News 2/26/24

Top News

Walgreens decides to close all of its VillageMD clinics in Florida, one of its largest markets. Walgreens announced in October that it would close 60 VillageMD clinics in non-strategic locations. Half of those closures had taken place as of January. Analysts speculate that the Florida clinics, all of which were co-located with Walgreens pharmacies, were too small to attract enough patients and recruit enough doctors to remain viable.

Webinars

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

Announcements and Implementations

Cucamonga Valley Medical Group (CA) implements XpertDox’s AI medical coding software.

Lee Freedman, MD will implement CloudDX’s Connected Health remote patient monitoring software as part of a new RPM program at his MDVIP practice in Illinois.

ImagineSoftware will incorporate Maverick Medical AI’s autonomous medical coding software into its RCM technology.

Steer Health develops SteerNotes, AI-powered automated patient documentation software.

Tlingit & Haida’s Community & Behavioral Services Division will implement Cantata Health’s Arize behavioral health EHR at its Healing Center in Alaska.

Government and Politics

Greenridge Behavioral Health (MD) will pay $40,000 and implement a corrective action plan to settle HIPAA-related charges stemming from a 2019 ransomware attack on the ill-prepared practice that exposed the PHI of 14,000 patients.

Research and Innovation

A study in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine finds that telehealth is an effective form of keeping FQHC patients with diabetes connected to their care teams and involved with their care regimens.

Other

Medical Management Resource Group, which does business as practice management company American Vision Partners, announces that the November breach of one of its network servers may have exposed the PHI of 2.4 million patients.

Sponsor Updates

• Healing Hands Ministries (TX) adds Sunoh.ai medical AI scribe capabilities to its EClinicalWorks system.
• Nordic releases a new Designing for Health Podcast featuring Mark Townsend, MD.
• Black Book’s list of top, physician-rated small hospital health IT vendors includes Waystar in the category of RCM platforms/rural end-to-end software systems.

Blog Posts

• Bedroom blunders: The hidden usability issues of hospital-at-home devices (Nordic)
• CMS Update: Texting Patient Orders in Healthcare (PerfectServe)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 2/21/24

Top News

Maternity care clinic Oula raises $28 million in a Series B funding round, bringing its total raised to nearly $50 million. The tech-enabled provider operates several clinics in Brooklyn.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Hello launches as an online prescription weight management provider, specializing in GLP-1 medications and tailored programs.

Hybrid mental healthcare provider Blackbird Health raises $17 million in a Series A funding round led by Define Ventures. The company caters to children and young adults virtually and at three clinics in Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Virtual menopause care company Elektra Health announces $3.3 million in extended seed funding, with UPMC Enterprises leading the round.

9amHealth extends its $16 million Series A funding round with the addition of a $9.5 million investment from The Cigna Group Ventures. The virtual clinic offers cardio-metabolic healthcare directly to consumers, and through arrangements with employers, health systems, payers, and PBMs, as well as Eli Lilly’s new LillyDirect telehealth service.

People

OncoHealth names Cliff Culver (Precision Medicine Group) COO and Brett Erhardt (Bright Health) chief strategy and growth officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Clinigence Health announces GA of QMX, AI-powered, scalable, analytics software.

Serving Communities Health Information Organization (CA) selects NextGen Healthcare’s Mirth Health Data Hub and Mirth Connect interoperability technologies.

Research and Innovation

Tennessee Oncology will use a $1.5 million state grant to launch the Navigated, Embedded, Supportive Care Via Telehealth (NEST) program, which aims to identify and overcome barriers to cancer care in the areas of palliative care, psychology, and integrative oncology services in seven rural counties.

Phreesia’s analysis of its digital cancer screening campaigns finds that patients are more likely to discuss or request preventive screenings with their doctors when presented with educational materials about screenings at check-in.

Nearly 100% of physician decision-makers say they’ll lean on consulting firms to help them navigate value-based care contracting, according to Black Book Research, which also found that Cigna’s CareAllies division ranked highest among consulting firms for value-based care outcomes and customer satisfaction. Seventy-one percent of primary care physician groups with more than five doctors that are already engaged in value-based care agreements say they’ve yet to implement a plan for leveraging analytics and/or reimbursement solutions.

An Athenahealth survey of 1,003 physicians finds that nearly all admit to feeling burnt out, likely due to the fact that they spend an average of 15 hours working in their EHRs outside of normal office hours and are increasingly experiencing information overload with regards to clinical data. While 83% believe AI could potentially alleviate some of healthcare’s problems, a majority say its best use will be in administrative rather than clinical tasks. Most telling is the fact that 42% see AI as something that will overcomplicate care. A similar percentage feel AI is a bright shiny object that ultimately won’t meet expectations.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks publishes a new customer success story, “Boosting Wellness Visits & Incentive Revenue in Healthcare.”

Blog Posts

• AI Medical Scribes in Remote Healthcare Services (EClinicalWorks)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 2/19/24

Top News

Connexin Software, parent company of pediatric health IT vendor Office Practicum, agrees to settle a series of class-action lawsuits related to a 2022 data breach for $4 million. The breach affected 120 Office Practicum Customers, and potentially impacted up to 3 million patients.

The company, which would have had to file for bankruptcy had the case progressed, will offer plaintiffs and class members three compensation choices:

• Identity theft monitoring for three years, plus up to $1 million in insurance.
• Up to $7,500 in reimbursement for out-of-pocket losses or time spent as a result of the data security incident.
• Cash payment, subject to the number of valid claims submitted for that option.

Webinars

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

People

Karen Mitchell (AccentCare) joins Quartet Health as chief growth officer.

Other

Omni Family Health works to bring its NextGen EHR and other internal systems back online after an attempted cyberattack forced it to downtime procedures last week. The company operates 40 health centers in three California counties.

Auburn University’s Rural Health Initiative will use a USDA telemedicine grant to install 14 telemedicine carts at 14 locations across the state – four where patients see providers virtually, and 10 where patients can receive treatment. Program organizers anticipate the carts will increase healthcare access for up to 43,000 patients across 12 counties.

The local paper profiles Aegis Medical Group EHR Administrator Peter Kizza, PhD, who recently earned one of the first doctorates in health informatics from UTHealth Houston’s School of Biomedical Informatics. Kizza is also an adjunct professor at UT Health and founder of IT support services company GatorIT, though he says his ultimate goal is to one day become a healthcare CIO.

Sponsor Updates

• Medical Risk Solutions reports a 40% decrease in patient call volume after implementing Healow Open Access online appointment booking software from EClinicalWorks
• AdvancedMD’s 2024 Winter Release gives private practices elevated levels of operational agility and more streamlined billing capabilities
• EClinicalWorks customer Be Well Primary Care Medicine (TX) reports that over 95% of its patients use Healow Sign for faster check-in during office visits.
• EClinicalWorks releases a new podcast, “Boosting Data Analysis in Healthcare.”

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 2/14/24

Top News

Anatomy Financial launches with $7.6 million in funding. Led by husband-and-wife team Callum and Sasha King, the company has developed AI-powered financial automation software for medical and dental practices, and digital health and healthcare billing companies.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

PatientFi secures funding from Questa Capital. The company offers patient payment technology to practices specializing in medical aesthetics.

Redesign Health, a healthcare startup development company based in New York City, reportedly lays off 77 employees as it slows down company creation in the wake of a sluggish investment market. The company, which has raised $164 million since launching in 2018, laid off a similar number of staff two years ago.

People

ModMed promotes Joe Harpaz to co-CEO.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 2/12/24

Top News

Hybrid mental health practice SokyaHealth rebrands to Headlight and announces $18 million in funding.

The company, which operates in seven states, has named former PillPack executive Geoff Swindle CEO.

Webinars

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

People

Agilon Health names Senior Medical Director and VP of Network Performance Karthik Rao, MD interim chief medical officer. Rao takes over from Benjamin Kornitzer, MD who will become a special advisor to the company.

Esteban López, MD (Hopscotch Health Children’s Urgent Care) joins Doxy.me as chief medical officer.

Other

Meadville Medical Center officials attempt to explain the need for facility fees after patients of Meadville Ob/Gyn Associates take to social media to complain about being billed separately for clinical care and facility fees. While the medical center says the facility fees – some in the $400 range – are a billing necessity based on insurance coverage and hospital ownership, patients continue to express frustration at the charges and lack of proactive communication from MMC about what they would be billed for once the practice became a part of the hospital in early 2023.

Sponsor Updates

• Kellum Medical Group (TX) leverages the Sunoh.ai AI medical scribe as part of its EClinicalWorks EHR implementation.
• Waystar will exhibit at Nymbl.Con 2024 February 14-16 in Scottsdale, AZ.
• The Blue Bonnet Family Medicine Health and Wellness Clinic in Texas attributes a 10% increase in patients seen to its use of EHR and AI assistant technology from EClinicalWorks.
• AdvancedMD announces QBSolutioneers as its newest integration partner.

HIStalk Practice Sponsors Named Best in KLAS

• PerfectServe – physician scheduling
• Waystar – patient financial engagement

Blog Posts

• Don’t Just Replace Cortext – Upgrade to Real-Time Care Team Collaboration with PerfectServe (PerfectServe)
• Priority One for 2024: Staying Focused on Patients (EClinicalWorks)
• What is TEFCA? Find out in Our TEFCA 101 Autocomplete Game Video! (HealthMark Group)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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