News 4/26/17

Top News

Rumor has it CMS will notify eligible providers of their MIPS participation status next month – information that CMS had originally intended to deliver last December. MGMA put pressure on CMS Administrator Seema Verma to issue the notices last month, emphasizing that the transition to MIPS “is a challenge involving upgrades to electronic health record software, reengineering clinical workflows to meet data capture and reporting requirements, contracting with data registries, and training clinical and administrative staff. Without basic information about eligibility, physicians and medical groups are significantly disadvantaged from positioning themselves for success in the program.”

Webinars

April 28 (Friday) 1:00 ET. “3 Secrets to Leadership Success for Women in Health IT.” Sponsored by HIStalk. Presenters: Nancy Ham, CEO, WebPT; Liz Johnson, MS, FAAN, FCHIME, FHIMSS, CHCIO, RN-BC CIO, Acute Care Hospitals & Applied Clinical Informatics – Tenet Healthcare. Join long-time C-level executives Liz Johnson and Nancy Ham as they share insights from nearly three decades of navigating successful healthcare careers, share strategies for empowering colleagues to pursue leadership opportunities, and discuss building diverse executive teams. This webinar is geared toward female managers and leaders in healthcare IT seeking to further develop their professional careers. It’s also intended for colleagues, executives, and HR personnel who are looking to employ supportive techniques that ensure diversity in the workplace.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Heads up sales reps: Microsoft will soon add LinkedIn data to its Dynamics 365 sales software. New features will include the ability to use a sales rep’s email, calendar, and LinkedIn connections to gauge a prospect’s interest, and ways to save an at-risk deal using co-worker connections. Microsoft acquired LinkedIn in a $26 billion deal last year, and is no doubt hoping to give Salesforce a run for its money when it unveils the new features this summer.

People

David Harvey (Health Healthcare) joins Formativ Health as CTO.

Culbert Healthcare Solutions hires Joel Szymanski (Nuance Healthcare) as senior sales executive.

Announcements and Implementations

SimonMed Imaging signs on with Zotec Partners for RCM and PM services at its 75 locations in Arizona.

MedData develops a mobile version of its patient payment and engagement app.

Oncology Consultants (TX) selects patient relationship management software from Navigating Cancer. The 10-location practice will add Navigating Cancer’s population health capabilities once it comes out of development later this year.

Urgent care and occupational medicine provider Concentra adds PM capabilities from Allscripts to its use of the company’s TouchWorks EHR and FollowMyHealth patient portal.

Government and Politics

President Trump nominates biopharmaceutical company executive Brett Giroir to HHS assistant secretary. If confirmed the Baylor College of Medicine adjunct professor would have the power to appoint a new Surgeon General; additional responsibilities would include oversight of a dozen public health offices, 11 advisory committees, and development of policy recommendations.

Telemedicine

BumblebeeMD debuts a healthcare savings plan that offers members unlimited virtual consults from a variety of telemedicine companies, as well as medical bill advocacy and negotiation services. Individuals pay $170 a year, while families pay $200.

Research and Innovation

Consumers turn to more consumer-friendly sites like WebMD and Google reviews over niche sites like ZocDoc when looking for a physician, according to a survey of 500 consumers. Top selection criteria also includes affordability, being in-network, and convenience. Fifty-three percent of patients seem to want secure messaging more than their physicians, who, at 34 percent, feel that it is a distraction from patient care. That stat seems counterintuitive to me. Wouldn’t care triaged via a text or portal message free up physicians to spend more time with patients who might need more in-person attention?

Other

ChicagoInno profiles Triggr Health, a fledgling company that has developed an app that uses patterns derived from phone usage – sleep history, call logs, texting history, etc. – to predict when a person will likely relapse back into substance abuse. The company claims it can predict a relapse three days before it happens with 92-percent accuracy. When such a likelihood is established, the app will proactively reach out with actionable messages of support. The company has raised $4.2 million since launching in 2014.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks will exhibit at the CAMGMA 2017 Annual Conference April 27-29 in San Diego.
• Healthwise will exhibit at ZeOmega’s client conference May 2-4 in Plano, TX.
• Intelligent Medical Objects will exhibit during the HIMSS UK eHealth Week May 3-4 in London.

Blog Posts

• How remote support can free you for more important go-live and upgrade tasks (Nordic)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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News 4/25/17

Top News

Zoom Health – the insurance arm of Portland, OR-based ZoomCare – decides to close up shop after state insurance regulators deem it financially unstable. ZoomCare clinics, which have made news over the last several years for their unwillingness to accept Medicare and Medicaid patients, remain unaffected. Zoom Health is the third payer in the state to exit the market since the ACA became law in 2010.

Webinars

April 26 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “SSM Integrated Health Technologies Clinical Data Migration: Functional and Technical Considerations.” Sponsored by Galen Healthcare Solutions. Presenters: Sandy Winklemann, MHA, RHIA, project manager, SSM Integration Health Technologies; Tyler Mawyer, MHA, managing consultant, Galen Healthcare Solutions; Kavon Kaboli, MPH, senior consultant, Galen Healthcare Solutions. GE Centricity and Meditech to Epic EHR transition. Join us for a complimentary webinar as present the decisions that are important to consider when performing a clinical data migration from the point of view of  the healthcare organization program manager, the clinical analyst, and the technical implementation team. Our expert panel will survey data migration considerations, best practices, and lessons learned. The webinar will present a unique client perspective, offering insight into considerations surrounding staffing, clinical mapping, legacy application support, and validation and testing.

April 28 (Friday) 1:00 ET. “3 Secrets to Leadership Success for Women in Health IT.” Sponsored by HIStalk. Presenters: Nancy Ham, CEO, WebPT; Liz Johnson, MS, FAAN, FCHIME, FHIMSS, CHCIO, RN-BC CIO, Acute Care Hospitals & Applied Clinical Informatics – Tenet Healthcare. Join long-time C-level executives Liz Johnson and Nancy Ham as they share insights from nearly three decades of navigating successful healthcare careers, share strategies for empowering colleagues to pursue leadership opportunities, and discuss building diverse executive teams. This webinar is geared toward female managers and leaders in healthcare IT seeking to further develop their professional careers. It’s also intended for colleagues, executives, and HR personnel who are looking to employ supportive techniques that ensure diversity in the workplace.

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

Announcements and Implementations

Medsphere Systems adds a scheduling tool to its ChartLogic EHR for physician practices and OpenVista EHR for hospitals.

Allscripts announces that its EChart Courier service has helped physician practices digitally exchange 10 million medical records with payers since becoming part of the company’s EHR in 2015..

Nonprofit Cumberland County CommuniCare (NC) implements Mediware’s AlphaFlex EHR to better enable its behavioral health services.

Square Care, a physician-owned IPA and management company based in Long Island, NY, rolls out Athenahealth technologies at its 20 locations.

EHR vendor ISalus Healthcare will offer RCM services from AXO HMS.

Telemedicine

The American Telemedicine Association’s annual conference concludes in Orlando. Looking through the tweet stream, I’m surprised no one brought up MDLive’s class-action lawsuit related to patient privacy. As a former MDLive user, I’m wondering if I’ll get paperwork in the mail alerting me to the legal wranglings.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Philadelphia-based HealthVerity raises $10 million in a Series B round led by Flare Capital Partners and Greycroft Partners. The company will likely use the funds to further develop its new Web-based Marketplace, which aggregates de-identified health data for research and marketing purposes.

Government and Politics

The problem with paper: The Center for Children’s Digestive Health (GA) pays HHS a $31,000 HIPAA fine, incurred after it sent PHI to document storage company FileFax without first requiring the company sign a business associate agreement. The matter came to light while OCR was investigating FileFax’s failure to properly dispose of unwanted documents (think unlocked dumpsters instead of shredders).

Research and Innovation

A PwC report on consumer receptivity to AI finds that the majority of its 2,500 survey takers believe it will benefit mankind in a number of ways – though they scale back their enthusiasm for healthcare-related advances. Just 22 percent of respondents – the lowest percentage across 10 categories – believe AI will replace physicians in the next five years. Other findings include:

• Over 40 percent feel AI will expand access to medical services for low-income patients
• Fifty seven-percent would share data to further medical breakthroughs. (Sixty-two percent would so to help relieve local traffic.)
• Seventy-seven percent, however, prefer an in-person doctor’s visit to a robotic smart kit-assisted assessment performed at home.

Other

Independent physicians in Vermont band together to form a state chapter of the national Association of Independent Doctors. Over the past year and a half the state has seen 20 independent MDs leave Vermont, sell their practices to a health system, or opt for hospital or community health center employment. A chapter spokesperson believes the new chapter will help connect Vermont’s independent physicians “with the independent doctors across the country who are dealing with the same sorts of issues, and it really helps us get our message out more nationally about the value of independent practices.” Vermont will become the AID’s fifth chapter.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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News 4/24/17

Top News

Remote monitoring company CardioNet will pay $2.5 million to settle an HHS fine related to an unsecured, PHI-containing laptop stolen from an employee’s car in 2012 and the company’s lack of follow up in instituting corrective actions. It is the first company of its kind to incur such a fine.

Webinars

April 26 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “SSM Integrated Health Technologies Clinical Data Migration: Functional and Technical Considerations.” Sponsored by Galen Healthcare Solutions. Presenters: Sandy Winklemann, MHA, RHIA, project manager, SSM Integration Health Technologies; Tyler Mawyer, MHA, managing consultant, Galen Healthcare Solutions; Kavon Kaboli, MPH, senior consultant, Galen Healthcare Solutions. GE Centricity and Meditech to Epic EHR transition. Join us for a complimentary webinar as present the decisions that are important to consider when performing a clinical data migration from the point of view of  the healthcare organization program manager, the clinical analyst, and the technical implementation team. Our expert panel will survey data migration considerations, best practices, and lessons learned. The webinar will present a unique client perspective, offering insight into considerations surrounding staffing, clinical mapping, legacy application support, and validation and testing.

April 28 (Friday) 1:00 ET. “3 Secrets to Leadership Success for Women in Health IT.” Sponsored by HIStalk. Presenters: Nancy Ham, CEO, WebPT; Liz Johnson, MS, FAAN, FCHIME, FHIMSS, CHCIO, RN-BC CIO, Acute Care Hospitals & Applied Clinical Informatics – Tenet Healthcare. Join long-time C-level executives Liz Johnson and Nancy Ham as they share insights from nearly three decades of navigating successful healthcare careers, share strategies for empowering colleagues to pursue leadership opportunities, and discuss building diverse executive teams. This webinar is geared toward female managers and leaders in healthcare IT seeking to further develop their professional careers. It’s also intended for colleagues, executives, and HR personnel who are looking to employ supportive techniques that ensure diversity in the workplace.

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

Announcements and Implementations

DiagnosisAI develops a medical reference skill for Amazon’s Alexa that gives users the ability to ask for and receive medical advice based on physician-curated content.

Shin Imaging Center implements ERad’s RIS, PACS, speech recognition, communications, and patient and physician portal technology at its two centers in California. It will roll out the same functionalities at a third site expected to open later this year.

HealthCost launches a Web-based marketplace that gives physicians the ability to set prices for their outpatient services, and patients the ability to comparison shop for those services.

Jackson Clinics, a chain of 15 facilities in Northern Virginia, agrees to a limited roll out of Phzio home physical therapy technology from EWellness. 

Telemedicine

Perhaps looking to take advantage of the hype cycle surrounding the American Telemedicine Association’s annual conference taking place this week in Orlando, Austin-based startup Medici announces that its secure messaging app is now available in all 50 states. Medici’s technology, which includes video-based communication, is slightly different from traditional telemedicine platforms in that it gives patients the ability to invite their providers into the Medici network – a plus if you’re looking to dive into telemedicine but don’t want to seek treatment from a total stranger.

Salus Telehealth adds 24/7 urgent care consults to its VideoMedicine service.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s virtual consult business launches AASM Sleep Select, which seems only slightly different from its flagship platform in that it offers providers simpler technology options for quicker integration into their practices.

People

Healthcare compliance and credentialing company Symplr hires Kyle Allain (API Healthcare) to lead its new Cactus Provider Management operation. Symplr and Cactus Software merged several weeks ago.

Government and Politics

HHS will soon create its own cybersecurity center. Based on the Dept. of Homeland Security’s National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, the HHS version will look to get off the ground sometime in June and will seek to educate stakeholders about the risks of using mobile apps and sharing resultant data. “[T]here’s so much noise out there about cyber threats to security and privacy,” says HHS CISO Chris Wlaschin, who explains that the new center will “analyze those and deliver best practices and the two or three things that a small provider, a small office, a doc in a box can do to protect his patient’s privacy and information security around those systems.”

Other

The Carter Center will work with Liberian government officials to expand access to mental healthcare for Liberians affected by the Ebola outbreak, which killed over 11,000 in West Africa between 2014 and 2016. “After the civil war, people didn’t go through enough counseling,” explains Francis Kateh, MD Liberia’s deputy health minister and CMO. “You have people already going through post-traumatic depression. Then Ebola came, and that built on what was already going on.” It seems to me that some of the money being poured into showcasing innovations at the ATA conference this week could be diverted to helping virtually care for the mental health issues of Liberia’s 4.2 million people, including 4,000 Ebola survivors.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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Population Health Management Weekly Wrap Up 4/23/17

The University of Vermont Health Network promotes Stephen Leffler, MD as chief population health and quality officer.

HealthPartners rolls out Welltok’s personalized healthcare incentive plan to individual and small group plan members this month. It will offer the technology to its commercial large group markets next year.

Cynthia Yannias (Better Health Network) joins eQHealth as state director, Illinois, government operations.

Allen Kemp, MD (Centura Health Physician Group) joins Erdman’s Board of Directors.

Caradigm announces that it will reduce its workforce as part of a reorganization that it hopes will streamline operations. The company went through similar motions last fall, reorganizing product teams and its Services organization.

Prime Healthcare ACO (CA) implements population health analytics and benchmarking from Persivia to assist its 70 practices with 2016 reporting requirements.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System partners with Independence Blue Cross in a care coordination and data sharing deal – part of the Independence Facilitated Health Networks model – that both hope will decrease costs and improve care quality. The partnership, which begins July 1, includes:

• Shared accountability; for example, PHS will offer Independence members a 30-day no-readmissions guarantee for all inpatient services.
• Real-time exchange of EHR and claims data for better decision-making.
• Collaborative assessments including on-site visitations from Independence clinical teams and quarterly meetings for benchmark analyses.

Sponsor Updates

• Intelligent Medical Objects will exhibit at the European Federation for Medical Informatics meeting April 24-26 in Manchester, England.

Blog Posts

• The role of secure communications in your clinical integration strategy (PerfectServe)
• We Are Not a Bank: Changing the Payment Culture (Aprima Medical Software)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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

News 4/20/17

Top News

HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD announces that HHS will provide $485 million in 21st Century Cures Act-funded grants to all 50 states in an effort to help them combat the opioid epidemic. Distributed through SAMSHA, the funding will help public health officials in each state provide training, invest in technology, support PDMPs, and establish treatment and prevention programs. Price added that a further $500 million will be distributed next year based on the effectiveness of this year’s round of funding.

Webinars

April 26 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “SSM Integrated Health Technologies Clinical Data Migration: Functional and Technical Considerations.” Sponsored by Galen Healthcare Solutions. Presenters: Sandy Winklemann, MHA, RHIA, project manager, SSM Integration Health Technologies; Tyler Mawyer, MHA, managing consultant, Galen Healthcare Solutions; Kavon Kaboli, MPH, senior consultant, Galen Healthcare Solutions. GE Centricity and Meditech to Epic EHR transition. Join us for a complimentary webinar as present the decisions that are important to consider when performing a clinical data migration from the point of view of  the healthcare organization program manager, the clinical analyst, and the technical implementation team. Our expert panel will survey data migration considerations, best practices, and lessons learned. The webinar will present a unique client perspective, offering insight into considerations surrounding staffing, clinical mapping, legacy application support, and validation and testing.

April 28 (Friday) 1:00 ET. “3 Secrets to Leadership Success for Women in Health IT.” Sponsored by HIStalk. Presenters: Nancy Ham, CEO, WebPT; Liz Johnson, MS, FAAN, FCHIME, FHIMSS, CHCIO, RN-BC CIO, Acute Care Hospitals & Applied Clinical Informatics – Tenet Healthcare. Join long-time C-level executives Liz Johnson and Nancy Ham as they share insights from nearly three decades of navigating successful healthcare careers, share strategies for empowering colleagues to pursue leadership opportunities, and discuss building diverse executive teams. This webinar is geared toward female managers and leaders in healthcare IT seeking to further develop their professional careers. It’s also intended for colleagues, executives, and HR personnel who are looking to employ supportive techniques that ensure diversity in the workplace.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Arizona Health-e Connection rebrands to become Health Current. The statewide HIE, which launched in 2007, has seen its participants grow to over 300 organizations, including 80 focused on behavioral health and newer entities representing first responders, ACOs, correction health, and long-term care.

Medical transport and technology startup Circulation opens a new call center to accommodate its continued growth. Since opening last fall, the Uber-partnered company has signed on 700 healthcare facilities in 25 states, and claims a 95-percent rate for on-time appointment arrivals.

People

Nina Antoniotti (Southern Illinois University School of Medicine) joins SnapMD’s clinical advisory board.

The California Academy of Family Physicians elects Michelle Quiogue, MD (Southern California Permanente Medical Group) president.

Elaine Comeau,RN (Philips Healthcare) joins virtual nursing care company PointNurse as CEO. Consultant Nannette Spurrier has joined the company’s advisory board.

Announcements and Implementations

Advanced Diagnostic Imaging Center implements ERAD’s RIS, PACS, and speech-recognition technology. The Orangeburg, SC-based center plans to implement the company’s patient and physician portals within the next few weeks.

Resurgens Orthopaedics (GA) will replace its EHR with Athenahealth technology. It is the largest medical group of its kind in Georgia, with 100 physicians across 21 locations.

Telemedicine

MobilDrTech launches an online store for telemedicine equipment.

A Utah-based resident files a $5 million class-action lawsuit in a Florida court against MDLive for violating patient privacy. The lawsuit contends that the company captured screenshots of virtual consults without telling patients, and then transmitted them to a third-party IT company tasked with maintaining the company’s mobile app. The suit also claims MDLive places no restrictions on who can access the images.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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