News 7/7/21

Top News

Vancouver-based RCM and health IT vendor Kovo HealthTech acquires Midwest Medical Billing, a competitor located in Omaha, NE.

HIStalk Practice Musings

Watching: Jungle. A terrifyingly suspenseful tale of the dangers that await a band of backpackers when they decide to trek into uncharted territory while traveling with a mysterious guide in South America. It’s based on a book, which is based on a true story. My five-month sojourn in Western Europe during college seems a coddled existence compared to the trauma-inducing dangers encountered by these young men. (Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame does a fantastic job in the lead role.) I’ve added the book to my summer reading list. Email me with your summer reads so far. I’d love to add recommended books to my list and share with readers.

If you’re looking for titles to add to your own summer reading list, check out “The 36 best books and podcasts on health and science to check out this summer” from STAT.

HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests

HIStalk Practice will be on hiatus next week, assuming tropical storms or hurricanes don’t disrupt my beach plans. I’m looking forward to several relaxing days with a good book in my hands and sand between my toes.

Webinars

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

People

Kit Brekhus, MD joins Skylight Health as CMO.

Announcements and Implementations

Healthix will use population health management technology from The Garage to improve the organization, management, and analysis of its HIE data for its New York-based member organizations.

Midwest Vision Partners, a practice growth company based in Chicago, selects Nextech’s IntelleChartPro EHR.

Research and Innovation

A survey of 1,000 patients finds that 40% prefer to use virtual waiting room technology on their mobile device or waiting room kiosks. A third reported their practice doesn’t offer any type of mobile check-in, and 44% have said they’ll consider switching to another practice that does offer contactless check-in.

A majority of providers say they are less likely to stay with an organization or recommend it for care during a time of merger or acquisition, according to a survey of 800 physicians. They also reported lower morale amongst co-workers and less of a desire to go above and beyond due to feelings of uncertainty around job stability. They are sobering statistics from the patient care perspective, especially given research released last week that found hospitals, health systems, and corporations now own nearly half of America’s physician practices, with the biggest jump in consolidation occurring in the last half of 2020.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks releases a new customer success story, “PrimeCare Medical Clinic: Rocking Patient Engagement in Little Rock.”

Blog Posts

• 2021 Mid-year Postage Rate Increase (AdvancedMD)
• Record Retrieval Made Easy with PRISMA (EClinicalWorks)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 7/5/21

Top News

One Medical leadership says the company will recognize the unionizing efforts of its employees once they have been validated through an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board.

Fierce Healthcare reports that CEO Amir Rubin is disappointed with the inconsistent nature of the employees’ unionizing efforts – particularly the way in which they’ve gone public with the announcement. They maintain in a letter to Rubin that they are committed to the primary care company’s values, but have taken to media outlets to air their dirty laundry. The company has refuted their claims of mistreatment.

Webinars

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

People

Neel Shah, MD (Harvard Medical School/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center) joins virtual women’s health clinic Maven as CMO.

Government and Politics

HHS issues a sector alert through its Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center about PACS vulnerabilities that are exposing patient data and potentially compromising systems. The warning lists 23 systems with known vulnerabilities.

Other

One Medical inadvertently exposes 981 email addresses when an employee forgets to use the BCC option on a mass patient mailing.

Practicefirst Medical Management Solutions notifies patients of an attempted ransomware attack in December of last year that may have exposed PHI. Based in Amherst, NY, the company offers practice management, billing, coding, credentialing, and compliance services.

Sponsor Updates

• Medicomp Systems releases a new Tell Me Where It Hurts Podcast featuring Amy Gleason, project lead at the US Digital Service.

Blog Posts

• Operating Room Management: Scheduling and OR Efficiency (PerfectServe)
• Using Technology to Build Stronger Relationships (Healthwise)

• Spelunking through the medical chart (Nordic)
• Dermatology Made Easier This Summer (EClinicalWorks)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 6/30/21

Top News

Digital health clinic Ro acquires home-testing business Kit. The purchase complements Ro’s acquisition earlier this year of Workpath, which offers an API-powered platform for dispatching workers to provide in-home blood draws and nurse visits.

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

St. Louis-based National Medical Billing Services will open an office in Osage Beach, MO to accommodate its growth.

First announced in March, private equity firm and incubator Russell Street Ventures spins out its first company, Main Street Health. Led by RSV founder and CEO and former CMMI Director Brad Smith, the company will focus on improving care access and quality for seniors living in rural areas. The startup, which has already raised $26 million, has developed its own care management technology and is in the process of rolling out a patient-facing app.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and Deerfield Management announce a joint venture aimed at strengthening independent practices across the state. The practice management venture will offer integrated technologies; infrastructure, management, and support services; and analytics.

People

Virtual physical therapy company IncludeHealth names Thomas Santo, MD (McKinsey) chief growth and strategy officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Flatiron Health adds Foundation Medicine’s genetic profiling capabilities to its OncoEMR.

Summit Health announces GA of its first patient app. The company, formed in 2019 through the merger of Summit Medical Group and CityMD, has 200 locations in New Jersey, New York, and Oregon.

California’s Alameda County Health Care Services Agency selects billing and managed care software from Streamline Healthcare Solutions for its behavioral healthcare department.

Bowen Center (IN) will implement NextGen’s Behavioral Health Suite, an integrated software solution for physical, behavioral, and oral healthcare.

Research and Innovation

Hospitals, health systems, and corporations now own nearly half of America’s physician practices, according to new data from Avalere Health. Nearly 21,000 physician practices were acquired between January 2019 and January 2021, an uptick no doubt made possible by pandemic-induced financial struggles. The biggest jump in acquisitions has been among private equity firms and payers.

Other

Prima Pediatrics (CA) notifies patients of an April cyberattack.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 6/28/21

Top News

Nearly 500 One Medical employees (excluding physicians and other clinicians) announce their intent to unionize to address the mistreatment they suffered during the pandemic. Their complaints include:

• The company’s mismanaged COVID-19 vaccine program, which wound up making national news after company whistleblowers alerted the media to the fact that ineligible patients – some with ties to leadership – received the vaccine ahead of eligible patients, resulting in a congressional investigation.
• Denial of hazard payment to frontline workers.
• The wrongful termination of 19 employees.
• Hiring unlicensed and/or inexperienced phlebotomists.
• Sub-par care for community members who couldn’t afford One Medical’s typical membership fees.

One Medical went public earlier this year, and acquired senior-focused primary care company Iora Health several weeks ago for $2 billion.

Webinars

June 30 (Wednesday) 1 ET. “From quantity to quality: The new frontier for clinical data.” Sponsor: Intelligent Medical Objects. Presenters: Dale Sanders, chief strategy officer, IMO; John Lee, MD, CMIO, Allegheny Health Network. EHRs generate more healthcare data than ever, but that data is of low quality for secondary uses such as population health, precision medicine, and pandemic management, and its collection burdens clinicians as data entry clerks. The presenters will review ways to reduce clinician EHR burden; describe the importance of standardized, harmonious data; suggest why quality measures strategy needs to be changed; and make the case that clinical data collection as a whole should be re-evaluated.

Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present your own.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Kindbody raises $62 million in a Series C funding round, bringing its total raised to $122 million. The New York-based company operates clinics in eight metro areas and offers virtual care. It will use the funding to further develop its proprietary EHR and patient portal technology and scale its offerings to employers.

Online health and wellness company Hims & Hers Health will acquire Apostrophe, which offers tele-dermatology and online prescriptions. Apostrophe CEO and co-founder Ben Holber will become CEO of the new Hims & Hers dermatology business line.

In Canada, CloudMD acquires occupational health clinic company Oncidium, including workflow management technology that will be rolled out across CloudMD’s network of providers. CloudMD has also acquired digital eyewear company VisionPros, which serves patients across North America.

CNBC profiles Doximity, the under-the-radar Silicon Valley company (often called “LinkedIn for doctors”) that went public last week to the tune of $500 million. Founder Jeff Tangney had previously co-founded Epocrates with Tom Lee, MD who would go on to found One Medical. (Epocrates was eventually sold to Athenahealth for $300 million.) Tangney looped Lee in on early phases of the Doximity network, using One Medical providers as beta testers. Tangney says its best advertising comes from Doximity’s 1.8 million users, and its best product ideas come from its annual medical advisory board retreat: “The best ideas come at cocktail hour on Saturday night.”

People

Remote patient monitoring program company Optimize Health hires Neha Ajmera (Lyft) as its first SVP of operations.

Jason Sears (Lockton Companies) joins Therapy Brands as SVP of IT and development operations.

Announcements and Implementations

Coastal Family Health Center (MS) selects remote patient monitoring technology and services from DarioHealth.

Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, Hawaii’s largest FQHC, will implement an AI-based digital monitoring system from Foresight Health Solutions to track the health of COVID-19 patients.

Research and Innovation

PatientPop’s latest patient perspective survey finds that 61% of surveyed patients prefer digital methods for scheduling appointments, filling out forms, paying bills, accessing health records, and asking questions. Patients overwhelmingly prefer text messages for upcoming appointment and scheduling reminders.

Other

In Florida, Specially Fit Foundation owner and founder Mark Oliver launches Olive Health to provide house calls and virtual care for the disabled community he works with through the foundation. Oliver hopes to fill a gap in offering convenient care, particularly for developmentally disabled patients on Medicaid who often have to wait two months or more for an appointment with an appropriate provider.

Agilon health, Aledade, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Physicians, Catalyst Health Network, ChenMed, Elation Health, Everside Health, MDVIP, One Medical, and VillageMD launch Primary Care for America to drive policy change pertaining to patient access, workforce growth, and innovation in care delivery and payment models.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks releases a new customer success story, “Record Retrieval Made Easy with Prisma.”
• Nordic and the American Medical Association publish a white paper titled “2021 E/M Transition: How Organizations Are Moving Forward Successfully.”

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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Contact us online.
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News 6/23/21

Top News

NexHealth raises $31 million in a Series B funding round, bringing its total raised to $46 million. The San Francisco-based startup offers small to medium-sized practices technology that encompasses patient engagement, intake, and relationship management, billing, and marketing.

The company, which has 120 employees, is especially focused on growing its engineering team from 30 to 120 within the next year.

Webinars

June 24 (Thursday) 2 ET: “Peer-to-Peer Panel: Creating a Better Healthcare Experience in the Post-Pandemic Era.” Sponsor: Avtex. Presenters: Mike Pietig, VP of healthcare, Avtex; Matt Durski, director of healthcare patient and member experience, Avtex; Patrick Tuttle, COO, Delta Dental of Kansas; Chad Thorpe, care ambassador, DispatchHealth. The live panel will review the findings of a May 2021 survey about which factors are most important to patients and members who are interacting with healthcare organizations. The panel will provide actionable strategies to improve patient and member engagement and retention, recover revenue, and implement solutions that reduce friction across multiple channels to prioritize care and outreach.

June 30 (Wednesday) 1 ET. “From quantity to quality: The new frontier for clinical data.” Sponsor: Intelligent Medical Objects. Presenters: Dale Sanders, chief strategy officer, IMO; John Lee, MD, CMIO, Allegheny Health Network. EHRs generate more healthcare data than ever, but that data is of low quality for secondary uses such as population health, precision medicine, and pandemic management, and its collection burdens clinicians as data entry clerks. The presenters will review ways to reduce clinician EHR burden; describe the importance of standardized, harmonious data; suggest why quality measures strategy needs to be changed; and make the case that clinical data collection as a whole should be re-evaluated.

Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present your own.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Fifth Third Bank acquires Provide, developer of a digital finance platform for healthcare practices.

Bicycle Health raises $27 million in a Series A funding round led by Questa Capital. The company has developed virtual care technology and services for opioid use disorder treatment.

DrChrono will use a new $12 million investment from Orix to build out its telemedicine capabilities and enhance its existing EHR and practice management solutions. The company has raised over $60 million since launching 11 years ago.

People

Verana Health promotes Hylton Kalvaria to the new position of chief business officer, Sonja Wustrack to VP of commercial operations, Aracelis Torres to VP of quantitative sciences; and has named Lindsey Karberg (AbbVie) VP of marketing.

Announcements and Implementations

CarePort announces GA of referral management and care coordination software for ambulatory providers.

Omny Health aggregates normalized, de-identified EHR data from 1,000 providers to create a data repository for dermatological research.

Government and Politics

A state audit of Colorado’s decade-old PDMP finds a lack of compliance and effectiveness:

• Doctor-shopping has been prevalent, with 1,200 patients receiving prescriptions from 15 or more prescribers.
• Eighty-five providers have written more than 3,000 prescriptions in a two-year period – three times the national average, indicating the likelihood of pill mills.
• PDMP staff did not follow up on these problematic trends, nor report them to law enforcement.
• Deaths from prescription opioid overdoses have increased by 76%.
• Eighteen percent of the state’s prescribers had not registered with the program, as required by law, and pharmacies haven’t submitted their data in a timely manner.

Other

Virginia Commonwealth University shares the work researcher Rebecca Etz and her team at VCU’s Larry A. Green Center have done during the pandemic to gauge COVID-19’s impact on primary care physicians. Nearly 30 weekly surveys have been sent to thousands of providers, illuminating sobering statistics around the huge financial strains – personal and professional – PCPs suffered as they struggled to care for their patients without enough PPE, staff, cash, and other resources.

Sponsor Updates

Blog Posts

• Scoring well in quality measures has just become more difficult (AdvancedMD)
• Improving Patient Safety Series: Data Truncation and Special Characters (EClinicalWorks)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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