News 6/5/24

Top News

Smart stethoscope developer Eko Health raises $41 million in Series D funding, bringing its total raised to $165 million. The company has received FDA clearance for algorithms related to the detection of heart failure and heart murmurs. It will use this latest investment to further develop algorithms for the identification of pulmonary conditions like asthma and pneumonia.

Webinars

June 6 (Thursday) noon ET. “From Data to Decisions: The Vital Combination of AI and Human Expertise in Patient Care.” Sponsor: DrFirst. Presenters: David Wetherhold, MD, CMIO of ambulatory systems, Scripps Health; Dana Darger, RPh, director of pharmacy, Monument Health Rapid City Hospital; Colin Banas, MD, MHA, chief medical officer, DrFirst. In this Epic Med Management Fireside Chat, two health system leaders will share real-world examples of how AI is working in concert with their clinicians to streamline medication management by populating medication histories into Epic. generating initial drafts of patient conversations, and summarizing complex information. The presenters will also cover the latest developments on the critical and expanding role of pharmacists in patient care.

June 27 (Thursday) noon ET. “Snackable Summer Series, Session 1: The Intelligent Health Record.” Sponsor: Health Data Analytics Institute. This webinar will describe how HealthVision, HDAI’s Intelligent Health Management System, is transforming care across health systems and value-based care organizations. This 30-minute session will answer the question: what if you could see critical information from hundreds of EHR pages in a one-page patient chart and risk summary that serves the entire care team? We will tour the Spotlight, an easy-to-digest health profile and risk prediction tool. Session 2 will describe HDAI’s Intelligent Analytics solution, while Session 3 will tour HDAI’s Intelligent Workflow solution.

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

People

David Afshar (US Heart and Vascular) joins American Oncology Network as CFO and COO.

Christopher Catallo (HealthNxt) joins healthcare supplements management platform Fullscript as chief commercial officer.

PracticeTek promotes Steve Auerbach to CEO and names Gavin Poole (HighFive Healthcare) CFO. PracticeTek recently acquired dental practice management company Ora.

Announcements and Implementations

Seaview Orthopaedic & Medical Associates will implement RCM data analytics from Adonis across its nine locations in New Jersey.

TriValley Primary Care (PA) leverages HealthHelper’s tech-enabled direct scheduling services.

Research and Innovation

Researchers at Montefiore Health System (NY) and Albert Einstein College of Medicine develop a five-minute assessment of dementia and mild cognitive impairment for use in primary care settings that can be paired with recommendations and integrated into a provider’s EHR. Using the assessment, dubbed “the 5-cog paradigm,” researchers have seen a marked improvement in diagnosis and treatment compared to control group results.

Other

HealthNet, a free clinic based in Wisconsin’s Rock County, will close its behavioral health clinic due to staffing issues and financial struggles that have plagued it since COVID. It will transition patients to virtual consults provided through the Wisconsin Association of Free and Charitable Clinics Tele-behavioral Health Network. HealthNet plans on converting the clinic’s space to tele-consult rooms.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 5/22/24

Top News

Digital addiction treatment provider Boulder Care raises $35 million in Series C funding.

Webinars

June 6 (Thursday) noon ET. “From Data to Decisions: The Vital Combination of AI and Human Expertise in Patient Care.” Sponsor: DrFirst. Presenters: David Wetherhold, MD, CMIO of ambulatory systems, Scripps Health; Dana Darger, RPh, director of pharmacy, Monument Health Rapid City Hospital; Colin Banas, MD, MHA, chief medical officer, DrFirst. In this Epic Med Management Fireside Chat, two health system leaders will share real-world examples of how AI is working in concert with their clinicians to streamline medication management by populating medication histories into Epic. generating initial drafts of patient conversations, and summarizing complex information. The presenters will also cover the latest developments on the critical and expanding role of pharmacists in patient care.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Videra Health, developer of AI-powered, video-based mental health assessments, raises $5.6 million in seed funding.

Specialty medication prior authorization software vendor SamaCare announces $17 million in Series B funding, bringing its total raised to $33 million. It will use the investment to develop its Script-to-Therapy Operating System, which will underpin its current technology and enhance physician workflows.

Announcements and Implementations

Infinity Dermatology (NY) launches chat-based virtual visits using technology from Well Revolution.

Centene subsidiary Sunshine Health will work with Cityblock to provide tech-enabled primary care and care coordination services to Medicaid patients in Central Florida.

Florida’s Pinellas County implements mental and behavioral healthcare referral services from Unite Us to power its new Care About Me access line.

Government and Politics

The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency adds a NextGen Healthcare Mirth Connect “deserialization of untrusted data vulnerability” to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, meaning that the vulnerability is still being exploited seven months after first being discovered and several months after a patch was made available.

Other

Penn Primary Care Regional Medical Director Jeffrey Millstein, MD pens a thoughtful opinion piece on incorporating AI into primary care, tempering cautious optimism with a hesitancy to give up the relationship-building that comes with diagnosing those “simple” ailments: “As I often say during teaching sessions, signs and symptoms can become repetitive and routine, but patient stories are always unique and interesting. I’m not sure I want to share this aspect of care with AI, even if it becomes possible.”

Sponsor Updates

• Nordic publishes a new episode of its “In Network” podcast titled “Designing for Health: Interview with Diana Anderson, MD.”

Blog Posts

• A Revolutionary Approach to Enhance Clinical Workflows (EClinicalWorks)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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

News 5/20/24

Top News

Hamilton Health Box, which offers hybrid primary care delivery services to rural communities, raises $10 million in a Series A funding round.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Canadian private equity firm CPS Capital will take Vancouver-based, tech-enabled workplace healthcare provider CloudMD private in a deal valued at $36 million. The company has faced liquidity issues over the last four years due to several acquisitions, including its 2022 purchase of MindBeacon for $116 million.

Fay, a virtual clinic offering access to registered dietitians and weight loss programs and prescriptions, announces $25 million in funding. The startup offers franchising, giving RDs the ability to open their own “business-in-a-box” and to connect more easily with insured patients.

Centivo, which offers primary care-focused health plans to employers, acquires virtual-first, direct-to-employer care provider Eden Health.

Announcements and Implementations

House call provider Mobile Medical (FL) selects digital care plan review, signature, and reporting software from Forcura.

The Vitamin Shoppe launches Whole Health Rx, an online prescription weight loss service powered by virtual care company WellSync.

Research and Innovation

A pair of studies conducted by University of Michigan physicians finds that a lack of detailed record-keeping – specifically, information about why an antibiotic is prescribed – could drive up unnecessary and potentially harmful prescriptions. The researchers found that these details were most often missing in encounters with adults during office visits and adult Medicaid patients seen in emergency departments.

Tying in with Mr. HIStalk’s latest poll, new research shows that patients prefer virtual visit backgrounds that feature a traditional physician office with diplomas, followed by solid backgrounds. Bedroom and kitchen settings were the least preferred.

Other

The Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit research and advocacy group, makes a $1.5 million offer for Oscar Mayer. Kraft Heinz, parent company of the household name in hot dogs, recently announced it would consider selling Oscar Mayer for between $3 billion and $5 billion. Should PCRM’s offer be accepted, it would transition Oscar Mayer to a plant-based company in the hopes of improving the health of US consumers. It’s a noble goal (and probably more of a PR move than anything), but a bit naive, given that PCRM President Neal Barnard, MD believes that “Americans’ interest in consuming animal products is waning ….”

Sponsor Updates

Blog Posts

• Building more effective health systems through social determinants and patient-centered approaches (Nordic)
• The Nurses of Note 2024: The Infusion Nurse and ‘Ambassador of Enjoyment’ (PerfectServe)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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

News 5/15/24

Top News

Care coordination software vendor Watershed Health announces $13.6 million in new funding. CEO Chip Grant, MD founded the New Orleans-based company in 2013.

Webinars

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

People

Southeast Primary Care Partners names Tiffany Anderson (VillageMD) SVP of operations.

Announcements and Implementations

New York-based HIEs Hixny and Healthix develop a combined patient portal at myhealthrecordNY.com.

The Institute for the Advancement of Minority Health (MS) will offer remote patient monitoring technology from CareSimple to its care network as a part of HRSA’s Rural Maternity & Obstetrics Management Strategies program.

Sunoh.ai announces GA of its AI medical scribe software for dermatology clinics.

The Missouri Department of Mental Health and Missouri Behavioral Health Council will use technology from Chorus Innovations to develop MOConnect, a digital tool that will help coordinate care between crisis lines, crisis centers, mobile teams, and referral networks.

The Mankato Clinic (MN) implements Nabla’s AI healthcare assistant.

Sponsor Updates

• Waystar ranks highest in physician customer satisfaction with clearinghouses in the five to 10 practitioners group category during and after the Change Healthcare ransomware attack.

Blog Posts

• AI-AI-Powered Medical Scribe Integration within the EHR is Revolutionizing Clinical Documentation (EClinicalWorks)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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Contact us online.
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News 5/13/24

Top News

Specialty care coordination company Switchboard Health raises $6.5 million in seed funding. Health IT veteran Derek Baird co-founded the company in 2022.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

CareCloud shares a few more details about the acquisition offer it ultimately turned down last week, including the fact that the prospective buyer would likely have taken the company private. The ambulatory health IT vendor has since hired investment bank Citizens JMP to review its capital structure.

People

Carna Health names co-founder Salvatore Viscomi, MD CEO.

HealtheConnections COO Elizabeth Amato will succeed Rob Hack as president and CEO when he retires at the end of this year.

Announcements and Implementations

Axis Health System will implement NextGen Healthcare’s enterprise EHR and practice management technologies across its 13 locations in Colorado.

Virtual rheumatology clinic Remission Medical launches RemissionNavigation, a text-based consult service that enables patients to connect directly with Remission Medical providers.

Workit Health, a virtual substance use disorder clinic, will use a nearly $1 million grant from the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) – Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Access program to begin offering its services in three additional Ohio counties. The company launched its first Ohio clinic in 2021.

Government and Politics

HHS offers new funding opportunities for projects related to accelerating the adoption of health IT in behavioral healthcare settings, and to developing novel ways to evaluate and improve the quality of health care data used by AI solutions in healthcare.

Research and Innovation

A Black Book survey of 13,000 physician practice leaders offers insight into how these organizations coped financially during the initial days of the Change Healthcare hack:

• Twenty-seven percent dipped into personal savings or retirement funds.
• Twenty-two percent had to open new lines of practice credit.
• Nine percent applied for personal loans, second mortgages, equity lines of credit, or borrowed from a third party.
• Three percent applied for temporary assistance from their clearinghouse vendor.
• An overwhelming majority of respondents report finding out about the hack from their EHR vendor, accountant, and/or the media rather than their clearinghouse vendor; and that they have been dissatisfied with the amount of clearinghouse vendor communication they’ve received over the last three months.

Sponsor Updates

• Nordic releases a new Designing for Health Podcast, “Interview with Farhan Ahmad and Jon Keevil, MD.”
• PerfectServe honors 150 outstanding nurses in its fourth annual Nurses of Note Awards program.
• Waystar wins a Medtech Breakthrough Award in the healthcare payments innovation category.

Blog Posts

• Protecting healthcare revenue flow: the power of a business continuity plan (Nordic)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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