News 10/25/23

Top News

Greater Good Health raises $20 million in a Series A funding round, bringing its total raised to $33 million. It it will use the investment to build its first clinics – three facilities in Montana developed in partnership with Humana. The senior-focused, primary care company currently partners with payers and providers to help them shift to value-based care. Founder and CEO Sylvia Hastanan spent several years as an executive at Optum before launching Greater Good in 2021.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Paywalled reporting from The Information suggests that primary and urgent care provider Carbon Health has laid off over 100 employees to compensate for a drop in revenue related to a decline in COVID-related services. The company launched in 2015 and has raised over $600 million.

People

Nikole Benders-Hadi, MD (Included Health) joins Talkspace as chief medical officer.

PatientPoint names Meghan Sarli (IQVIA) principal, client Insights and enablement; Melanie Spurrier (Definitive Healthcare), VP of research and analytics; and David Loux (Indegene) VP of client solutions.

Announcements and Implementations

Syra Health develops Syrenity, a mental health module that incorporates continuous monitoring, cognitive therapy interventions, and virtual care.

Samimi Orthopedic Group (GA) implements Azra Care’s AI-powered Kimi virtual assistant.technology.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks integrates with Sunoh.ai, an AI-powered ambient listening technology that generates clinical documentation during appointments.
• Nordic publishes a new episode of its In Network podcast, “Making Rounds: Lab information, at your service.”
• Black Book Research recognizes vendors exhibiting at MGMA’s Leaders Conference who’ve received its 2023 awards for highest customer experience and user satisfaction in practice management, including HIStalk sponsor EClinicalWorks.

Blog Posts

• Navigating the Challenges of Transcription: Finding a Solution That is Accurate, Timely & Secure (AdvancedMD)
• Securing healthcare data: The critical need for cyber resilience. (Nordic)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 10/23/23

Top News

Akumin, a national outpatient radiology and oncology care services provider, postpones appointments at its fixed-site locations while it deals with a ransomware attack that forced it to shut down its computer systems. The company also offers its clinical services through hospitals and health systems. It also offers managed services.

The attack seems to have taken place at the end of September, based on patient Facebook comments.

Webinars

October 25 (Wednesday) 2 ET. “Q&A: What’s new with the NSA? A No Surprises Act update.” Sponsor: Waystar. Presenters: Joseph Mercer, JD, managing director, Marwood Group; Heather Kawamoto, VP of product strategy, Waystar. The No Surprises Act created a lot of change,  and those changes are still coming. A panel of revenue cycle experts answer frequently asked questions and offer a concise update on the NSA, including legislative developments, FAQs, and tips for navigating changes.

October 25 (Wednesday) 2 ET. “AMA: The Power of Data Completeness.” Sponsor: Particle Health. Presenters: Jason Prestinario, MSME, CEO, Particle Health; Carolyn Ward, MD, director of clinical strategy, Particle Health. Is your healthcare organization looking to drive profitability and scale quickly? Our experts will explore how comprehensive clinical data can revolutionize the health tech landscape. This engaging discussion will cover trending topics such as leveraging AI and data innovation to enhance patient care and outcomes, real-world examples of organizations leading the charge in data-driven healthcare, overcoming challenges in data completeness and interoperability, and visionary perspectives on the future of care delivery.

Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present or promote your own.

People

Saurabh Bhargava (Optum) joins DataLink Software as VP of data science.

Announcements and Implementations

Syra Health announces GA of its CarePlus EHR for small and mid-sized healthcare organizations.

Delaware’s Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health will work with Bamboo Health to develop and implement DTRN360, a behavioral healthcare coordination platform that will connect primary and social care providers with crisis teams and behavioral health professionals within a single workflow.

Home-based wound care management provider Biotic selects CareCloud’s TalkEHR.

Other

The World Doctors Orchestra performs several dates in Texas as it winds down its 2023 concert series. Founded in 2008, the orchestra includes 1,800 physicians from 60 countries. WDO has raised over $2 million for medical charities, with its most recent performances benefiting Gil Children’s Services and Woven Health Clinic.

Kaiser Permanente physicians in Colorado come together to perform at the Docs That Rock Concert benefitting the Bal Swan Children’s Center. “It’s fun to play rock stars for one night and make music together,” said Dan O’Brien, MD, family practice doctor, and singer/bass player. “Everyone’s so serious sometimes at work you wouldn’t know that the person down the hall from you is an amazing guitar player or piano player, and sometimes people have this whole other fun side outside of medicine.”

Health and wellness retailer GNC begins offering virtual care membership plans that offer urgent care, primary care, physical therapy, and mental healthcare, as well as $0 medications depending on the plan. I’d be interested to know what telehealth provider they’ve partnered with.

Sponsor Updates

• Nordic releases a video titled “The Download | Restart, refuel, or hang tight: The EHR dilemma.”
• Heart of Florida Health Center realizes a 21% increase in payment collections with EHR and Healow Payment Services software from EClinicalWorks.

Blog Posts

• How Healow Self-Scheduling Helped a New Practice Fill 400 Appointment Slots (EClinicalWorks)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 10/18/23

Top News

Waymark announces $42 million in funding in an investment round led by Lux Capital, bringing its total funding to $87 million. The company offers tech-enabled care support services to primary care teams and their Medicaid patients in Virginia and Washington.

Co-founder and CEO Rajaie Batniji, MD also helped to launch health benefits management software vendor Collective Health, where he still works part-time.

Webinars

October 25 (Wednesday) 2 ET. “Q&A: What’s new with the NSA? A No Surprises Act update.” Sponsor: Waystar. Presenters: Joseph Mercer, JD, managing director, Marwood Group; Heather Kawamoto, VP of product strategy, Waystar. The No Surprises Act created a lot of change,  and those changes are still coming. A panel of revenue cycle experts answer frequently asked questions and offer a concise update on the NSA, including legislative developments, FAQs, and tips for navigating changes.

October 25 (Wednesday) 2 ET. “AMA: The Power of Data Completeness.” Sponsor: Particle Health. Presenters: Jason Prestinario, MSME, CEO, Particle Health; Carolyn Ward, MD, director of clinical strategy, Particle Health. Is your healthcare organization looking to drive profitability and scale quickly? Our experts will explore how comprehensive clinical data can revolutionize the health tech landscape. This engaging discussion will cover trending topics such as leveraging AI and data innovation to enhance patient care and outcomes, real-world examples of organizations leading the charge in data-driven healthcare, overcoming challenges in data completeness and interoperability, and visionary perspectives on the future of care delivery.

Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present or promote your own.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Ventricle Health, a virtual and at-home cardiology care provider, raises $8 million in seed funding. The company works with ACOs, primary care practices, and payers.

Allara raises $10 million in a Series A funding round. The startup offers membership-based virtual care and online prescriptions to women suffering from chronic hormonal, metabolic, and gynecological conditions. Allara CEO Rachel Blank was formerly a director at women’s online health and wellness company Ro.

Announcements and Implementations

Sphere company Health IPass announces GA of cloud-based payments processing technology.

Well Health Technologies develops AI-enabled disease diagnosis capabilities using technology from HealWell AI.

Radiology Associates of Keene (NH) selects RCM software and services from Healthcare Administrative Partners.

CareCloud announces GA of its CirrusAI digital healthcare assistant, powered by Google’s new Vertex AI technology.

Other

Patients on Canada’s Prince Edward Island are losing patience with the province’s telemedicine service due to licensing rules that prevent non-local physicians from seeing patients virtually during peak appointment times. While the number of appointments conducted via the Maple platform has gone from 932 per month in 2022 to 2,339 as of June 2023, the number of physicians licensed to see patients in the province hasn’t kept up. Canadian lawmakers are considering a national licensing model to help address the issue.

Sponsor Updates

• Nordic publishes another episode of its In Network podcast, “Designing for Health: Bre Loughlin.”

Blog Posts

• Navigating the Challenges of Transcription: Finding a Solution that is Accurate, Timely & Secure (AdvancedMD)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 10/16/23

Top News

Rite Aid files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as part of a debt reduction program it is undertaking amidst flagging sales and the repercussions of prescription opioid-related lawsuits that saw it pay out $30 million in settlements in 2022. The retail pharmacy chain, which is also dealing with noncompliance issues related to its NYSE listing, has obtained $3.45 billion in financing from lenders to ensure its operation through the Chapter 11 process.

It anticipates selling its Elixir Solutions pharmacy benefits and solutions business to competitor MedImpact as part of the Chapter 11 process.

In addition, the company has named Stein Advisors founder Jeffrey Stein CEO and chief restructuring officer.

Webinars

October 25 (Wednesday) 2 ET. “Q&A: What’s new with the NSA? A No Surprises Act update.” Sponsor: Waystar. Presenters: Joseph Mercer, JD, managing director, Marwood Group; Heather Kawamoto, VP of product strategy, Waystar. The No Surprises Act created a lot of change,  and those changes are still coming. A panel of revenue cycle experts answer frequently asked questions and offer a concise update on the NSA, including legislative developments, FAQs, and tips for navigating changes.

October 25 (Wednesday) 2 ET. “AMA: The Power of Data Completeness.” Sponsor: Particle Health. Presenters: Jason Prestinario, MSME, CEO, Particle Health; Carolyn Ward, MD, director of clinical strategy, Particle Health. Is your healthcare organization looking to drive profitability and scale quickly? Our experts will explore how comprehensive clinical data can revolutionize the health tech landscape. This engaging discussion will cover trending topics such as leveraging AI and data innovation to enhance patient care and outcomes, real-world examples of organizations leading the charge in data-driven healthcare, overcoming challenges in data completeness and interoperability, and visionary perspectives on the future of care delivery.

Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present or promote your own.

People

CVS Health names Oak Street Health CEO Mike Pykosz interim president of Health Services. Pykosz takes over the role from CFO and EVP Shawn Guertin, who has taken a leave of absence for family reasons.

Announcements and Implementations

Compliancy Group announces GA of The Guard, its healthcare compliance platform encompassing solutions for HIPAA, OSHA, SOC-2, and custom programs.

Addiction treatment provider Cedar Recovery (TN) launches Studio Health, a virtual mental health program.

Other

Providers and patients using SimplePractice’s telehealth software now receive an alert at the beginning of sessions letting them know that MacOS software will automatically display video reactions like fireworks and hearts when certain hand gestures are detected.

Bedside manner seems to be driving factor behind the success of the Buladean rural telehealth clinic, according to patients. Telefacilitator Vicki Garland, a former paramedic, welcomes and assists patients during their appointments at the Buladean clinic in North Carolina. She also assists patients at the (somewhat) nearby Tipton Hill telehealth clinic, a job she took on after her predecessor had trouble connecting with the local community. “Mountain people are clannish,” Garland explains. “You have to know how to speak to them, and that’s where I fit in.”

Sponsor Updates

• The Dermatology Specialists realizes a 50% reduction in claim submission lab and a 33% reduction in payer rejections after implement RCM optimization services from EClinicalWorks.
• PerfectServe will exhibit at the American Association of Physician Leadership Fall Institute October 26-29 in Scottsdale, AZ.
• EClinicalWorks will exhibit at MGMA’s Leaders Conference October 22-25 in Nashville.
• Valley ENT reaches 10,000 patients with its first Text2Pay campaign using Healow Payment Services from EClinicalWorks.

Blog Posts

• Burnout’s triple threat: Compromising care, clinicians, and cash flow (Nordic)
  

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Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 10/11/23

Top News

Remote patient monitoring and chronic care management vendor Optimize Health raises $18 million in a Series B funding round, bringing its total raised to over $37 million.

Webinars

October 25 (Wednesday) 2 ET. “AMA: The Power of Data Completeness.” Sponsor: Particle Health. Presenters: Jason Prestinario, MSME, CEO, Particle Health; Carolyn Ward, MD, director of clinical strategy, Particle Health. Is your healthcare organization looking to drive profitability and scale quickly? Our experts will explore how comprehensive clinical data can revolutionize the health tech landscape. This engaging discussion will cover trending topics such as leveraging AI and data innovation to enhance patient care and outcomes, real-world examples of organizations leading the charge in data-driven healthcare, overcoming challenges in data completeness and interoperability, and visionary perspectives on the future of care delivery.

Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present or promote your own.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Flourish Labs raises $6.6 million in seed funding. The startup offers peer-to-peer mental health coaching through its virtual platform. The company has partnered with Sutter Health (CA) offer customers access to Sutter’s Scout digital resources program.

Cigna’s Evernorth Health Services subsidiary acquires Bright.md’s asynchronous virtual care technology and clinical assets, and will incorporate them into its MDLive telehealth business beginning next year. MDLive will also begin offering health coaching from Welldoc to patients with chronic conditions.

People

Ash Tengshe (Wells Fargo) joins Recuro Health as SVP and chief product and technology officer.

UnisLink names Patti Peets (Conifer Health Solutions) chief sales officer.

Qualifacts hires Josh Schoeller (Elsevier) as CEO.

Tim Wentworth (Evernorth) comes out of retirement (per his LinkedIn profile) to join Walgreens as CEO.

Announcements and Implementations

NextGen adds AI-enhanced, automated note-taking capabilities to its mobile app.

Government and Politics

The FDA will create a Digital Health Advisory Committee to help the agency better understand the benefits, risks, and clinical outcomes associated with digital health technologies. The committee will consist of nine core members and is expected to be operational sometime next year.

Other

Azova puts a new spin on retail healthcare by offering its UTI Telehealth Bundle at Walmart.com. The bundle includes an at-home testing kit and voucher for one telemedicine visit with an Azova provider.

High school senior Ayaan Parikh launches Medic All, a telemedicine nonprofit in Wichita, KS, that has partnered with local healthcare providers and community organizations to offer low-income patients free or reduced-cost care.

Sponsor Updates

Blog Posts

• Are You Struggling with Interoperability Challenges? You’re Not Alone (AdvancedMD)
• Screen, stream, support: The tech-driven future of mental health (Nordic)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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