, contact Ben Mauldin bmauldin@porterresearch.com.

Custom market research programs from Porter Research help clients get target-market feedback to drive informed business decisions. Get candid physician feedback for product development; benchmark industry perceptions, pain points, and adoption rates; and leverage findings to establish thought leadership in your industry. Learn more at porterresearch.com.

Premier Inc.
Booth 1416

Premier Inc. is a leading healthcare improvement company, uniting an alliance of approximately 3,000 U.S. hospitals and 110,000 other providers to transform healthcare. With integrated data and analytics, collaboratives, supply chain solutions, and advisory and other services, Premier enables better care and outcomes at a lower cost. Premier, a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient, plays a critical role in the rapidly evolving healthcare industry, collaborating with members to co-develop long-term innovations that reinvent and improve the way care is delivered to patients nationwide. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Premier is passionate about transforming American healthcare. Stop by our booth to sign our ICD-10 readiness pledge and receive a free 30-minute consultation.

Sandlot Solutions
Booth 740

Sandlot Solutions, founded in 2006, is a leading provider of clinical interoperability and community health management solutions focused on the exchange of clinical and claims data across the care community, population data analytics, and enhanced care coordination. Sandlot provides the tools and technology that enable healthcare organizations to improve the quality of care, understand and manage risk, reduce costs, and transition to new business models. Stop by our booth to learn more about our software-as-a-service cloud model with configurable technology that streamlines data sharing and provides physicians with actionable patient information and analytics at the point of care. Sandlot’s technology works within a physician’s existing workflow and, using a proprietary, patent-pending digital envelope, enables physicians to proactively address gaps in care at the point of care.

TriZetto Provider Solutions
Booth 1207

Come join us at booth #1207 in AdminiServe Alley!! Check out our new products and meet with Frank Cohen, industry-leading trainer in healthcare analytics and process improvement. Enter for a chance to win a JawBone UP24 Fitness Tracker and keep your health moving forward. Visit www.trizetto.com/provider.

Versus Technology
Booth 321

Every minute matters in your practice.  Are you wasting those minutes with poor patient flow? If you could improve efficiency and save just a few minutes on every patient visit, how many more patients could you serve?  At Versus, we know the power of just one minute. Our Advantages Clinic patient flow system provides real-time visibility and automated alerts to save time in the moment, streamlining patient visits to reduce wait times, cycle times, and overall lengths of stay. Plus, automatically collected historical data allows you to benchmark and continually improve your processes. The end result — adding more appointments to your existing schedule without adding staff or additional exam rooms, while improving both patient and staff satisfaction.  Are you ready to increase access, satisfaction, and revenue with improved patient flow? Visit with Versus at booth #321 to speak with process improvement expert Jim Stilley, MHA, FACHE, CASC. Every visitor will be entered to win a Microsoft Surface Tablet.

ZirMed
Booth 607

As the nation’s only company delivering proven, cloud-based business and clinical performance management solutions to meet the challenges of managing population health and optimizing fee-for-service and fee-for-value reimbursements, ZirMed delivers award-winning technology and client support. To discover how much our solutions can do for your organization, visit www.ZirMed.com.

Contacts

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

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

Get HIStalk Practice  updates.
Contact us online.

News 10/9/14

Top News

Healthcare.gov goes live to much media fanfare. (One headline half jokingly declares that “the Back Button Now Works.”) Changes include a 16-screen online application process, whittled down from last year’s 76; the need to enter basic personal information just once; and the now functioning back button. Nearly 20,000 consumers have made it through the system thus far, though I’m not certain how important that figure is given that 2015 policy and pricing information hasn’t yet been made available. HHS officials won’t comment on how many users the new site can accommodate at one time until the five-week testing period concludes.

HIStalk Webinars

October 21 (Tuesday) 1:00 p.m. ET. Electronic Prescribing Of Controlled Substance Is Here, What Should You Do? Sponsored by Imprivata. Presenters: William T. “Bill” Winsley, MS, RPh, former executive director, Ohio State Board of Pharmacy; Sean Kelly, MD, physician, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center;  David Ting, founder and CEO, Imprivata. Providers are challenged to use EPCS to raise e-prescribing rates for MU, improve physician productivity, reduce fraud and errors, and meet New York’s March 2015 e-prescribing mandate. Hydrocodone painkillers such as Vicodin have moved to Schedule II, with the higher CS prescribing volume adding another reason to implement e-prescribing. This webinar will describe why organizations should roll out EPCS, presented from the perspectives of pharmacy, compliance, physicians, and technology.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Cloud-based solutions company Exostar receives $5 million in funding from the Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, which will enable it to expand from the aerospace and defense industries into healthcare and life sciences.

Apple investor Carl Icahn sends the above message, causing Apple shares to trade up above 1.7 percent following the tweet. Talk about the power of social media.

Announcements and Implementations

ACO Pathfinder Health works with Cerner to create a secure way to share health data. The ACO is made up of Northern Arizona Health and community physicians, and will initially manage the care of 5,700 NAH employees and family members.

Merge Healthcare adds electronic referral and order management to its iConnect image sharing network.

Telemedicine company My OnCall Doc rolls out on-demand telemedicine services to members, including access to its network of 500 physicians and healthcare professionals.

Virginia Women’s Center selects Keona Health’s Online Nurse Advice Solution to facilitate patient triage via phone, website, or patient portal.

United Physicians (MI) will roll out Wellcentive’s population health and risk management solutions to cover all its patients.

Georgia West Imaging (GA) and Outpatient Imaging (AL) select McKesson Business Performance Services for its RCM.

SeeChange Health integrates Doctor On Demand telemedicine services into its FlyWheel health improvement platform for employers.

Government and Politics

CMS will reopen the submission period for EHR hardship exceptions through November 30, 2014. Valid circumstances are vendor delays in providing 2014 Edition CEHRT and the inability to attest via the 2014 CEHRT Flexibility Rule.

The AMA is pleased that the hardship exemption has been reopened, noting in a statement to CMS that, “Giving physicians more time to file for a hardship exemption provides necessary relief as many physicians are struggling to meet a number of reporting mandates to avoid multiple penalties.”

Massachusetts becomes the first state to require that healthcare insurers offer real-time prices. I applaud the state’s effort at price transparency, but the caveats make me wonder if the information does more of a disservice to patients. They include:

• Non-standard prices.
• Posted prices may or may not include all charges.
• Prices seem to change frequently.
• No standard list of priced tests and procedures. 

Congressman Phil Roe, MD (R-TN) tours Holston Medical Group (TN) to learn more about its CarePayment patient payment plan, and participation in the Qualuable Medical Professionals ACO and OnePartner HIE. HMG is one of the largest multi-specialty practices in the Southeast, serving 200,000 patients in Tennessee and Virginia.

Research and Innovation

Scientists develop the 3-D LEVER software program to help them identify, tag, and track live cells. The program (“like Photoshop for cell biologists”) will help scientists study cancer-causing abnormal cell proliferation, and the use of stem cells in regenerative medicine.

Elliptic Labs further develops ultrasound technology to enable multilayered hand gestures to control a smartphone, meaning users can do different things with the phone based on how far away their hand is from the device.

People

Mark Marten (Maverick Medical Group) joins Apollo Medical Holdings as vice president of managed care.

Mike Putnam (Kayak) joins American Well as senior vice president of consumer markets.

Other

A computer glitch at the NHS City Walls Medical Centre presents patients with a test screen upon check-in rather than typical identity confirmation check boxes. J.K. Rowling owes a computer programmer somewhere a tiny slice of her Harry Potter pie.

Box CEO Aaron Levie calls out athenahealth, Practice Fusion, and drchrono in USA Today as cloud-based companies helping physicians do away with expensive, legacy based software. His op-ed (presumably paid for) is a tad too self-serving for my taste. Levie conveniently name drops several companies in which he invests, including Flatiron Health, Oscar Insurance, and HealthTap.

HIStalk Practice Pretzel Logic contributor Micky Tripathi, founding president and CEO of the Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative, points out at the U.S. News Hospital of Tomorrow conference that today’s HIEs often have multilayered sets of competing functions, and the associated value chain is “getting blown to bits.” He adds that central repositories are “the dinosaurs that are going to go away.”

Veterinarians at Animal Medical Center (NY) beta test the LifeLearn Sofie app, powered by IBM Watson, to uncover relevant, objective, and evidence-based treatment options tailored to a specific patient. (Weird News Andy would likely title this story “Watson Goes to the Dogs.”)

Contacts

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

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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