News 4/14/21

Top News

Practice payment and billing software startup Payground raises $4 million in a seed funding round. The Arizona-based company aims to offer a centralized platform from which patients can pay all of their medical bills.

Co-founder and CEO Drew Mercer is no stranger to health IT, having spent time at Experian Health, DaVita, ShareCare, and GE Healthcare.

Webinars

April 20 (Tuesday) noon ET. “The Modern Healthcare CIO: Digital Transformation in a Post-COVID World.” Sponsors: RingCentral, Net Health. Presenters: Dwight Raum, CIO, Johns Hopkins Medicine; Jeff Buda, VP/CIO, Floyd Medical Center. A panel of CIOs from large health systems will discuss how the digital health landscape is changing and what organizations can do now to meet future patient needs. Moderator Jason James, CIO of Net Health, will guide the panelists through topics that include continuum of care and telemedicine, employer-provided care delivery, consumerization of healthcare, and sustainability and workforce management.

April 21 (Wednesday) 1 ET. “Is Gig Work For You?” Sponsor: HIStalk. Presenter: Frank L. Poggio, retired health IT executive and active job search workshop presenter.  This workshop will cover both the advantages and disadvantages of being a gig worker. Attendees will learn how to how to decide if gig work is a good personal fit, find the right company, and protect themselves from unethical ones.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Home blood-drawing startup GetLabs raises $3 million in a seed funding round led by PivotNorth Capital. The 37-employee company will use the financing to officially launch its services in Phoenix, Philadelphia, and Dallas. Its main goal, according to founder and CEO Kyle Michelson, is to eventually partner with telemedicine companies.

OpenLoop raises $3 million in a seed funding round. The company, which launched early last year, has created technology that helps physicians find shifts with telemedicine companies.

People

Cigna promotes Rob Cetti to president of its CareAllies business, which focuses on helping independent physicians transition to and manage value-based care programs.

Okiki Louis, MD (Concentra) joins tech-focused insurance startup Oscar Health as president of its medical group, a network of physician-owned practices offering in-person and virtual care.

Announcements and Implementations

The Mississippi Public Health Institute will offer virtual maternity care from Babyscripts to eligible Ob/Gyn practices across the state.

Already deployed in 29 states, EClinicalWorks announces GA of its Vaccine Administration Management Solution.

Sponsor Updates

• PerfectServe has placed among the top large vendors in a new KLAS report, “Vendor Performance in Response to the COVID-19 Crisis.”

Blog Posts

• A Deep Dive Into Our Vaccine Administration Management Solution (EClinicalWorks)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 4/12/21

Top News

San Francisco-based Canvas Medical raises $17 million and announces a partnership with Anthem and its providers.

The startup has developed EHR, practice management, and telemedicine software to help practices and payer networks share data more effectively.

Former Practice Fusion software engineer Andrew Hines started the company in 2015 after seeing his wife Anna, a nurse practitioner, struggle nightly at home with sub-par charting software.

Webinars

April 20 (Tuesday) noon ET. “The Modern Healthcare CIO: Digital Transformation in a Post-COVID World.” Sponsors: RingCentral, Net Health. Presenters: Dwight Raum, CIO, Johns Hopkins Medicine; Jeff Buda, VP/CIO, Floyd Medical Center. A panel of CIOs from large health systems will discuss how the digital health landscape is changing and what organizations can do now to meet future patient needs. Moderator Jason James, CIO of Net Health, will guide the panelists through topics that include continuum of care and telemedicine, employer-provided care delivery, consumerization of healthcare, and sustainability and workforce management.

April 21 (Wednesday) 1 ET. “Is Gig Work For You?” Sponsor: HIStalk. Presenter: Frank L. Poggio, retired health IT executive and active job search workshop presenter.  This workshop will cover both the advantages and disadvantages of being a gig worker. Attendees will learn how to how to decide if gig work is a good personal fit, find the right company, and protect themselves from unethical ones.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

In Canada, ambulatory health IT company CloudMD acquires workplace healthcare provider Oncidium for $80 million.

AMA commercialization subsidiary Health2047 spins out Emergence Healthcare Group, a turnkey practice management and health IT company focused on independent practices. It will begin offering its services in California’s Bay Area later this year.

People

Kaiser Permanente promotes Diane Comer to chief information technology officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Central Coast Visiting Nurses Association (CA) implements COVID-19 vaccine management software from CharmHealth and an accompanying data-collection app from Countermind.

The EHR division of Canadian Well Health Technologies, which also manages 20 clinics, adopts FHIR standards for third-party app developers.

Sponsor Updates

• PerfectServe publishes the complete guide to “Clinical Collaboration Systems for Hospitals.”

Blog Posts

• ONC 2021 Annual Meeting: Moving towards meaningful communication (Nordic)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 4/7/21

Top News

Firefly Health raises $40 million in a Series B round of funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. The company has developed a virtual-first model for primary care enhanced by partnerships with urgent, home, and specialty care providers.

Its internal billing technology has helped to ensure that providers get paid quickly, which has no doubt helped it attract partners in the four states it currently serves. It will expand its services to another five by the end of the year.

Led by Executive Chairman Jonathan Bush and CEO Fay Rotenberg, Firefly Health will use the new financing to expand its services beyond payers to employers.

Webinars

April 21 (Wednesday) 1 ET. “Is Gig Work For You?” Sponsor: HIStalk. Presenter: Frank L. Poggio, retired health IT executive and active job search workshop presenter.  This workshop will cover both the advantages and disadvantages of being a gig worker. Attendees will learn how to how to decide if gig work is a good personal fit, find the right company, and protect themselves from unethical ones.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Senior-focused primary care company Agilon Health hopes to raise nearly $1 billion in its forthcoming IPO. The California-based company operates in 11 regions.

Practice management company Privia Health files paperwork with the SEC for an IPO. The company has raised over $400 million since launching in 2007.

As Inchoate mentioned in yesterday’s HIStalk post, investment firm KKR has acquired a majority interest in Therapy Brands, parent company of 19 behavioral health IT businesses.

EBlu Solutions raises $11.4 million in a Series A funding round. The company has developed prior authorization verification software for practices that offer in-office infusion and injection treatments.

People

Ellen Donahue-Dalton (Medecision) joins VillageMD as its first chief marketing officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Cardinal Health’s Specialty Solutions business develops a software suite for community-based oncology practices that includes analytics; cloud-based EHR, practice management, RCM, telemedicine, and patient portal solutions; Jvion’s Core clinical decision tool; and clinical trials matching capabilities.

WebMD announces GA of PracticePro software that includes patient engagement and intake, and practice marketing and CRM capabilities.

Welkin Health launches a care management platform physicians can customize to meet their virtual, in-person, or hybrid care model needs.

Tucson Gastroenterology (AZ) and Midland Cardiac Clinic (TX) select RCM software and services from Greenway Health.

Other

Zoom fatigue is real, y’all: Just over half of 1,800 surveyed drivers say they have trouble concentrating behind the wheel after video chatting. Perhaps physicians should start recommending that patients complete a set or two of jumping jacks after every video call.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 4/5/21

Top News

New Haven, CT-based medical billing and patient communications startup Inbox Health raises $15 million in a Series A round of funding led by Commerce Ventures.

HIStalk Practice Musings

I’m nearing the end of Emma Donoghue’s “The Pull of the Stars,” which chronicles several fictitious days in the life of a maternity/fever ward nurse in an Irish hospital during World War 1 and the Spanish flu outbreak of 1918. I could do without the recurring use of the word “pandemic,” things being what they are; other than that, the book is one I’m flying through eagerly. Sort of fun fact: According to an interview with the author, the meaning of the word ‘influenza’ comes from an Italian superstition that stars influenced health. That they were directly causing the flu.”

I always enjoy coming across recommended reading lists from health IT companies. Pivot Point Consulting has put together this stack as part of its 10th anniversary promotions.

Webinars

April 21 (Wednesday) 1 ET. “Is Gig Work For You?” Sponsor: HIStalk. Presenter: Frank L. Poggio, retired health IT executive and active job search workshop presenter.  This workshop will cover both the advantages and disadvantages of being a gig worker. Attendees will learn how to how to decide if gig work is a good personal fit, find the right company, and protect themselves from unethical ones.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

New York City-based CoachCare will use new funding to further develop and scale its telemedicine and remote patient monitoring services.

People

Healthcare analytics and cloud-based software vendor WhiteSpace Health names Gautam Char (Kriya Capital) president and CEO.

American Oncology Network promotes Todd Schonherz to CEO. Schonherz succeeds Brad Prechtl, who will take on the role of president and chief development officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Outpatient mental healthcare provider LifeStance Health implements patient engagement and analytics software from OnTrak.

Pivot Physical Therapy leverages technology from on-demand PT company Luna to match patients with best-fit physical therapists for in-home visits and messaging in between appointments.

Ambulatory management services organization Revo Health will roll out practice management software from Allscripts to its network Infinite Health Collaborative clinics.

Other

British physician David Jeffrey, MD suggests medical students study Shakespeare and his “empathic approach” as a way of enhancing the patient-doctor relationship. He cites “King Lear,” “The Tempest,” and “As You Like It” as examples of ways in which Shakespeare’s plays ”encourage students and doctors to engage a psychosocial perspective when thinking about the patient’s story, stimulating their ability to see the world through the other’s eyes.”

Sponsor Updates

• PerfectServe’s Optimized Provider Scheduling powered by Lightning Bolt achieves top customer satisfaction rankings in the latest Enterprise Physician Scheduling report from KLAS.
• Medicomp Systems releases the first episode of its “Tell Me Where It Hurts” podcast with Jay Anders, MD.

Blog Posts

• Growing from strong foundations (Nordic)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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Contact us online.
Become a sponsor.

News 3/31/21

Top News

The FCC prepares to launch a second round of funding for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program, which has already issued $200 million to 539 applicants for assistance with implementing virtual care capabilities.

The second round, funded by $250 million from the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, will feature several changes from the first including more equitable distribution across states and territories, an applicant rating system, application deadline, and phased funding.

Webinars

April 21 (Wednesday) 1 ET. “Is Gig Work For You?” Sponsor: HIStalk. Presenter: Frank L. Poggio, retired health IT executive and active job search workshop presenter.  This workshop will cover both the advantages and disadvantages of being a gig worker. Attendees will learn how to how to decide if gig work is a good personal fit, find the right company, and protect themselves from unethical ones.

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

People

American Oncology Network promotes Caroline Hewitt to VP of marketing.

Marathon Health promotes co-founder Jeff Wells, MD to CEO. Wells replaces retiring Jerry Ford, who will remain a board member and advisor. The company has also hired Matt Weissert (Hazel Health) as SVP of client and care team experience.

Announcements and Implementations

SimplePractice develops Monarch, a directory of therapy providers and online booking capabilities that can be integrated into EHRs.

New Jersey Urology has implemented Phreesia’s patient intake software, including no-contact check-in capabilities from a patient’s home or car.

Azalea Health integrates PatientPing’s real-time care alert and coordination software with its AzaleaOne EHR.

Government and Politics

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont allocates $1.3 million in CMS funding to help providers connect their EHRs to the state PDMP via Appriss Health’s PMP Gateway interface.

Other

Netsmart earns the highest ranking for customer satisfaction in a Black Book ambulatory EHR survey of nearly 2,000 mental and behavioral health professionals.

Sponsor Updates

Blog Posts

• 5 steps to creating a 5-star online reputation (AdvancedMD)
• Better Ways to Hear Patients’ Stories (EClinicalWorks)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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