News 8/7/24

Top News

CVS Health shares drop on the news of disappointing Q2 results largely stemming from its lackluster Aetna health benefits business. CEO Karen Lynch will take over management of Aetna from EVP and President Brian Kane, who’d been in that role for less than a year. 

The company reported a 2.6% increase in overall Q2 revenue to $91.2 billion. Revenue of its health services segment decreased 8.8%, which the company attributes in part to the loss of a unnamed large customer (presumably Target). The segment, which the company rebranded to CVS Healthspire last year, includes Oak Street Health, Signify Health, and MinuteClinic; as well as PBM and provider enablement solutions.

Webinars

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

People

April Gill (Tabula Rasa HealthCare) joins Smart Data Solutions as chief commercial officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Ensoftek incorporates Blueprint’s AI-powered clinical documentation capabilities into its DrCloudEHR.

Cayuga Addiction Recovery Services (NY) will use $25,000 in state grant funding for facility improvements and to expand its telehealth capabilities.

Opkit develops AI-powered software that automates routine, back-office phone calls to payers, pharmacies, and patients for the collection of medical records.

Alchemy Vein Specialists will implement practice management software and services from Medmio.

Other

Delta County Libraries will use a $125,000 grant from the Colorado Lt. Governor’s Office of EHealth Innovations to launch the Connect to Your Health at Your Library! initiative, which will enable patrons to access virtual care from the comfort of their homes using equipment and hot spots checked out at one of the system’s five libraries.

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Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 8/5/24

Top News

Cano Health CEO Mark Kent provides a few post-bankruptcy updates, noting the company has achieved $280 million of its $290 million cost-transformation goal, and, correspondingly, that its employee headcount and footprint has decreased from 4,000 employees in 170 locations to 2,200 employees in 80 locations. The primary care company has now concentrated its services solely in Florida, where it is headquartered.

HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests

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Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

A local news outlet highlights the problems Coastal Kids founder Steve Abelowitz, MD has experienced since going into business with private equity firm Summit Partners and its management company Pediatric Associate Holdings in December 2020. Abelowitz says PAH is directly responsible for a drop in support staff; inadequate training; improper care; putting privately-insured patients before publicly-insured patients so as to garner larger reimbursements; outsourcing the practice’s call center to a facility in Mexico, resulting in onerous wait times; and ultimately barring him from the property. He is currently suing the organizations for wrongful termination and defamation.

David Acosta Tirado launches telemedicine company Verte Healthcare to give patients in Puerto Rico easier access to healthcare.

People

Masoud Nourmohammadi joins CareAbout Health as CTO.

Announcements and Implementations

GI Alliance implements ModMed’s Klara patient collaboration software across its network of practices in 19 states.

Government and Politics

New data from HHS shows that 31 million patients were cared for at HRSA-funded health centers in 2023 – an increase of 2.7 million over the preceding three years.

Other

Kayal Orthopaedic Center founder, President, and CEO Robert Kayal, MD debuts “Mastering The Business of Medicine & The Doctor-Patient Relationship: From Solo Practice Entrepreneur To Orthopaedic Empire.” Kayal says he was inspired to write the book after seeing many physicians give up, change careers, or sell out to large healthcare companies because they didn’t have the needed business acumen to succeed on their own.

Sponsor Updates

• PerfectServe releases a new Lightning Bolt case study, “How to Rapidly Deploy a Scheduling Solution Across a Large Health System.”
• Waystar will exhibit at the HFMA 2024 Mid-America Summer Institute August 5-7 in Omaha.
• EClinicalWorks announces the results of a recent survey on the perceptions of how AI helps the healthcare industry.

Blog Posts

• Why healthcare needs a robust strategy to secure IT service desks (Nordic)
• How to Maximize Efficiency of an AI-Powered Medical Scribe (EClinicalWorks)
• 7 Effective Strategies to Prevent Healthcare Denials (FinThrive)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 7/31/24

Top News

Spring Health, which offers digital mental healthcare programs to employers and payers, achieves a $3.3 billion valuation with a $100 million Series E funding round led by Generation Investment Management.

Webinars

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

Announcements and Implementations

Prime HealthCare (CT) selects Athenahealth’s AthenaOne EHR, RCM, and patient engagement platform.

Schweiger Dermatology Group will leverage Lynx.MD’s data and analytics platform as a part of its precision medicine efforts across its 110 offices in eight states.

Scrivas announces GA of its SAI AI-powered medical scribe software for physician practices.

Georgia Kidney Associates selects virtual care management technology and services from Vironix Health.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 7/29/24

Top News

Occupational healthcare company Concentra raises $529 million in its IPO, $56 million shy of its intended goal.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Astrana Health (formerly known as Apollo Medical Holdings) will acquire Centene business Collaborative Health Systems, a management services organization for independent primary care practices. The acquisition marks Astrana’s second in 2024, having purchased Community Family Care Medical Group IPA (CA) in April.

UnitedHealth Group’s Optum care delivery business will lay off 525 employees and close several urgent care clinics and physician practices in California beginning in mid-September. A new state law is set to increase the hourly wage of healthcare workers from a minimum of $15 to $26 beginning October 15.

Announcements and Implementations

Livingston Community Health (CA), Moses Lake Community Health Center (WA), and Bedford-Stuyvesant Family Health Center (NY) are among a dozen FQHCs that have recently selected digital patient communications software from Artera.

The Chicago Lighthouse, a social services nonprofit, implements TCN’s cloud-based contact center technology and integrates it with its Epic EHR.

Research and Innovation

BUDS Technology develops the Nurse Daisy virtual medical assistant app, which offers automated remote symptom and vital sign monitoring, triage, check-ins, and follow-ups.

Other

The Oklahoma State University Department of Agricultural Economics spearheads a rural telehealth project at four local libraries using grant money from organizations like AARP. The potential for additional library-based telehealth sites has led the state to start defining telehealth standards for rural libraries. Southern Oklahoma Library System Executive Director Gail Oehler points out that, “We’re willing to do these kinds of partnerships and innovative projects like the one with OSU Extension because it’s our mission as a local library.”

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks will offer customers within Aledade’s network free access to Sunoh.ai’s AI medical scribe software.

Blog Posts

• Data security, providing patient financial care + more: Navigating cyberattack ripple effects (Waystar)
• Transforming Rheumatology Workflows with EClinicalWorks (EClinicalWorks)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 7/24/24

Top News

Humana’s chain of CenterWell primary care clinics for seniors will open new locations in 23 former Walmart Health clinics in Florida, Georgia, Missouri, and Texas.

Citing reimbursement challenges, Walmart Health abruptly closed all of its 51 clinics last month and quickly sold off its MeMD virtual care service.

CenterWell anticipates openings its new clinics in the first half of next year.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Nashville-based behavioral health IT vendor Qualifacts will move into new offices in Tampa, FL in October. The company is likely consolidating the offices of its Tampa location and that of InSync Healthcare Solutions, which it acquired in 2021.

People

Frank Elston (Health Connect America) joins multi-state Crossroads Treatment Centers as CIO.

Announcements and Implementations

Regional Cancer Care Associates (NJ) will leverage software and services from Outcomes Matter Innovations to develop value-based care programs, beginning with breast cancer.

HealthReach Community Health Centers will implement InteliChart’s patient portal at its 12 facilities in Maine.

Odyssey Health goes live with Oracle Health’s EHR and behavioral health capabilities at its Martindale Clinic in Utah.

In California, San Mateo County Health selects healthcare AI and population health management software from Innovaccer.

Other

The Associated Press profiles the work Pedro Juan Vázquez Bragan, MD is doing in Puerto Rico. Also known as rapper PJ Sin Suela, the physician is working to raise awareness of the lack of access to medical care and basic services like power and water across the island. In between album debuts and tour dates, Bragan works with nonprofit Direct Relief, visiting remote areas of the island via mobile clinic, offering door-to-door medical care to residents who are still dealing with the effects of Hurricane Fiona in 2022. He credits his fans with being a huge support: “They sign up to treat patients for free all day with me. I come out of (the clinic) crying sometimes.”

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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