News 8/16/16

Top News

Providers at 3,000 clinics and 200 hospitals across California, Minnesota, Texas, and Virginia go live on the Carequality Interoperability Framework. Developed by The Sequoia Project over the last two years, the framework is a set of legal terms, policy requirements, technical specifications, and governance processes centered on advancing interoperability between participating organizations. Early adopters include customers of Athenahealth, EClinicalWorks, Epic, HIETexas, NextGen, and Surescripts.

Webinars

August 24 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “Surviving the OCR Cybersecurity & Privacy Pre-Audit: Are You Truly Prepared?” Sponsored by HIStalk. Presenter: John Gomez, CEO, Sensato. Many healthcare organizations are not prepared for an OCR pre-audit of their privacy and security policies. This webinar will provide a roadmap, tools, and tactics that will help balance policies and budgets in adopting an OCR-friendly strategy that will allow passing with flying colors.

Contact Lorre for webinar services. Past webinars are on our HIStalk webinars YouTube channel.

Announcements and Implementations

StarHealth Provider Solutions will offer comparative analytics capabilities from RemitData to its accounts receivables customers. The company will also implement RemitData’s revenue cycle solutions internally.

Surescripts increases its year-over-year processing of secure health data transactions by 48 percent, facilitating 9.7 billion transactions in 2015. Last year also saw a 10-percent increase in the company’s digital prescription transactions – a figure no doubt aided by state-based e-prescribing mandates. Family practice physicians transmitted the most digital prescriptions for controlled substances.

Vermont Information Technology Leaders, a nonprofit that oversees the state HIE, will add OhMD’s secure text messaging platform to its line of services for providers.

Inteveo adds phone system and unified communications capabilities from Fonality to its IMediSuite PM software for physician and dental practices.

People

Vermont Information Technology Leaders promotes Michael Tosolini to operations data analyst.

The Association for Commuter Transportation recognizes Bridger McGaw, director of AthenaEnvironments, for the Commute Alternatives program he has spearheaded at Athenahealth offices in Austin, Boston, and San Francisco. The program has helped eliminate 279 single-occupancy vehicles, and removed 662 metric tons of CO2

Telemedicine

Arkansas lawmakers inch the state closer to becoming more telemedicine-friendly via the approval of real-time audiovisual technology to establish an initial patient-physician relationship. The catch for telemedicine companies, however, is that the relationship must first be established while the patient is at a licensed medical facility that would connect him or her to the distant provider, who in turn must be licensed in Arkansas. Broader requirements for the practice of telemedicine will likely be voted on in October.

Speaking of state-based telemedicine regulations … Health Affairs publishes a well-written brief on their current state, including a look at the risks and rewards associated with the technology.

Yet another company attempts to make a go at telemedicine: TreatMD.com launches a beta platform in over 30 languages. The Aventura, FL-based startup’s business model does seem a tad different in that it allows consulting physicians to set their own rates and schedules.

Other

The local news looks at the increasingly popular but tough decision made by smaller practices to drop Medicaid. Elizabeth Brown, MD made the decision last year, citing the costs associated with processing claims (even after she hired an extra staffer to help her cope) and its increasingly burdensome quality measures. “I was able to meet all those measures for the first four years that they were implemented,” she says. “But they’ve become so stringent that unless you have a big team of people actually just dedicated to helping you do data reporting, I just can’t do it.”

Blab is dead, long live Blab: So reads the post-mortem written by Shaan Puri, co-founder of the the live stream software company that gained a fair level of popularity despite its beta-stage bugs. He gives a fairly candid account of why things didn’t work out, and admits that, “Blab could have pivoted into being the best webinar tool ever. Or a niche live streaming tool for Facebook. Or stayed small. But that wasn’t the bargain I struck with my team.” (I’d love to see such a synopsis from the EHR vendors that have shut down over the years.) Puri shouldn’t’ feel too bad: Google has decided to axe its Hangouts on Air feature next month.

Contacts

Jenn,  Mr. H, Lorre, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg

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Readers Write: Making Chronic Care Management Work for Your Practice

Making Chronic Care Management Work for Your Practice
By Krista Sultan

Having spent the last several years dedicated to helping providers and healthcare organizations align their business practices with value-based payment models, watching 2015 unfold was extremely exciting for me. In January of 2015, HHS announced its most groundbreaking and aggressive plan to transition to new payment models, greatly accelerating the anticipated shift in reimbursement structure. This came in conjunction with the ratification of CPT code 99490, where providers could be reimbursed for non-face-to-face care coordination for the first time. This code can be billed when providers or certified clinical staff spend 20 minutes or more coordinating care for Medicare patients with two or more chronic conditions with an established comprehensive plan of care. The program is formally termed Chronic Care Management, but is more commonly referred to by its acronym, CCM.

While these changes were stimulating for those of us in the industry of facilitating the transition, they were met by reticence and skepticism by many outpatient providers. The initial reaction by so many physicians to CCM was to watch and wait. Despite the fact that programs like this have been successful in many European countries for quite some time, we had not yet seen a US proof of concept. This general consensus was confirmed early this year, when CMS announced that just over 100,000 patients had participated in the CCM program during its first year, and most of those patients only had an average of three CCM encounters.

However, this lack of enthusiasm did nothing to curb the tidal wave of healthcare reform initiatives. We saw MACRA passed into law in April, which actually established a quantitative measure for clinical practice improvement. CMS expanded CCM to include rural health clinics and FQHCs beginning in January of 2016, and then went right back to the drawing board to further expand CCM. The proposed changes for 2017 included additional time and reimbursement for the creation of the initial care plan, a modifier code for encounters that take longer than usual, and an overall relaxation around the enrollment process. The verbiage in these proposed changes also makes it very clear that the priority is around making the program accessible and increasing adoption rather than hunting for imperfections in provider documentation. The central message here is that CCM is here to stay and CMS is heavily invested in making it work.

CMS commitment to CCM is justified in light of the results of a recent patient satisfaction survey that my company, Hello Health, recently completed. Of 100 patient respondents, 86 percent offered a value of “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the clinical engagement provided by CCM.

We also discovered:

• 90 percent of respondents said they were satisfied/very satisfied with their chronic care coordinator.
• 60 percent of respondents felt their health has already benefitted from receiving CCM monthly calls.
• 78 percent of respondents would recommend CCM to their family and friends.

In other words, patients are finding value in CCM, and measurably benefitting from services that allow them to have a better understanding of their health and care routines. While we look forward to further peer-reviewed support on the inherent clinical value in this program, the initial results are in, and CCM is working. At the end of the day, this is the metric I am proudest of because, if our patients are loving this program and telling us it is making a difference, then I can go to bed at night knowing that we are doing something right. The challenge is now encouraging the broader adoption of CCM, and providing physicians with the resources necessary to offer this program to their patients.

What does this mean for providers considering adopting CCM? Please remember that CCM and other value-based programs do not require all-or-nothing adoption. There are a huge number of vendors available that providers can partner with based on their needs – from consulting services to in-house CCM implementation services, to technology solutions to lighten the workload, to full service solutions that handle everything from enrollment to patient coaching and care coordination.

That being said, for small to mid-sized practices, CCM is a huge undertaking and should not be underestimated. In general, smaller practices simply do not have the resources to set up the program design, finance the additional staff, and stay up to date with evolving regulations while maintaining existing or increasing patient volumes. Furthermore, many providers feel like this process can only be performed by RNs because of the care plan and clinical coordination components. With more and more RNs pursuing bachelor’s degrees in nursing as well as advanced degrees, many practices cannot afford to employ an RN for CCM with an average reimbursement of around $40. However, with proper training and oversight, different types of clinical staff can provide value in this program in a myriad of ways. It’s not necessarily one size fits all with the RN as the sole team member providing services for the patient.

Find the setup that best suits your current workflow and the resources available to you without betraying the core values of your organization that brought your patients to you in the first place. When done right, transitional value-based improvement programs like CCM will strengthen your relationships with patients and empower your staff to feel like they are able to give patients more. After all, improving the value and quality of patient care is really what this is all about.

Krista Sultan is vice president of clinical services at New York City-based Hello Health.

Contacts

Jenn,  Mr. H, Lorre, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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News 8/15/16

Top News

HRSA announces $16 million in funding to help improve access to quality care in rural communities. The money will be split between several dozen healthcare organizations via four grant programs – telehealth network development, rural health research centers, small provider quality improvement, and rural veterans access programs.

Webinars

August 24 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “Surviving the OCR Cybersecurity & Privacy Pre-Audit: Are You Truly Prepared?” Sponsored by HIStalk. Presenter: John Gomez, CEO, Sensato. Many healthcare organizations are not prepared for an OCR pre-audit of their privacy and security policies. This webinar will provide a roadmap, tools, and tactics that will help balance policies and budgets in adopting an OCR-friendly strategy that will allow passing with flying colors.

Contact Lorre for webinar services. Past webinars are on our HIStalk webinars YouTube channel.

Our “summer doldrums” webinar services sale ends Labor Day, September 5. Thanks to the several companies who have signed up for the always-busy fall webinar season.

Announcements and Implementations

Aledade forms a new primary care ACO in Arkansas – the first of its kind in the state – with help from the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care. The Bethesda, MD-based company, which operates ACOs in 11 states, has already recruited 10 independent practices that collectively care for 12,000 Medicare beneficiaries.

Sansum Clinic (CA) achieves Stage 6 in its ambulatory EHR adoption. The 95 year-old organization implemented Epic in 2010.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

After expanding its RCM capabilities last month, Boca Raton, FL-based Modernizing Medicine plans to hire 20 billing analysts at its Roseville, CA location. It will host a hiring event this Friday and Saturday, presumably in Roseville.

Mental health app developer Happify raises $5 million in an investment round led by Hills Capital. The New York City-based startup will use the funding to hire staff and expand its “positive-outcomes intervention” tech to the enterprise market in a new venture dubbed Happify Health. Advisor and board member Andrew Sekel (Optum) has been named chairman.

Telemedicine

Dallas-based Teladoc hints at plans to roll out a specialty physician second-opinion consultation service, according to Lisa Bana, area vice president. “We do see a need for chronic illness support, and we are looking at it,” she says, adding that it would be similar to offerings from 2ndMD and Best Doctors.

Other

The local public radio station profiles several Kansas-based practices and collaboratives selected to participate in the latest round of the federal Million Hearts program, which seeks to prevent 1 million heart attacks, strokes, and heart-disease related deaths by 2017. Post Rock Family Medicine, along with several other practices, will use a Web-based risk calculator to better understand a patient’s risk of heart disease. Jen Brull, MD expects to incorporate patient data from Post Rock’s EHR to findings from the risk calculator. “Post Rock has a history of doing clinical improvement,” she says. “Those are things we’re trying to do here. Hopefully at the end they’ll have lower cardiovascular risk.”

Good news for “friends” who’ve lost IPhones in the chlorinated depths of the neighborhood pool: Rumors swirl that Apple’s next phone, which will likely debut next month, may be waterproof. A patent awarded to the company describes a system for color-balancing photos shot underwater, suggesting that the company may take things one step further and waterproof it. Unlike Samsung, which has three waterproof phones in production, Apple has never gone that route.

Contacts

Jenn,  Mr. H, Lorre, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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Population Health Management Weekly Wrap Up 8/14/16

Sue Powers (Array Health) joins Virtual Health as senior vice president of sales.

Predictive analytics vendor CareSkore raises $4.3 million in its initial funding round. The company’s product analyzes EHR inpatient data to assess a patient’s clinical and financial risk. The startup, which bills itself as a “predictive population health management” company, graduated from Y Combinator earlier this year.

Lee Memorial Health System (FL) brings Aegis Health Group on board to help evaluate its employer-directed population health strategy. The group will help LMHS determine the best plan of attack in reaching out to local employers and assisting with employee care needs.

Reston, VA-based Altruista Health brings on Greg Jensen (Colorado Access) as vice president of business intelligence, Bob Kalchthaler (Virtacore Systems) as CFO, and Eric Tryon (UnitedHealthcare) (not pictured) as vice president of product management. The company also promoted Mike McKitterick to executive vice president of implementation.

Multispecialty Signature Medical Group and managed care services company Heritage Medical Systems partner to form Missouri Collaborative Healthcare, a population health management venture that will serve patients along Missouri’s I-70 corridor. The collaborative will provide local PCPs with access to high-risk case managers, specialty clinics, hospitalists and post-transitional care, and pharmacist and social services.

Contacts

Jennifer,  Mr. H, Lorre, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg

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News 8/11/16

Top News

HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell announces that National Coordinator Karen DeSalvo, MD will leave ONC to focus on her HHS role as acting assistant secretary for health, which she took on in 2014. Since that time, Burwell explained in her announcement, “Karen has been instrumental in supporting families affected by the water crisis in Flint, in promoting nutritional and physical fitness through the development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the events surrounding the 60th Anniversary of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition, and in leading the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. This year, she launched Public Health 3.0, an innovative cross-sector approach to strengthening local public health and building healthier communities. I am deeply grateful to Karen for her leadership and for her incredible service in both of these roles for nearly two years.”

Principal Deputy National Coordinator Vindell Washington, MD will continue DeSalvo’s crusade to advance interoperabilty when he takes over as national coordinator tomorrow. It will be interesting to see if his tenure at the top lasts as long as his predecessors. DeSalvo, Farzad Mostashari, MD David Blumenthal, MD Robert Kolodner, MD and David Brailer, MD retained the title for between two and three years.

Webinars

August 24 (Wednesday) 1:00 ET. “Surviving the OCR Cybersecurity & Privacy Pre-Audit: Are You Truly Prepared?” Sponsored by HIStalk. Presenter: John Gomez, CEO, Sensato. Many healthcare organizations are not prepared for an OCR pre-audit of their privacy and security policies. This webinar will provide a roadmap, tools, and tactics that will help balance policies and budgets in adopting an OCR-friendly strategy that will allow passing with flying colors.

Contact Lorre for webinar services. Past webinars are on our HIStalk webinars YouTube channel.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

The Chartis Group launches a physician leadership institute that will bring together physician executives from hospitals, medical groups, and payers to collaborate on alignment, engagement, and organizational and operational strategy.

Announcements and Implementations

Doctors Imaging (LA) selects AbbaDox RIS and other radiology services from IDS to help it improve scheduling, registration, and administrative workflows.

Health Information Trust Alliance partners with Children’s Health (TX) to offer cybersecurity solutions to physician practices with 75 or fewer employees. Eighty practices have already deployed the CyberAid service, which includes installation assistance, hardware, software, monitoring services, training, and support. Children’s Health is working to spread the word about the service. “Our organization hosts private physician practices on our electronic medical record (EMR) system,” says Pamela Arora, SVP and CIO, Children’s Health. “Supporting this program enables us to more fully protect our organization, these physician practices and their patients from risks associated with cyber threats.”

Health and Wellness Education Partners develops an online continuing education resource for PCPs focused on optimizing primary care for patients with rare diseases.

People

Medicomp Systems promotes Jason Valore to general manager-Asia/Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Matt Wilson (Health Outcomes Sciences) joins Huron Consulting Group as managing director in its healthcare practice.

Telemedicine

Encore Unlimited adds CHC Telehealth’s virtual consult technology to its workers’ compensation case management services.

TelaCare Health Solutions takes up temporary headquarters in Fishers, OH, while it waits for permanent office space to be renovated in a local office building, The company, which employs 150 at offices in Toledo, OH, Alabama, and Texas, has already hired eight employees at the new location, and plans to hire three to five more in the next several weeks.

Other

Six physicians develop AirRx, an app designed to assist volunteer physicians handle medical emergencies they aren’t familiar with during flight. The app includes 23 scenarios of the most common medical emergencies in-flight. (I had no idea between 150 and 200 such events occur in the friendly skies each day.) And yes, it even works in airplane mode.

Contacts

Jennifer,  Mr. H, Lorre, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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