News 9/14/17

Top News

RCM technology and services companies Navicure and ZirMed announce plans to merge. The combined company, which will operate under both brands in the near-term, will maintain their current offices in Georgia, Illinois, and Kentucky.

HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests

HIStalk sponsors, submit your MGMA details for inclusion in our annual must-see vendor’s guide. Companies that are walking the show floor instead of exhibiting are also welcome to submit their information. The online guide will publish a few days before the conference kicks off at the Anaheim Convention Center in California on October 8.

The City of Anaheim is unfortunately experiencing what appears to be record levels of homeless, particularly in encampments along the Santa Ana River (a portion of which runs near the Anaheim Convention Center), and is subsequently grappling with how to compassionately and safely deal with the problem. City councilors declared a state of emergency earlier this week, giving them the ability to place additional law enforcement in the area, which houses over 400 homeless people. They hope the police presence will encourage those folks to clear out of the area. Where they will go is anyone’s guess.

Webinars

September 28 (Thursday) 2:00 ET. “Leverage the Psychology of Waiting to Boost Patient Satisfaction.” Sponsored by: DocuTap. Presenter: Mike Burke, founder and CEO, Clockwise.MD. Did you know that the experience of waiting is determined less by the overall length of the wait and more by the patient’s perception of the wait? In the world of on-demand healthcare where waiting is generally expected, giving patients more ways to control their wait time can be an effective way to attract new customers—and keep them. In this webinar, attendees will learn how to increase patient satisfaction by giving patients control over their own waiting process. (Hint: it’s not as scary as it sounds!)

October 19 (Thursday) 12:00 ET. “Understanding Enterprise Health Clouds with Forrester: What can they do for you, and how do you choose the right one?” Sponsored by: Salesforce. Presenters: Joshua Newman, MD CMO, Salesforce; and Kate McCarthy, senior analyst, Forrester. McCarthy will demystify industry solutions while offering insights from her recent Forrester report on enterprise health clouds. Newman and customers from leading healthcare organizations will share insights on how they drive efficiencies, manage patient and member journeys, and connect the entire healthcare ecosystem on the Salesforce platform.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Pear Therapeutics receives FDA clearance for its Reset app for the outpatient treatment of substance use disorder. The agency’s approval marks the first time such an app, which includes patient- and provider-facing technology, has been cleared for SUD. The company is working on similar technology for other behavioral health issues related to post-surgical pain, anxiety, depression, and opioid use.

Announcements and Implementations

Electronic prior authorization software vendor CoverMyMeds will develop e-referral technology for specialty medications.

Respiratory healthcare management IT vendor Somnocare develops a chronic care management module for pulmonologists and sleep specialists.

The Pitt County Health Dept. in North Carolina allocates $238,000 to implement Epic later this year. Director John Morrow, MD is especially excited about the benefits that will come from being able to exchange health data with other Epic customers in the area. “We can look at UNC-Chapel Hill, Wake Forest and even in hospitals in California,” he said. “It really gives us a huge advantage in accessing information. The agency walked through and looked at our work flow, patient flow, how patients are registered and all of our equipment. We know we will have to replace some of our computers.”

KeyCare, an offshoot of the New Jersey Primary Care Association, will implement I2I Population Health’s population health management technology and services across its network of 16 community health centers.

People

Dan Watanapongse (Sterigenics International) joins Intelligent Medical Objects as EVP and CFO.

Telemedicine

Parents of students in the Austin Independent School District in Texas push back after the school system attempts to make up for a lack of school nurses with telemedicine services and additional health assistants. Seton Healthcare Family, which provides healthcare staff to the school system, will bring in 33 additional RNS to alleviate parental concerns over a lack of qualified, in-person caregiving. 

Other

The local paper profiles Canadian physician Errol Billinkoff, MD a family physician turned full-time vasectomy specialist who has made a name for himself through his use of humor to ensure patients are completely at ease during their 10-minute procedures. From wacky sculptures in the waiting room, to episodes of Home Improvement and Seinfeld airing in the exam room, Billinkoff has found a good laugh to be part of a successful outcome. “It’s always much easier to do when a patient is relaxed,” Billinkoff says, “but when there’s some anxiety there, it’s my job to help relax them, so distraction and humor are as effective as an anesthetic.”

Breachin’ it old school: Fernando Rios steals over 1,000 paper medical records from a New Jersey medical practice’s storage facility in an attempt to sell the patient information. Rios was ultimately apprehended and charged with burglary, identify theft, and trafficking in personally identifying information.

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Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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5 Questions With Carlos Menendez, MD Medical Director, Family Health Services of Darke County

Carlos Menendez, MD is medical director of Family Health Services of Darke County in Greenville, OH, and the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians’ 2017 Family Physician of the Year. Nearly 200 FHS employees care for 10,000 patients each month across four facilities. The organization is looking at replacing its E-MDs EHR, which it uses for primary and behavioral healthcare, to EClinicalWorks due to difficulty extracting data for reporting requirements as an FQHC. That data extraction difficulty has led FHS to postpone its attestation plans for stage 2 of Meaningful Use. “We anticipate catching up with Meaningful Use after our new EHR is up and running,” says Menendez. “The new system will help solve this [data extraction] problem,” he adds. “EClinicalWorks also offers modules for behavioral health staff, dental, and eye care providers, thus allowing our entire center to work with a single software system. We hope to transition to the new system by first quarter of 2018.”

How have you seen the role of community health centers change during your time as a practicing physician – particularly in rural communities?

Community health centers have been able to considerably expand access to healthcare, largely as a result of the Affordable Care Act. We were able to convert to an EHR, add dental services, and upgrade our physical plant. Similar expansions have occurred across the country. As a result, our health centers are seeing more patients and providing more services.

The opioid epidemic and physician burnout seem to be the two biggest issues facing physicians. How is your organization dealing with the epidemic?

Unfortunately Darke County has not been spared from the opioid epidemic. We have established an Addiction Recovery Team, headed by Laurie White to help our center deal with this problem. Anna Hatic, DO serves as the physician champion and clinical leader for this team. They meet regularly with other community organizations. They have helped update our procedures and protocols. We have been administering Vivitrol and hope to soon offer Suboxone as a treatment option. Their most valuable contribution has been the education of our clinical staff.

Is burnout a hot topic in the physician’s lounge? What are your thoughts on technology as a contributing factor?

Burnout is not only a topic that has been discussed, but has also been identified as an area of priority. We have a burnout team headed by Sherry Adkins, MD. They have been able to assess the severity of this problem at our center and provide education and support to battle it. Technology and the time it takes to keep up with entries in the EHR has been the main factor causing burn out. Our hope is that changing to a new system will have a positive impact.

How have you seen healthcare technology help improve access and outcomes during your time at FHS?

Psychiatry has been a significant need for our patients. In 2016, we hired Keith Ashbaugh, MD. Prior to hiring him, we were able to provide psychiatry services through videoconferencing. In addition, patients are able to now reach their clinicians through our patient portal. Our pharmacy’s portal is also widely used by Family Health patients. We are also capable of sending notifications via text messages.

Is FHS participating in any coordinated care initiatives right now?

Our office has hired an RN, Jane Urlage, who is our first chronic disease manager. She has been working on protocols for chronic care management CCM. As we explored CCM software options with a representative from CliniSync, an Ohio-based regional IT initiative, we found eClinicalWorks has a very workable CCM feature, so we are looking forward to seeing this in action after we make our transition.

Bonus question: What type of healthcare technology would you like to see FHS implement in the near future? What’s on your wish list?

I hope more patients take advantage of our patient portal so that we can communicate electronically. In the future, we hope to allow patients to schedule their own visits through our portal. I look forward to the day when we can offer the option of virtual visits to a patient in their home or wherever they may be through their laptop or phone.

True interoperability – a quick and easy avenue to communicate with and access information from other health care providers – a specialist, a radiology center, hospital or emergent care center – is also on my wish list. Finally, I hope for all EHRs to find a way to make the data entry process easier so that clinicians and nursing staff can spend less time with their computers and more time with their patients.

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Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 9/13/17

Top News

AAFP appoints Michael Munger, MD (Saint Luke’s Physicians Group) president during its annual Family Medicine Experience conference. Munger, who spent his first 16 years in independent practice as an owner/member of an eight-physician family medicine group, will make “administrative complexity” a key talking point during his tenure. “Look at electronic health records,” he says by way of example. “[T]hey were promised to simplify practice, but many physicians will tell you that has not yet happened. Much of our members’ angst is tied to paperwork such as prior authorization requests from payers and that endless flow of forms that need attention. Family physicians are looking for relief from that overall burden and from tasks that hinder rather than help them with hands-on patient care. The AAFP recognizes their concerns and is working hard to make things better.”

HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests

HIStalk sponsors, submit your MGMA details for inclusion in our annual must-see vendor’s guide. Companies that are walking the show floor instead of exhibiting are also welcome to submit their information. The online guide will publish a few days before the conference kicks off in Anaheim, CA on October 8.

Webinars

September 28 (Thursday) 2:00 ET. “Leverage the Psychology of Waiting to Boost Patient Satisfaction.” Sponsored by: DocuTap. Presenter: Mike Burke, founder and CEO, Clockwise.MD. Did you know that the experience of waiting is determined less by the overall length of the wait and more by the patient’s perception of the wait? In the world of on-demand healthcare where waiting is generally expected, giving patients more ways to control their wait time can be an effective way to attract new customers—and keep them. In this webinar, attendees will learn how to increase patient satisfaction by giving patients control over their own waiting process. (Hint: it’s not as scary as it sounds!)

October 19 (Thursday) 12:00 ET. “Understanding Enterprise Health Clouds with Forrester: What can they do for you, and how do you choose the right one?” Sponsored by: Salesforce. Presenters: Joshua Newman, MD CMO, Salesforce; and Kate McCarthy, senior analyst, Forrester. McCarthy will demystify industry solutions while offering insights from her recent Forrester report on enterprise health clouds. Newman and customers from leading healthcare organizations will share insights on how they drive efficiencies, manage patient and member journeys, and connect the entire healthcare ecosystem on the Salesforce platform.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Digital health, wellness, and chronic care management services company Green Circle Health will open a sales and operations center in Memphis, TN. It plans to create 100 jobs at the new center by 2022. GCH founder Dinesh Sheth will return to his Memphis roots. He launched and sold off two software companies in the area before starting Pensacola Beach, FL-based GCH in 2015.

Paola, KS-based HealthSplash acquires DMERX/PMDRX, a patient assessment and documentation compliance technology company, for an undisclosed sum. HealthSplash offers physician practices wearables integration, patient portal technology, and compliance services.

People

Healthcare Associates of Texas hires family physician Charles Powell, MD (St. Charles Parish Hospital) to take on the new role of EVP of Clinical Operations.

Telemedicine

Elko Family Medical and Dental Center – part of a chain of Nevada Health Centers across the state – launches telemedicine services. Patients will connect with providers at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine.

Government and Politics

Newly confirmed US Surgeon General Jerome Adams, MD gets into the Twitter groove.

Research and Innovation

Stanford researchers find an increase in physician satisfaction at the end of a one-year study that placed scribes with family medicine physicians for alternating weeks. That increased satisfaction encompassed face time with patients, time spent charting, and chart accuracy and quality. The scribes increased the number of charts closed within 48 hours. They had no impact on patient satisfaction.

Other

Colorado State University’s Health and Medical Center introduces a nap pod as part of its new relaxation space for students who’ve pulled one too many all nighters. Reservations are encouraged though walk-ins are accepted. I would definitely have taken advantage of such a thing had it been offered on campus in The Classic City. A cat nap in between my shifts at the on-campus conference center and journalism classes would have made some of my 12 hour days a bit more bearable.

I know several young ladies who will love this: Book lovers between four and eight years of age can expect to see Hidden Figures – a New York Times’ bestseller and Oscar-winning movie (one of my favorites, in fact) – released as a children’s book early next year.

Google gets aggressive in its attempts to more thoroughly flesh out its Maps app with data related to accessibility – a feature the tech company has taken baby steps with regarding wheelchairs. The company will rely on its global network of 30 million Local Guides to contribute data on accessible entrances, bathrooms, seating, elevators, etc. when they submit location reviews.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks publishes new case studies featuring CityMD and EssenMED House Calls.
• Aprima will exhibit at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference & Exhibition September 16-18 in Chicago.
• Intelligent Medical Objects will exhibit at the 2017 IHA Leadership Summit September 13 in Lombard, IL.
• EClinicalWorks will exhibit at AAP 2017 September 16-18 in Chicago.

Blog Posts

• Modernize your patient experience with PatientPop (AdvancedMD)
• MACRA MIPS Basics and What You Need to Do Now (Culbert Healthcare Solutions)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 9/12/17

Top News

A new study confirms what most physicians (no matter the care setting) already know – technology is increasingly taking time away from patient care and contributing to physician burnout. Conducted over a three-year period, the retrospective study looked at the movements of 142 PCPs within the University of Wisconsin health system to find that they spent six hours – over half of their work day – in their Epic EHRs on a daily basis. Nearly 90 minutes of that documentation time was after hours. The physicians reported that the EHR work included billing and coding, documentation, order entry, and system security.

Interestingly, most of the physicians turned down offers of transcription services or voice-recognition software during a six-week observation period. Their reticence to try out new support tools seems to reinforce the fact that they don’t have the time to fit anything else into their workflows.

HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests

HIStalk sponsors, submit your MGMA details for inclusion in our annual must-see vendor’s guide. Companies that are walking the show floor instead of exhibiting are also welcome to submit their information. The online guide will publish a few days before the conference kicks off in Anaheim, CA on October 8.

Webinars

September 13 (Wednesday) 1:30 ET. “How Data Democratization Drives Enterprise-wide Clinical Process Improvement.” Sponsored by: LogicStream Health. Presenter: Katy Jones, program director of clinical support, Providence Health & Services. Providence is demonstrating positive measurable results in quality, outcomes, and efficiency by implementing clinical process improvement solutions in arming operational and clinical stakeholders with unlocked EHR data. Providence’s army of process engineers use their self-service access to answer questions immediately and gain an understanding of how their clinical care delivery is impacting outcomes. The presenter will describe practical applications that include antibiotic stewardship, hospital-acquired infections, and comprehensive knowledge management.

September 28 (Thursday) 2:00 ET. “Leverage the Psychology of Waiting to Boost Patient Satisfaction.” Sponsored by: DocuTap. Presenter: Mike Burke, founder and CEO, Clockwise.MD. Did you know that the experience of waiting is determined less by the overall length of the wait and more by the patient’s perception of the wait? In the world of on-demand healthcare where waiting is generally expected, giving patients more ways to control their wait time can be an effective way to attract new customers—and keep them. In this webinar, attendees will learn how to increase patient satisfaction by giving patients control over their own waiting process. (Hint: it’s not as scary as it sounds!)

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

Announcements and Implementations

MetroCare Services (TX) will implement Netsmart’s EHR as part of a broader partnership that will see the behavioral healthcare provider eventually implement additional Netsmart technology across its 16 locations. Netsmart’s developers will work with MetroCare’s XenatiX software division on the ongoing deployment.

Avanti Anesthesia, which provides anesthesia services to eye surgery centers in the Houston area, selects Plexus TG’s Anesthesia Touch EHR.

Machine-learning company Macro-Eyes Health develops a predictive patient scheduling tool that uses AI to match up a patient’s preferred time with a physician’s availability.

People

PhyMed Healthcare Group appoints Marty Bonick (Community Health Systems) CEO.

Telemedicine

Chicago-based EazyScripts makes its telemedicine-friendly e-prescribing software available for free to providers caring for patients in areas impacted by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

The State of California bans the delivery of medical marijuana by drone, leaving patients to receive their deliveries by mail or human-driven car. It’s a move that will likely deflate the delivery aspirations of some California-based medical marijuana telemedicine companies like Eaze and Meadow MD. Luckily for those patients who experience the side-effect of hunger pangs, California does permit drone delivery of pizza.

Third-party benefits company Cypress Benefit Administrators offers its employer customers telemedicine services from Teladoc.

Government and Politics

As with Hurricane Harvey, CMS issues a waiver ensuring that licensed out-of-state physicians will receive Medicare reimbursements for providing care in Irma-impacted areas of Florida.

Research and Innovation

An MGMA survey of 876 physicians finds that there is still room for improvement when it comes to the Electronic Funds Transfer standard developed by CMS in 2012. Seventeen percent of respondents pay a 2-5 percent fee to receive digital payments from payers, with the majority interacting with a third-party payment vendor. MGMA analysts have called for CMS to issue more specific operating rules around the transparency of such fees.

Other

Providers in Maine head to Florida to help with post-Irma healthcare efforts. Traveling as part of the federal government’s National Disaster Medical System, the dozen include physicians, PAs, RNs, pharmacists, and technicians who expect to stay in the Sunshine State for between 14 and 30 days. Some, like ER nurse Nate Contreras, have just returned from relief efforts in Texas. “We were there for 10 days,” he says. “Yah, we’re tired, but we’re ready to go again. This is what we do.”  HHS is continually looking for providers to join the disaster relief effort. You can find more information about the NDMS here.

Google will match donations for Hurricane Irma relief efforts. It will funnel the money to Network for Good, which will then evenly distribute it to Catholic Relief Services, UNICEF, and the American Red Cross.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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News 9/11/17

Top News

HHS continues rescue operations in the Caribbean and begins them in southeast as Hurricane Irma treks through Georgia and downgrades to a tropical storm. The agency has partnered with the DoD to find and rescue 130 dialysis patients on St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands after the island suffered substantial damage to its healthcare infrastructure. Rescue efforts have relied on CMS emPOWER data to search for Medicare patients who rely on life-sustaining equipment by zip code.

HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests

HIStalk sponsors, submit your MGMA details for inclusion in our annual must-see vendor’s guide. Companies that are walking the show floor instead of exhibiting are also welcome to submit their information. The online guide will publish a few days before the conference kicks off in Anaheim, CA on October 8.

Webinars

September 13 (Wednesday) 1:30 ET. “How Data Democratization Drives Enterprise-wide Clinical Process Improvement.” Sponsored by: LogicStream Health. Presenter: Katy Jones, program director of clinical support, Providence Health & Services. Providence is demonstrating positive measurable results in quality, outcomes, and efficiency by implementing clinical process improvement solutions in arming operational and clinical stakeholders with unlocked EHR data. Providence’s army of process engineers use their self-service access to answer questions immediately and gain an understanding of how their clinical care delivery is impacting outcomes. The presenter will describe practical applications that include antibiotic stewardship, hospital-acquired infections, and comprehensive knowledge management.

September 28 (Thursday) 2:00 ET. “Leverage the Psychology of Waiting to Boost Patient Satisfaction.” Sponsored by: DocuTap. Presenter: Mike Burke, founder and CEO, Clockwise.MD. Did you know that the experience of waiting is determined less by the overall length of the wait and more by the patient’s perception of the wait? In the world of on-demand healthcare where waiting is generally expected, giving patients more ways to control their wait time can be an effective way to attract new customers—and keep them. In this webinar, attendees will learn how to increase patient satisfaction by giving patients control over their own waiting process. (Hint: it’s not as scary as it sounds!)

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

Announcements and Implementations

Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership, which I wasn’t even aware existed, is working to develop a directory and referral system that pairs up patients with “gun-friendly” physicians.

Infirmary Medical Clinics, part of the Mobile, AL-based Infirmary Health system, becomes the first provider to utilize Navicure’s new Epic-integrated patient payment software.

Research and Innovation

A study of 3,755 university students in the UK finds that an online therapy program designed for insomnia also helped to improve mental health problems like depression, anxiety, hallucinations, and paranoia. The Sleepio program consisted of six 20-minute sessions administered over the course of 10 weeks. The one red flag the study’s authors have raised is its dropout rate of 50 percent, though they contend the overall findings are similar to previous, smaller studies.

SAMHSA releases results from its latest survey on drug use and mental health, proving the opioid epidemic is alive, well, and in need of federal resources. Nearly 12 million people misused opioids in 2016, with the majority of misuse related to pain relief rather than heroin. While rates of mental health disorders have remained constant since 2008, there has been an increase in serious mental illnesses among young adults.

Telemedicine

Hippo Health partners with Greater San Antonio Emergency Physicians to offer free telemedicine services to victims of Hurricane Harvey.

Green Mountain College in Vermont begins offering its 400 students virtual consults with physicians at nearby Bennington College. New GMC President Bob Allen saw the telemedicine clinic as a potentially effective way to overcome the college’s lack of primary/urgent care services. “It is very new,” says Peggy Gregory, who leads GMC’s Wellness Center. “It was thought of a month ago and we’ve been working at lightning speed to make it happen.”

Government and Politics

Former Congressman and current mental and behavioral healthcare advocate Patrick Kennedy keynotes the Behavioral Health Payment and Care Delivery Innovation Summit at CMS headquarters in Baltimore. Founder of The Kennedy Forum nonprofit, which tackles mental health and substance abuse issues, Kennedy spoke on the need to reimburse mental health treatments and to enforce the ACA-enacted mental health parity law, which mandates the coverage of mental healthcare along the same lines as physical care.

Pennsylvania health officials report encouraging statistics since implementing a PDMP a little over a year ago. Doctor shopping has dropped significantly, with the number of people visiting five or more physicians to obtain prescription drugs decreasing 86 percent, and those visiting 10 or more dropping off altogether. Some healthcare stakeholders, however, worry patients prone to doctor shopping have turned to illegal drugs instead. “You need to look at the combined evidence, and based on what I’ve learned,” says Yunfeng Shi, assistant professor of health policy and administration at Penn State, “it does seem to be the case that the programs have some impact … on reducing misuse and inappropriate prescribing; that’s what the literature shows,” he said. “However, based on our studies, at the same time those programs do seem to have a negative or bad impact, or not much of an impact at all, on mortality rates.”

Other

Married for 75 years, Harvey and Irma Schluter don’t quite know what to make of the attention their names are receiving from local news outlets during this hurricane season. “I don’t know how they’ve done that, to have a Harvey and Irma,” says the 92 year-old Irma. (Harvey is 104.) “I don’t know how that worked out.” Based on the World Meteorological Organization’s system of alternating male and female names for tropical storms that originate in the Atlantic Ocean, Harvey has been used seven other times since 1981. Both names will likely be retired due to their severity.

Following in Harvey and Irma’s footsteps, Air National Guard senior airmen Michael Davis and Lauren Durham skip their planned beach wedding in favor of deploying to help with Hurricane Irma rescue and relief efforts in Orlando. Their decision led to an impromptu marriage ceremony at the Orange County Convention Center, home to many a HIMSS.

Armando Hernandez-Rey, MD hunkers down at the Conceptions Florida fertility clinic in Coral Gables, FL despite mandatory evacuation orders to make sure stored eggs, sperm, and embryos will survive Hurricane Irma. “We’ve got so many [samples] stored,” he explains. “We’re affiliated with the cancer center, so we have probably about three or four samples from men who are about to start chemotherapy. They stored with us to preserve their fertility. If we lose that, they’ve got none left.”

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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