News 8/16/17

Top News

Ares Management invests $1.45 billion in Chicago-based DuPage Medical Group, which includes 80 locations, a practice management company, and managed care subsidiary. The group, one of the largest independent, multispecialty organizations of its kind in the country, seems to be bucking the trend of hospital acquisition, instead consistently gobbling up local providers with the help of last year’s $250 million investment from growth equity firm Summit Partners. DMG will use this latest, largest investment to expand beyond its Illinois borders and ramp up population health initiatives.

Webinar

August 17 (Thursday) 2:00 ET. “Repeal and Replace McKesson’s EIS.” Sponsored by HIStalk. Presenters: Frank Poggio, CEO, The Kelzon Group; Vince Ciotti, principal, HIS Professionals. The brutally honest and cynically funny Frank and Vince will analyze the Allscripts acquisition of McKesson’s EIS business. They will predict what it means for EIS’s 500+ customers, review what other vendors those customers might consider, describe lessons learned from previous industry acquisitions, and predict how the acquisition will affect the overall health IT market. Their 2014 webinar on Cerner’s acquisition of Siemens Health Services has generated over 8,000 YouTube views.

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

Announcements and Implementations

New York City-based patient relationship management vendor Doctor.com develops ScheduleSync, a customizable, EHR-friendly online scheduling tool that gives patients the ability to book appointments from a practice’s website, Facebook page, or search listing.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

RCM vendor ESolutions acquires healthcare analytics company RemitData in a move that it hopes will attract ambulatory surgery center customers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. This is the second acquisition for ESolutions in as many years; it bought ClaimRemedi for an undisclosed amount in March of last year.

People

The Kentucky Medical Association appoints ophthalmologist Maurice Oakley, MD president.

Government and Politics

Vermont Public Radio focuses on a looming physician shortage that will see 30 percent of the state’s 60-and-over PCPs retire within the next several years. Members of the state’s Green Mountain Regulatory Board are considering several ways in which to attract younger primary care docs to the state, including reimbursing the tuition of medical students who stay to practice in Vermont. Vermont Medical Society President Paul Harrington stresses that, “The whole model that we’re going towards of promoting better coordination of care requires a strong relationship with a primary care physician and it is going to fail unless we have an adequate supply ….”

Telemedicine

Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas receives $48,000 from UnitedHealthcare during a special ceremony during National Health Center Week. The FQHC will use the funds, given out as part of a grant program launched by the payer early this year, to build out telemedicine services. CHCSEK also received over $160,000 yesterday from HHS for its quality improvements.

Specialty medical services company Castle International will offer virtual consults from Akos to its global network of employers and private clients.

Officials in Brazoria County, Texas decide to add RediMD telemedicine services to employee health benefits – a move they anticipate will cut the county’s healthcare expenses by up to 66 percent.

The Southeastern Telehealth Resource Center – housed within the Georgia Partnership for Telehealth – receives a HRSA grant of $975,000, reaffirming the federal agency’s commitment to SETRC for the fourth year in a row. The center serves those looking for telemedicine expertise and resources in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks supports National Health Center Week and the 700 Community Health Centers that use its systems. The company was also named as a Frost & Sullivan customer value leadership award winner for its RCM services.

Blog Posts

• Aprima’s Adaptive Learning Technology and the AI/Machine Learning Buzz (Aprima)
• 2017 National Health Center Week: Celebrating the Care All Americans Deserve (EClinicalWorks)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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News 8/15/17

Top News

Coinciding with National Health Center Week, HHS doles out $105 million to 1,333 centers across the country. The centers were chosen based on high performance levels in categories related to improving quality, increasing access, addressing health disparities, achieving PCMH recognition, and improving upon delivery of value-based care. The centers will use the funds to continue improving in similar areas.

A quick glance at the #NHCW17 hashtag finds many health centers holding special events this week, including free screenings and test, fresh produce giveaways, and roundtables with local legislators. Some seem a bit misguided in their patient-appreciation efforts, handing out coupons and vouchers for local fast food chains.

Webinars

August 17 (Thursday) 2:00 ET. “Repeal and Replace McKesson’s EIS.” Sponsored by HIStalk. Presenters: Frank Poggio, CEO, The Kelzon Group; Vince Ciotti, principal, HIS Professionals. The brutally honest and cynically funny Frank and Vince will analyze the Allscripts acquisition of McKesson’s EIS business. They will predict what it means for EIS’s 500+ customers, review what other vendors those customers might consider, describe lessons learned from previous industry acquisitions, and predict how the acquisition will affect the overall health IT market. Their 2014 webinar on Cerner’s acquisition of Siemens Health Services has generated over 8,000 YouTube views.

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

Announcements and Implementations

PatientPop adds appointment scheduling capabilities via a practice’s Google business listing to its PM system. PatientPop Director and ex-Googler Joel Headley seems to have stumbled upon the new feature last week.

Practice consulting and technology company Complete HealthCare Solutions develops a single sign-on solution for its EMDs, Lytec, and Medisoft customers that includes API connectivity to DrFirst e-prescribing and other healthcare applications.

Aledade will work with the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians to launch a statewide, primary care-focused ACO in early 2018.

Nonprofit OpenEMR announces a cloud-based version of its open source EHR and PM software.

People

Nicholas Gettas, MD (Cigna) joins value-based healthcare consulting startup CareAllies as SVP and CMO.

Research and Innovation

A Rock Health poll of vague proportions finds that 70 percent of startup respondents are interested in pre-certification from the FDA for their medical software products. The agency will launch a pre-certification pilot program at a yet-to-be determined date as part of its Digital Health Innovation Action Plan, which aims to help ease market entry for low-risk digital health products.

Telemedicine

In a bid for better security, SnapMD transitions its Virtual Care Management telemedicine platform to Microsoft Azure Cloud Services.

The local business paper reports that American Well is adding office space at its headquarters in Boston after increasing its employee headcount there to 400 in the last year.

HHS awards a $325,000 grant to the Northeast Telehealth Resource Center in Maine. The center, one of 14 across the country, provides telemedicine-related resources, services, and support to healthcare organizations in eight states.

Other

NCQA creates an online toolkit to help practices participate in MACRA. Available resources include best practices, case studies, podcasts, and videos.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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News 8/14/17

Top News

Amazing Charts decides to retire its InLight EHR due to “poor market adoption” over the last several years. The Pri-Med subsidiary has given customers a 60-day notice (with several typos that don’t do anything to bolster end user confidence in the company), after which it will turn off all product support. The technology doesn’t seem to have been around all that long – launching in 2015 with the problem-oriented medical record “front and center,” as Dr. Gregg attested to in his glowing 2016 HIMSS review.

Webinars

August 17 (Thursday) 2:00 ET. “Repeal and Replace McKesson’s EIS.” Sponsored by HIStalk. Presenters: Frank Poggio, CEO, The Kelzon Group; Vince Ciotti, principal, HIS Professionals. The brutally honest and cynically funny Frank and Vince will analyze the Allscripts acquisition of McKesson’s EIS business. They will predict what it means for EIS’s 500+ customers, review what other vendors those customers might consider, describe lessons learned from previous industry acquisitions, and predict how the acquisition will affect the overall health IT market. Their 2014 webinar on Cerner’s acquisition of Siemens Health Services has generated over 8,000 YouTube views.

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

Announcements and Implementations

AdvancedMD launches AdvancedReputation, which automatically emails or texts patients a one-question satisfaction poll following their office or telemedicine visit and invites those who score positively to post their feedback on the practice’s Google business profile. Those who score negatively are asked to describe their experience to be posted privately to the provider’s dashboard.

The Daniel Kids Foundation (FL) selects TenEleven Group’s EHR to support its pediatric behavioral health programs.

People

Amy Cheslock (Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield) joins Privia Health as president of Privia Medical Group – Georgia.

Telemedicine

The Morgan County Commission in Decatur, AL extends its contract with MDLive for another year. The decision comes just a few weeks after commission members voted against an extension, citing lack of utilization on the part of its 390 employees. “I think that really could be a great tool to help offset some of the costs if we could just get some of our employees to utilize it, and think maybe education is where we failed,” says Commissioner Randy Vest, adding that employees didn’t use it because they didn’t realize it was free.

Government and Politics

In an effort to stem its statewide opioid epidemic, the Minnesota Dept. of Human Services will update its Fast Tracker mental health services online search tool to include addiction treatment openings. “This is another step forward to really making sure that the system of care for addiction is really more modern and more consumer focused,” explains Assistant Human Services Commissioner Claire Wilson, who expects the real-time database to be fully operational within the next two years.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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Population Health Management Weekly Wrap Up 8/13/17

David McConney (Temenos USA) joins Altruista Health as COO.

Vaya Health promotes Rhonda Cox to be its first chief population health officer. She will lead the managed care organization’s care coordination department and new population health management department.

Evolent Health reports Q2 results: revenue up 89 percent, EPS –$0.13 vs. –$0.25, beating revenue expectations and meeting on earnings. News of the company’s plan to launch a $175 million secondary public offering  sent shares down 17 percent in early after-hours trading last week.

Hurley Medical Center (MI) and its nonprofit foundation partner with several community organizations to launch a food pharmacy. Patients deemed eligible via Epic EHR screening questions will be referred to the hospital’s on-site pharmacy, where they can pick up two days’ worth of healthy food and register to meet with a dietician.

Multispecialty group practice Crystal Run Healthcare (NY) taps Evolent Health to provide Third Party Administrator services and population health management technology for its Medicaid and commercial health plans. The company will initially offer benefits to lower-income consumers that don’t qualify for Medicaid, with an eye towards eventually expanding its offerings to members of its ACO.

Population health management firm Qualis Health develops an online resource center and help desk to help physicians in Idaho and Washington participate in MACRA’s value-based programs.

Population health management company ApolloMed takes a minority equity stake in Boynton Beach, FL-based telemedicine hardware and software startup LifeMD. ApolloMed CEO Warren Hosseinion, MD will join LifeMD’s Board of Directors. ApolloMed will likely extend LifeMD’s virtual consult capabilities to its customers, which include ACOs, IPOs, and home health providers.

NextGen will acquire population health management-focused analytics company EagleDream Health for $26 million. Expected to close this quarter, the agreement marks the second acquisition for NextGen this year; it acquired mobile physician documentation vendor Entrada in April for $34 million.

Cedar Valley Medical Specialists (IA) chooses EHR and population health solutions from EClinicalWorks.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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News 8/10/17

Top News

Group practices are just all around dissatisfied with MACRA, according to an MGMA survey of 750 independent practices that focused on regulatory burdens. A few highlights:

• 64 percent believe a reduction in Medicare’s regulatory complexity would enable them to allocate more resources toward patient care.
• 38 percent spent between $10,000 and $40,000 per FTE to comply with federal regulations.
• The QPP tops the respondent list of most burdensome regulatory issues. Lack of interoperability comes in fourth.
• 73 percent believe MIPS does not support their practice’s clinical quality goals.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Sverica Capital Management buys a majority stake in Women’s Health USA, a 20 year-old, Connecticut-based practice management company specializing in gynecology, obstetrics, and in-vitro fertilization. Women’s Health customers include 550 providers in six states. Nancy Bernstein will stay on as president and COO.

Symptom checker startup Buoy Health raises $6.7 million in a Series A round of funding led by F-Prime Capital Partners, bringing its total raised to $9 million. The Boston-based company was founded in 2014, and has done stints with the Harvard Innovation Laboratory and Healthbox.

People

Tabula Rasa HealthCare appoints Samira Beckwith (Hope HealthCare Services) to its Board of Directors.

Announcements and Implementations

Vermont Information Technology Leaders, Imprivata, Kno2, the Pharmacy HIT Collaborative, BridgeHead Software, and Hart join the CommonWell Health Alliance. The nonprofit and its 66 members have deployed interoperability services at 5,000 healthcare sites across the country since launching in early 2013.

T-System joins Athenahealth’s More Disruption Please program.

Population health management firm Qualis Health develops an online resource center and help desk to help physicians in Idaho and Washington participate in MACRA’s value-based programs.

Government and Politics

HHS Secretary and self-professed Atlanta Braves fan Tom Price, MD throws out the first pitch at the Washington Nationals home game against the Marlins during HHS night. Rumor – and Twitter – has it he received a somewhat chilly reception.

Other

Several medical associations – including the AMA, Association of Clinicians for the Underserved, and National Association of Community Health Centers – form the Human Diagnosis Alliance in an effort to promote the Human Diagnosis Project. Partner associations will, over the next five years, work to continue development of a Web-based e-consult system for physicians whose safety-net patients are in need of specialist care.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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Contact us online.
Become a sponsor.