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.

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

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.

News 5/8/24

Top News

App-based pediatric mental healthcare provider Backpack Healthcare raises $14 million in a Series A funding round. It currently serves patients and their families in Maryland and Virginia.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Senior-focused primary care optimization company Agilon Health reports a 52% increase in Q1 revenue, with results being in line with forecasted guidance. The company has added Graves Gilbert Clinic (KY), Mankato Clinic (MN), Twin Cities Network (MN), and Springfield Clinic (IL) to its physician network.

Canadian Well Health Technologies sees a 37% increase in Q1 revenue to $231.6 million, with its USA Patient and Provider Services business bringing in $140.4 million and its SaaS and technology services bringing in $15.4 million. It sold EHR developer IntraHealth to Healwell AI in February for $24 million.

People

Aric Coffman, MD, MBA (Honest Medical Group) joins P3 Health Partners as CEO.

NextGen Healthcare names Diane Kaye (Belmor Consulting) chief product officer, Jake Sims (Gainwell Technologies) CTO, and Garo Doudian (Moody’s Analytics) CIO and CISO.

Announcements and Implementations

Atlantis Orthopedics (FL) selects EClinicalWorks EHR and patient engagement software.

Occupational hybrid healthcare provider Premise Health will implement identity verification technology from Badge.

The Centers, a mental and behavioral healthcare provider in Arkansas, selects Netsmart’s CareFabric, clinical, financial, and operational software.

Sponsor Updates

• AdvancedMD employees volunteer with numerous organizations during the company’s day of service.
• Nordic releases a new episode of its “In Network” podcast, “Designing for Health: Interview with Farhan Ahmad and Jon Keevil, MD.”

Blog Posts

• The Bots are Here to Help (EClinicalWorks)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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

News 5/6/24

Top News

Tech-enabled musculoskeletal care management company Livara Health raises $15 million in Series B funding. The company, formerly known as SpineZone, has raised $27 million since it was launched in 2014 by brothers and orthopedic surgeons Kian and Kamshad Raiszadeh.

HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests

Thanks to HealthMark Group for recently supporting HIStalk Practice. Click the logo to learn more.

Webinars

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

Announcements and Implementations

The Pacific Islands Primary Care Association and partner HealthEfficient announce that three community health centers involved in their federally-funded Pacific Islands Electronic Health Initiative have implemented EClinicalWorks software.

NJ Comprehensive Healthcare implements CareCloud’s TalkUltimate EHR, practice management, and RCM platform.

Family Centered Services of Alaska selects Cantata Health’s Arize care management software.

Government and Politics

A Massachusetts medical practice’s former office manager faces charges related to embezzling $650,000 from the practice over a seven-year period. Kathleen Libby transferred funds to a private PayPal account under the guise of medical supply payments, used practice credit cards for personal expenses, and put two of her relatives on the practice’s payroll. (They, presumably, did not perform any actual work.) Her subsequent spending sprees involved purchases from Louis Vuitton, Bloomingdales, and other retailers.

Research and Innovation

A recent survey of 1,000 consumers and 200 RCM professionals finds that patient access to providers is improving, largely due to increased staffing levels, greater utilization of telehealth and self-scheduling tools, and more accurate price estimates. The most cited patient access challenge is the inability to get in quickly to see a provider, also cited as the top challenge in 2022.

Sponsor Updates

• Nordic will offer sales, consulting, and implementation of the diagnostic and treatment analytic platform of Clinical Healthcare Analytics.
• PerfectServe earns the top customer satisfaction ranking for secure communications platforms, physician practices in Black Book’s latest State of the Healthcare Cybersecurity Industry” report.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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