News 8/18/21

Top News

Maven Clinic, a digital women’s and family healthcare provider, raises $110 million in a Series D funding round led by Dragoneer Investment Group and Lux Capital (with help from investor Oprah Winfrey). The company, which caters to employers and payers, has raised $200 million since launching in 2014.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Austin-based EqualizeRCM acquires A Cord Billing & Business Services, which offers RCM solutions to physician practices in Oklahoma. EqualizeRCM expanded into the South last year through its acquisition of competitor Solutions4MD’s[sic].

DocSpace raises $1.2 million in seed funding. The Houston-based startup has developed automated tools to help physicians set up online practices, including digital health storefronts and back-office management solutions. The new funding will help the company further develop its one-click checkout and payment capability. Co-founder Mario Amaro, MD is a US Navy veteran, having served as an aerospace medical technician for seven years.

People

Hinge Health names Hassan Asghar (Bremer Bank) CISO and Ryan Russell (Amazon) SVP of design and user experience.

Optimize Health names Ryan Clark (Phreesia) VP of customer success, Sarah Jacob (Accolade) VP of product, and Louie Martinez (Quartet Health) head of people.

Announcements and Implementations

Privia Health will offer virtual maternity care tools and programs from Babyscripts to its network of 700-plus practices.

Optometric Management Group will leverage insurance billing and credentialing services from RevCycle Partners across its eight locations in Ohio.

Other

Bucking the trend: Josh Thompson, MD opens Thompson Medical Clinic in Oneida, TN after four years working as a hospitalist at not-so-nearby Fort Sanders in Knoxville. Thompson says the long commute to Knoxville helped a big factor in opting for the life of a solo practitioner, as was the fact that several clinics in Oneida had closed, leaving local residents with fewer options for care.

The American Board of Telehealth develops a Teleprimary Care Certificate program to help primary care physicians develop telehealth programs using industry best practices. The online course consists of six hour-long modules.

Sponsor Updates

• AdvancedMD publishes the 2021 edition of its “MACRAnyms” e-book.
• EClinicalWorks releases a series of podcasts focused on “How Health Centers Nationwide are Improving Access to Care.”

Blog Posts

• Using hello2healow for Patient Outreach in Florida (EClinicalWorks)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 8/16/21

Top News

Ambulatory health IT and RCM vendor Kareo acquires PatientlySpeaking, a Westlake Village, CA-based business that offers automated billing solutions to physician practices and billing companies.

Kareo sold its managed billing services business in 2019, deciding to offer those services to its customers through its partner network.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Ambulatory health IT vendor PracticeSuite acquires competitor Hello Health for an undisclosed sum.

People

Robert Millette (Lee Health) joins Integrated Care Solutions as VP of delivery innovation.

Announcements and Implementations

The North Coast Health Improvement and Information Network in California selects NinePatch care and social service coordination software from QS Systems.

Indian Health Services will implement Valorant Health’s telehealth software to offer patients within its Catawba Health Unit (SC) access mental and behavioral healthcare.

Sponsor Updates

• Nordic publishes a new whitepaper, “The new healthcare ecosystem: Preparing for decentralized care.”
• TCS Healthcare Technologies will use Healthwise’s Care Management Solution in its care management platform.
• Nordic Consulting partners with Fortified Health Security to offer its customers cybersecurity solutions.

Blog Posts

• ‘When’ not ‘if:’ Resilience is an essential component of healthcare cybersecurity (Nordic)
• 3 Steps to “Tidy Up” Your Health Content (Healthwise)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 8/11/21

Top News

Elektra Health raises $3.75 million in seed funding to further develop its telemedicine and support service for menopausal women. The company got its start in 2019 and will formally launch its platform early next year. Co-founder Jannine Versi spent several years at Cityblock Health as VP of clinical programs, partnerships, marketing, and communications.

Webinars

None scheduled in the coming weeks. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present your own.

Announcements and Implementations

Accanto Health (MN) selects the SmartCare EHR from Streamline Healthcare Solutions.

New York-based behavioral, physical, and social health provider Liberty Resources implements NextGen full suite of solutions, including EHR and practice management software.

PursueCare adds Owl’s care management and clinical decision support tools to its telemedicine offering for addiction recovery and mental health.

RevSpring develops OmniBrain, a multi-channel patient engagement solution that customizes outreach based on provider and patient goals.

GenieMD adds AliveCor’s KardiaMobile ECG technology and services to its IVisit virtual care platform.

Government and Politics

HRSA awards $3 million to three organizations that will test models in rural areas designed to improve access to maternal and obstetric care, including improved care coordination and expanded use of telemedicine.

Other

I’ve come across several tweets and articles related to public health efforts to vaccinate people in their homes, whether as part of a community door-to-door canvassing campaign by public health workers or by appointment. I’d be interested to know how many residents take advantage of either option.

Meanwhile, state-based vaccination registries seem to be hampered by data-exchange capabilities, posing a record-keeping and -retrieving problem for patients who receive two-dose vaccination in two different states. STChealth has launched MyIR to help patients in nine states and Washington, DC easily locate their COVID-19 vaccination records across state lines.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks releases a new customer success video, “Healow Check-In and Healow Pay are Helping Chisholm Trail Pediatrics.”

Blog Posts

• Summer Can Mean Orthopedic Trouble and EClinicalWorks Can Help (EClinicalWorks)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 8/9/21

Top News

Tech-enabled kidney care company Cricket Health raises $83.5 million in a Series B funding round led by Valtruis, bringing its total raised to more than $120 million.

Webinars

None scheduled in the coming weeks. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present your own.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Privia Health reports a 23% jump in Q2 revenue to $225.8 million, and a 6.4% increase in implemented providers. The company, which operates a medical group and offers practice management technology, earned parent Brighton Health Group’s ownership stake at $2.75 billion when it went public earlier this year.

Lucid Lane raises $16 million in a Series A funding round. The virtual care company, which is focused on patients with medication dependence and substance-use disorders, has developed its own remote patient monitoring program and analytics engine to help its therapists better tailor treatments. Beau Norgeot (Anthem) has joined the company as chief data officer.

Heal husband-and-wife co-founders Nick Desai and Renee Dua, MD raise $3.8 million to launch HeyRenee, a digital healthcare platform designed to better coordinate care for the underserved, elderly, and those with chronic conditions. The “persona health concierge” technology will debut next year.

NPR digs into last month’s news that One Medical employees are looking to unionize, citing a change in working conditions and company priorities after its IPO earlier this year. Employees have anonymously complained of a post-IPO mentality of profits over patients, including cutting appointment times by 10 minutes and having less time to respond to patient calls at the company’s call center in order to meet daily call targets. “You’re just sitting there, looking at a metric, trying to meet a percentage,” said one employee. “It’s super anxiety inducing. The idea used to be that if you had a phone call from a patient, you’d have … time to figure out how to help them.”

People

QS Systems, a social determinants of health-focused tech and services company created through the merger of Stella Technology and Quality Health Network, names Leigh Sterling (East Tennessee Health Information Network) CEO.

Announcements and Implementations

Meridian Radiology (IN) selects EvoHealth’s Fuse PACS.

California Advanced Imaging Medical Associates, Hackensack Radiology Group (NJ), and Triad Radiology Group (NC) select Sirona Medical’s radiology operating system.

Government and Politics

In Canada, a report from Alberta’s privacy commissioner finds that Telus Health ignored some of the province’s privacy laws when it rolled out Babylon’s virtual care app last year as part of a province-wide healthcare program. The report points out, among other red flags, that the company has used a security template developed for its operations in the UK rather than tailoring its policy to fit with Alberta’s regulations, collects more patient data than it needs, and sells that data to third parties without making it obvious to users upon sign-up. Telus has complied with some but not all of the report’s recommendations.

Research and Innovation

Telehealth visits plateaued in May after a three-month decline, according to new data from Fair Health. Mental health conditions, substance use disorders, and acute respiratory diseases and infections were among the top five diagnoses.

Other

Just in time for National Book Lovers Day: Sam Taggart, MD releases “Country Doctors of Arkansas,” featuring the stories of 45 physicians from small towns across the state. The book was inspired by Taggart’s “Arkansas Physicians Oral History” project, which compiled interviews with 70 MDs.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks releases a new video featuring Prisma, “Our Health Record Information Search Engine in Action.”

Blog Posts

• Connecting the future of healthcare (Nordic)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 8/4/21

Top News

Cayaba Care launches with $3.2 million in seed funding, which it will use to market and further develop its tech-enabled, home-based maternal care services.

Co-founder and CEO Olan Soremekun, MD was most recently CMO at app-based house call company Ready Responders. Co-founder Kit Dobyns comes to the venture from TrialSpark, a clinical trial automation company he co-founded in 2014.

HIStalk Practice Musings

Dr. Jayne and I were trading book and binge-watching recommendations the other day, and I forgot to mention how much I enjoyed the movie “Tolkien,” which offers a snapshot of J.R.R. Tolkien’s childhood through early adulthood. It’s a quiet movie with a lovely soundtrack, giving viewers a glimpse into just how the world of Middle Earth evolved during his journey from orphan to author.

I typically read “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” books once a year, and have dabbled in earlier Middle Earth tales, though I’ve never attempted “The Silmarillion.” Needless to say, the movie has gotten me excited for Amazon’s LOTR series, set to debut in September 2022. Are there any other Tolkien fans out there? Email me with your favorite Tolkien (or Tolkien-esque) reads. I’d love to add them to my must-read list.

Webinars

None scheduled in the coming weeks. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present your own.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Senior care-focused InnovAge invests in telemedicine company JetDoc, and will work with the startup to develop virtual care and remote patient monitoring programs for members of its PACE programs.

Clinify Health raises $3.1 million in seed funding. The startup has developed automated care management and patient engagement software that helps physicians working in underserved communities transition to value-based care.

People

Bill Lucchini (Dealer-FX Group) joins Nextech as CEO.

HST Pathways names David Thawley (Lytx) CEO. He takes over the role from founder Tom Hui, who will assume the role of non-executive chairman.

Research and Innovation

A study in Health Affairs finds that patients seen in a medical office directly after a patient with flu-like symptoms were more likely than non-exposed patients to return to that office with similar symptoms within two weeks. The study was conducted to assess the state in which outpatient clinics can safely operate during the pandemic and the value virtual care programs may have in terms of infection control and patient safety.

Sponsor Updates

• Medicomp’s Tell Me Where It Hurts Podcast features Jessica Cox, RN from Holy Name Medical Center.

Blog Posts

• How a Texas family practice uses technology to overcome barriers to chronic care management (AdvancedMD)
• When Prisma Can Lead to Better Care (EClinicalWorks)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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