News 8/15/22

Top News

Cosentus Business Services has acquired RCM vendor SyMed for an undisclosed amount. SyMed founder and CEO Arthur Roosa has become chief business and technology strategist for Cosentus.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

The local business paper profiles NBA player Giannis Antetokounmpo’s support for telehealth company Antidote Health. The two-time MVP from the Milwaukee Bucks (though the Chicago Bulls may be a future option) has invested $1 million in the startup, which has raised $36 million since launching in 2020. Antetokounmpo says he has become an advocate for the company because “I didn’t have health care until I was 18, until I got to the NBA and I was able to go to the doctor, talk to the doctor. It’s a lot of people not able to do it. I’m not the expert in this, but I care about people. And I believe it’s a human right to have access to doctors, to talk to somebody to tell them about your issues, to tell them about what you’re going through mentally, about your struggle. It’s a human right, so everybody should have that access.”

Privia Health reports a 48.6% jump in second quarter revenue to $335.5 million, due in part to sizeable jumps in implemented providers and practice collections. The company, which offers tech-enabled practice optimization services, went public 15 months ago.

Telemedicine for Us launches with assistance from The Physicians Practice SOS Group. The virtual visit startup will initially serve adult patients in Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana.

Announcements and Implementations

NextGen will apply to ONC to become a TEFCA-enabled, vendor-agnostic Qualified Health Information Network. According to the company, it is the first ambulatory-specific vendor to apply to become a QHIN.

Other

After a stint in private pediatric practice in New York, Jessica Cruz, MD returns to her native Vero Beach, FL and opens a pediatric practice with Asoka Wijetilleki, MD who delivered her 39 years before. The timing for both was fortuitous, as “Dr. Wije,” who’d been working for AdventHealth, was looking for new opportunities after the health system relocated its clinic to Melbourne. Cruz acquired what is now Vero Beach Pediatrics and quickly hired her former pediatrician. “It’s all come full circle,” Wije says. “I’ve known Jessica her whole life and now she’s taking over. While I have no intention of retiring, having her handle all the business side of our practice frees up my time to do what I love most – taking care of our little patients.”

A practice management software vendor in the UK treats one of its customers, an NHS clinic in London, to a “wellness hub” to give staff a place to rest and recharge. Designed by a former NHS worker turned celebrity interior designer, the space has received rave reviews from the clinic’s employees.

Sponsor Updates

• PerfectServe adds more than 400 physician practices across 37 states in the first half of 2022.
• EClinicalWorks releases a new podcast, “How Payer Data in Healow Insights Can Help Improve Care.”

Blog Posts

• A Different Point of View: EHRs Must Evolve into Platforms for Communities of Care (Medicomp Systems)
• How Healthcare Can Change the Odds with Value-Based Care (TigerConnect)
• Overcoming frozen thinking in healthcare (Nordic)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 8/10/22

Top News

Community Health Center of New River Valley (VA) will build upon a pilot project with UVA Cancer Center focused on boosting screening rates for colon cancer. The initial phase of the pilot, conducted between 2019 and 2021, saw screenings increase from 30.5% to 47.3% using a combination of phone call reminders and automated reminders sent through patient portals. The next phase, which will seek to increase screenings to 80% of eligible patients, will expand to include the hiring of a cancer screening navigator, additional staff training, and improved patient education materials.

Webinars

None scheduled in the coming weeks. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present your own.

Announcements and Implementations

Pacific Private Practice Network, a California-based ACO, selects Provider1st’s physician enablement software and services, including analytics, RCM, and patient engagement.

ENT and Allergy Associates implements InteliChart’s patient portal across its 56 locations in New York and New Jersey.

NextGen adds group visit functionality to virtual visit technology available within its EHR.

Government and Politics

Health centers and organizations around the country celebrate National Health Center Week.

Other

Medical satirist @DGlaucomflecken shares an email from a disgruntled fan who works in family medicine, jumpstarting an interesting tweet thread on satire’s role in highlighting the challenges of working in certain areas of healthcare, as well as the whys and wherefores of going into family medicine and/or primary care. The consensus seems to be that med students probably shouldn’t base their career paths on TikTok videos.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks releases a new customer success story, “Transforming Care for Two Practices with Healow Insights.”

Blog Posts

• Streamline the Prior-Authorization Process in 2022 (AdvancedMD)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 8/8/22

Top News

As part of its ongoing effort to advance health equity, HHS awards nearly $90 million to 1,400 health centers across the country to help them improve data collection and reporting.

Webinars

August 10 (Wednesday) 12:30 ET. “Navigating healthcare’s data quality challenge: An actionable discussion.” Sponsor: Intelligent Medical Objects. Presenters: Alastair Allen, CTO, Better; Dale Sanders, chief strategy officer, IMO. Achieving a consolidated patient record is challenging in an environment of hospital M&A, where EHR rip-and-replace projects are expensive and HIEs and FHIR connectivity haven’t significantly accelerated progress. The underlying problem is that systems don’t speak the same language due to a lack of comprehensive, persistent clinical terminology and data standards adoption. UK-based Better offers a unique, FHIR-based approach to integrating disparate EHR data. The presenters will explore how to improve clinical data quality and how interoperable information can be used to support patient safety, reimbursement, and population health management.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

One Medical reports a 27% year-over-year increase in membership during its Q2 earnings review. Net revenue also saw an increase, jumping 112% to $256 million. Amazon announced several weeks ago that it will acquire the membership-based primary care company for $3.9 billion.

Performant Capital combines recently acquired companies DavLong Business Solutions and On Demand Solutions into a new Provider Technology business. The company will offer providers outsourced software and IT services, and RCM and administrative support.

Health information management vendor ScanSTAT acquires release-of-information company Resolve ROI for an undisclosed amount. Both companies are based in Georgia.

People

Ken Persen (Livmor) joins HeartBeam as CTO.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks releases a new podcast, “Improving Patient Safety by Avoiding Medical Abbreviations.”

Blog Posts

• Nurses of Note Awards 2022: The Senior Manager of Clinical Professional Development (PerfectServe)
• How to Leverage Communication and Data to Improve Patient Handoffs (TigerConnect)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 8/3/22

Top News

Homeward raises $50 million in a Series B funding round, bringing its total raised to $70 million. The company partners with health plans to deliver tech-enabled mobile, virtual, and in-home care to Medicare patients in rural communities.

Webinars

August 10 (Wednesday) 12:30 ET. “Navigating healthcare’s data quality challenge: An actionable discussion.” Sponsor: Intelligent Medical Objects. Presenters: Alastair Allen, CTO, Better; Dale Sanders, chief strategy officer, IMO. Achieving a consolidated patient record is challenging in an environment of hospital M&A, where EHR rip-and-replace projects are expensive and HIEs and FHIR connectivity haven’t significantly accelerated progress. The underlying problem is that systems don’t speak the same language due to a lack of comprehensive, persistent clinical terminology and data standards adoption. UK-based Better offers a unique, FHIR-based approach to integrating disparate EHR data. The presenters will explore how to improve clinical data quality and how interoperable information can be used to support patient safety, reimbursement, and population health management.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Patient adherence software vendor CareTrack secures $2.5 million from Hybrid Capital Partners. The Carrolton, Georgia-based company’s technology helps primary care providers manage Medicare patient care in between appointments. CareTrack co-founders Andrew Mills and Derek Skinner hail from Greenway Health.

People

Joseph Ortiz (Concept 2 Market) joins MedMatch as chief innovations and operations officer.

PatientIQ names Erik Johnson (Verato) VP of marketing.

Ro co-founder Rob Schutz will step down as chief growth officer, transitioning to an advisory role and maintaining his seat on the board. The online prescription delivery and telemedicine company launched in 2017, achieving a $7 billion valuation earlier this year alongside its $150 million funding round. It laid off 18% of its workforce in June.

Announcements and Implementations

Orbit Telehealth (fka Telespine) develops white-label virtual care capabilities for physical therapists.

Athenahealth integrates DrFirst’s RxInform patient medication notification software with its EHR to improve medication adherence.

Silver Health Care implements CareTrack’s patient adherence software for Medicare patients across its five locations in New Mexico.

Other

Frome Medical Practice in Somerset, England, has partnered with the local library to make blood pressure monitors available to patrons, who can then submit their results via the practice’s website. The practice will follow up with those whose readers are higher or lower than normal.

Perhaps library-goers in Frome will check out the fairly new memoir from Vanderbilt pediatric neurosurgeon Jay Wellons, MD. “All That Moves Us: A Pediatric Neurosurgeon, His Young Patients, and Their Stories of Grace and Resilience” “reflects on triumphant successes, unforeseen complications, and the young patients whose lives have been in his hands,” according to recent BookBub review.

Sponsor Updates

Blog Posts

• Best Practices for Negotiating Health Insurance Contracts (AdvancedMD)
• Closing the Gap Between Patients and Their Records (EClinicalWorks)
• How to Create Fair (and Pain-Free) Physician Schedules (TigerConnect)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 8/1/22

Top News

Carequality expands its interoperability framework to allow the participation of federal agencies. The expansion comes courtesy of updated agreements with existing member EHealth Exchange, which offers federal agencies HIE capabilities.

Implementers of the Carequality framework includes customers of ambulatory HIT vendors like Athenahealth, EClinicalWorks, NextGen, PCC, Allscripts, and Epic.

Mr. HIStalk interviewed Mariann Yeager, CEO of The Sequoia Project, Carequality’s parent organization, earlier this year.

Webinars

August 10 (Wednesday) 12:30 ET. “Navigating healthcare’s data quality challenge: An actionable discussion.” Sponsor: Intelligent Medical Objects. Presenters: Alastair Allen, CTO, Better; Dale Sanders, chief strategy officer, IMO. Achieving a consolidated patient record is challenging in an environment of hospital M&A, where EHR rip-and-replace projects are expensive and HIEs and FHIR connectivity haven’t significantly accelerated progress. The underlying problem is that systems don’t speak the same language due to a lack of comprehensive, persistent clinical terminology and data standards adoption. UK-based Better offers a unique, FHIR-based approach to integrating disparate EHR data. The presenters will explore how to improve clinical data quality and how interoperable information can be used to support patient safety, reimbursement, and population health management.

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

Announcements and Implementations

Bright Futures Speech Therapy in San Diego selects Kareo’s EHR, practice management, and billing software.

Research and Innovation

A study of 59 end users and 1,000 patients finds there’s a bit of a disconnect between perceptions of EHR utilization: Just one third of clinicians felt that patients perceived EHR use to be a positive experience. The majority of clinicians reported that, because of the EHR, they maintained less eye contact, listened less carefully, and focused less on their patients – all of which they felt contributed to less personal appointments. Patients felt otherwise, with nearly 92% reporting that their clinician’s use of an EHR was positive.

A survey of 1,000 patients finds that they typically give a practice four chances before seriously considering switching providers. Ease of payment, ability to make online appointments, digital access to medical records, and receptiveness to new technology were cited as factors that help to retain patients.

Innovators develop XRAI Glass, smart glasses for people who are deaf or suffer from hearing loss that use augmented reality to convert audio into captions that are displayed in front of the wearer’s eyes.

Other

Summer’s not over yet: AMA members recommend five novels and eight nonfiction books to add to your summer reading list.

We still have Internet (in case those venomous possums come calling).

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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