News 10/28/19

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Walgreens will close 150 of its company-managed clinics by the end of the year as part of previously announced cost-cutting efforts that it hopes will help shave off $1.8 billion in costs. Clinics run in partnership with local health systems will remain open. Cost-cutting measures also include layoffs at its corporate headquarters in Chicago, plus reducing and reorganizing its global digital and IT teams under a new CIO.

The company seems to be having a hard time figuring out how to best meet the healthcare needs of its customers. It announced in April it would open primary care clinics managed by VillageMD at five of its Houston stores by the end of the year. It has dabbled in operating senior centers in partnership with Humana, urgent care centers with UnitedHealthcare, and dental clinics with Aspen Dental. A high-profile partnership with Microsoft announced at the beginning of this year promised to equip some of its retail locations with digital health corners.

HIStalk Practice Musings

Fans of Hallmark Channel’s When Calls the Heart series may not realize it is based on a book of the same name written by Janette Oke in 1983. As an avowed #Heartie and book lover, I had to pick up the copy above when I saw it on sale for a whopping $1 at my church’s used book sale. It’s easy reading and tells quite a different tale than its television counterpart, which has become quite the G-rated soap opera. The book and its sequel, “When Comes the Spring,” helped get me through a weekend spent nursing a sick family member, which culminated in a trip to the local Walmart Health clinic. I’ll have more about that experience in my next post.

And speaking of Hallmark Channel, its 24/7 Christmas movie blitz kicked off this past weekend, which also helped to keep the spirits of me and my patient up. I steadfastly refuse to put up any Christmas décor before Thanksgiving, but have decided it’s ok to sneak in a holiday-themed movie or two (or 20) before Black Friday. #Hearties will be happy to know that Hallmark Drama will air a Christmas cookie bake-off show on November 13 featuring cast members from When Calls the Heart.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

NextGen Healthcare reports Q2 2020 results: revenue up to $134.3 million versus $130 million a year ago; EPS remains static at $0.24. President and CEO Rusty Frantz attributes the growth in revenue to “strong bookings bolstered by cross-selling, RCM traction, multiple ‘all-in’ deals, and competitive displacements.”

Membership-based One Medical (rumored to be prepping for an IPO) opens its third location in San Francisco, opting for retail space within the Westfield UTC mall, a trend in medical real estate that seems to be catching on, especially with the likes of local health systems looking to shuffle administrative staff off-site. Emory Healthcare, for example, will transition administrative departments to a shuttered Sears in Atlanta’s ailing Northlake Mall (where I, coincidentally, grew up shopping). Saratoga Hospital in New York has announced similar plans that include a $4 million clinic.

Medicare-focused Iora Primary Care opens its second practice in Charlotte, NC. It now has nearly 50 locations across the country. The company, which has developed its own EHR and population health management software, has raised nearly $225 million since launching in 2011.

People

Sunwave, a healthcare IT vendor focused on substance abuse treatment centers, names James Brooks (Promise Healthcare) COO.

Announcements and Implementations

South Bend Clinic (IN) will expand its use of NextGen software to include mobile and population health management technologies, and RCM and managed cloud services.

Physician’s Computer Company announces GA of e-prescribing for pediatricians.

Government and Politics

At a meeting of the Royal College of General Practitioners in London, chairwoman and family practitioner Helen Stokes-Lampard tells Health Secretary Matt Hancock that it takes 17 minutes to log into her practice’s IT system, which still runs on Windows 7. Hancock, who elicited a round of boos from college members when he revealed he is registered with a virtual GP practice run by Babylon Health rather than one run by NHS, sympathetically admitted her practice’s state of affairs is outrageous: “The biggest frustration for me is just the low grade of most technology. We’ve got to solve it. We’ve got to make sure we have the investment but also the rules for things like interoperability…”

CMS publishes the long-awaited application for the Primary Care First program. Dr. Jayne has included everything you might want to know about the program in her latest Curbside Consult. Applications are due January 22.

Telemedicine

Addiction recovery-focused telemedicine vendor Workit Health will open a brick-and-mortar clinic in New Jersey.

Catherine Lockwood, MD launches an online clinic for patients with Lyme disease.

Sponsor Updates

• A UCLA study finds that use of Healthwise’s shared decision-making tools in primary care clinics increased the participation of prediabetic patients in diabetes prevention programs.
• EClinicalWorks will exhibit at the 2019 AAP National Conference & Exhibition October 25-29 in New Orleans.

Blog Posts

• Overnight Transformations are Possible! (EClinicalWorks)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 10/23/19

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Los Angeles-based Carbon Health hires Will Abbott (CVS Health) as COO and Sujal Mandavia, MD (TeamHealth) as CMO.

The tech-heavy primary care company plans to open 100 new clinics and launch new virtual care and preventative care offerings over the next 18 months. It announced a $30 million funding round in June. It

Webinars

October 24 (Thursday) 1:00 ET. “The power of voice: Will AI-drive virtual bedside assistants become mainstream?” Sponsor: Orbita. Presenters: Nick White, co-creator of DeloitteAssist and principal in Deloitte’s Smart Healthcare Solutions practice; Bill Rogers, CEO and co-founder, Orbita. Conversational AI and virtual health assistants are bringing new opportunities to care facilities to improve patient journeys and yield radical workflow efficiencies. Will the hospital rooms of the future continue to provide traditional bedside call buttons? Or will these be replaced with digitally reimagined, AI-driven, voice-powered agents? Learn from the expert who created today’s industry-leading, market-proven, virtual bedside assistant.

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

Announcements and Implementations

Azalea Health adds Red Spot Interactive’s patient relationship management software to its EHR and practice management product.

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services integrates Safety Net Connect’s e-consult software with its Cerner EHR.

Bridge Connector announces GA of Destinations, “no-code” software that enables end users to integrate health data from EHRs, CRMs, and patient engagement systems.

Community Health Centers of Pinellas (FL) experiences a 54% decrease in ED visits by chronic care patients within nine months of implementing Orb Health’s Collaborative Virtual Care service for chronic care management.

PracticeSuite incorporates access to Relatient’s patient engagement software with its practice management and RCM technology.

Youth-focused behavioral healthcare provider Choices implements managed care and EHR software from Streamline Healthcare Solutions across its facilities in six states and Washington, DC.

Mend adds data and document exchange capabilities from NetDirector to its patient intake and telemedicine platform.

Telemedicine

WellVia will use Health Gorilla’s FHIR-based APIs to enable its telemedicine end users to easily exchange health data and place lab orders.

Sponsor Updates

• AdvancedMD will exhibit at the American Medical Billing Association conference October 24-25 in Las Vegas.
• EClinicalWorks congratulates customer The Family Clinic on winning the 2019 CPC+ Practice of the Year award.

Blog Posts

• 5 tips for being a better host to your EHR extension partners (Nordic)

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Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 10/21/19

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EverCommerce announces that it will combine two of its subsidiaries – EHR and practice management software developer ISalus Healthcare and RCM business AllMeds. Both are focused on specialty practices. The newly integrated company will expand offerings in telemedicine and chronic care management, and open a new facility in Knoxville, TN later this year.

Webinars

October 24 (Thursday) 1:00 ET. “The power of voice: Will AI-drive virtual bedside assistants become mainstream?” Sponsor: Orbita. Presenters: Nick White, co-creator of DeloitteAssist and principal in Deloitte’s Smart Healthcare Solutions practice; Bill Rogers, CEO and co-founder, Orbita. Conversational AI and virtual health assistants are bringing new opportunities to care facilities to improve patient journeys and yield radical workflow efficiencies. Will the hospital rooms of the future continue to provide traditional bedside call buttons? Or will these be replaced with digitally reimagined, AI-driven, voice-powered agents? Learn from the expert who created today’s industry-leading, market-proven, virtual bedside assistant.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Less than a week after announcing $26 million in new funding, New York City-based Parsley Health opens its first membership-based primary care office in Los Angeles. The $150 monthly fee includes five office visits, five health coach visits, unlimited online messaging, and telemedicine capabilities.

Cancer care company 21st Century Oncology is reportedly looking for a buyer. The Florida-based chain of treatment centers emerged from bankruptcy two years ago with a new CEO, Kim Commins-Tzoumakas, focused on helping it recover from a $2.3 million HIPAA violation and an investigation into improper Meaningful Use reporting. Insiders say a deal could value the company at as much as $1 billion.

Announcements and Implementations

The New Jersey Primary Care Association will work with LabCorp and population health management company HealthEC to develop a database and information exchange platform that will connect NJPCA’s 23 community health centers.

Government and Politics

Members of the Indiana State Medical Association argue for exemptions from the January 1 deadline that will mandate the electronic prescribing of controlled substances within the state. Testifying before a committee at the Statehouse, Steve Tharp, MD pointed out that, “Our concern is for those practitioners who work in small practices or outside a large health system that have not yet adopted e-prescribing due to financial or technological barriers.” He proposed exempting physicians who write no more than 100 prescriptions annually. Over 80 percent of the state’s physicians already use e-prescribing.

The Maryland Department of Health launches a portal that residents can use to access vaccination records without requiring physician consent. The portal, linked to the state’s ImmuNet registry, is part of a pilot program funded by the HHS Office of the Chief Technology Officer.

Telemedicine

Avera Health’s ECare telemedicine network will use a $4.3 million grant to develop a telehealth certificate program that, once completed, will help providers demonstrate training in the delivery of quality virtual care.

A study of 200 post-partum mothers finds that lactation consults via video can lead to higher breastfeeding rates. As someone who has had a lactation consultant on speed dial, I can just imagine the benefits video consults can bring to moms – especially those new to breastfeeding. Seeing the football hold versus hearing about it over the phone could make all the difference to an anxious mother who is ready to give up.

Cytta Corp. successfully conducts a real-time telemedicine consult between researchers at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica and stateside physicians.

Other

Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan helps to open the new Michael Jordan Family Medical Clinic in Charlotte. The NBA legend donated $7 million to build the facility, which, as part of the Novant Health network, will cater to the needs of the under- and uninsured. Jordan’s donation will also help to open a second facility.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks will exhibit at the TACHC Annual Conference October 21-22 in The Woodlands, TX.
• Healthwise will exhibit at Allscripts ACE HHS October 21-23 in Dallas.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 10/16/19

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The Carolina Journal digs into the details of the struggle Tryon Medical Partners in North Carolina went through to get its independent practice off the ground. Made up of physicians who sued to break away from Atrium Health, Tryon’s success so far seems to rest largely on the shoulders of cardiologist Dale Owen, MD: “Owen dragged people out of retirement, hunted for office space on the sly, had doctors answering phones for weeks —  all to create Tryon Medical Partners. He wants to kindle a movement that will burn across the nation.”

Owen helped lead 88 Atrium physicians to Tryon, and is doing his best to help seven CaroMont Health physicians walk away from hospital employment and into independent practice with Tryon.

Interestingly, CaroMont Health physician Michael McCartney, MD feels he lost control of his practice in 2016 when he switched to the hospital’s Epic system. “It became more what’s best for the hospital system,” he said. “We lost control of the ability to set the cost, so it became hospital pricing instead of out-patient family physician pricing. So, those patients with a high deductible are suddenly getting hit with more charges, and we can’t change that.”

HIStalk Practice Musings

Confession: I have never read “Ulysses” by James Joyce. I somehow made it through high school and college without having it as required reading. And so I’m not well-versed in the life of the Irish author, who died while living in Switzerland in 1941. Apparently he has quite the cult following, with devoted Joyce fans celebrating Bloomsday (named for the protagonist in the novel) every June 16. Fans and Irish lawmakers, who all but banned the book when it first came out, are now proposing to move Joyce’s remains back to Ireland in time for the centennial celebration of the book. “There may be people who are not fans of this and want to let sleeping dogs lie,” said one Dublin councilor. “Joyce is a controversial figure, there are no doubts about that. Exile was a key element in his writing but for it to follow him into eternity? I don’t think that was part of the plan.”

In other random literary news, researchers have analyzed millions of books written between 1820 and 2009 using a sentiment analysis algorithm designed to help them measure changes in well-being; essentially, they’ve combed through millions of books for a retrospective look at levels of happiness. A few findings:

• An increase in income does generate an increase in happiness, but it takes huge gains to have a national impact.
• Living one more year had the same effect on happiness as a 4.3% increase in GDP.
• One less year of war had the same effect on happiness as a 30% increase in GDP.

Perhaps we’ve been happier than the algorithm gave us credit for, since the researchers stressed that, “At this point, what we have is really, really crappy software. Computers can’t understand nuance or jokes.”

Webinars

October 24 (Thursday) 1:00 ET. “The power of voice: Will AI-drive virtual bedside assistants become mainstream?” Sponsor: Orbita. Presenters: Nick White, co-creator of DeloitteAssist and principal in Deloitte’s Smart Healthcare Solutions practice; Bill Rogers, CEO and co-founder, Orbita. Conversational AI and virtual health assistants are bringing new opportunities to care facilities to improve patient journeys and yield radical workflow efficiencies. Will the hospital rooms of the future continue to provide traditional bedside call buttons? Or will these be replaced with digitally reimagined, AI-driven, voice-powered agents? Learn from the expert who created today’s industry-leading, market-proven, virtual bedside assistant.

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

Announcements and Implementations

Beaver Medical Group  (CA) implements Epic across its 18 facilities.

Coastal Medical in Rhode Island selects pre-appointment intake software from PatientWisdom.

Four County Mental Health Center (IN) deploys the SmartCare EHR from Streamline Healthcare Solutions.

Aunt Bertha adds Innovaccer’s social determinants of health resource referral software for providers to its consumer-facing Web tool that offers similar resources.

Practice EHR adds TreatWrite’s cloud-based progress tracking documentation system for speech, occupational, and physical therapists to its EHR and practice management software.

Telemedicine

Mendocino Coast Clinics, an FQHC with three locations in Fort Bragg, CA, will use its recent HRSA grant of nearly $50,000 to implement telemedicine services pediatric psychiatric care.

In Rochester, NY, Catholic Family Center begins offering telemedicine consults between its two clinic locations and its intensive residential treatment centers.

Retail telemedicine companies face more competition with the launch of Musely’s FaceRx dermatology service. The company got its start as a website dedicated to beauty content. CMO Marie Jhin, MD is also president of and a practicing dermatologist at Premier Dermatology in San Carlos, CA.

Other

The Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine revokes the license of Randall Bock, MD for posting pictures of 27 patients on Youtube without their consent. Bock’s license was also suspended in 2015 and 2018 due to the shady treatment and illegal billing of his suboxone patients.

Sponsor Updates

• AdvancedMD will exhibit at ASDS October 24-27 in Chicago.
• Culbert Healthcare Solutions will exhibit at the Association of Administrators in Academic Pediatrics meeting October 17-18 in Miami.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 10/14/19

Top News

Membership-based primary care company Parsley Health raises $26 million and launches an online version of its brick-and-mortar practice. The New York City-based company has raised $36 million, and plans to open a second practice in L.A. this fall.

Webinars

October 15 (Tuesday) 1:00 ET. “Universal Health Services Case Study: How to Improve Network Design and Management with Claims Data.” Sponsor: CareJourney. Presenters: Mallory Cary, regional director of ACO operations, UHS; Abbas Bader, director of product development, CareJourney. Universal Health Services (UHS), one of the nation’s largest hospital management companies, has more than 350 acute care hospitals, behavioral health facilities, and ambulatory centers across the US, Puerto Rico, and the UK. UHS has collaborated closely with CareJourney over the last three years in building high-performing networks in new markets, managing patient populations as they flow through those networks, and targeting areas for performance improvement within the network. Join the expert presenters for deep insights into network design and optimization.

October 24 (Thursday) 1:00 ET. “The power of voice: Will AI-drive virtual bedside assistants become mainstream?” Sponsor: Orbita. Presenters: Nick White, co-creator of DeloitteAssist and principal in Deloitte’s Smart Healthcare Solutions practice; Bill Rogers, CEO and co-founder, Orbita. Conversational AI and virtual health assistants are bringing new opportunities to care facilities to improve patient journeys and yield radical workflow efficiencies. Will the hospital rooms of the future continue to provide traditional bedside call buttons? Or will these be replaced with digitally reimagined, AI-driven, voice-powered agents? Learn from the expert who created today’s industry-leading, market-proven, virtual bedside assistant.

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

Announcements and Implementations

Rhinogram adds the ability to securely request and receive payments to its text-based patient engagement software.

Primary care-focused health IT company Canvas Medical will use Health Gorilla’s FHIR-based APIs to streamline lab ordering for its end users.

AristaMD adds secure photo sharing to its e-consult technology.

Patient intake and RCM vendor Health IPass offers RevSure, a new billing service that guarantees practices will be paid for patient visits.

North County Health Services (CA) will implement Epic next year through a partnership with nonprofit OCHIN.

Blue Shield of California’s physician network will soon use Apple Watches equipped with Notable Health’s documentation software. The wearable technology will convert discussions into relevant data that can then be transferred to a patient’s EHR.

People

Membership-based specialty telemedicine company WithHealth hires Steven Miyao (SS&C) as COO.

Population health and analytics vendor Geneia names Lori Logan (Paladina Health) chief product and client officer, and Todd Kozikowski (Yabidu) VP of sales.

Government and Politics

The Delaware Department of Health and Social Services is accepting applications from providers interested in mini-grants that can be put toward implementing HIE tools offered by the Delaware Health Information Network. Eligible applicants include PCPs, behavioral health providers, ACOs, and FQHCs. The department will award $8,000 to up to 25 organizations. Applications are due November 30.

Telemedicine

CNBC looks at the small subset of physicians who are slowly accumulating medical licenses in all 50 states so that they can provide telemedicine services to patients across the country. Federation of State Medical Boards data shows that, as of last year, there were just 14 physicians who hold that many licenses. Technology and licensing companies that are starting to offer multi-state licensure services will likely help this number grow over the next several years. It remains to be seen if the number of physicians who want to hold that many licenses can afford them, if patient demand for telemedicine services will warrant it, and if reimbursement models will keep up with the perceived demand.

Other

Bluefield High School in Bluefield, W.V. inducts alumna and AMA President Patrice Harris, MD into its Hall of Fame. Harris stressed three concepts in her keynote that everyone must follow to have a better life: intellectual honesty; context; and evidence, science, and data. “The point is,” she said, “you have to live your dream, not anyone else’s. So whatever you want to be, get education and training beyond high school and be the best of whatever you want to be.”

Magnolia Pediatrics (LA) alerts patients to an August ransomware attack that infiltrated the practice through its unnamed IT vendor, which wound up paying the ransom. The practice uses Aprima technology.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks will exhibit at MGMA October 13-16 in New Orleans.
• Healthwise and Intelligent Medical Objects will exhibit at the EClinicalWorks National Conference October 18-20 in Orlando.

Blog Posts

• How Leaders Establish Organization Success (EClinicalWorks)
• Meet Terri LeFort: President of Healthtech, Nordic’s Canadian partner (Nordic)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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Become a sponsor.