News 8/22/18

Top News

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute allocates $13.3 million to a West Virginia study that will compare the treatments of primary care physicians at 56 FQHCs in rural areas who care for patients with mental health disorders. Treatment strategies will include medication, medication plus cognitive behavioral therapy delivered via virtual consult, and medication plus virtual CBT and help from online coaches. The investment is part of $85 million PCORI has set aside for 16 new treatment studies that will focus on “high-burden” conditions. The project summary notes that health IT resources include a data warehouse that integrates EHRs across the FQHCs.

Webinars

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre for information.

Announcements and Implementations

AdvancedMD announces GA of its EPayments patient-managed electronic payments solution.

Hackensack Radiology Group (NJ) implements alerts, patient portal and check-in kiosk technology from Royal Solutions Group.

Central Georgia Health Network joins the Georgia Regional Academic Community Health Information Exchange to enhance the data-sharing capabilities of independent physicians within its network.

People

Amos Slaymaker (Bivarus) joins EHR vendor Patagonia Health as VP of sales.

Government and Politics

HHS CIO Beth Killoran steps down to join the Office of the Surgeon General to lead development of an IS program for the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. CTO Ed Simcox has been named acting CIO.

Telemedicine

TeleHealth Solutions will implement VisuWell’s telemedicine platform at provider groups of all sizes. VisuWell rebranded from WeCounsel earlier this year – a move that coincided with an initial funding round led by Longmeadow Capital and Point Judith Capital.

Gateway Medical Associates (PA) sees the compliance rate of diabetic retinal patient exams jump 50 percent after implementing the IRIS diabetic retinopathy telemedicine solution from Intelligent Retinal Imaging Systems. IRIS CEO Chris Belmont was formerly SVP and CIO of MD Anderson Cancer Center (TX) and Ochsner Health System (LA).

Other

In Nevada, Trimcare Clinic owner Ivan Goldsmith, MD comes under fire from the state pharmacy board for inappropriately accessing the medical records of Las Vegas mass shooter Stephen Paddock. The weight-loss doctor, who was not treating Paddock, told his staff to use his PDMP account to look at Paddock’s prescription history several times over several days – information that he then shared with a local news outlet, which published a detailed report of Paddock’s drug use just days later.

Sponsor Updates

• Over the past four years, attendees at Aprima’s annual user conference have made more than 1,700 blankets and gift bags for the Children’s Medical Center of Dallas.
• Culbert Healthcare Solutions will exhibit at Epic UGM August 27-30 in Verona, WI.
• Medicomp Systems will exhibit at HIMSS AsiaPac18 in Brisbane, Australia November 5-8.

Blog Posts

• Nordic joins KLAS’ Arch Collaborative (Nordic)
• How Technology is Automating Patient And Doctor Interaction (AdvancedMD)
• Robotics for the Business of Healthcare – Are you ready for RPA? (Culbert Healthcare Solutions)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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From the PRM Pro 8/22/18

Motivating Your Practice to Communicate Effectively Starts From Within
By Jim Higgins

Jim Higgins is the CEO and founder of Solutionreach in Lehi, UT.

For years, the healthcare industry has been undergoing a dramatic shift in the way providers communicate with their patients. Modern patients demand timely, effective communication from their practices. If you don’t provide it — they leave. But somewhere in the rush to improve patient communication, internal office communication has fallen by the wayside.

Intra-office communication is the glue that holds a practice together. Poor collaboration and communication within the office leads to mistakes. Whether this is double-booking a last minute appointment, multiple staff members contacting a patient for the same info, or letting a patient walk out the door without scheduling their follow-up visit, these mistakes can be stressful for your staff and may make your patients feel like your practice is disorganized.

Disorganization and poor communication contribute to an unhappy staff. One study found that the top three reasons people don’t like their jobs were all related to communication (lack of direction from management, poor communication in general, constant change that is not well communicated). Motivating your staff to improve internal communication is a multi-pronged process.

Start by making training a focus of your practice. Communication does not come naturally to everyone. Each of your employees will have different backgrounds and different abilities. They may all communicate slightly differently. But cohesive communication is critical to the success of your practice. Studies show that we spend between 70-80 percent of our day in some form of communication. This number is likely even higher in the healthcare industry. Strong communication is really the backbone of a strong team. Scheduling required training sessions on a regular basis where your entire staff can be taught how to ask clarifying questions and practice active listening skills is crucial. This will not only help as they communicate with one another, but as they interact with patients as well.

It is crucial that you practice what you preach. It’s not going to be enough to simply tell your employees about the importance of communication; you’ve got to show them. Healthy, open communication should be a fundamental part of your practice’s culture. And it starts with you. This may mean that upper staff members (including you!) need to receive extra training in communication methods. Then, in every interaction with staff members, model the type of communication you expect from them.

At least yearly, use anonymous internal surveys to allow a way for employees to freely share concerns they have about how things are running. Surveys are a great way to open the floodgates of communication that some employees may not feel comfortable sharing in person. Best practices for internal surveys include being digital, easy to understand, and short enough to complete within just a few minutes. There are a variety of survey tools you can use, including free options like Survey Monkey. The key is to make sure that employees feel comfortable that their responses will be anonymous. In order to get high participation levels, make sure employees recognize the benefit of filling it out. If employees see that changes are made based on survey results, they are much more likely to participate.

Make sure you meet regularly. Practices are busy. Crazy busy. It can be easy for everyone to just move directly to their regular area in the practice, address their duties, and never efficiently communicate with one another. Regular meetings provide the opportunity for additional collaboration among your staff. These meetings do not need to be extremely long or formal to be effective. One of the most successful ways to do this is to provide lunch for your staff once a month to sit, eat, and share ideas with one another.

Finally, find ways to use technology to fill any communication gaps. It’s important to find a messaging tool to improve communication between official meetings. At any given time, your staff members maybe be spread throughout the practice. Giving office staff the ability to communicate with each other, either through group messaging in a chat room or direct messages to a specific team member, can help your team circulate information quickly without ever leaving their desks. The average practice staff spends over an hour every day just trying to track down coworkers and find important information, adding up to over 20 hours each month spent just trying to communicate with each other. With a tool that allows them to quickly message each other and share information, that time can be better used to interact with the patients in the office.

Effective internal communication is important for every single practice. No exceptions. Effective communication boosts employee morale, reduces mistakes, and improves processes. The best communication starts with the practitioner and spreads to each member of the practice. As meaningful communication becomes the culture of your practice, your patients will feel the benefits, too.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 8/20/18

Top News

Medical billing software company Medliminal will relocate its headquarters into expanded office space within Innovation Park in Prince William County, VA. Its team of 10 employees will grow to 70 in the near future, thanks to a planned investment of $2.4 million. The company has additional offices in California, Virginia, and Washington, DC.

Webinars

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre for information.

People

Rita Goyal, MD (UAB Medicine) joins consulting and technology firm ConcertCare as CMO.

Announcements and Implementations

Spectrum Eye Physicians implements Identillect’s Delivery Trust email security software across its seven locations in California.

The American Osteopathic Information Association selects CareCloud as its preferred EHR, PM, and RCM vendor.

Nextech integrates SkinIO’s tablet-based, full-body imaging software with its EHR for dermatologists.

Telemedicine

App-based prescription delivery company Nurx, known for its birth control services, announces GA of at-home lab testing kits for patients seeking prescriptions for the HIV prevention medication PrEP.

Research and Innovation

A CDC analysis of 2015 EHR utilization data from office-based physicians finds that referrals, lab results, and medication lists were sent the most often; lab results, imaging reports, and medication lists were received the most often; and lab results, imaging reports, and hospital discharge summaries were integrated the most often. Registry data was one of the least commonly shared types of PHI.

Other

NBC News takes a high-level look at why physicians are hanging up their stethoscopes and opting for other fields. While EHRs face their fair share of backlash, a physician’s decision to switch career paths seems to stem more from burnout and a resultant lack of love for the profession than any qualms with health IT:

“It has gotten worse for all of us, unfortunately — whether you work in the hospital or in the outpatient setting,” says Nicole Swiner, MD. “We are burdened more by nonmedical business or insurance professionals without any medical training. It’s disheartening. ​I have transitioned to more part-time clinical work [so as to focus more on] speaking, writing and consulting. Become a full-time consultant, author, speaker, entrepreneur, baker, cheerleader — whatever. Just be happy. Life’s too short.”

Facebook cracks down on the ability of drug seekers and dealers to conduct business on its platform after the CDC revealed that nearly 30,000 people died from synthetic opioid overdoses last year, many of which were bought online through social media networks.

GlassesUSA.com launches a Prescription Scanner app that gives users the ability to order another pair of glasses using a picture taken on their phone or tablet.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 8/15/18

Top News

HHS will award $125 million in grants to 1,352 community health centers across the country. Funds will be allocated through HRSA to expand access to care, advance use of health IT, improve care quality and outcomes, increase cost-effectiveness, deliver patient-centered care, and address health disparities. Over 27 million people visited a health center last year for primary care services.

Webinars

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre for information.

Announcements and Implementations

Cornerstone Clinic for Women (IL) selects email security software from Identillect Technologies.

Reston Radiology Consultants (VA) implements Royal Kiosks and RoyalPay patient engagement technology from Royal Solutions Group.

Arizona Heart Rhythm Center chooses PaceMate’s Live software and services, becoming the first provider in the state to offer remote monitoring of implantable cardiac devices.

Practice management company Women’s Health USA will offer its providers access to clinical research at the point of care through Elligo Health Research’s Goes Direct technology.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Women’s health and fertility care company Kindbody purchases the IVFqc cloud-based EHR and billing software assets of Althea Science. Kindbody will incorporate the technology into a national network of pop-up and brick-and-mortar clinics. The New York City-based startup got its start earlier this month, and has brought on talent from One Medical, Mount Sinai Hospital, Flatiron Health, and Oscar Health.

Government and Politics

AHRQ launches an app challenge to encourage the development of user-friendly apps that enable the easy collection of patient-reported outcomes data. Submissions for the three-phase competition are due September 24. Prizes of up to $250,000 will be awarded throughout the contest.

Telemedicine

The Council of Accountable Physician Practices publishes a roadmap to adopting telemedicine business models that highlights its concern with the lack of data-sharing between third-party vendors and community physicians:

“Quality is frequently sub-optimal when there is such a disconnect between telehealth providers and patients’ established providers. For example, without accountability to a patient’s regular providers or an ongoing relationship with the patient, we have found that contracted third-party providers are often biased towards patient-pleasing quick fixes, such as antibiotic or steroid prescriptions for conditions that don’t require such medications. When payers offer employees or plan members improperly-incentivized telehealth access from third-party companies, they disrupt the relationship between those members and their regular source of care.”

Other

Clemson University will use $5 million in funding to improve broadband connections for mobile and brick-and-mortar clinics that serve patients at 102 healthcare sites in rural areas of the state. Improved connections will enable providers to see more patients. Previously, clinic staff had to spend upwards of five minutes per patient establishing a connection through unreliable private networks. Program director Paula Watt explains that, “if patients come steadily we can make it work, but if they happen to come all at once, the technology has tied our hands,” Watt said. “A patient who just shows up — even if they qualify — frequently can’t be seen because of delays in service. A stable connection changes all of that.”

Healthix, a New York-based HIE serving Long Island and New York City, offers independent physician practices no-cost connection to the Statewide Health Information Network for New York through September 30. Additional funding incentives of up to $13,000 per practice are also available through state-based programs and Healthix.

A concerned citizen’s Facebook post of medical paperwork found spilling out of a box at the county landfill leads outraged patients to contact family physician Leon Cohen, MD who went down to the dump to investigate. Cohen insists the papers were bills, not records (which are stored in his EHR), and has assured all concerned that they have been removed and properly shredded.

Sponsor Updates

• AdvancedMD announces AdvancedCQM, a free module to support MIPS Quality Reporting.
• Aprima will integrate payment solutions from ClearGage.

Blog Posts

• 3 Ways Automation & Integration is Disrupting the HIT Status Quo (AdvancedMD)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 8/13/18

Top News

In an agency first, the FDA approves marketing of the Natural Cycles birth control app as part of its fast-track approval program for digital health devices. The approval prompted the FDA to create new criteria to be used for similar apps in the future that outline expectations of accuracy, reliability, safety, and effectiveness at pregnancy prevention. The app, which is also the first of its kind to receive regulatory approval in Europe, came under fire in Sweden when 37 users became pregnant. Company founders (and husband and wife) Elina Berglund and Raoul Scherwitzl have stressed that the app is only as reliable as its user’s behavior, which, like taking a birth control pill on a daily basis, must comply with the app’s temperature-based suggestions. “In the end,” says Scherwitzl, “what we want to do is add a new method of contraception that women can choose from without side effects.”

Webinars

August 15 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “Raising the Digital Trajectory of Healthcare.” Sponsored by: Health Catalyst. Presenter: Dale Sanders, President of Technology, Health Catalyst. Healthcare ranks lowest in McKinsey’s Digital Quotient (data assets x data skills x data utilization) of all industries except mining and has largely ignored the digitization of patients’ state of health, but that’s changing. This webinar will describe the empathetic components of healthcare digitization strategy; the AI-enabled encounter; why today’s digital approach will never work and instead sucks the life out of clinicians; the role of bio-integrated sensors, genomics, and the “digitician;” and the technology and architecture of a modern digital platform. It’s going to happen, so let’s make it happen the right way.

Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre for information.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Practice management software vendor MedEvolve reports a 38-percent increase in Q2 bookings over the same period last year, making the quarter the company’s most successful to date. 

People

Kareo names Kyle Ryan (PwC) CTO and Andrea Kowalski (Athenahealth) VP of product.

Announcements and Implementations

Sunbelt Anesthesia Services implements Plexus Technology Group’s EHR at several ambulatory surgery centers in Jacksonville, FL.

Government and Politics

A $743,470 from the Missouri Foundation for Health enables 14 county health departments in the southeastern part of the state to move from paper to digital medical records. Cape Girardeau County Health Department Director Jane Wernsman tells me stakeholders selected Patagonia Health’s EHR. The three-year grant covers all of the software and training in the first year, 80 percent in the second, and 20 percent in the third. Go live for all counties will likely be towards the end of September.

Telemedicine

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr visits several provider sites in Alaska in support of his efforts to increase Internet subsidies Alaskan providers rely on to deliver care through virtual consults. The commission increased the subsidies from $400 million to $571 million after a rate review prompted by the inability of one hospital to pay its $1 million Internet bill. Check out Carr’s tweet stream for an entertaining and picturesque look at the ways in which Alaskan officials are working to keep their rural communities connected to services.

Hoy Health releases a bilingual telemedicine app for English and Spanish speakers. The Morristown, NJ-based startup also offers medication discount and chronic condition management programs.

Research and Innovation

In an effort to get physicians thinking about their prescribing habits, the San Diego County medical examiner sends letters to 388 physicians involved in the care of 82 patients who had died from a prescription drug overdose, or complications arising from a prescription drug. The letters also included the number of such deaths seen by the examiner each year, prescribing tips, and online resources. A similarly-sized group with comparable patient outcomes did not receive a letter. The prescribing habits of both groups were tracked for three months after the letter-writing campaign. Those that did receive a letter reduced their prescription of opioids by 10 percent.

Other

A grandfather in Taiwan becomes known as “Uncle Pokemon” after the local news discovers he uses 11 smartphones attached to his bike to play Pokemon Go. Chen San-yuan told reporters the game has helped him to make friends and fight off Alzheimer’s. He plans to add four more phones to his collection soon.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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