News 6/8/16

Top News

Vice President Joe Biden launches the Genomic Data Commons at the University of Chicago with $70 million from the National Cancer Institute. As part of the Cancer Moonshot and Precision Medicine initiatives, the commons will receive, store, and organize clinical and genomic data, and offer it to cancer researchers in user-friendly formats.

Webinars

June 28 (Tuesday) 2:00 ET. “Your Call Is Very Important.” Sponsored by West Healthcare Practice. Presenters: Cyndy Orrys, contact center director, Henry Ford Health System; Brian Cooper, SVP, West Interactive. The contact center is a key hub of patient engagement and a strategic lever for driving competitive advantage. Cyndy will share how her organization’s call center is using technologies and approaches that create effortless patient experiences in connecting them to the right information or resource. Brian will describe five key characteristics of a modern call center and suggest how to get started.

Contact Lorre for webinar services. Past webinars are on our HIStalk webinars YouTube channel.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Cerner President Zane Burke tells the Kansas City Business Journal that CEO Neal Patterson “remains very active and involved” during his treatment for soft tissue cancer, for which he was diagnosed in January. “In many respects, this will help both him and us as he focuses on his next chapter at Cerner and for Cerner. I think … being a consumer of healthcare will have significant impacts as he comes back into the day to day. I think the consumer is going to have a much stronger voice as we move forward.”

HCS moves to expanded office space in Wall Township, NJ.

Hospital purchasing analytics startup Valify raises $2 million in Series A funding led by Frist Cressey Ventures and Step 5 Capital. The Frisco, TX-based company, which has raised $2.75 million since launching in 2014, will use the funds to hire additional sales reps and developers, and for R&D.

Theranos reports that it has voided or corrected less than 1 percent of blood test results, seemingly a far cry from the tens of thousands of results it said it was planning to cancel or change last month. Perhaps the math adds up, though it’s not likely the secretive company will release exact numbers.

Madison, WI-based healthcare API vendor Redox joins the six-month Cisco Entrepreneurs in Residence (Cisco EIR) program in Silicon Valley.

Google’s Verily Life Sciences venture comes under fire as development of its much-hyped cancer-detecting “Tricorder” device, smart contact lens, and Baseline human health study continue to flounder. Several anonymous Verily employees claim that the Tricorder, originally scheduled for launch more than two years ago, has been touted internally more as a buzz generator than as a project capable of true clinical impact.

Sales

The California Emergency Medical Services Authority signs a contract with Audacious Inquiry for the ONC-funded development of a Patient Unified Lookup System for Emergencies. The standards-based system will leverage the state’s existing HIE infrastructure when activated during disasters, and ultimately build new connectivity between providers .

People

Virginia Mason Medical Center (WA) promotes former CIO and CFO Suzanne Anderson to CEO.

Jay Lechtman (Quantros) joins Riskonnect as senior director, market strategy and development.

Patrick Flynn (Phytel) joins Aventura as COO.

Apple hires Rajiv Kumar away from Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (CA), presumably to work on healthcare-related activities. Kumar developed a HealthKit-enabled diabetes monitoring system last fall in his role as medical director of clinical informatics.

Announcements and Implementations

Cardiology Associates of North Mississippi goes live on MedAptus charge capture software for services provided at North Mississippi Medical Center.

Delta Regional Hospital (MS) switches back to Meditech, confirming a late-April reader rumor that the 325-bed acute-care facility was in the process of ripping out Cerner.

Government and Politics

CMS issues a nearly 300-page final rule on MSSP ACOs outlining changes to the program’s benchmarking methodology, a new alternative participation option that encourages participants to enter performance-based risk arrangements sooner, and policies for addressing payment corrections.

Technology

Presidiohealth adds T-System’s EDIS software to its new PM technology for freestanding emergency centers.

Other

This article highlights the social media fame several plastic surgeons have attained thanks to their love of Snapchat and penchant for posting graphic procedures. Michael Salzhauer, MD (aka Dr. Miami) attempts to put an educational spin on his soap opera-like snaps: “A good percentage [of those watching] are people either in the medical field or interested in pursuing careers in medicine — maybe 30 percent, based on the messages we get. Another 30 to 40 percent are people who are thinking about having surgery, either immediately or sometime in the future.”

Sponsor Updates

• AirStrip President Matt Patterson will speak at MD&M East June 14-16 in New York City.
• IDC ranks AirWatch as the largest enterprise mobility management vendor in terms of market share for 2015.
• Aprima will exhibit at Sleep 2016 June 13-15 in Denver.
• Audacious Inquiry offers its “Health IT Framework to Support Alternative Payment Models” for download.
• Besler Consulting releases a new podcast, “How to Fix Common Physician Documentation Mistakes.”
• CapsuleTech will exhibit at the HIMSS New York State meeting June 16 in the Bronx.
• Carevive Chief Clinical Officer and co-founder Carrie Stricker, RN will speak at the Biennial Cancer Survivorship Research Conference June 18 in Washington, DC.
• CitiusTech will exhibit at AHIP June 15-17 in Las Vegas.
• CoverMyMeds will exhibit at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions June 11-13 in New Orleans.
• Cumberland Consulting Group Managing Partner Rachel Wixson is featured in the Forbes self-made women issue.
• Elsevier Clinical Solutions CEO Ron Mobed is featured in STEMconnector’s “100 CEO Leaders in STEM.”
• Healthwise is honored with a 2016 When Work Works Award for its workplace strategies as part of the national When Work Works project.
• Spok releases a new infographic highlighting customer success statistics and the ROI of communication technology.
• Wellcentive will host its annual National Consultant and Analyst Summit June 8-9 in Atlanta.
• The latest KLAS advisory report recognizes Nordic as a top performer, and The Chartis Group as one of the top five comprehensive firms.

Blog Posts

• Medical Practice Optimization Simplified, Part 3 of 5 (AdvancedMD)
• Developing an End of Life Care Program (Arcadia Healthcare Solutions)
• All Roads Lead to Dallas for Aprima’s 2016 User Conference (Aprima)
• 4 Challenges & Solutions for Big Data Capturing (Catalyze)
• Health Information Exchange: Where Does the Pharmacist Fit? (Wolters Kluwer)
• Where to Focus on Improving Chronic Disease Care (Caradigm)
• CTG Luxembourg Celebrates its 20th Anniversary (CTG)
• 5 Soft Skills Making HIT Professionals More Marketable (Direct Consulting Associates)
• The Scenic Route: One Consultant’s Journey Through Healthcare (ECG Management Consultants)
• MUSE2016 – To Infinity and Beyond! (Galen Healthcare Solutions)
• A Different Kind of Consultant – Leveraging Experience and Personality (HCTec Partners)
• Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs and Mitigation of Opioid Abuse (Wolters Kluwer)

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jennifer, Dr. Jayne, Lt. Dan.
More news: HIStalk Practice, HIStalk Connect.
Get HIStalk updates.
Send news or rumors.
Contact us.