News 9/28/16

Top News

InstaMed secures a $50 million investment from Carrick Capital Partners, bringing its total funding to nearly $126 million since launching in 2004. (CCP’s only other foray into healthcare IT seems to be a 2014 majority equity investment in post-acute software vendor Procura.) The Philadelphia-based company will use this latest round to further develop its healthcare payments technology and go-to-market strategy. CCP Managing Director Jim Madden will join InstaMed’s board, while colleague Chris Wenner will become a board observer.

Webinars

October 13 (Thursday) 2:00 ET. “Glycemic Control During Therapeutic Hypothermia.” Sponsored by Monarch Medical Technologies. Presenter: Tracey Melhuish, RN, MSN, clinical practice specialist, Holy Cross Hospital (FL). Using therapeutic hypothermia (TH) as a method of care can present risks of hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, and blood glucose variability. Maintaining safe glucose levels during the cooling and rewarming phases of TH reduces the risks of adverse events. Tracey Melhuish, author of “Linking Hypothermia and Hyperglycemia,” will share best practices for optimal glucose control during TH and the success Holy Cross Hospital sees while using a computerized glucose management software.

View previous webinars on our HIStalk webinars YouTube channel.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock 

Waycross, GA-based Salus Telehealth and Chicago-based VideoMedicine merge under the Salus brand name to offer telemedicine hardware and software, including a direct-to-consumer app. Salus CEO Paula Guy will remain in that role over the newly combined company. VideoMedicine founder and CEO Charles Butler, MD seems enthusiastic about the merger, though his role moving forward remains unclear. Fun fact: He competed at the age of 18 in the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympic Games in the sport of ice dancing.

PeriGen confirms the acquisition of Hill-Rom’s WatchChild Fetal Monitoring System. The newly combined team will be led by PeriGen CEO Matthew Sappern, while the management team will include executives from both companies. WatchChild General Manager Brian Bishop will join PeriGen as chief product officer. PeriGen also closed a corresponding investment round led by Ambina Partners, giving AP founder Greg Share a spot on PeriGen’s board.

People

Sentry Data Systems promotes Tom Tran to CFO and COO.

Cerner President Zane Burke joins the board of Truman Medical Centers (MO), which signed on to a 10-year EHR deal with Cerner last fall.

Shelby Solomon (Connecture) joins Medecision as SVP, corporate development and strategy.

Announcements and Implementations

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre will implement patient registration technology from Harris QuadraMed across its three facilities in Toronto.

Cigna adds virtual consults from American Well to its telemedicine offerings for 2017 employer-sponsored and individual health plans. The payer rolled out a similar service from MDLive in 2013.

Standards development organization NCPDP works with Experian Health to develop a vendor-neutral universal patient ID management tool.

Several hospitals, including Boston Children’s Hospital and Mercy Health System (WI), and a Pennsylvania-based care program for the elderly, roll out Circulation’s medical transportation technology, which takes advantage of Uber’s API to help providers and patients schedule rides that cater to specific needs and preferences. 

Indiana-based HMO MDWise – a joint venture between Eskenazi Health and Indiana University Health – taps Valence Health to process its medical claims beginning January 1.

San Mateo County Health System (CA) implements NextGate’s EMPI patient-matching technology across its 10 divisions and six EHRs.

Privacy and Security

The GAO releases a “scathing” report on cybersecurity preparedness in health information technology, recommending that HHS “update its guidance for protecting electronic health information to address key security elements, improve technical assistance it provides to covered entities, follow up on corrective actions, and establish metrics for gauging the effectiveness of its audit program.”

A former Alberta Hospital Edmonton employee inappropriately accesses the records of 1,300 patients over the course of 11 years, most likely out of “personal curiosity,” making it the Canadian province’s largest deliberate breach of health data.

Technology

SnapMD adds provider-to-provider consult capabilities to its telemedicine technology.

Varian Medical Systems develops new cancer care coordination software that aggregates EHR, IS, and portal data from the patient, PCP, radiation, medical and surgical oncology, and social services.

Memorial Healthcare System partners with American Well to offer a telemedicine app for members of its managed care or consumer health plans.

Casenet rolls out the latest release of its TruCare care administration and management software.

Government and Politics

President Obama gives his stamp of approval to National Health IT Week, reminding citizens of the “billions of dollars” spent to encourage the adoption of EHRs at 97 percent of the country’s hospitals, and his efforts to launch the Precision Medicine Initiative.

Coinciding with nationwide health IT marketing push, ONC releases its Health IT Playbook, a Web-based manual that updates the Patient Engagement Playbook for Providers, offering guidance on a wide variety of health IT products and topics. The playbook includes a guide to EHR selection and contracts.

Research and Innovation

Despite past “snake oil” commentary, an AMA survey of 1,300 physicians finds that a majority are optimistic about the potential of digital health tools to improve patient care. Enthusiasm seems to outweigh adoption: Physicians cite liability coverage, EHR workflow integration, and data privacy as must-haves for successful and consistent adoption.

Sponsor Updates

• Forward Health Group Founder and CEO Michael Barbouche speaks at the Wisconsin BioHealth Summit September 27 in Madison.
• Impact Advisors releases a new white paper, “Realizing Clinical Benefits from EHR Investments.”
• Liaison Technologies and Meditech celebrate National Health IT Week.
• Meditech releases a new white paper, “The Benefits of an Integrated Approach to Critical Care.”
• Verscend Technologies kicks off its eighth annual conference, taking place in Palm Desert, CA through September 30.
• Glytec receives three patent notices of allowance for its EGlycemic Management System.

Blog Posts

• Who’s Ready for MACRA/MIPS? Why Aprima Is, of Course! (Aprima)
• National Health IT Week: Celebrating Industry Innovations (Spok)

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jennifer, Dr. Jayne, Lt. Dan.
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