News 2/28/17

Top News

CMS awards $20 million to 11 organizations as the initial part of its five-year program to provide free, in-the-trenches Quality Payment Program training and education to solo or small group practices. It will give out up to an additional $80 million over the four remaining years. The organizations include Altarum, Georgia Medical Care Foundation, Healthcentric Advisors, Health Services Advisory Group, IPRO, the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement, QSource, Qualis, Quality Insights, Telligen, and the TMF Health Quality Institute. CMS has also launched a helpline – 1-866-288-8292 – for providers who need assistance with the program.

Webinars

March 9 (Thursday) 1:00 ET: “PAMA: The 2017 MPFS Final Rule.” Sponsored by National Decision Support Co. Presenter: Erin Lane, senior analyst, The Advisory Board Company. This webinar will offer a discussion on the implications of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act and steps to take to ensure compliance for the January 1, 2018 deadline. Attendees will also learn about CDS tools that can be implemented to ensure they have the information to submit for reimbursement.

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

Announcements and Implementations

FirstApproved develops payment software that helps providers assess patient eligibility and determine up-front costs, plus links them with third-party financing when available.

Jacksonville Children’s & Multispecialty Clinic (NC) selects paperless billing technology from PatientPay, and integrates it with its NextGen PM software.

Southwest Diagnostic Imaging (AZ) implements NextGate’s EMPI and associated patient identity management solutions across its 33 centers in the greater Phoenix area.

People

Primary care management services business VillageMD appoints Ezekiel “Zeke” Emanuel, MD to its Board of Directors. It will be Emanuel’s first stint on a private-sector board. Fun facts: Emanuel, an oncologist and former advisor to the Obama administration, is the older brother of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the newest correspondent for Fox News.

Benedikt Brueckle joins CompuGroup Medical US as CEO. Current CEO Werner Rodorff will continue in the role of CTO.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Integra Connect formally launches to offer cloud-based technologies and services to oncology and urology groups, and EMS and life sciences organizations. The West Palm Beach, FL-based company is led by founder and former P4healthcare CEO Raj Mantena and former Healthagen CEO Charles Saunders, MD.

CitiusTech opens a technology center in Rochester, MN shortly after opening similar facilities in India and the UAE. It is the global healthcare technology and services company’s third US location.

Research and Innovation

A survey of 766 providers reveals that a third are thinking about moving to new payment models like direct primary or concierge care within the next three years. Top motivators for the impending change include the desire to spend more time with patients, improve work/life balance, and unshackle their practices from the administrative chains that bind them to payers. The grass isn’t always greener, though: Thirty-five percent of providers working at fee-for-service practices cite financial viability as their biggest challenge, while nearly 40 percent of direct primary care providers call patient recruitment their main hurdle.

Telemedicine

Teladoc integrates its app with Kinsa’s smart thermometer app as part of a broader effort to attract and retain large employer customers. The integration will enable users to import up to 10 days of temperature readings for physician review.

An Excellus BCBS telemedicine survey of 2,000 adults living in upstate New York finds that 25 percent plan to use telemedicine and 25 percent don’t, with the rest undecided. Those that have used telemedicine or plan to reported that an in-person visit is still their preferred method of care, followed by a telemedicine visit with their physician, trip to an urgent care center, and a virtual visit with a different provider. Interest in virtual visits seemed to decline with the age of the respondent. Excellus launched telemedicine visits via MDlive last month.

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Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 2/27/17

Top News

GE Healthcare announces plans to move hundreds of tech workers from its suburban offices in Barrington to its existing office in downtown Chicago later this year. The company expects to employ up to 1,000 at the newly consolidated office, which already includes GE Healthcare’s executive management team and GE Transportation’s Digital Solutions business. In announcing the move, GE Healthcare CEO John Flannery emphasized the company’s desire to be in the midst of Chicago’s booming technology scene – part of GE’s strategic emphasis on technology that includes a $500 million software spend over the next several years.

HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests

HIMSS was an exhausting blast. I’ll be spending this week coming out of the post-conference fog and catching up on news that I didn’t get a chance to cover last week. Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth to say hello. I really enjoyed getting a chance to chat with readers – not to mention catching up with Lorre. It’s the one time of year we get to spend time together (with Mr. HIStalk looking over our shoulders to make sure we aren’t looking at our phones).

I forgot to mention in my Wednesday recap how hospitable the folks at Ivedix were when I stopped by 10 minutes before closing time. Marketing Director Ashley Fantigrossi was kind enough to walk me through the company’s EHR technology and the impact it’s having on helping governments and organizations like the CDC monitor disease outbreaks and medication supply lines.

Because the conference can be such a whirlwind, even I sometimes don’t get a chance to read through the daily recaps written by Mr. H and Dr. Jayne. Here are our summaries for those that want to catch up:

Jenn’s HIMSS Reports

• Sunday
• Monday
• Tuesday
• Wednesday

Mr. H’s HIMSS Reports

• Friday
• Sunday
• Monday
• Tuesday
• Wednesday

Dr. Jayne’s HIMSS Reports

• Sunday
• Monday
• Tuesday
• Wednesday

Announcements and Implementations

The Little Clinic rolls out online place-holding for its 215 grocery store clinics in 10 states.

The Vancouver Clinic (WA) adds genomic decision support from ActX to its Epic EHR, which will help alert its 250 physicians to potentially adverse reactions to medication.

The Delaware Health Information Network leverages Medfx’s data integration technology to help connect member health data from disparate EHRs to its statewide HIE.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Mountain View, CA-based Drchrono opens a second office to accommodate the growth of its RCM software and services business. The company has brought in Axel Perez as VP of RCM to oversee the new Baltimore location, including the hiring of additional account managers and engineers.

Northbrook, IL-based Intelligent Medical Objects will use an undisclosed amount of funding from Ascension Ventures for expansion and product development.

Data submission vendor ReportingMD will move into larger office space in Georges Mill, NH next month.

People

Map Health Management promotes Karen Pilley to CEO of its Revenue Cycle Solutions subsidiary.

Amy Amick (NThrive/MedAssets) joins SPH Analytics as CEO.

Digital communications company MetTel hires Jake Levy (LG) to head up its new telehealth business.

Telemedicine

Just a few weeks after adding telepsychiatry to its service line, PatientClick launches a telemedicine Iphone app for physician practices.

American Well plans to offer its services to Samsung consumers as part of a newly announced partnership.

Government and Politics

I missed this in my frenzy to prepare for HIMSS: The AAFP offers new HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD an itemized health IT wish list that includes:

• Accelerating interoperability, including work on the Direct exchange.
• Flipping industry and government focus from creating new health IT to optimizing solutions that already exist, especially when it comes to documentation.
• Redesigning health IT with an eye towards seamless workflows.
• Realigning regulatory requirements with what’s available from vendors.

Research and Innovation

Patients prefer paying for doctor visits via credit cards on file, according to a Navicure survey that also found patients and providers disagree on how long it takes payments to be made and received. Less than 20 percent of patients say they pay their bills beyond the three-month mark, while 51 percent of providers say it takes their patients over three months. While the focus of the study seems to be on the convenience CCOF capabilities give to the patient payment process, I’m more interested in the fact that 75 percent of providers claim they provide care cost estimates up front, yet only 25 percent of patients have requested them.

Other

With repeal and replace still in the news, The Washington Post looks at the impact the ACA has had on startups, noting that the law has spurred investors to dump billions of dollars into the digital health startup ecosystem. While the ACA and its resultant investment whirlwind have helped birth dozens of companies focused on helping consumers and other businesses navigate its benefits (and drawbacks), it has also helped spur the likes of Uber and the great gig economy. Stride Health founder Noah Lang is already planning his next steps in the face of the act’s impending overhaul – plans that include working with the Trump administration to ensure his company can still help the likes of Uber employees figure out their insurance options.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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Population Health Management Weekly Wrap Up 2/18/17

Rob Scavo (TriZetto) joins Welltok as president and COO.

Apollo Medical Holdings releases the latest version of its Care Connect population health management software.

CentraForce Health develops a social risk stratification tool that segments and analyzes the population based on social determinants of health.

Wellness technology company FitLyfe adds automated design of tailored treatment plans to its 360 health and wellness platform.

Transcend Insights offers Analytics as a Service to help health systems more cost-effectively manage population health programs.

CareSkore makes its Zeus analytics engine available to third parties via API as part of its new Population Health Management as a Service.

Texas-based Community First Health Plans selects ZeOmega’s Jiva 6.1 population health management solution to help it better serve its managed Medicaid population.

San Juan Regional Medical Center (NM) will replace 75 disparate IT systems with integrated clinical, financial, and population health management technology from Cerner.

Health Integrated selects population health management technology from ZeOmega to enhance its Precision Empowered Care Management tool, and streamline its technology services for payers.

Epic will add care management technology from XG Health Solutions to its Healthy Planet population health management software later this year.

Sponsor Updates

• Nordic releases a new podcast, “The importance of mentoring in healthcare IT.”
• GE Healthcare earns two workforce management category leader rankings in Best in KLAS report.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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News 2/16/17

Top News

CMS Administrator nominee and consulting firm owner Seema Verma attends her first Senate confirmation hearing, facing a round of questions from the Finance Committee related to the just-released proposed marketplace rule, the conflicts of interest that may have arisen during her time as a Medicaid consult for the State of Indiana while working for Medicaid contractors, and the controversial methods she used to help expand Medicaid in Indiana alongside then Governor Mike Pence, which included monthly premiums for low-income members and six-month coverage lockouts for missed payments. Verma defended her decisions, pointing out that members “had more primary care, more preventative care. They had lower (emergency room) use. They were more satisfied with their care. And we also showed they had better adherence to the drug regimens that doctors prescribed.”

HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests

Don’t miss HIStalk’s Guide to HIMSS17. Over 60 companies, including several HIStalk Practice sponsors, have submitted their exhibit hall plans.

This post will be my last regular one until #HIMSSanity dies down next week. With the exception of the Population Health Management Weekly Wrap Up, look for regular news updates to resume Monday, February 27. I’ll share my HIMSS experience via daily posts at HIStalk.com.

Announcements and Implementations

Athenahealth leverages the HIE capabilities of Transcend Insights to enable data sharing between end users who care for Humana members. The move is part of a broader effort by Athenahealth to help its customers exchange health plan data.

National Decision Support Co. expands its CareSelect imaging decision support service to include ambulatory EHRs like NextGen and Allscripts.

Aprima, EClinicalWorks, and NextGen Healthcare join the Surescripts National Record Locator Service.

Drchrono adds Physitrack’s telemedicine capabilities and patient engagement tools, including prescription exercise programs and outcomes tracking, to its EHR software.

Radiological Services (OK) extends its RCM services and support agreement with Zotec Partners.

Miami-based care coordination and communication startup SirenMD selects ByteGrid for its hosting and data center centers.

Telemedicine

Pager adds PokitDok’s eligibility verification capabilities to its app-enabled telemedicine and house call services.

MDlive becomes the first telemedicine company to offer virtual psychiatric consultations in all 50 states. The Sunrise, FL began offering such services in late 2014 after acquiring Breakthrough Behavioral.

SkyMD adds RegimenMD’s Regimen Pro Network technology to its teledermatology services, giving providers the ability to recommend, dispense, manage, and educate patients about products and regimens during a virtual consult.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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Contact us online.
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News 2/15/17

HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD wastes no time in getting the ball rolling on reforming several provisions of the Affordable Care Act. In an effort to “stabilize the Marketplace, provide more flexibility to states and insurers, and give patients access to more coverage options,” CMS has issued a proposed rule that includes reducing the open enrollment period from three months to six weeks, more stringent vetting practices to ensure people who sign up outside of those six weeks do so for legitimate reasons, and giving states more responsibility to ensure their consumers have adequate network coverage options. The rule also requires people who drop coverage to pay the difference owed for the full year before they can enroll for the following year. Comments on the proposed rule are due March 7.

HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests

Don’t miss HIStalk’s Guide to HIMSS17. Over 60 companies, including several HIStalk Practice sponsors, have submitted their exhibit hall plans. It’s a great resource for planning your giveaway-grabbing strategy.

Announcements and Implementations

The Mental Health Center of Denver integrates RxRevu’s RxCheck prescription decision support technology with its Netsmart EHR. The center will work with RxRevu to enhance the tool’s cost management and pharmacogenomics capabilities.

Fourteen CommonWell members agree to develop APIs that will help drive proactive data availability notifications, provide data needed for life and disability insurance coverage, and to integrate CommonWell services into the ecosystems of providers who don’t use CommonWell-enabled EHRs.

Sam’s Club installs Higi health-screening kiosks at 622 pharmacy locations. The free, self-service screenings will be offered in tandem with the discount superstore’s existing free screening programs.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Diversified holding company IGambit acquires patient eligibility and chronic care management company HubCentrix as originally announced last fall. HubCentrix will operate as a subsidiary of IGambit under the new name of HealthDatix.

People

Healthwise Chief Science Officer Michael Barry, MD is appointed to the US Preventive Services Task Force.

MGMA welcomes incoming board chairman Ron Holder Jr. (Baylor Scott & White Health). The association has also added five new members to its Board of Directors, including Mike Biselli (Catalyst Health-Tech Innovation), Eric Crockett (Mayo Clinic), Anne Hill (Gastroenterology Associates of the Piedmont), Richard Schlosberg, MD (ABCD Pediatrics), and Jeffrey Smith (Piedmont Healthcare). Speaking of MGMA, tomorrow is the last day to register for the association’s Financial Management and Payer Contracting Conference, which will take place February 19-21 in Las Vegas. Attendees will no doubt enjoy a more low key event than those of us that are about to ourselves through yet another round of #HIMSSanity.

Telemedicine

Christian health cost-sharing company Liberty HealthShare rolls out Salus Telehealth’s VideoMedicine offering to its members. The nonprofit, which brings together self-pay patients who share each other’s medical bills, has seen its membership soar from 16,000 to 48,000 households in the last year. Organizations like these, which are technically not health insurance companies, are seeing a surge in popularity due to far more affordable premiums and the religious exemption afforded to them from the ACA’s coverage mandate.

The local paper looks at the ways in which first responders in rural areas are using telemedicine to connect therapists with people in the throes of a mental health crisis. The Southwest Iowa Mental Health and Disability Services Region’s Mental Health Crisis Response Team has used its new video conferencing technology to help three adults and one minor over the last several weeks. “It’s a bit different,” admits lead therapist Mandy Standley, “because you have to build that connection, since you’re not really there. You have to build that rapport in an unusual setting. The people we did see through telehealth, none of them had to go to the hospital. We were able to de-escalate the situation and make a safety plan.” Deputy Mark Freeman makes sure to point out that the video consult does not have to take place in the back of a squad car. “We can take our computer out of the car and set this on a table or something in their home, if that makes them feel more comfortable,” he adds.

Other

Valentine’s Day may have come and gone, but it’s never too late (or too soon) to think about what to get the sweetheart who has everything. Consider purchasing lot 92 at Bonhams auction house. The encased blob of mold is part of the original culture of Penicillium chrysogenum that led to Alexander Fleming’s 1928 discovery of penicillin. The mold is expected to fetch around $5,000 – a lowly sum thanks to the fact that Fleming apparently gave away his mold to many for just about any and every occasion. Historian Kevin Brown says the bacteriologist grew his gift mold on absorbent paper and pressed the samples between spectacle lenses sourced from the optometry practice owned by his brother.

Sponsor Updates

Blog Posts

• 2017 Best in KLAS report recognizes Nordic as top performer in optimization (Nordic)
• 7 easy ways to transition to “Practice 2.0” with automated integrated workflow (AdvancedMD)
• If it’s 2017, Then it Must be Time for MACRA/MIPS (Aprima)
• The Best Laid Plans: Informing Care Plans Through the Power of Shared Decision Making (Healthwise)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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