From MGMA 10/28/14

My third and final day at MGMA started off with a session on “Practice Sustainability in an Age of Uncertainty,” featuring moderator Anders Gilbeg, senior vice president, MGMA government affairs; Susan Turney, MD, former CEO of MGMA and current CEO of Marshfield Clinic Health System (WI); and James Madara, MD vice president and CEO, AMA. The giant hall in which it took place was maybe half full, leading me to wonder how the rest of MGMA’s members were spending their morning. (No doubt they slept in after a fun night out courtesy of the many vendor parties that took place the night before.) Whatever the case, I settled in to hear the three touch on healthcare’s affordability problem, the plight of small physician practices, how to build better relationships between hospitals and practices (a question that got a laugh from the audience), and how to stem the physician shortage.

Technology came up a few times, mainly in the form of telemedicine and mobile health tools. When addressing the potential demise of the small physician practice, Turney explained that practices have to be inwardly focused and progressive, with technology being a key component.  She seems to feel that practices can’t wait for government or payers to catch up when it comes to reimbursement for using mobile technology. She added that, “If we do the right thing, the payment system will follow.” I find that a little hard to believe. Yes, payment reform might come about, but how long will it take? Can physicians barely keeping their doors open afford to wait for payers to catch up to what’s “right?” Time will tell whether her optimism is naïve or right on point.

I then buzzed around the exhibit hall for about an hour, taking in one last round of vendor offerings. I was pleased to see many of our sponsors proudly displaying their HIStalk signs. Contrary to my experiences at HIMSS and HFMA ANI, the last day of the exhibit hall at MGMA seemed to be bustling. I had expected to find sales reps nose deep into their phones, but most were busy engaging with attendees, one of whom was in a kilt, oddly enough.

Note to vendors: A smile and direct eye contact will get you everywhere. I still do not understand the absolute rudeness some vendors feel it is ok to exhibit to those whose conference badges don’t scream prospect or customer. One look at my press badge and a few sales reps brushed me off without a backward glance.

Others, like Sheri Blaho at CS3 Technology, were happy to chat with me for a few minutes. (CS3, by the way, is a consulting firm specializing in ERP software implementations.)  I also had the opportunity to chat with Todd Occommy, MD at the Doctor on Demand booth. The company has been in the news of late thanks to nabbing an additional $21 million in investment money. Todd told me that attendee interest in the company’s white-label and co-branded telemedicine services was good, adding that a team from a large multispecialty practice in Texas had shown great interest just before I showed up.

I had the good fortune to run into HIStalk Practice contributor Micky Tripathi, president and CEO of Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative. I snagged the picture below just before he co-presented on “Getting Quality Reporting Under Control: Meaningful Use and Beyond” with MAeHC client Paul Bergeron, MD, CMO, Central Massachusetts IPA. The presentation didn’t touch too much on Meaningful Use, instead focusing on CMIPA’s journey to building a data analytics warehouse for the use of its member physician practices. (Many physicians in the state have been on EHRs since 2005, which has given them a comfort level with healthcare IT reflected in new statistics that show positive EHR-related gains in safety, quality, and decision making.) 

Based on the number of audience questions at the end, I’d say their presentation was a success. Most questions revolved around how to manage the sticky situation of who pays for what in an IPA-led IT implementation, and how to fairly distribute quality-based incentive payments fairly. As Paul reiterated a few times, the safe answer to both is “there’s no one size fits all.”

My last, and perhaps most enlightening conversation of the show came when I decided to rest my feet next to those of the CEO of an orthopedics practice in Texas. She was at the show specifically looking for a new SEO marketing firm to better raise the practice’s online visibility. My, what a story she had to tell about her practice’s recent conversion to Allscripts from Phoenix Ortho, which provided terrible customer support and user interface. While she didn’t use the word “nightmare,” the ensuing litigation between Phoenix Ortho and the practice likely keeps her up at night. Her staff seems happy enough with Allscripts, though she calls her physicians “click busy” due to the numerous amount of clicks it takes them to get anywhere. She stressed that it’s much better than the Phoenix Ortho EHR, which displayed a patient’s left knee when users clicked on a right shoulder.

The clock struck 12 pm, at which point I hustled to the airport to catch my flight home. All in all it was an enjoyable experience. I appreciated getting up close and personal with physicians, sponsors, and readers. Did you attend the show? What were the highlights for you? Email me and we’ll compare notes.

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jennifer, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg, Lt. Dan, Dr. Travis

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

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News 10/28/14

Top News

Leading health groups decry the mandatory quarantine imposed by New York and New Jersey on health workers returning from the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. Representatives from the AMA; Medecins sans Frontiers; Infectious Diseases Society of America; Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology; and AIDS activists, researchers, and doctors have all issued statements taking politicians in both states to task for not basing their quarantine decision on solid, scientific evidence. Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Dean Michael J. Klag, MD, MPH has added his voice to the outcry via a letter to NJ Governor Chris Christie criticizing the quarantine.

HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests

Today’s post is a bit briefer than usual, given that I’m in Las Vegas covering MGMA 2014. Catch up with what’s happening at the show via my 10/26 and 10/27 updates. You’ll find lots of show-floor pictures, attendee insight, and exhibit hall trends. I’ll post the third and final installment on 10/28.

Webinars

November 5 (Wednesday) 1:00 pm ET. Keeping it Clean: How Data Profiling Leads to Trusted Data. Sponsored by Encore, A Quintiles Company. Presenters: Lori Yackanicz, administrator of clinical informatics, Lehigh Valley Health Network; Randy L. Thomas, associate partner of performance analytics, Encore, A Quintiles Company; Joy Ales, MHA, BSN, RN, senior consultant, Encore, A Quintiles Company. Data dictionaries, organizational standards, and pick lists for data entry fields may describe the intent of a particular data field, but don’t guarantee that the data captured in the source system actually reflects that intent. Data profiling is the statistical analysis and assessment of the data values in source systems for consistency, uniqueness, and logic to ensure that the data landing in a data warehouse or analytic application is as expected. Attendees will learn which projects benefit from data profiling and the resources needed to accomplish it.

If you weren’t able to participate in last week’s webinar, this  YouTube video contains the complete 49-minute, Imprivata-sponsored webinar, including the Q&A. The presenters cover the DEA rule, which requires EMRs to be certified and providers to use two-factor authentication (along with other technical requirements). New Yorkers should be especially interested since the I-STOP act requires EPCS starting in March 2015. HIStalk webinar questions can be directed to Lorre.

Announcements and Implementations

Emdeon announces the completion of the transition from CaparioOne to the Emdeon One brand, and the addition of a new Advanced Denials Management service to be integrated within the Emdeon One portal. Emdeon acquired Capario earlier this year, and according to show-floor conversations with Emdeon reps at MGMA, the two teams are integrating quite nicely.

CareCloud launches Advanced CareCloud Analytics to provide visibility into a medical group’s financial, operational, and clinical performance. The company has also partnered with Precyse and HealthStream to offer their ICD-10 education program for physicians to its clients.

Palmetto Primary Care Physicians selects the eClinicalWorks EHR, and Care Coordination Medical Record for population health management.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

RCM and analytics services vendor MediGain LLC closes a $38 million investment transaction with Prudential Capital Group. MediGain Chairman Dinesh Bhutani notes the investment will likely spill over into helping grow the company’s business in India.

Limeade, a Washington-based startup specializing in employee health and wellness engagement platforms, secures a $25 million investment led by led by Oak HC/FT Partners of New York. The Washington state Health Care Authority signed a five-year, $15 million contract with Limeade to use its engagement platform to help HCA employees get healthier.

Government and Politics

HHS announces the four-year, $840 million “Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative” incentive grant program to move providers to value-based, patient-centered, coordinated health services, saying that healthcare IT will be a key component.

AMA President Robert Wah, MD, expresses AMA’s displeasure at the departure of Karen DeSalvo and Jacob Reider from ONC, citing the personnel shuffle as one more nail in Meaningful Use’s coffin, leaving “a significant leadership gap which could jeopardize the growing momentum around interoperability.”  

Research and Innovation

The Center for Connected Health and pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo Inc. will create a mobile app that will help improve treatment adherence and medication compliance for patients living with atrial fibrillation. It will also foster feedback loops that connect physicians to the patient.

People

David Kobrinetz (Teladoc) joins U.S. Healthworks as director of telemedicine.

Other

Meneko Spigner Mcbeth, RN, wins $1 million for coming up with the winning flavor – wasabi ginger – in the Frito-Lay “Do Us a Flavor” potato chips contest. Finalist flavors included cappuccino, mango salsa, and cheddar bacon mac and cheese.

And speaking of spicy foods, Tabasco hot sauce proves to be a successful training aid for healthcare workers learning how to avoid contamination when taking care of Ebola-infected patients. As part of their training, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center trainees rub their eyes and touch their lips after they finish removing their protective gear. If they receive no tingling or stinging sensation, they know they have safely removed their gear and avoided contamination. I don’t think I’ll ever look at Tabasco the same way again.

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jennifer, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg, Lt. Dan, Dr. Travis

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

Get HIStalk Practice  updates.
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From MGMA 10/27/14

My second day at MGMA was a whirlwind of walking the exhibit hall, chatting with attendees, dipping into a few sessions, and party hopping the evening away. (How else to live up to the Digital Diva title?) I opted out of the 7:45 am keynote from professional development guru John C. Maxwell in favor of getting a solid seven hours of sleep. It was a worthwhile swap, given several lackluster comments I heard from attendees about his presentation. One CEO of a California-based physicians’ association thought that “it looked like church,” estimating that between 3,000 and 5,000 MGMA members sat through it. His guess wasn’t far off, given that MGMA has officially pegged attendance at this year’s conference at 4,700 – the same as last year according to the organization, though several overheard hallway conversations lead me to believe it’s slightly smaller than in years past.

Ladies from Reno Orthopaedic Clinic (NV) opted out of the keynote, too. The idea of getting up early after a night out in Vegas was poor planning in their opinion. Despite the late night out I’m sure many attendees had, the exhibit hall was in full swing by 9:30 am as I started my trek though 15 aisles of vendors. My first stop was the eClinicalWorks booth, where I had the chance to catch up with TJ Lynas. He told me that, as opposed to past MGMA conferences, he had not yet run into any physicians looking to implement their first EHR. Most are on their second or third, which his sales team no doubt enjoys since educated consumers  requires less hand holding.

I also had the opportunity to chat with Kelley Carnwath at the Qualis Health booth. The regional extension center last week celebrated achieving its goal of helping nearly 2,400 eligible physicians in Idaho and Washington successfully attest for Meaningful Use. The nonprofit is at the show promoting its practice transformation services.

I was not surprised to see several booths playing off the current Ebola media frenzy. Mediplay had somewhat dated news up on its in-house education and marketing demo screen, while Ebsco Health had Ebola keyed into its DynaMed clinical decision support tool. Both grabbed my attention, so I assume they must have also pulled in more relevant passers by.

Speaking of pulling in passers by, the Televox booth grabbed my attention with its Breast Cancer Awareness Month theme. While I appreciated the opportunity to leave a personal note of encouragement on their ribbon board, I was reminded of several articles pointing out the over-commercialization of breast cancer awareness campaigns, which are often nothing more than thinly veiled attempts to cash in on a serious healthcare issue.

I ran into Roger Panduro from Alere at the CureMD booth. Roger told me that Alere opted not to exhibit this year, and instead sent him to walk the show floor in search of prospective partners. I also bumped into two orthopaedic practice administrators as they were making their way to demos at athenahealth. The happy hour at the CompuGroup Medical booth seemed to have briefly sidetracked them, so with a wave and a toast to my health they were gone.

While I didn’t imbibe at the CGM booth, I did take the opportunity to meet CEO Werner Rodorff, who has been in the position just three months.

Athenahealth came up again in my conversation with Douglas Anderson, a professor of health services management and leadership at George Washington University. His trip to MGMA included meeting with the company to discuss providing EHR demos to his students, who otherwise would have no experience with healthcare IT until they graduated into the trenches. Given the company’s increased focus on disruptive innovation, it seems like a good fit. I wonder if more EHR vendors will consider giving med students access to their technology. Who wouldn’t want to start influencing a group of potential physician champions before they even begin their careers?

I gave my feet a break during lunch and attended the MGMA press briefing. (A good thing I did, too, since I heard the complimentary lunch for attendees in the exhibit hall ran out before everyone was served.) Several MGMA reps discussed future plans including adding new session formats and more immersive elements to the conference, and increasing the membership of larger medical groups. I’m already looking forward to next year’s event in Nashville. While I’ve never been there as a conference-goer, I’ll take it over Las Vegas as a vacation destination any day.

A quick swing back through the exhibit hall after lunch gave me a chance to chat with Amy Hamilton of Patient Prompt. The company was recently acquired by Stericycle Communication Solutions, so MGMA is the first opportunity many staffers from both companies have had to meet each other. Patient Prompt is also using the show as an opportunity to launch new branding.

As I headed upstairs to the education sessions, I was happy to see the e-MDs team had their HIStalk sign front and center. Once upstairs, I had to stop Keith Chew of Integrated Medical Partners for a picture. Not only did he have a plethora of brightly colored conference ribbons hanging from his lanyard, but wore a fun, Halloween-themed tie for an extra dash of color, too. Who says men’s apparel has to be boring? Keith had just come from presenting a session on how to “Survive and Thrive as an Independent Medical Practice,” a session that attracted nearly 200 attendees. Most sessions seemed to be filled to capacity, some with overflow rooms two-thirds filled. The great session attendance speaks to the point Douglas Anderson made about learning being more valuable than buying and selling at MGMA. No doubt speakers and topics also played a part.

I ducked out of the conference to put in a few hours’ worth of work before heading to the Patient Prompt-sponsored #mgma14 tweetup, and then happily ran into several dedicated HIStalk Practice readers making their way to the NextGen party, including Charles Furr Jr., practice administrator at Carolina Asthma & Allergy Center (NC). CAAC recently converted from paper to NextGen, which makes me wonder how many other practices are in that very same boat. Probably more than the folks at eClinicalworks realize.

The NextGen party started off slow (granted, I got there practically when the doors opened), but things livened up as the night wore on. I ended up having my caricature drawn and chatting with a director of IT for a chain of urgent care clinics based in Florida. We discussed the plight of primary care thanks to urgent care clinics like his and big-box retailers like Walmart. He seemed to think PCPs should accept the fact that “medicine has become a commodity,” and patients don’t want to wait for care.

I was happy not to have waited long for a cab ride back to the hotel, where I promptly took the shoes off my aching feet and began planning for my third day at MGMA. Stay tuned for my final report from the show tomorrow.

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jennifer, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg, Lt. Dan, Dr. Travis

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

Get HIStalk Practice  updates.
Contact us online.

From MGMA 10/26/14

Ah, Las Vegas. The identity crisis the city seems to have long-suffered from is a fitting venue for this year’s annual MGMA conference. No doubt physicians are struggling with similar issues, i.e. are they affiliated with the local hospital? Fiercely independent? Staying on or hopping off the Meaningful Use bandwagon? Considering early retirement? Losing patients to the urgent care clinic down the street? No matter how physician practices seek to identify themselves, MGMA this year is focused on keeping everyone moving “Always Forward.”

My trek to Vegas was seamless enough. I had anticipated getting quite a bit of work done on the four-plus hour flight, but thanks to spotty in-flight Wi-Fi, I was able to enjoy an entire book (The Winter Ghosts, by Kate Mosse) instead. Aside from connection issues, the journey was quite relaxing, thanks in large part to Jill and Robyn, the nicest flight attendants I’ve ever met. My experience with Delta remains unmarred.

Thankfully, the taxi queue at McCarran Airport was not quite of HIMSS proportions, and I was even more grateful to find the fare to my hotel, which is within walking distance of the Las Vegas Convention Center, to be not nearly as steep as I have paid in the past. Kudos to MGMA for having it at the LVCC rather than an overpriced casino further away from the airport.

After dropping off my things at the hotel, I enjoyed a five-minute walk to the convention center in balmy 75-degree weather. The conference was easy enough to find once I got inside, thanks in large part to MGMA staffers. More kudos, this time to the folks at the main registration desk for doing their own “work around” to provide me with a badge since the press office had closed for the day. I spent the next 90 minutes delivering HIStalk signs to exhibiting sponsors like CareSync. I’m looking forward to catching up with their team more during Monday’s MGMA tweetup.

Most attendees came to the opening reception in the exhibit hall directly from the day’s keynote, which featured football legend Lou Holz. Long-time MGMA member Sharon Poston, CEO, Williamsburg Regional Hospital (SC), and Cindy Ott, Executive Director, MGMA South Carolina, told me they enjoyed Holz’s speech. I ran into them amidst a group of what seemed like long-lost friends. MGMA Senior Policy Advisor Robert Tennant’s description of MGMA as a place for hugs certainly rang true.

The show floor was fairly busy during the first hour of the reception, though it will likely pale in comparison to tomorrow’s foot traffic. It was actually a great time for me to talk one-on-one with attendees and exhibitors, such as Medelita CEO Joe Francisco, who looked rather dapper in his starched-white physician’s lab coat. Their coats, he explained, were the first to have pockets specifically made to fit iPads.

The booth below, which seemed to be touting handheld massage devices, had by far the most interest of the night. I’ll have to swing back by tomorrow to learn more.

The folks at PracticeLink also had quite a bit of foot traffic. Tammy Hager, director of sales and client development and physician relations, told me physicians enjoy using their online healthcare job search tool to find the perfect fit for open positions.

Allscripts also had a fair amount of foot traffic, thanks to interest in its FollowMyHealth patient portal.

Sherry Baker, RN practice administrator at Louisville Pediatric Specialists (KY), told me in between bites that the last year has been tough from a healthcare IT perspective. She has been busy overseeing implementation of the practice’s Intergy EHR from Greenway Health, which, given some of her comments, was more of a challenge than she bargained for. I hope to run into her tomorrow to learn more about her EHR journey.

The Clinicspectrum booth was certainly eye-catching, as was the Guy Fieri look-alike I ran into. Turns out he’s actually the CompuGroup Medical photographer who will be taking pictures of attendees tomorrow in front of some kind of green screen.

Things began to wind down once the second hour of the reception hit. No doubt attendees were already heading to their hotels to get a head start on the evening’s activities. After finally giving in to a quick stop at the The Coding Network booth, which had some very persistent booth reps who clearly knew their ICD-10 pain points, my first evening at my first MGMA wound to a close. I counted myself lucky that I didn’t have to stand in another taxi queue to get back to my hotel. More updates to come over the next several days. In the meantime, don’t forget to check out the HIStalk “Must-See” Exhibitors Guide for MGMA 2014 for a chance to catch up with some of our sponsors.

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jennifer, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg, Lt. Dan, Dr. Travis

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

Get HIStalk Practice  updates.
Contact us online.

News 10/23/14

Top News

An international healthcare study finds that the United States is near the bottom of the list (tying with Croatia) when it comes to public trust in the medical industry, yet among the most satisfied when it comes to our own medical care. AAFP President Robert Wergin, MD pointed out that “this highlights the problems of our fragmented healthcare system. People put trust in their own doctor, but not the system.” Healthcare scholar Michael Gusmano puts it more succinctly: “People hate Congress, but they like their own representatives.”

HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests

Don’t forget to check out the list of HIStalk sponsors exhibiting at this year’s MGMA conference in Las Vegas via our “Must-See” Exhibitors Guide. Take a moment to look over the products, innovations, and giveaways our sponsors plan to showcase, and map out your trip to the exhibit hall accordingly.

Webinars

November 5 (Wednesday) 1:00 p.m. ET. Keeping it Clean: How Data Profiling Leads to Trusted Data. Sponsored by Encore, A Quintiles Company. Presenters: Lori Yackanicz, administrator of clinical informatics, Lehigh Valley Health Network; Randy L. Thomas, associate partner of performance analytics, Encore, A Quintiles Company; Joy Ales, MHA, BSN, RN, senior consultant, Encore, A Quintiles Company. Data dictionaries, organizational standards, and pick lists for data entry fields may describe the intent of a particular data field, but don’t guarantee that the data captured in the source system actually reflects that intent. Data profiling is the statistical analysis and assessment of the data values in source systems for consistency, uniqueness, and logic to ensure that the data landing in a data warehouse or analytic application is as expected. Attendees will learn which projects benefit from data profiling and the resources needed to accomplish it.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Ingenious Med secures a majority investment stake from North Bridge Growth Equity. Financial terms were not disclosed. As a result, Doug Kingsley and Roshen Menon (North Bridge) have joined Ingenious Med’s Board of Directors. George Lynn (AtlantiCare) has also joined the board.

The local paper spotlights the success investment firm and incubator Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse has seen in the area of healthcare IT, now its fastest-growing segment thanks to companies like TreatSpace and Blender House. President John Manzetti explains that, “the time to market’s faster,” even if the payoffs may be smaller.

Government and Politics

ONC Public Health Analyst John Rancourt throws down the flu vaccination gauntlet. I would love to know what carrots, if any, were dangled in front of the OCT.

Announcements and Implementations

Tennessee Primary Care Association selects population health management and analytics tools from  i2i Systems for 14 of the state’s FQHCs.

The Toledo Outpatient Clinic & Surgery Center (OH) selects the eClinicalWorks EHR and Care Coordination Medical Record for use at its 62 locations.

ChenMed (FL) implements 8×8 Virtual Office services at 36 of its neighborhood medical centers, plus two corporate offices. Roll out of the new cloud-based telephony system for 1,400 users took five weeks.

My Clients Plus offers a new workflow management software application for easier administration and routing of follow-up items.

Jamestown Family Health Clinic (WA) enlists data migration firm Versio to help it transition to Epic. The clinic is part of the Providence Health & Services Community Connect program, which helps provide EHRs to rural hospitals and clinics throughout the area.

Doctorsoft and ADP AdvancedMD announce a partnership that will enable DoctorSoft to offer its ophthalmology EHR with ADP AdvancedMD’s PM and billing solutions.

MedAptus and Entrada announce a partnership that will integrate Entrada’s documentation technology and services into the MedAptus Pro Charge Capture mobile solution.

Research and Innovation

A new report on wearable technology finds that 33 percent of consumers abandon or infrequently use their devices a year after purchase, though nearly half of millenials and early adopters say they are “excited” about the future of wearable tech. “Excited” is a hollow term, given that we don’t know how that excitement will translate into future purchases and utilization. Not surprisingly, the report finds consumers are more willing to try wearable technology provided by their primary care doctor than they are from any other brand or category, and want to be incentivized to use it, rather than pay for it themselves.

People

Modernizing Medicine co-founders Daniel Cane and Michael Sherling, MD receive the Leadership in Healthcare Award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at its annual summit.

Jeffrey Leiden, MD (Vertex Pharmaceuticals) joins the Quest Diagnostics Board of Directors.

CORHIO appoints Patrick Gillies (HHS), Jason Greer (Colorado Community Managed Care Network), Michelle Mills (Colorado Rural Health Center), and Alexis Sgouros (Kaiser Permanente Colorado) to its Board of Directors.

Other

The local paper highlights the successful Accountable Care Coalition of Southeast Wisconsin LLC, formed by Independent Physicians Network and Collaborative Health Systems. The ACO attributes its $8.7 million in shared savings to its $3 million investment in healthcare IT.

EHNAC releases first-draft Accountable Care Organization Accreditation Program (ACOAP) criteria for public review and comment. The comment period closes on December 22.

Sponsor Updates

• NextGen Healthcare and InterSystems enable Missouri Health Connection to provide on-demand bidirectional data exchange with clients.
• Kareo is named a Top 50 EHR Vendor by Medical Economics.

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jennifer, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg, Lt. Dan, Dr. Travis

More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Connect.

Get HIStalk Practice  updates.
Contact us online.