News 8/24/17

Top News

Findings from a NueMD survey of just under 1,000 physicians support similar studies on physician awareness of and preparedness for MACRA: A surprising 50 percent aren’t at all familiar with the legislation. Of those who are aware of it, 56 percent aren’t sure if they’ll need to participate in 2017. (They had yet to receive notification from CMS as to their participation status.) Just under 50 percent haven’t “encountered” MACRA resources, which makes me wonder if they simply haven’t had the time to hunt for them. A paltry nine percent feel MACRA will have a positive impact on their small practice, while 63 percent consider the jury to still be out. Granted, those percentages came from respondents who admitted to not knowing much about MACRA and its Quality Payment Programs. A higher percentage of those more in the know expect it to impact their practice in a positive way.

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 instead of waiting for reports to be written and double checked for possibly inaccurate information. The presenter will describe practical applications that include antibiotic stewardship, hospital-acquired infections, and comprehensive knowledge management.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Dispatch Health brings its mobile urgent care services to Arizona. Launched in Denver in 2013 in partnership with local emergency services, the company bills itself as a solution for illnesses and injuries that may not warrant a costly and time-consuming trip to the ER. Patients can request a visit via the company’s app, and can expect to pay a flat fee of $275 if not insured. Dispatch Health providers check in with patients three days after a visit, and then monitor patient information via available HIEs 14 and 30 days afterwards. “We’re not another fragmented access point to health care,” says Chief Strategy Officer Kevin Riddleberger. “This is not redundant care; (it) fills in the gaps.”

People

Jennifer Stoll joins OCHIN as VP of government and public affairs.

Announcements and Implementations

Comprehensive Healthcare (WA) selects SmartCare EHR software and data warehousing services from Streamline Healthcare Solutions to better integrate primary care, behavioral health, and substance abuse services among its 20 facilities and with third-party service providers.

Government and Politics

The DoD’s Department of Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve honors ChartLogic with its Service Member Patriot Award in recognition of the company’s efforts to support employees who are members of the Guard and Reserve. The department also recognized ChartLogic EVP and US Army veteran Chris Langehaug with its Citizen Patriot award. ChartLogic is a division of Medsphere, which leverages VistA technology as part of its OpenVistA technology for acute care.

Kinda kicking myself: CMS Administrator Seema Verma speaks at the newly combined Health:Further/HIMSS Summit of the Southeast conference. I attended last year as it was an easy drive from my home and I’m always looking for an excuse to visit Nashville. From what the tweets tell me, Verma focused her remarks on the role CMS plays in healthcare delivery innovation by way of giving states more flexibility with those delivery methods.

Telemedicine

Indianapolis-based TelaCare Health Solutions adds behavioral healthcare to its virtual consult services.

Other

Tanzanian officials announce that the East African country will begin using Zipline drones early next year for real-time delivery of medical supplies including blood, vaccines, medicines, sutures, and IV tubes. The initiative calls for 120 drones at four bases across the country that will serve over 10 million people at 1,000 clinics. The drones will speed up deliveries that typically take up to eight hours by road to under 30 minutes. Zipline has partnered with neighboring Rwanda on a similar, thus far successful effort. It’s looking at bringing the drone delivery service to rural and tribal communities in the US.

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Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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From the PRM Pro 8/24/17

This is the first in a new monthly series on patient relationship management.

Leveraging PRM to Reach Patients Without Losing the Human Interaction Element
By Jim Higgins

These days, there’s not a health IT solution that doesn’t promise to “bridge the gap between patients and doctors.” You hear it from solutions across the health IT spectrum – from apps to EHRs. Admittedly, these tools do improve communication to some extent, allowing providers to collect patient data and use it to inform care interactions. However, they often still fall short of one critical aspect that is at the heart of every good patient-provider relationship – providing patients with personalized communication and outreach.

Even with smartphone adoption among US adults on the rise (77 percent of adults own a smartphone, according to Pew Research), nothing can replace human interaction. People want to talk to their doctors about their issues and concerns on a one-on-one basis. They want reassurance and information. Most importantly, they want a partner who has a vested interest in their care.

In order to maintain vital human interaction with patients, create lasting relationships, and improve patient experience, providers need technology that is tailored to patients and nurtures positive patient relationships. This is where patient relationship management (PRM) technology comes in.

Understanding Patient Needs for Human Interaction

Because human interaction is still so key to patient-provider relationships, physicians will only benefit from smarter technology that helps them better communicate with their patients. To do this, physicians should consider how the personal technology habits of patients have evolved. Whether they’re in their late 50s or early 20s, the growing majority of patients want to be reached by their doctors in the same way they’re reached by friends and family – via text messaging and personalized email. For example, 92 percent of adults ages 18 to 29 said they own a smartphone. Older adults, including Gen Xers and boomers, are following suit. Eighty-eight percent of adults ages 30-49 own a smartphone, as do 74 percent of those ages 50-64. Additionally, according to a recent study on patient-provider relationships, 73 percent of patients want to be able to text their physician’s office. An even greater number (79 percent) would like to receive text messages, especially about appointments.

The bottom line: Patients want to be involved in their healthcare. Using technology they are accustomed to from daily personal use can improve transparency; engage patients on a more frequent, personal basis; and, in doing so, boost overall satisfaction.

A More Personalized Approach to Communication Through PRM

PRM strategies can help providers communicate with their patients on a more personal level. PRM doesn’t simply offer a “one size fits all approach” to physician practices. A practice can incorporate tools like online scheduling applications, appointment reminders, texting capabilities, and email campaigns into their communication with their patients in a variety of ways.

Let’s say a practice wants to do a better job of reaching millennials. As millennials age and have more spending power, their preferences for convenience are expected to disrupt the traditional healthcare system. To address this, the practice could start texting or emailing appointment reminders to their millennial patients to better cater to that generation’s preferred method of communication. Doing this would help to limit missed visits, which can help improve care and reduce cost.

A physician may also consider other ways of personalizing communications. While regular e-newsletters that address the specific needs and concerns of millennials don’t replace the human touch, they demonstrate that a health organization is compassionate and committed. Finally, a provider can text invitations for patients to leave reviews after a visit, encouraging its most digitally savvy patient demographic to post positive reviews to attract and retain patients.

Or, let’s say the healthcare organization wants to reach its boomer patients. For these individuals, practices can employ similar PRM tools — but in a different way. Like millennials, boomers are also open to text and email communication. Digital appointment reminders and self-scheduling follow-up appointments offer patients the flexibility they look for in a physician. A PRM tool can also be used to dispatch marketing campaigns, letting boomer patients know about a new service or product that’s tailored to them, such as bone-density screenings or 3D mammograms.

Using PRM to Improve Patient Experience

Tools that help practices improve and maintain human interaction with their patients are key to improving efficiency, care quality, and patient satisfaction. While technology can’t replace the human touch, patient relationship management strategies and solutions can help practices build better, longer-lasting relationships with their patients, leading to more effective care.

Jim Higgins is the CEO and founder of Solutionreach in Lehi, UT.

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Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 8/23/17

Top News

Behavioral health company AbleTo raises $36.6 million in a Series D fundraising round led by Bain Capital Ventures. The company has developed a phone- and video-based behavioral healthcare platform that caters to employees and payer members looking to manage depression, stress, and anxiety. Based on CEO Rob Rebak’s LinkedIn post announcing the funding, it looks like the company will use the investment to expand and offer its services around the clock.

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 instead of waiting for reports to be written and double checked for possibly inaccurate information. The presenter will describe practical applications that include antibiotic stewardship, hospital-acquired infections, and comprehensive knowledge management.

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

Announcements and Implementations

CollaborateMD releases the latest version of its billing and PM software, enhancing security and giving users the ability to create patient payment plans and manage payments.

Innovaccer develops a clinical documentation improvement tool to help providers better identify missed or incorrect diagnosis codes.          

The Illinois Bone & Joint Institute selects the Outcomes Based Electronic Research Database system from Universal Research Solutions to digitally collect and report MIPS-related quality data to CMS. The orthopedic provider, which has 20 practices across metro Chicago, will also leverage OBERD data sets for benchmarking and analysis.

MedicalMine adds instant messaging to its Charm EHR, PM, and RCM platform.

People

The Mental Health Association of Westchester (NY) promotes Stacey Robertson to COO.

Telemedicine

Local behavioral healthcare stakeholders voice their concerns over access and the sluggish acceptance of telemedicine at a roundtable convened by Massachusetts senators. Several bills are circulating in the legislature that would require payers to cover telemedicine services – a move that would likely alleviate the problem faced by behavioral health agencies like Clinical & Support Options, which has six clinics equipped with telepsychiatry services but faces lack of reimbursement for those services from over half of the payers it works with.

The Mental Health Association of Westchester rolls out telemedicine services at three of its seven clinics in New York.

Government and Politics

The local paper highlights the progress the Petaluma Health Center has made in becoming a data-driven organization –  efforts recognized by HHS during National Health Center Week with a $254,000 grant. The center has invested $3.2 million to transform into a value-based care deliverer that relies heavily on real-time data mining to drive population health initiatives. That money has gone towards investing in new IT, building a new call center, and hiring nurse case managers and patient navigators. 

Other

Salina Family Healthcare Center (KS) notifies patients of a June ransomware attack that encrypted several workstations and servers. The FQHC was able to get things up and running thanks to back ups.

The local news spotlights the Volunteers in Medicine clinic on Hilton Head Island, SC. Founded by Jack McConnell, MD after he retired there 20-plus years ago, the clinic is run solely by volunteers like McConnell and his golfing/retired physician buddies. Patients and local community members even provide free landscaping, cleaning services, and building repairs – all in an effort to provide eligible patients with free healthcare. “We’re caring for some of the most medically underserved people in the country,” says Patrick Burns, MD, “and when you go home at night, you really feel good about that.” There are 88 such clinics across the country.

Sponsor Updates

• Attendees at Aprima’s annual user conference make and donate 150 blankets to the Children’s Medical Center in Dallas

Blog Posts

• Medicaid Incentive Program & MACRA Medicare QPP Differences (AdvancedMD)

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Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 8/22/17

Top News

On his way to China, HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD tours several tribal health facilities in Alaska to better understand the successes and challenges involved in delivering care to Alaska Natives. Price lauded the delivery model of the Southcentral Foundation, which provides integrated primary and mental health care on one campus via a unique model that sees providers moving from patient to patient, rather than the other way around. The region’s remote terrain prompted discussion of the struggles many patients find in accessing care. Telemedicine – and the money necessary to implement it and offer reimbursement for it – must have surely come up. Alaska is no stranger to the promise of virtual visits. It has passed telemedicine-friendly legislation over the last several years, and is home to the National Telehealth Technology Assessment Resource Center. Housed within the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, the center is one of several set up across the country to help local providers understand and implement telemedicine services.

HIStalk Practice Musings

The nearly two-and-a-half minutes of eclipse totality I experienced yesterday were indeed amazing. I traveled a bit further north than originally planned, owing to a friend who extended an invite to hunker down the night before at a cabin in North Georgia. Watching a crescent sun transform into what for me will likely be a once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse experience was breathtaking. I enjoyed experiencing it with other people in a public viewing area. That the area was on the shores of Lake Chatuge, on a nearly cloudless day, made it even more memorable. Other than the extra 20 minutes of traffic I faced driving home, my only regret is not snagging a commemorative T-shirt.

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 instead of waiting for reports to be written and double checked for possibly inaccurate information. The presenter will describe practical applications that include antibiotic stewardship, hospital-acquired infections, and comprehensive knowledge management.

Check out Vince and Frank’s brutally honest presentation on “Allscripts’ ‘Repeal and Replace’ of McKesson’s EIS.” It’s been viewed nearly 500 times since we posted it late last week.

Announcements and Implementations

Allscripts launches eParticipate, a service that enables eligible providers to conduct clinical research trials within their own four walls through a partnership with Elligo Health Research. Professional, TouchWorks, and Sunrise EHR customers will have access to trials in the areas of gastroenterology, neurology, pain, urology, pulmonology, and women’s health.

Higi will combine health screening data from its retail health kiosks with clinical, claims, and genomic data synchronized by Interpreta to give providers and payers deeper insight as they move forward with patient care plans.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

SilverVue looks to expand beyond the world of post-acute care search technology with the acquisition of Ergo Sum Health. The Sandy, UT-based company has rebranded ESH’s MACRA software, consulting, and compliance services as Check. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

People

David Schloss (Caladrius Biosciences) joins Teladoc in the new role of chief human resources officer.

Pivot Point Consulting hires Zack Tisch (Nordic) to take on the role of consulting services executive.

Government and Politics

The Washington Health Benefit Exchange selects San Francisco-based BetterDoctor to collect and verify provider data listed on its Healthplanfinder insurance marketplace, which will launch with a new look and easer to use interface when open enrollment kicks off this November.

Telemedicine

The CDC approves Fruit Street Health to offer its Diabetes Prevention Program to patients via group video calls with registered dieticians. Fruit Street will also issue DPP participants Fitbits, wireless scales, and an accompanying app to help users share and track their progress.

Daniel McDyer, MD offers EpicMD’s telemedicine services to his patients at Florida Woman Care of Jacksonville (FL).

Other

The Institute for Women’s Health (TX) notifies patients of a keylogger virus that was installed June 5, discovered July 6 and removed July 11. The virus apparently tracks and records every click made within a computer system, potentially giving hackers access to passwords, financial information, health data, and other personal details. IWH is jumping through all of the necessary hoops – reporting the incident to HHS, offering identity theft protection services, etc. All this despite the fact that the practice had installed network filtering and security monitoring, firewalls, antivirus software, and password protection before the virus hit.     

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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5 Questions With Mark Lewinsohn, Vice President of Clinical Services, LifeWorks NW

Mark Lewinsohn is vice president of clinical services at LifeWorks NW, a behavioral health and addiction treatment nonprofit with 15 locations in and around Portland, OR. The organization recently implemented population health management technology from Enli Health Intelligence to better enable its participation in the federal Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics demonstration project.

How has LifeWorks NW used healthcare technology in the past to serve its patients? How have you seen health IT improve access to services and treatment outcomes?

LifeWorks NW was an early adopter of the EHR. Implementing electronic records allowed us to build the infrastructure to monitor and track client and service data, and to then support a data decision-making system. Thus, we already had the foundation in place to move forward with the population health solution to address issues that impact a consumer’s outcome (no show, engagement, access to treatment, etc.)

Health IT enables us to use data to determine the root causes of barriers to accessing care, which is critical to improving outcomes. For instance, with such insight we may discover we are not offering enough new patient times or scheduling at times/days that are not desirable. In addition, we can readily identify strategies to engage clients who may be missing appointments or who are disconnected from our services.

What prompted you to begin looking at population health management solutions?

LifeWorks NW has been a pioneer in integrating mental health and primary care. We have had mental health staff embedded in primary care clinics for more than a decade. That integrated care model has proven successful, so now we are focusing on reverse engineering integration: Through a better understanding of an individual’s overall physical health, we will have improved insight into how it may be impacted by their behavioral health condition or vice versa. We know that people with serious mental illness do not access preventative care and have a shorter lifespan than those without. We want to impact
that statistic. Plus, our involvement in the national demonstration project for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics has provided additional resources and requirements for increasing our tracking of health metrics and improving coordination of care with primary care providers.

What impact will Enli’s technology have on your participation in the CCBHC demonstration project?

We hope to develop specific protocols that look at the whole health of the individual rather than the siloed approach historically taken in healthcare. Enli will allow LifeWorks NW to efficiently track clients who are receiving CCBHC services and identify those with high health risks due to their chronic medical condition(s). In line with the CCBHC model, we can then more readily identify how their co-morbid condition impacts both physical and mental wellbeing. In addition, through data automation, staff will be able to devote more time to client support because they no longer have to manually track information or look through charts to figure out which clients need outreach/support.

What advice do you have for other behavioral health organizations looking to implement population health management technology?

Population health is new to behavioral health providers. We had a good foundation through our EHR system, and were able to build on that as we moved to implement technology for population health management. To ensure that effort is successful, we believe it is critical to find a partner, like Enli, that has a solid foundation, but is nimble and willing to blaze a new trail and work together to learn what will result for the best outcomes and achieved objectives.

Is LifeWorks NW looking at other types of health IT? What’s on your wish list?

In sum, yes! We believe that there is so much opportunity to make a positive impact on client outcomes and improve community health. We are currently exploring a host of solutions that will improve care coordination between behavioral health and other healthcare and non-healthcare entities. We really see the value of – and great need for – HIEs that will be the pipeline for mobilization of information across our region. That kind of technology will greatly enhance our ability to support the people we serve – and the larger community – with more effective care and treatment.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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