News 8/24/22

Top News

Healthcare finance and supply chain software and services startup Nitra raises $62 million and launches its first product, a rewards-based Visa Business card for practice owners.

The company’s partners include PatientPop, Zocdoc, and Amazon; while its advisory board boasts CityMD co-founder Richard Park and Practice Fusion founder Ryan Howard.

Webinars

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

Announcements and Implementations

HASA, an HIE that serves 3,000 physicians and 70 hospitals in Texas, rebrands to C3HIE to better reflect its focus on connection, collaboration, and community. The nonprofit also serves healthcare organizations in California, Delaware, and Florida.

Cipher Skin integrates Kno2’s health data exchange capabilities with its musculoskeletal care/recovery-monitoring system for physical therapy patients, enabling data to be transmitted from the system’s sensors to a physical therapist’s EHR.

Research and Innovation

Researchers determine that a primary care physician needs 26.7 hours to see an average daily number of patients and complete related administrative tasks. Documentation and inbox management took up 3.2 hours, according to the simulation study. Researchers suggest team-based care models, such as the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus model, could reduce daily care delivery to just 9.3 hours.

Other

The local paper profiles clean-up efforts in Neon, KY, which suffered devastating floods last month. The practice of Brenda Baker, MD was destroyed when nine-foot-high waters broke through the broken Yonts Fork flood gate. Baker, who is now seeing patients at the local middle school, lost $60,000 in medical equipment.

Sponsor Updates

Blog Posts

• How this simple cybersecurity practice could save you from a data breach (AdvancedMD)

• Addressing the Acute Need for Chronic Care Services (EClinicalWorks)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 8/22/22

Top News

RCM software vendor Alpha II acquires Health EFilings, which offers analytics and automated MIPS reporting.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Motivo Health, which has developed an online marketplace to help aspiring mental health therapists obtain licensure, raises $14 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Cox Enterprises, which has also invested in Enlace Health (value-based care software), Rimidi (chronic care management), and Rock Health (digital health fund and accelerator).

Thirty Madison reportedly lays off 10% of its corporate staff. The company offers consumers online prescriptions for hair loss, women’s sexual healthcare, migraines, GI conditions, allergies, and skin conditions. The New York City-based company, which has raised $210 million since launching five years ago, laid off 24 employees in May after acquiring women’s online sexual healthcare provider Nurx earlier this year.

Government and Politics

An audit finds that Florida Parishes Human Services Authority failed to adhere to public bid law requirements for a $1.2 million contract for a new EHR purchased last year. Specifically, FPHSA, which provides mental health services for five parishes in Louisiana, failed to advertise project bids in the requisite publications. FPHSA’s executive director attributed the error to a lack of experience with software purchasing processes. It began implementing the unnamed system earlier this summer.

Research and Innovation

A study out of the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute finds that Medicare claims submitted by non-practicing providers within radiology practices increased 16.3% between 2017 and 2019. Study author Richard Duszak, Jr., MD says further analysis is needed to determine the impact of the increase, though he does note that radiologists have increasingly been handing off certain types of examinations to NPPs.

Sponsor Updates

• Medicomp Systems releases a new Tell Me Where It Hurts Podcast featuring MedAllies CEO John Blair, MD.
• Nordic posts a new episode in its “DocTalk” video series.

Blog Posts

• Hospital Call Center Software: How to Solve the Top 3 Issues (PerfectServe)
• Understanding the financial impacts of clinical communication and collaboration (TigerConnect)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 8/17/22

Top News

Online prescription startup Dr. B raises $8 million. Founded by Zocdoc founder Cyrus Massoumi, the company offers diagnosis and prescriptions for the treatment of COVID-19. Head of Technology Misha Kaletsky joined the company after stints at Haven and Zocdoc.

Webinars

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

Announcements and Implementations

Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute implements NCODA’s new Rxchange virtual learning program, which offers clinicians real-time updates on new cancer treatment therapies, technologies, and innovations.

Mann Eye Institute selects EHR, billing, practice management, patient engagement, and analytics software from ModMed.

The Good Clinic will implement Athenahealth’s AthenaOne suite of ambulatory health technologies at its six facilities in Minnesota.

Other

DataBreaches.net reports that Practice Resources has notified state and federal officials that it was the victim of an April ransomware attack that affected 942,138 patients of 28 customers.

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Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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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

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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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