News 1/2/23

Top News

Online allergy care company Nectar raises an additional $16. million, bringing its Series A round to $24 million. It plans to open its first physical location this year.

Founder and CEO Ken Chahine was formerly a founding executive at AncestryDNA and Ancestry Health.

Webinars

January 19 (Thursday) 2 ET. “Supercharge Your Clinical Data Searches.” Sponsor: Particle Health. Presenter: Paul Robbins, MSMBA, VP of product, Particle. Particle’s team will preview the exciting results of Specialty Search, a new condition-specific record locator service. This webinar will review how to collect patient records from top Centers of Excellence across the entire country; how healthcare organizations of all types are benefiting from Specialty Search capabilities, using Particle’s simple API; and why a focused search of chronic condition data — in oncology, cardiology, endocrinology, orthopedics, and more — has an outsized impact on care outcomes.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Behavioral health IT vendor Telemynd raises $6 million. The Massachusetts-based startup offers virtual care with tailored patient-provider matching and predictive diagnostic services.

People

Aptihealth hires Tim Koehler (Bluestone Physician Services) as president and COO.

Ananya Banerjee (ChenMed) joins Aledade as chief commercial officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Mental Health Resources implements Cantata Health’s Arize EHR at its five offices in New Mexico.

Family Health Center (MS) selects the EClinicalWorks V12 EHR.

Government and Politics

The Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Service, the Virginia Telehealth Network, and the Virginia Association of Free and Charitable Clinics partner to launch the Virginia Telemental Health Initiative, which will offer free, virtual mental health services to eligible patients. The initiative will be staffed by volunteer mental healthcare providers.

Primary care provider Health Specialists of Central Florida will pay $20,000 to settle a potential HIPAA violation concerning the privacy rule’s right of access provision. The practice failed in 2019 to make a patient’s medical records available in the mandated 30-day timeframe, finally providing them five months after the initial request.

Other

NasonCare owner and Medical Director Baron Nason, MD will provide free healthcare services for three months to the employees of 10 local small businesses in an effort to help combat the rising cost of care, which has forced some of his patients to have to choose between paying mortgages or seeking treatment. The North Charleston, SC-based practice offers primary, urgent, and employee-based care.

Maine State Library’s Libraries Health Connect rural telemedicine program will soon expand with additional sites and/or more advanced technology. The program launched at 10 pilot libraries in the spring to offer patrons private areas equipped with hardware and software for virtual appointments.

Authorities charge the former office manager of a dermatology practice in Rhode Island and her son, a former data clerk at the practice after they discover the pair swindled nearly $500,000 from the practice by giving themselves unauthorized pay increases, adding friends and family to the pay roll, failing to deposit patient payments, issuing and cashing checks made out to themselves and others, and using practice funds and credit cards to pay for personal expenses, among other allegations.

Sponsor Updates

• Medicomp Systems features National Coordinator Micky Tripathi, PhD, MPP in its “Tell Me Where IT Hurts” podcast.

Blog Posts

• Unduly noted: Why EHR documentation is creating an informational quagmire (Nordic)
• Nurses of Note Awards 2022: The Manager of Ambulatory Nursing (PerfectServe)
• 4 Tips for Patient Education Governance (Healthwise)
• A Different Point of View: DOJ Suit Against Cigna – It’s Just the Beginning (Medicomp Systems)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 12/14/22

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Researchers find that primary care telehealth patients enrolled in a telehealth patient navigator pilot program were more likely to attend their virtual consults than patients not in the program. Navigators were tasked with calling patients the day before appointments to remind them of their consult, offer technical assistance, and answer questions. The 12-week program saw a return on investment of $11,387.

HIStalk Practice Musings

While Dr. Jayne contemplates her 2023 conference travel schedule, I am looking ahead to what the new year will offer in terms of must-read books. BookBub.com, my favorite recommendation site, has plenty of lists based on a reader’s selected preferences. While not necessarily new year releases, I’m looking forward to checking out Jim Gaffigan’s “Food: A Love Story,” “The Darling Girl: A Novel of Peter Pan” by Liz Michalski, and “Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-Earth” by John Garth. (I’m still on a Tolkien kick, deep in the second book of the Fionavar Tapestry trilogy, a mid-80s fantasy series written by Tolkien editor Guy Gavriel Kay.)

Tufts Medical Director Peter Neumann’s list of best books read in 2022 also has me looking back to some of my favorite reads from the past year. His include “Breath from Salt” Bijal P. Trivedi: “The next time I am asked my views on how health technology assessments might consider ‘patient-centered’ metrics,” he writes, ‘I will suggest that the inquirer read Bijal Trivedi’s book about the development of therapies for cystic fibrosis.’

Mine include “Burning Bright” by Tracey Chevalier, “Katherine” by Anya Seton, and “Russian Winter” by Daphne Kalotay. I’d love to hear what readers have loved and are looking forward to reading. Email me with your suggestions. Happy holidays and see you next year!

Webinars

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

Announcements and Implementations

Leyden Family Service & Mental Health Center (IL) selects EnSoftek’s DrCloudEHR.

American Endovascular & Amputation Prevention implements EClinicalWorks across its facilities in Ohio, New York, and New Jersey.

Research and Innovation

After analyzing 35 million specialty telemedicine visits conducted over a two-year period, Epic researchers determine that the majority did not require an in-person follow-up visit within the next three months. Of those that did, the appointments typically focused on additional, rather than duplicative, care.

Other

A cow smashes through the glass doors of Orange Family Physicians (VA) after jumping (escaping?) off a trailer en route to a local cattle company. Local cow catchers were able to lasso the animal inside the office and bring it safely outside.

Pediatrics West and Allergy West notify patients of an October 17 data breach that impacted some of their IT systems and may have exposed patient data.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 12/12/22

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Tech-enabled healthcare provider Juno Medical raises $12 million in a Series A round, enabling it to expand beyond New York City into Atlanta, Tulsa, and Los Angeles. The round was co-led by Next Ventures and Serena [Williams] Ventures.

Juno offers, through its in-person and virtual services, primary and urgent care, pediatrics, and women’s healthcare. It offers membership plans, in addition to accepting various forms of insurance.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Commons Clinic raises $11 million in seed funding. The company is building a network of specialty physician practices that it will equip with integrated virtual care services. It is initially focusing on musculoskeletal care. CEO Nick Aubin plans to expand into cardiology, urology, gastroenterology, and surgical gynecology as the company builds out an ambulatory network in five to eight markets within the next 10 years.

People

Scan Group names Emily Cook (Alternate Solutions Health Network) CEO of Welcome Health, its virtual and in-home primary care practice for seniors.

Rob Posner (Pediatric Associates) joins AbsoluteCare as CTO.

Kidney care provider Panoramic Health names Sampath Narayanan (Everside Health) CIO, Michael Holland (InnovaCare Health) chief development officer, and Kimberly Shreve (Collective Health) chief compliance and privacy officer.

Government and Politics

In Canada, the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association seeks an explanation from government officials as to why private telemedicine company Fonemed is being paid more than double what it pays family physicians for in-person appointments. The association says that the current five-year contract between Fonemed and the province pays the company between $82 and $92 for virtual consults with nurse practitioners. Family physicians are typically paid $37 for in-person visits and $47 for a virtual care visits, with virtual consults capped at 40 per day. Nearly 25% of the province’s 525,000 residents are without a family doctor. Provincial officials have said Fonemed’s rates/payments reflect overall costs that include overhead, infrastructure and technology costs, staff education, and other services including a 24-hour mental health crisis line and a virtual dietary service.

A judge sentences Shawna Edwards to one year in prison and restitution of $16,000 for embezzling $35,000 in patient co-pays and cash payments from her medical practice employer over a two-year period.

Research and Innovation

A survey of just over 1,000 patients finds that – surprise, surprise – the top complaint of patients seen in person is the amount of time spent waiting to be seen. Getting to and scheduling appointments weren’t far behind. Sixty-four percent of patients say they’ve put off going to the doctor just to avoid the above hassles. In light of these statistics, opting for a telemedicine appointment might seem like the easier route to take, and yet they have their own sets of challenges: Patients have also felt frustrated when trying to schedule virtual consults and when attempting to meet their technological requirements.

Other

Watson Family Medicine (KY) exceeds expectations with its first Toys for Tots toy drive, collecting more than three bins full of items. Andrea Watson, MD started the practice eight months ago: “The patients, the community, the Marine Corps, we’ve all joined forces to make this happen. I couldn’t be happier.”

A local website profiles the ways in which senior-focused primary care provider Oak Street Health ensures its tech team sees first-hand how the company’s homegrown Canopy practice management software impacts patients. “The expectation is that the engineering team’s job is to sit and look at code,” says Director of Engineering Geoff Niehaus. “That’s how you lose touch with the mission, so I appreciate that we make opportunities — even with remote workers — to visit clinics and see the impact our software has on folks using it.”

The Rhode Island Department of Health announces that a data breach may have exposed the PHI of 9,000 people. The breach occurred when a staff member accidentally included a link to a spreadsheet in emails sent between July 28 and October 30.

Sponsor Updates

• TigerConnect publishes a new e-book, “When Every Second Matters: Guide to Speeding Critical Response Workflows.”
• Healthwise wins seven digital health awards from the Health Information Resource Center for its medical illustrations and health education videos.

Blog Posts

• Best Software Integrations for Clinical Communication (PerfectServe)
• To Charge or Not to Charge (Nordic)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 12/7/22

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Advance Care Medical employees in Clarksville, TN voluntarily close the clinic after corporate owner Healthcare Solutions Management Group stopped paying them on October 1. HSMG has attributed the delay in payments to “corporate finance restructuring,” though it has sent employees partial payments through Zelle and Cash App over the last week.

The clinic’s water and power have also been intermittently shut off due to lack of funds. Staff say that while they still come into the office several hours a week to process medication refill requests, they can’t access the clinic’s EHR because the bill for its service has also not been paid.

HSMG Chairman and Interim CEO/CFO Justin Smith told one employee via text, “I can’t ask anyone to stay or even believe in us anymore. Things haven’t gone our way. And it’s not fault of yours! You guys’ rock. We messed up.”

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Kidney care management company Interwell Health launches managed services for nephrology practices that include payer analytics, practice review, debt cost insights, and expense control.

Government and Politics

CMS publishes a proposed rule that would require some payers to implement digital prior authorization processes, shorten the time frame to reply to PA requests, and establish payer-to-payer data exchange, among several other requirements. CMS estimates that these policies would save physician practices and hospitals over $15 billion over a 10-year period.

Research and Innovation

A Wolters Kluwer Heath survey of 1,006 consumers finds that 61% foresee receiving primary care services at retail clinics and pharmacies rather than primary care practices. More than half would seek care from a pharmacist if it was less expensive than seeing a traditional provider.

Other

Looking for the perfect gift for the physician in your life? Check out these “10 Can’t Miss Doctor Gifts Worth Giving (or Having.” Should you opt for the mug above, I highly recommend filling it with Marylee’s peppermint mocha, courtesy of CoverMyMeds resident barista Marylee Dunbar. And don’t skimp on the whip cream! (I recently discovered peppermint-flavored whipped cream at my local big box retailer.)

Sponsor Updates

• Nordic releases a new episode of its DocTalk series.

Blog Posts

• Review Your Healthcare Business Credit Card This Holiday Season (AdvancedMD)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 12/5/22

Top News

Direct-to-consumer telemedicine company Thirty Madison will expand into sleep care with the launch of a new brand dubbed River. Similar to competitors Hims and Hers Health, the company offers online consults and prescription delivery for conditions including hair loss, sexual and reproductive health, skin conditions, allergies, and migraines. It has raised $210 million since launching in 2017.

Webinars

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

People

Hims and Hers Health hires former Cleveland Clinic executive Scott Knoer (Knoer Enterprises) as its first Chief Pharmacy and Innovation Officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Community Technology Cooperative wraps up its year-long implementation of Epic at 10 FQHCs in Massachusetts. Two more clinics will go live on Epic with help from CTC in 2023.

Morris Heights Health Center *NY) will use The Garage’s Bridge population health management software.

Other

The local news profiles Greg Ciliberti, MD a semi-retired primary care physician who substitutes in his local public school system and donates his earnings back to the classroom. He is currently subbing for (and donating paychecks to) a teacher who will be out for several weeks recovering from a car accident. “I’d love the kids to know that there are adults who they’ve never met before who actually care about them and their futures,” he says. “That would be something I would love to see.”

Sponsor Updates

• TigerConnect appoints former Cooper University Health Care CEO Adrienne Kirby to its board.
• Healthwise announces that it has been recognized by Avia Connect as a top company in patient education.

Blog Posts

• CIO Guide to EHR Integration (TigerConnect)
• 5 keys to a healthy Community Connect host-affiliate partnership (Nordic)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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