News 3/20/23

Top News

Allermi, a direct-to-consumer digital allergy care company, raises $3.5 million in seed funding. The startup plans to expand beyond the 28 states in which it is currently licensed.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Behavioral health IT vendor Infinity rebrands to SimiTree Behavioral Health. RCM, outsourcing, and professional services company SimiTree acquired Infinity last year.

People

Hinge Health names James Budge (Automation Anywhere) CFO.

Practice Pro promotes Tim Moore to CEO. He replaces founder Sanjay Patel, who will become chief product officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Sleep Matters, a sleep disorders clinic in Tennessee, implements EClinicalWorks.

Other

The New York Public Library will host free “Take Charge with MyChart” classes to help patrons learn how to find a new physician, access medical records and test results, schedule and/or attend a telemedicine appointment, and refill prescriptions using Mount Sinai’s Epic-powered MyChart software.

The Chicago Tribune profiles 88 year-old Glenn Bynum, MD a retired physician who has served as a ringside physician on the Golden Gloves boxing circuit for 55 years and counting. “Doc Bynum” has examined and cleared thousands of fighters over the years, including Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Sponsor Updates

• PerfectServe is accepting nominations for its Nurses of Note awards through April 14.

Blog Posts

• Driving Digital Transformation in Healthcare (Nordic)
• Can Healthcare Technology Beat Burnout? Not On Its Own. (PerfectServe)
• How to Improve Care for Spanish-Speaking Patients (Healthwise)
• 4 Ways AI-enabled RPM Helps Close Gaps in Patient Care (AdvancedMD)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 3/15/23

Top News

OpenLoop Health, a white label telehealth company based in Iowa, raises $15 million in a Series A funding round. The company expanded its clinical expertise with the acquisition of Reliant.MD’s practice group earlier this year. Last month, it announced plans to expand its headquarters to accommodate over 100 new employees.

The funding coincides with the company’s launch of payer and RCM services.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Hopper Health launches to offer membership-based, virtual primary care services to adults living with autism, ADHD, OCD, dyslexia, and Tourette’s. Founder Katya Siddall-Cipolla is a former Army combat medic and Blue Cross Blue Shield VP. She named the company after Admiral Grace Hopper, a mathematician and one of the world’s first computer programmers.

People

Caleb Anderson (Netsmart) joins Athenahealth as chief sales officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Bristol Advanced Illness Management implements EHR, practice management, and RCM technology and services from EClinicalWorks across its facilities in nine states.

Government and Politics

The federal government charges former Wedgewood Physicians COO Francisco Ortiz and physician James Mersing, MD with allegedly stealing $650,000 from their former employer. Over a three-year period, Ortiz diverted funds for personal travel, home improvements, and Amazon orders. He also gave Mersing unauthorized bonuses, which Mersing then returned portions of as kickbacks.

Other

Google search results will soon highlight community healthcare facilities that offer free or low-cost care.

Good fun for a good cause: In Tennessee, the Chattanooga Medical Alliance will host MedRock: Battle of the (Physician) Bands on March 25. Proceeds from the event will fund college scholarships for high school seniors interested in pursuing healthcare-related careers. Attendees will have the chance to bid on a guitar played, signed, and donated by Peter Frampton.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 3/13/23

Top News

Iron Health raises $4.5 million in a seed funding round. The company helps women’s healthcare providers connect their patients with primary and specialty care, and virtual services.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Behavioral health EHR vendor Streamline Healthcare Solutions secures growth capital funding from Gauge Capital.

Telemedicine outsourcing company Beam Healthcare raises an undisclosed amount of funding from Decathlon Capital Partners.

People

GoCheck Kids names Naveen Kathuria (EFamilyCare) CEO.

Announcements and Implementations

Wellpoint Care Network (WI) selects SmartCare EHR technology from Streamline Healthcare Solutions.

Goshen Medical Center, an FQHC with 38 sites in North Carolina, will implement value-based care technologies and services with help from Cary Medical Management.

Mercy Care and Clinic (MD) selects EClinicalWorks.

Research and Innovation

Researchers from the University of Minnesota analyze data from 8 million primary care visits and determine that shorter visits are associated with potentially inappropriate prescribing decisions, particularly related to antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections and co-prescribing of opioids and benzodiazepines for pain. While researchers were not able to to determine an optimal length of office-visit time, they did reason that visit volume in fee-for-service reimbursement models should be maintained at a level that doesn’t impact quality of care.

Other

Codman Square Health Center in Boston notifies patients of a late November ransomware attack that may have put certain PHI at risk.

Florida Medical Clinic announces that it was the victim of a ransomware attack in early January. The clinic determined that 94,000 patient files were compromised to some degree, though no financial information was breached.

Sponsor Updates

• Nordic releases a new In Network Podcast, “Designing for Health: Interview with Dr. Srinath Adusumalli.”
• EClinicalWorks releases a new podcast, “Keeping Patients Safe and Compliant.”
• Nordic releases a new episode of DocTalk.

Blog Posts

• Breaking down the barriers to health equity (Nordic)
• Can Healthcare Technology Beat Burnout? Not On Its Own. (PerfectServe)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 3/8/23

Top News

Women’s care company Tia secures an undisclosed amount of funding from Pivotal Ventures, bringing its total funding to $150 million. (Based on past funding rounds, Pivotal’s investment is likely less than $23 million.)

Tia, which launched in 2017 as a text-based women’s sexual health and wellness app, now operates membership-based virtual and in-person clinics for patients in California, Arizona, and New York. It plans on opening more clinics in the near future, though co-founder and CEO Carolyn Witte says the company has had to scale back expansion plans due to economic concerns.

Webinars

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

Announcements and Implementations

Advanced Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Institute (NJ) signs on with Health Plus Management, a practice management company specializing in orthopedic, physical therapy, and physical medicine and rehabilitation practices.

Elizabeth Layton Center (KS) selects Credible behavioral health EHR software from Qualifacts.

Access Family Care, an FQHC with several locations in Missouri, selects EClinicalWorks.

Research and Innovation

Patients prefer text messaging to phone calls when it comes to communicating with providers, according to a patient perspectives survey of 1,200 people. The survey also found that patients will give their physicians just two chances before looking elsewhere for care, and that 75% of patients research potential providers online before booking appointments.

Other

Northeast Surgical Group (MI) notifies patients of a January data breach involving “suspicious activity within its network environment.” NSG maintains that it has not found any evidence to suggest patient data was misused by the hackers. DataBreaches.net, however, has determined that the BianLian ransomware group has put NSG files on the dark web.

Sponsor Updates

• AdvancedMD publishes a new e-book, “2023 MIPS Attestation Guide.”
• Nordic releases a new podcast, “Making Rounds: The Big Squeeze in Healthcare.”
• AdvancedMD publishes a new e-guide, “2023 CPT/HCPCS Codebook.”

Blog Posts

• Be the Poison Control (or help desk) operator your colleagues need you to be (Nordic)
• How Clinical Communication Helps Critical Access Hospitals Improve Patient Outcomes (PerfectServe)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 3/6/23

Top News

Fertility-focused provider Kindbody raises $100 million, bringing its total funding to $290 million and its valuation to $1.8 billion. The company, which operates 17 clinics across the country, will use the new investment to open 10 additional clinics and acquire virtual health and fertility companies.

HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests

Thanks to Nordic for supporting HIStalk Practice. Click the logo for more information.

Webinars

March 7 (Tuesday) noon ET.  “Prescribe RPA 2.0 to Treat Healthcare Worker Burnout.” Sponsor: Keysight Technologies. Presenters: Anne Foster, MS, technical consultant manager, Eggplant; Emily Yan, MPA, product marketing manager, Keysight Technologies. Half of US health systems plan to invest in robotic process automation by the end of this year, per Gartner. The concept is evolving to help with staff burnout and physician productivity. The presenters will introduce RPA 2.0, explain how to maximize its value, demonstrate how to quickly start on RPA 2.0 and test automation in one platform, and answer questions about healthcare automation.

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

People

Rick Russo (ETQ) joins CentralReach as CFO.

Announcements and Implementations

Family Practice Center (PA) will leverage Agilon Health’s tech-enabled Total Care Model to provide value-based care for its senior patients.

In California, Inyo and Trinity County Behavioral Health Departments implement Credible behavioral health EHR software from Qualifacts with help from Kings View Professional Services.

De Baca Family Clinic (NM) selects EHR and patient engagement software from EClinicalWorks.

Other

@healthythinker shares a recent email from Amazon Health touting its new “frustration-free” primary care service. Amazon finalized its $3.9 billion acquisition of One Medical last month.

Meanwhile, as Mr. HIStalk noted in a recent post, the FTC has warned Amazon that it will be monitoring its use of patient data following its acquisition of One Medical, noting that it will judge pre-acquisition privacy promises by the standard of a “reasonable consumer” rather than that of a HIPAA expert.

The Chautauqua Center (NY) notifies its physical and occupational therapy patients of a third-party data breach affecting its EHR vendor, WebPT. According to the company, patient data from a referral report was inadvertently exposed in late December to a limited number of clinics using the WebPT system. DataBreaches.net has since reported that TCC has switched from WebPT to Athenahealth.

The local news profiles Boss Lady Docs, an informal networking group of female physicians working in hospitals and private practice in and around Chicago. Orthopedic surgeon Lauren Matteini, MD launched the group in late 2020 as a way to connect with and provide local doctors informal support, mentoring, medical consultations, business help, and camaraderie. Largely facilitated by Matteini via WhatsApp, the group has grown from 25 to 165 members.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks achieves Google’s Chrome Enterprise Recommended designation.
• Nordic publishes a podcast titled “Making Rounds: The Big Squeeze in Healthcare.”

Blog Posts

• Survey: Your Practice is Losing Almost a Month to Financial Busy Work (AdvancedMD)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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