News 5/14/18

Top News

In a letter to Athenahealth’s Board of Directors, Elliott Management urges the company to engage in acquisition talks after hearing nothing since issuing a takeover offer of over $6 billion last week. The letter also references the interest of other prospective buyers, and takes the board to task for not yet engaging an investment bank to conduct due diligence on the offer.

In related news, Bloomberg reports that Fidelity Investments, Athenahealth’s largest shareholder, sold off over half of its shares as of April 30.

Webinars

May 16 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “You Think You Might Want to Be a Consultant?” Sponsor: HIStalk. Presenter: Frank Poggio, CEO/president, The Kelzon Group. Maybe you just got caught in a big re-org and don’t like where things are headed, or, after almost a year of searching for a better opportunity your buddy says, “You’ve got decades of solid experience and you’re a true professional, you should become a healthcare IT consultant.” Now you start thinking, “This could be my ticket to success. I know the healthcare industry and can show people how to do things right. The sky’s the limit!” Not so fast. Consulting offers many advantages, and many pitfalls. This webinar will discuss both the rewards and the risks of moving into a full-time consulting role, as an independent, or part of a large firm. It will present a checklist you can apply to assess whether consulting is a good fit for you, and present the ground work necessary to be a successful consultant.

May 24 (Thursday) 1:00 ET. “Converting Consumers into Patients: Strategies for Creating Engaging Digital Experiences People Demand.” Sponsor: Healthwise. Presenters: Antonia Chappell, director of consumer solutions, Healthwise; Josh Schlaich, senior product manager, Healthwise. Nearly three-quarters of US adults use a digital channel to manage their health and the internet to track down health information. It’s clear that consumers have come to expect online interactions as an integral part of their overall patient experience. In fact, the Internet may be the first way people come in contact with your organization. They have more choice than ever on where to get healthcare services, and their decisions are increasingly influenced by how well organizations connect with them in the digital space. This webinar will show you how to create engaging digital and web experiences that convert casual consumers into patients and keep them satisfied throughout their entire patient journey.

June 5 (Tuesday) 1:00 ET. “Increase Referrals and Patient Satisfaction with a Smarter ‘Find a Doctor’ Web Search.” Sponsors: Phynd Technologies, Healthwise. Presenters: Joseph H. Schneider, MD, MBA, FAAP, retired SVP/CHIO, Indiana University Health; Keith Belton, VP of marketing, Phynd. A recent survey found that 84 percent of patients check a hospital’s website before booking an appointment. However, ‘Find a Doctor’ search functions often frustrate them because their matching functionality is primitive and the provider’s information is incomplete or outdated. Referring physicians need similarly robust tools to find the right specialist and to send the patient to the right location. Attendees of this webinar will learn how taxonomy-driven Provider Information Management improves patient and referrer satisfaction by intelligently incorporating the provider’s location, insurance coverage, specialty and subspecialty, and services offered that can be searched via patient-friendly terms.

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

Announcements and Implementations

Biometric-based mental health tech vendor Medibio develops an Apple Watch app to help users monitor autonomic nervous system anomalies that correlate to mental health conditions.

To better empower independent physicians in the transition to value-based care, AAFP, MGMA, Aledade, and several regional physician trade associations come together to form Partnership to Empower Physician-Led Care. PEPC Executive Director Kristen McGovern served under Aledade founder and CEO Farzad Mostahari, MD during his tenure as National Coordinator for Health IT.

The Healthcare Association of New York State offers free technical assistance to primary care practices working toward New York State Patient-Centered Medical Home recognition.

People

Jeff Griggs (Apttus) joins Nextech Systems as chief revenue officer.

Health IT consulting and staffing firm Harmony Healthcare names Bilal Mushtaq, MD (Accuity Delivery Systems) CMO.

Practice management services company Women’s Health USA adds Kristin Mowat (Castlight Health) and Natasha Deckmann, MD (Optum) to its Board of Directors.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Complete HealthCare Solutions, a value-added reseller of ambulatory health IT, acquires ambulatory-focused PDQ Billing Services.

Virginia Women’s Center signs on with practice management company Privia Health and will rebrand to Privia Women’s Health.

Telemedicine

Kansas Governor and physician Jeff Colyer, MD passes legislation mandating reimbursement for telemedicine visits.

The State of Illinois establishes an 18-member telemedicine task force to bring healthcare services to Medicaid patients in rural parts of the state.

Research and Innovation

An American Osteopathic Association survey of over 2,000 patients finds that 43 percent believe it’s appropriate to contact their providers via social media with questions about their care. The percentage jumps to 65 for millenials. Providers, on the other hand, are far less enthusiastic about those types of HIPAA-violating interactions.

Other

TechRepublic puts contrasting healthcare strategies from Athenahealth and Walmart side by side in its review of HLTH 2018, especially interesting in light of Athenahealth’s clandestine review of Elliott Management’s takeover bid. While vendor CEO Jonathan Bush emphasized the need to reduce physician burnout, retail giant VPs Marcus Osborne and Lisa Woods stressed the need to cut physicians who don’t practice evidence-based medicine entirely out of the healthcare loop. They didn’t mince words when it came to verbalizing Walmart’s healthcare strategy, which thus far has included opening primary care clinics, mandating e-prescribing, and the potential acquisition of Humana: “We are going to build optimized networks and drive utilization to the highest-value providers," Osborne told the audience. "We will build networks that realize some providers just won’t cut it and won’t get any value from the network.”

Sponsor Updates

Blog Posts

• Phoenix Children’s Hospital realized $1M in cost savings with the help of clinical documentation technology (Medicomp Systems)
• The biggest priorities for perioperative EHR optimization in 2018 (Nordic)
• HIMSS18 and the future of clinical communications (PerfectServe)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 5/9/18

Top News

Urgent care appointment-booking startup Solv raises $16.8 million in a Series B funding round that coincides with the addition of medical bill pay features within its app.

Webinars

May 16 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “You Think You Might Want to Be a Consultant?” Sponsor: HIStalk. Presenter: Frank Poggio, CEO/president, The Kelzon Group. Maybe you just got caught in a big re-org and don’t like where things are headed, or, after almost a year of searching for a better opportunity your buddy says, “You’ve got decades of solid experience and you’re a true professional, you should become a healthcare IT consultant.” Now you start thinking, "This could be my ticket to success. I know the healthcare industry and can show people how to do things right. The sky’s the limit!" Not so fast. Consulting offers many advantages, and many pitfalls. This webinar will discuss both the rewards and the risks of moving into a full-time consulting role, as an independent, or part of a large firm. It will present a checklist you can apply to assess whether consulting is a good fit for you, and present the ground work necessary to be a successful consultant.

May 24 (Thursday) 1:00 ET. “Converting Consumers into Patients: Strategies for Creating Engaging Digital Experiences People Demand.” Sponsor: Healthwise. Presenters: Antonia Chappell, director of consumer solutions, Healthwise; Josh Schlaich, senior product manager, Healthwise. Nearly three-quarters of US adults use a digital channel to manage their health and the internet to track down health information. It’s clear that consumers have come to expect online interactions as an integral part of their overall patient experience. In fact, the Internet may be the first way people come in contact with your organization. They have more choice than ever on where to get healthcare services, and their decisions are increasingly influenced by how well organizations connect with them in the digital space. This webinar will show you how to create engaging digital and web experiences that convert casual consumers into patients and keep them satisfied throughout their entire patient journey.

June 5 (Tuesday) 1:00 ET. “Increase Referrals and Patient Satisfaction with a Smarter ‘Find a Doctor’ Web Search.” Sponsors: Phynd Technologies, Healthwise. Presenters: Joseph H. Schneider, MD, MBA, FAAP, retired SVP/CHIO, Indiana University Health; Keith Belton, VP of marketing, Phynd. A recent survey found that 84 percent of patients check a hospital’s website before booking an appointment. However, ‘Find a Doctor’ search functions often frustrate them because their matching functionality is primitive and the provider’s information is incomplete or outdated. Referring physicians need similarly robust tools to find the right specialist and to send the patient to the right location. Attendees of this webinar will learn how taxonomy-driven Provider Information Management improves patient and referrer satisfaction by intelligently incorporating the provider’s location, insurance coverage, specialty and subspecialty, and services offered that can be searched via patient-friendly terms.

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

Announcements and Implementations

Wellsoft works with GoRev to launch integrated EHR, PM, and RCM software for urgent care practices.

AdvancedMD develops Rhythm, cloud-based software that puts EHR, PM, RCM, and patient engagement tools on a single platform.

Notable develops a transcription app for the Apple Watch that converts recorded physician/patient encounters to notes in the EHR.

Jewett Orthopaedic Clinic (FL) will roll out healthcare kiosk technology and services from Clearwave at its 14 locations in Orlando.

CareCloud adds speech-recognition technology from NVoq to EHR documentation tools.

Buoy Health’s chatbot healthcare app integrates Minute Clinic locations within its AI-powered prompts through a new partnership with CVS.

People

Cathleen McCabe, MD (The Eye Associates of Manatee) joins practice management company Eye Health America as CMO.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Hint Health raises $10 million in a Series A funding round led by AXA Venture Partners. The San Francisco-based company’s technology helps direct primary care companies like Peakmed and Parsley Health manage operations and payment plans.

Henry Schein will distribute Persivia’s healthcare data analytics software to its EHR and PM customers.

Research and Innovation

An evidence review of 280 diabetes management apps finds that only 11 benefitted from any type of research, and only five demonstrated significant clinical improvements in levels of blood sugar control. The study’s authors found no mention of long-term improvements for end users,and have called for additional studies. “Because diabetes patients rely on these apps to manage their health, and so many apps have not yet been studied, there is a compelling need for improvement,” writes one of the authors. “Not only is this report beneficial for diabetes patients, but it’s a call-to-action to the research community that we need more evidence on whether these apps and others actually improve health."

Other

The Oregon Clinic notifies patients of an email account data breach in early March that may have impacted PHI.

Sponsor Updates

• Aprima opens registration for its user conference August 17-19 in Dallas.
• Culbert Healthcare Solutions hosts its 12^th annual employee celebration at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

Blog Posts

• In or Out-source Your Value-Based Care (VBC) Revenue Cycle Management? (AdvancedMD)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 5/7/18

Top News

Elliott Management makes an all-cash offer of $160 per share for Athenahealth, putting the total transaction at more than $6 billion. The hedge fund already owns a 9-percent stake in the company. Elliott representatives believe they can close the deal in as little as three weeks, after which they plan to take the company private. In a letter to Athena shareholders, Elliott Senior Portfolio Manager Jesse Coh writes, “For many years, despite all of its advantages, AthenaHealth’s stock price has underperformed because the Company has failed to correct a host of identifiable operational issues. Today, its inability to operate effectively and scale successfully is foreclosing a tremendous value-creation opportunity to the detriment of the business and its shareholders.”

Webinars

May 9 (Wednesday) 2:00 ET. “How to Make VBC Work for You: The Business Case to Transform Into the Health System of the Future.” Sponsor: Philips Wellcentive. Presenters: Mason Beard, co-founder and chief product officer, Philips Wellcentive; Scott Cullen, MD, principal, ECG Management Consulting; Seema Mathur, director of strategy, Sage Growth Partners. How well is your organization funding its transformation to VBC? This free webinar explains how to achieve ROI as your organization transforms to meet the future. You’ll learn how VBC is impacting healthcare system management, three strategies for funding your transformation, and what the healthcare system of the future will look like.

May 16 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “You Think You Might Want to Be a Consultant?” Sponsor: HIStalk. Presenter: Frank Poggio, CEO/president, The Kelzon Group. Maybe you just got caught in a big re-org and don’t like where things are headed, or, after almost a year of searching for a better opportunity your buddy says, “You’ve got decades of solid experience and you’re a true professional, you should become a healthcare IT consultant.” Now you start thinking, “This could be my ticket to success. I know the healthcare industry and can show people how to do things right. The sky’s the limit!” Not so fast. Consulting offers many advantages, and many pitfalls. This webinar will discuss both the rewards and the risks of moving into a full-time consulting role, as an independent, or part of a large firm. It will present a checklist you can apply to assess whether consulting is a good fit for you, and present the ground work necessary to be a successful consultant.

May 24 (Thursday) 1:00 ET. “Converting Consumers into Patients: Strategies for Creating Engaging Digital Experiences People Demand.” Sponsor: Healthwise. Presenters: Antonia Chappell, director of consumer solutions, Healthwise; Josh Schlaich, senior product manager, Healthwise. Nearly three-quarters of US adults use a digital channel to manage their health and the internet to track down health information. It’s clear that consumers have come to expect online interactions as an integral part of their overall patient experience. In fact, the Internet may be the first way people come in contact with your organization. They have more choice than ever on where to get healthcare services, and their decisions are increasingly influenced by how well organizations connect with them in the digital space. This webinar will show you how to create engaging digital and web experiences that convert casual consumers into patients and keep them satisfied throughout their entire patient journey.

June 5 (Tuesday) 1:00 ET. “Increase Referrals and Patient Satisfaction with a Smarter ‘Find a Doctor’ Web Search.” Sponsors: Phynd Technologies, Healthwise. Presenters: Joseph H. Schneider, MD, MBA, FAAP, retired SVP/CHIO, Indiana University Health; Keith Belton, VP of marketing, Phynd. A recent survey found that 84 percent of patients check a hospital’s website before booking an appointment. However, ‘Find a Doctor’ search functions often frustrate them because their matching functionality is primitive and the provider’s information is incomplete or outdated. Referring physicians need similarly robust tools to find the right specialist and to send the patient to the right location. Attendees of this webinar will learn how taxonomy-driven Provider Information Management improves patient and referrer satisfaction by intelligently incorporating the provider’s location, insurance coverage, specialty and subspecialty, and services offered that can be searched via patient-friendly terms.

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

Announcements and Implementations

Urgent care chain CityMD (NY) sees a 20-percent decrease in staffing needs after implementing staff scheduling software from Intrigma.

GI North (GA) and GI Partners of Illinois select GMed’s EHR, PM and MIPS-friendly reporting software for gastroenterologists.

DrChrono adds patient engagement messaging from Cliniconex to its EHR for urgent care facilities.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

MTBC will acquire the practice management, revenue cycle and group purchasing organization assets of Houston-based Orion Healthcorp and its 13 affiliates. MTBC CEO Stephen Snyder expects the acquisition will open up opportunities in “long-term practice management services, niche hospital offerings, and a pharmaceutical group purchasing organization that provides discounts to … physician customers.” Orion Healthcorp parent company Constellation Healthcare Technologies filed for bankruptcy in March.

People

Miami-based Leon Medical Centers names Roymi Membiela (UHealth) VP and chief consumer officer.

Government and Politics

A federal jury in Massachusetts finds gynecologist Rita Luthra, MD guilty of violating HIPAA and obstructing a criminal healthcare investigation after investigators find that she allowed pharma reps from Warner Chilcott to access patient files as part of a kickback scheme, and then lied about it. Warner Chilcott paid $125 million for its part in the 2015 crime. Luthra has yet to be sentenced.

Telemedicine

Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin signs into law a bill that mandates Medicaid and payer reimbursement for telemedicine services, including those provided by PAs, psychologists, and family therapists. The law will go into effect in July of next year.

• Medicity publishes a new perspective paper, “Interoperability 2.0: How to Consume, Organize and Share Health Data to Achieve Greater Value.”
• PerfectServe will exhibit at the 2018 ANIA Annual Conference May 10-12 in Orlando.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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

News 5/2/18

Top News

Suki raises $15 million in a Series A funding round led by Venrock, bringing its total raised to $20 million. The 14-employee startup is piloting its virtual assistant technology in a dozen practices in Georgia and California, and claims to have reduced paperwork at those offices by 60 percent.

Webinars

May 9 (Wednesday) 2:00 ET. “How to Make VBC Work for You: The Business Case to Transform Into the Health System of the Future.” Sponsor: Philips Wellcentive. Presenters: Mason Beard, co-founder and chief product officer, Philips Wellcentive; Scott Cullen, MD, principal, ECG Management Consulting; Seema Mathur, director of strategy, Sage Growth Partners. How well is your organization funding its transformation to VBC? This free webinar explains how to achieve ROI as your organization transforms to meet the future. You’ll learn how VBC is impacting healthcare system management, three strategies for funding your transformation, and what the healthcare system of the future will look like.

May 16 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “You Think You Might Want to Be a Consultant?” Sponsor: HIStalk. Presenter: Frank Poggio, CEO/president, The Kelzon Group. Maybe you just got caught in a big re-org and don’t like where things are headed, or, after almost a year of searching for a better opportunity your buddy says, “You’ve got decades of solid experience and you’re a true professional, you should become a healthcare IT consultant.” Now you start thinking, “This could be my ticket to success. I know the healthcare industry and can show people how to do things right. The sky’s the limit!” Not so fast. Consulting offers many advantages, and many pitfalls. This webinar will discuss both the rewards and the risks of moving into a full-time consulting role, as an independent, or part of a large firm. It will present a checklist you can apply to assess whether consulting is a good fit for you, and present the ground work necessary to be a successful consultant.

May 24 (Thursday) 1:00 ET. “Converting Consumers into Patients: Strategies for Creating Engaging Digital Experiences People Demand.” Sponsor: Healthwise. Presenters: Antonia Chappell, director of consumer solutions, Healthwise; Josh Schlaich, senior product manager, Healthwise. Nearly three-quarters of US adults use a digital channel to manage their health and the internet to track down health information. It’s clear that consumers have come to expect online interactions as an integral part of their overall patient experience. In fact, the Internet may be the first way people come in contact with your organization. They have more choice than ever on where to get healthcare services, and their decisions are increasingly influenced by how well organizations connect with them in the digital space. This webinar will show you how to create engaging digital and web experiences that convert casual consumers into patients and keep them satisfied throughout their entire patient journey.

June 5 (Tuesday) 1:00 ET. “Increase Referrals and Patient Satisfaction with a Smarter ‘Find a Doctor’ Web Search.” Sponsors: Phynd Technologies, Healthwise. Presenters: Joseph H. Schneider, MD, MBA, FAAP, retired SVP/CHIO, Indiana University Health; Keith Belton, VP of marketing, Phynd. A recent survey found that 84 percent of patients check a hospital’s website before booking an appointment. However, ‘Find a Doctor’ search functions often frustrate them because their matching functionality is primitive and the provider’s information is incomplete or outdated. Referring physicians need similarly robust tools to find the right specialist and to send the patient to the right location. Attendees of this webinar will learn how taxonomy-driven Provider Information Management improves patient and referrer satisfaction by intelligently incorporating the provider’s location, insurance coverage, specialty and subspecialty, and services offered that can be searched via patient-friendly terms.

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

Announcements and Implementations

Denver-based Sopris Health develops an AI-powered medical transcription app that captures pertinent information during a patient encounter and converts it into an EHR-friendly SOAP note.

Independence Physician Management will implement Tonic Health’s real-time digital survey and payments software across its ambulatory network. IPM is a United Health Services business unit offering practice management and consulting services to physicians in the acute care, behavioral health, and ambulatory surgery center markets in 37 states.

The Recovery Platform integrates access to LabCorp testing services and results into its opioid recovery and medication management tools for PCPs.

People

Adrianna Iorillo (CSI Tech) joins Encoda as director of RCM services.

Chronic Care Management promotes Mark Douglas to chief operating and finance officer, and Lisa Owens, RN to VP of care management and client success.

DaVita promotes David Roer, MD to VP of medical affairs at its VillageHealth subsidiary.

Henry Schein promotes Brad Connett to president of its US Medical Group.

Telemedicine

98point6 launches a chatbot-based virtual consult app in 10 states, and plans to expand availability to all 50 states by the end of the year.

Other

Pediatrician Michael Cohen, MD attributes his successful independent practice in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood to relentlessly chasing claims. That attention to detail, plus a strong commitment to fitting in with the neighborhood and giving back to the community, will enable Cohen to open 10 more practices in underserved areas “where there are no hipsters” within the next 18 months. The globetrotting surfer and restaurateur attributes his continued independence to high energy:

“In New York, the three- or four-doctor groups will go away except for the concierge model, which limits services. But that model does not attract me. And I’m too big to be bought by a hospital. At one point I was negotiating with NYU and Cornell. Hospitals bank on doctors being tired. They say, “You will make the same money, but we’ll do your billing. You’ll have vacation and a great retirement plan.” But I’m not tired. I’m actually very energetic.”

Sponsor Updates

• AdvancedMD will exhibit at APA’s annual conference May 5-9 in New York City.
• Aprima will present at Asembia’s 2018 Specialty Pharmacy Summit May 2 in Las Vegas.
• GCS Medical College, Hospital & Research Centre in India selects the EClinicalWorks Hospital Management Information System.

Blog Posts

• Consultant insight: FISH cytogenics in Beaker (Nordic)
• Enhance Patient Experience with Technology (AdvancedMD)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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

News 4/30/18

Top News

A two-phased study in Health Affairs finds that primary care offices in 10 states made appointments available to self-pay patients who could commit to paying in full at the time of service. Appointment availability was far less, however, for patients that inquired about payment plans – a indication not only of the access issues faced by the uninsured, but of the thin margins these practices continue to operate under.

Webinars

May 9 (Wednesday) 2:00 ET. “How to Make VBC Work for You: The Business Case to Transform Into the Health System of the Future.” Sponsor: Philips Wellcentive. Presenters: Mason Beard, co-founder and chief product officer, Philips Wellcentive; Scott Cullen, MD, principal, ECG Management Consulting; Seema Mathur, director of strategy, Sage Growth Partners. How well is your organization funding its transformation to VBC? This free webinar explains how to achieve ROI as your organization transforms to meet the future. You’ll learn how VBC is impacting healthcare system management, three strategies for funding your transformation, and what the healthcare system of the future will look like.

May 24 (Thursday) 1:00 ET. “Converting Consumers into Patients: Strategies for Creating Engaging Digital Experiences People Demand.” Sponsor: Healthwise. Presenters: Antonia Chappell, director of consumer solutions, Healthwise; Josh Schlaich, senior product manager, Healthwise. Nearly three-quarters of US adults use a digital channel to manage their health and the internet to track down health information. It’s clear that consumers have come to expect online interactions as an integral part of their overall patient experience. In fact, the Internet may be the first way people come in contact with your organization. They have more choice than ever on where to get healthcare services, and their decisions are increasingly influenced by how well organizations connect with them in the digital space. This webinar will show you how to create engaging digital and web experiences that convert casual consumers into patients and keep them satisfied throughout their entire patient journey.

June 5 (Tuesday) 1:00 ET. “Increase Referrals and Patient Satisfaction with a Smarter ‘Find a Doctor’ Web Search.” Sponsors: Phynd Technologies, Healthwise. Presenters: Joseph H. Schneider, MD, MBA, FAAP, retired SVP/CHIO, Indiana University Health; Keith Belton, VP of marketing, Phynd. A recent survey found that 84 percent of patients check a hospital’s website before booking an appointment. However, ‘Find a Doctor’ search functions often frustrate them because their matching functionality is primitive and the provider’s information is incomplete or outdated. Referring physicians need similarly robust tools to find the right specialist and to send the patient to the right location. Attendees of this webinar will learn how taxonomy-driven Provider Information Management improves patient and referrer satisfaction by intelligently incorporating the provider’s location, insurance coverage, specialty and subspecialty, and services offered that can be searched via patient-friendly terms.

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

Announcements and Implementations

Behavioral health and youth services organization Excelsior (WA) selects CareLogics EHR software from Qualifacts. The technology will also be offered to members of the new Integrated Managed Care Collaborative being formed by Excelsior in Washington State. Behavioral health and human services company Xpio Health will assist with implementation, training, and population health management programs.

Intermedix develops performance analytics for physician practices that include practice volume, patients per hour, comparative rankings, documentation quality, and revenue analysis.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Remote patient monitoring company VRI will hire up to 75 new call center employees at its facility in Franklin, OH.

Telemedicine

Membership-based primary care company One Medical selects technology from TokBox to power virtual consults within its mobile app.

This tweet from the American Telemedicine Association’s annual conference caught my eye. I’m surprised “machine-learning” wasn’t also part of the solution. After digging through the first full day’s tweet stream, it looks like the exhibit hall and sessions don’t offer much for independent practices. Practice-focused EHR vendors include EClinicalWorks and Azalea Health.

This #ATA18  tweet also caught my attention. I can certainly identify with “Cindy,” but at some point a busy mom is going to consider where to go for in-person care, and then wonder how to transfer her virtual care history over to her brick-and-mortar physician. An iPhone might help, if it’s on the latest operating system and if her physician is in a network that participates in Apple’s app-based medical record sharing. I’m a big fan of telemedicine, as I’ve documented, but I can imagine it’s these types of data-sharing barriers (not to mention reimbursement issues) that keep smaller practices on the sidelines of virtual care business models.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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