News 9/16/20

Top News

House call company Ready raises $54 million in a Series C funding round. The company provides on-demand, home-based care primarily to Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries using EMTs, paramedics, and nurses who facilitate access to physicians via telemedicine.

The New Orleans-based company plans to expand into mental healthcare, point-of-care testing, and vaccinations.

HIStalk Practice Musings

Thanks to the readers who sent over revolutionary times literature suggestions. Shaun writes: “With everything going with today’s election, I recently read ‘Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800 (Pivotal Moments in American History),’ which made me feel better about today’s craziness. Both Jefferson and Adams passed away on July 4th, 1826, which is astounding.”

Mike says, “If you want some amazing but digestible stories of the founding fathers and beyond, I would recommend ‘To America: Personal Reflections of an Historian’ by Stephen Ambrose. My favorite history book of all time. Not founding fathers, but ‘The Wright Brothers’ by David McCullough is by far my favorite biography of all time.”

Please keep your literary suggestions coming – no matter the genre – via email.

Webinars

September 17 (Thursday) 1 ET. “ICD-10-CM 2021 Updates and Regulatory Readiness.“ Sponsor: Intelligent Medical Objects. Presenters: June Bronnert, MSHI, RHIA, VP of global clinical services, IMO; Theresa Rihanek, MHA, RHIA, mapping manager, IMO; Julie Glasgow, MD, clinical terminologist, IMO. IMO’s top coding professionals and thought leaders will review additions, deletions, and other revisions to the 2020 ICD-10-CM code set that will be critical in coding accurately for proper reimbursement.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

White-label telemedicine vendor OnCall Health raises $6 million in a Series A round led by Base10 Partners. The Toronto-based company has raised $8 million since launching four years ago.

In other Canadian telemedicine news, Loblaw Companies takes a $57 million minority stake in telemedicine vendor Maple through its Shoppers Drug Mart business, which already offers the company’s virtual care service in 160 of its locations. Loblaw’s other businesses include EHR company QHR and telemedicine vendor Medeo.

Vancouver-based CloudMD acquires patient education and engagement company IMD Health Global. It will integrate IMD’s capabilities with its Juno EHR.

Announcements and Implementations

Golden State Urology (CA) implements ISalus Healthcare’s UroChoice EHR and practice management software.

Centene partners with the National Association of Community Health Centers to equip 200 FQHCs with Samsung smartphones for patients and tablets for physicians, as well as 90 days of free wireless service, for telemedicine services.

Greater Elgin Family Care Center (IL) adopts I2I’s population health management software.

Nuvance Health (CT) replaces its physician portal with an HIE portal through HealtheConnections.

GenieMD adds payment processing capabilities from Sphere to its virtual visit software.

Government and Politics

The HHS Office for Civil Rights announces that five healthcare organizations, including two smaller providers, will pay a combined $136,500 to settle allegations that they violated HIPAA by failing to provide patients with their medical records in a timely manner.

Other

Kaiser Permanente-backed healthcare training company Futuro Health and the California Primary Care Association will offer a free online course for healthcare workers interested in becoming certified telehealth coordinators. Hosted by the University of Delaware, the 15-week program will examine the practical, technical, and business aspects of telehealth that work-place coordinators may encounter.

Sponsor Updates

Blog Posts

• Digitize admin tasks to reduce staff burdens (AdvancedMD)
• Thank You to Our Healthcare Environmental Professionals (EClinicalWorks)

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News 9/14/20

Top News

MDLive secures $75 million through a $50 million crossover equity investment from Sixth Street Growth and $25 million in debt expansion from other investors. It has raised nearly $175 million since launching in 2009.

The telemedicine company, which saw visits increase 95% in the first half of 2020, plans to launch an IPO early next year.

Webinars

September 17 (Thursday) 1 ET. “ICD-10-CM 2021 Updates and Regulatory Readiness.“ Sponsor: Intelligent Medical Objects. Presenters: June Bronnert, MSHI, RHIA, VP of global clinical services, IMO; Theresa Rihanek, MHA, RHIA, mapping manager, IMO; Julie Glasgow, MD, clinical terminologist, IMO. IMO’s top coding professionals and thought leaders will review additions, deletions, and other revisions to the 2020 ICD-10-CM code set that will be critical in coding accurately for proper reimbursement.

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

People

Clinical decision support company EvidenceCare names Bo Bartholomew (Healthcare Value Analytics) CEO.

CloudMD hires Karen Adams (Optimize Care Solutions) as chief health innovation officer.

Announcements and Implementations

IntrinsiQ Specialty Solutions adds virtual visit capabilities to its UroChartEHR for urologists.

Government and Politics

In Health Affairs, CMS Administrator Seema Verma highlights 2019 Medicare Shared Savings Program ACO performance.

Like me, you may find former National Coordinator and current Aledade CEO Farzad Mostashari, MD’s tweet recap of the MSSP results an easier read.

Other

Primary care company Carbon Health establishes 100 pop-up COVID-19 testing clinics across 20 markets. The clinics will transition over the next several months to permanent primary care clinics offering virtual and in-person care. The California-based company has already launched an at-home test for the virus, as well as a return-to-work program for employers.

Splash Coworking adds telemedicine services from ISelectMD to its membership packages for coworking space in San Marcos, Texas.

The Good Clinic will open its first location in Minneapolis, serving residents of a multi-use residential complex with telemedicine services overseen by a nurse practitioner. The company’s leadership team, which plans to open more in-person and virtual clinics, includes several former Zipnosis executives, and several who helped scale and then sell the MinuteClinic chain to CVS.

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News 9/9/20

Top News

Progressive Care acquires MyApps and its CallingDr white-label telemedicine service for $10.2 million. The acquisition will enable Progressive Care to accelerate software development for its ClearMetrX reporting and analytics subsidiary.

HIStalk Practice Musings

I hope everyone enjoyed the long holiday weekend. I spent a good bit of it curled up poolside with “Chesapeake” by James Michener. Its portrayal of the American Revolution in that part of the colonies has made me think I’d like to read the biographies of our founding fathers and presidents – ironic given that I tried to take a break from the news. I’d love emailed suggestions of biographies. AP US History seems like a lifetime ago …

I also found out this past weekend that Ken Follett’s prequel to his “Pillars of the Earth” series will soon be released. Retailers are already taking pre-orders.

HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests

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Webinars

September 17 (Thursday) 1 ET. “ICD-10-CM 2021 Updates and Regulatory Readiness.“ Sponsor: Intelligent Medical Objects. Presenters: June Bronnert, MSHI, RHIA, VP of global clinical services, IMO; Theresa Rihanek, MHA, RHIA, mapping manager, IMO; Julie Glasgow, MD, clinical terminologist, IMO. IMO’s top coding professionals and thought leaders will review additions, deletions, and other revisions to the 2020 ICD-10-CM code set that will be critical in coding accurately for proper reimbursement.

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

People

Conifer Health Solutions promotes Mary Bacaj to president of its Value-Based Care business unit, which caters to ACOs, independent practice associations, health systems, and employers.

Announcements and Implementations

North Carolina-based Community Care Physician Network implements Phreesia’s automated registration, clinical, and communications software across its 930 locations.

Covenant Physician Partners (TN) selects Nextech’s IntelleChartPRO EHR and ambulatory surgery center technology for its network of ophthalmologists.

MTBC announces that patients can now access their talkEHR data through Apple’s Health Records app.

Women’s Health Connecticut implements software from Wildflower Health and Dorsata that combines patient intake and engagement capabilities with maternity management features that include decision support, documentation, order entry, and reporting.

Government and Politics

Kudos to Dr. Jayne for catching this ONC announcement about a funding opportunity for office-based physicians. Her summary: “ONC has opened a funding opportunity to ‘measure the use and impacts of health IT among a nationally representative sample of US office-based physicians’ as well as to ‘produce national-level data on interoperability among office-based physicians.’ Prospects have until September 11 to apply. The awardee will run a three-year program to gather ‘insights on the implementation and effects of federal health IT policies as well as identify disparities or unintended consequences resulting from their implementation.’ Funding is $290,000 for the first year with additional funds ‘subject to availability and progress made against the program.’ The program starts September 30, 2020, so it looks like ONC is ready to make a quick decision.”

Research and Innovation

The American Medical Group Association’s annual compensation and productivity survey finds that overall compensation increased by nearly 4% in 2019, and productivity by just over 0.5%.

An observational study conducted by researchers at George Mason University’s College of Health and Human Services reveals that independent, physician-owned practices adopt more quality improvement strategies than their hospital-owned and community clinic counterparts: “The independent practices focused more on patient care coordination (such as developing a care plan and managing medication) rather than organizational improvement strategies (such as optimizing teams or workflow). Community clinics appear to need additional time to implement QI activities, as they face greater financial challenges and often serve sicker patients.”

Sponsor Updates

Blog Posts

• Back to the Basics During the COVID-19 Era (EClinicalWorks)
• Health Literacy Lessons from COVID-19 (Healthwise)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 9/2/20

Top News

Canadian Well Health Technologies will acquire San Francisco-based Circle Medical for $14 million. Well Health became an investor in Circle Medical, which offers in-person and virtual primary care, several years ago.

Circle Medical’s co-founders, both originally from Montreal, plan to open a software development office in that city. Well Health, which operates 20 clinics and sells EHR software, will commercialize Circle Medical’s technology in Canada.

Webinars

September 3 (Thursday) 2 ET. “How Does A Global Pandemic Reshape Health IT? A Panel Discussion.” Sponsor: Intelligent Medical Objects. Presenters: Rob Wallace, chief product officer, IMO; Andrew S. Kanter, MD, MPH, chief medical officer, IMO; Lori Kevin, VP of enterprise IT and security, IMO; Sahas Subramanian, MCA, enterprise architect, IMO. As COVID-19 continues to spread, regulation changes, code system updates, and an increased reliance on technology are making it hard to stay on top of the many ways the pandemic is altering health IT. What’s more, we’re confronting challenges that rely heavily on technological solutions – like accurate reporting tools or telehealth adaptations – and we need those solutions now. The panel of subject matter experts across the enterprise will share insights on how the global pandemic is reshaping the health IT world.

September 17 (Thursday) 1 ET. “ICD-10-CM 2021 Updates and Regulatory Readiness.“ Sponsor: Intelligent Medical Objects. Presenters: June Bronnert, MSHI, RHIA, VP of global clinical services, IMO; Theresa Rihanek, MHA, RHIA, mapping manager, IMO; Julie Glasgow, MD, clinical terminologist, IMO. IMO’s top coding professionals and thought leaders will review additions, deletions, and other revisions to the 2020 ICD-10-CM code set that will be critical in coding accurately for proper reimbursement.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Canadian health IT company CloudMD reports a jump in Q2 revenue of 163%, aided by strong adoption of its telemedicine software by traditional practices, pharmacies, and retail locations.

Hazel Health raises $33.5 million in a Series C round led by Bain Capital and Owl Ventures. The telemedicine startup offers school- and home-based virtual consults for primary and mental healthcare.

Announcements and Implementations

Bayless Integrated Healthcare (AZ) will implement Saykara’s app-based, automated clinical documentation software across its eight locations in Phoenix.

Oak Street Health will open primary and urgent care clinics at three Walmart supercenters in the Dallas-Forth Worth area. The clinics will serve patients of all ages, though the company’s focus is still on Medicare beneficiaries.

Government and Politics

In an effort to help prevent prescription abuse and fraud, New Jersey officials have allocated $1.2 million to help providers and pharmacists integrate their records systems with the state’s PDMP.

The FCC, USDA, and HHS will work together on a Rural Telehealth Initiative in hopes of increasing patient access to broadband services and technology in rural areas across the country. The agencies will establish an interagency task force to develop recommendations and guidelines, and to share information.

Other

A federal judge sentences clinic manager Aleksandr Pikus to 13 years in jail and a $40 million restitution payment for his “kingpin” role in a decade-long money-laundering, conspiracy, and kickback scheme that involved clinics in Brooklyn and Queens. In addition to his role as organizer, Pikus also used physical threats to ensure co-conspirators played their part in bilking Medicare and Medicaid.

Sponsor Updates

Blog Posts

• 3 Steps to Ensure Smooth Medical Billing with Every Patient (AdvancedMD)
• Going Big for Their Go-Live (EClinicalWorks)
• How little things can make a big difference (Nordic)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 8/31/20

Top News

Utah Pathology Services notifies patients of attempted fraudulent financial activity in late June that resulted in a data breach of identifying information, insurance credentials, internal record numbers, clinical and diagnostic information, and some Social Security numbers.

HIStalk Practice Musings

It’s hard to believe summer is just about at an end. Growing up, trips to the public library several times a week were common place as me and my siblings made sure the librarians kept record of our reading as part of their summer program for kids. I’ve been making just as many trips to the library this summer as I did back then, taking advantage of curbside pick-up to stay in the thick of the Poldark and Wolf Hall series. For something completely different, I’m also rotating in Veronica Roth’s Divergent books.

And speaking of different, I’ve discovered that there is a genre of romances related to lockdowns, quarantines, and pandemic life. I’m sure they’d be perfect beach reads for the long holiday weekend coming up.

What have you read this summer? Email me with your favorite discoveries and I’ll share with readers.

Webinars

September 3 (Thursday) 2 ET. “How Does A Global Pandemic Reshape Health IT? A Panel Discussion.” Sponsor: Intelligent Medical Objects. Presenters: Rob Wallace, chief product officer, IMO; Andrew S. Kanter, MD, MPH, chief medical officer, IMO; Lori Kevin, VP of enterprise IT and security, IMO; Sahas Subramanian, MCA, enterprise architect, IMO. As COVID-19 continues to spread, regulation changes, code system updates, and an increased reliance on technology are making it hard to stay on top of the many ways the pandemic is altering health IT. What’s more, we’re confronting challenges that rely heavily on technological solutions – like accurate reporting tools or telehealth adaptations – and we need those solutions now. The panel of subject matter experts across the enterprise will share insights on how the global pandemic is reshaping the health IT world.

September 17 (Thursday) 1 ET. “ICD-10-CM 2021 Updates and Regulatory Readiness.“ Sponsor: Intelligent Medical Objects. Presenters: June Bronnert, MSHI, RHIA, VP of global clinical services, IMO; Theresa Rihanek, MHA, RHIA, mapping manager, IMO; Julie Glasgow, MD, clinical terminologist, IMO. IMO’s top coding professionals and thought leaders will review additions, deletions, and other revisions to the 2020 ICD-10-CM code set that will be critical in coding accurately for proper reimbursement.

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

People

Patient engagement and telemedicine vendor Epion Health names Josh Schwartz (Jumpstart Capital) to the new position of chief business development officer.

Announcements and Implementations

EHR and practice management vendor WRS Health announces GA of Urology-Cloud.

Cedar will integrate Waystar’s pricing estimates, payment options, and eligibility verification capabilities into its patient engagement software.

Eighteen physician practices, including Family Medical Associates of Raleigh (NC), Urology Centers of Alabama, Urology Associates of Mobile, AllCare Health (OR), and Synovation Medical Group (CA) select software from Allscripts.

Research and Innovation

A survey of 1,200 chronically ill patients finds that the majority favor telemedicine appointments over in-person visits in the areas of convenience, safety, and ease, especially when it comes to routine matters like referrals and prescription refills. Nearly 60% of those surveyed have used telemedicine since March, versus 11% in the preceding months.

An analysis of EHR data from 17 affiliated primary care practices reveals that the ability of patients to schedule their own appointments using direct scheduling technology leads to care continuity. Researchers suggest, however, that such an online tool may exacerbate the digital divide, given that direct scheduling was more often used by young, white, commercially insured patients.

Other

Dentist Suzanne Spencer transforms the basement of her dental practice into a three-room school to accommodate her and her staff’s children who are learning virtually. Parents have hired a retired teacher to help the kids with their schoolwork. “As a business owner and a dentist,” she says, “I was going to change my schedule. And then the more I thought about it, I thought, it doesn’t affect just my schedule and my family. It affects all of our staff members. Now I am going to know each one of these kids and each one of their families. It’s just going to be a bigger part of me.”

Former Epic nursing innovation and product lead Bre Loughlin, RN bands together with Tracy Zvenyach, NP to launch Nurse Disrupted, which offers virtual COVID-19 screening to men’s and women’s shelters in Madison, WI. They hope to expand their services to campuses, businesses, schools, and prisons.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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