Dr. Jayne's advice is always valuable for healthcare professionals. Thanks for sharing this informative update.
News 8/9/19
Top News
Allscripts announces Q2 results: revenue up 1%, adjusted EPS $0.17 vs. $0.19, beating earnings expectations but falling short on revenue.
GAAP earnings swung from a $65 million gain to a $150 million loss quarter over quarter.
The company announced that it has recorded a $145 million Q2 charge to settle all criminal and civil liability related to the Department of Justice’s Meaningful Use investigations into its Practice Fusion unit.
Allscripts had offered to buy Practice Fusion for up to $250 million in mid-2017, but pulled its bid when the federal government opened a review of Practice Fusion’s compliance with Meaningful Use requirements right after EClinicalWorks paid $155 million to settle similar charges. Allscripts eventually bought Practice Fusion for $100 million in January 2018.
Reader Comments
From Considering MaaS: “Re: Meditech as a Service. Now that the first wave of sites has been brought live, I’m curious about feedback. I understand that they are now offering it to community hospitals, so I suspect that the trial run with critical access hospitals must have been successful.” I’m happy to report any firsthand experience reports that are sent my way.
HIStalk Announcements and Requests
Vince Ciotti surprised me with a spiral-bound version of his HIS-tory series, which while highly useful in its bookmarked, searchable PDF form, is truly impressive as a thick book that makes you realize how much work he put into it.
A Google PR person responded to the reader’s question about the “Google Health advisory board” to which some industry folks list membership. They said Alphabet has a number of groups, but this particular Healthcare Advisory Board was created in 2013 and isn’t tied to a particular product, team, or strategy. They said the group is convened “from time to time,” which I interpret as being rarely since the link provided was some guy’s announcement of being chosen in 2015. I don’t know if this group is connected to the Google Health Advisory Council that was announced in 2007.
Webinars
None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present your own.
Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stocks
Experian Health acquires care coordination and appointment scheduling software vendor MyHealthDirect.
CNBC reports that CVS and Walgreens pharmacists are denying prescription transfer requests from PillPack, claiming patients haven’t given their permission to make the change, perhaps after signing up for PillPack’s service accidentally or forgetting they had done so. CVS has told its pharmacists to make sure that people who ask about PillPack are told about similar CVS offerings, while some pharmacists have admitted to throwing away PillPack’s faxed (!) requests. Walgreens, meanwhile, will close 200 stores in the US as part of previously announced restructuring plans.
CPSI announces Q2 results: revenue down 3%, EPS $0.12 vs. $0.02, missing expectations for both.
CVS Health reports Q2 results: revenue up 35%, adjusted EPS $1.89 vs. $1.69, beating expectations for both and valuing the company – including its $70 billion acquisition of Aetna late last year – at $82 billion. CVS shares are down 13% in the past year vs. the Nasdaq’s 2% gain. The company said in the earnings call that it will convert 1,500 locations to HealthHubs in the first half of 2020 after seeing the uptick in Net Promoter Scores and increased store traffic that is driving sales. It is piloting “next best action” programs at its HealthHubs and MinuteClinics to close care gaps and improve chronic care management. CVS will also roll out CarePass nationally, for which members pay $5 per month to get free shipping, access to a 24/7 live pharmacist helpline, and a 20% discount on CVS Health branded products.
Sales
- Plumas District Hospital (CA) will go live on Cerner Millenium through its CommunityWorks offering by the end of the year.
- Missouri River Medical Center (MT) selects Evident’s EHR and TruBridge’s RCM services. Both are CPSI companies.
People
CommonSpirit Health hires Suja Chandrasekaran (Kimberly-Clark) to be its first senior EVP /chief information and digital officer.
Rick Schooler (Practical Advisory, LLC) joins Lee Health (FL) as CIO.
Announcements and Implementations
HL7 CEO Charles Jaffe, MD announces the 23 organizations that will participate in real-world testing of its FHIR Bulk Data Implementation Guide. Developed with help from ONC and Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, the guide will also be used by CMS as part of its new Data at the Point of Care pilot set to launch next month.
Advocare implements EClinicalWorks across its 200 practices in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
UCHealth (CO) works with AI company Avaamo to develop a virtual assistant skill for Amazon’s Alexa that can help patients find UCHealth providers, facilities, and content. It will soon integrate “Livi” with its Epic EHR and patient app.
Government and Politics
In England, Prime Minister Boris Johnson allocates $303 million for the development of a National Artificial Intelligence Lab that will operate within NHSX, the national health service’s digital innovation unit. Initial projects will focus on treatments for cancer, dementia, and heart disease.
Reuters reports that Merck has received a series of subpoenas related to a federal investigation into an unnamed EHR vendor – presumably Practice Fusion – acquired by Allscripts last year. Practice Fusion teamed up with the drug maker in 2014 to conduct a population health management study on the effectiveness of vaccine alerts within its EHR.
Other
Pittsburgh Health Data Alliance researchers will use machine learning technology from AWS in eight projects related to cancer diagnostics, precision medicine, voice-enabled technologies, and medical imaging.
Nashville Public Radio looks at the progress Vanderbilt University Medical Center is making with the development of its VEVA EHR voice assistant. Built on Nuance technology and integrated with the hospital’s Epic system, VEVA is set to go live with a handful of physicians later this month. They’ll initially use it to familiarize themselves with patients before appointments.
It’s early days for hospital interest and investment in AI technologies, according to a survey of 115 hospital executives. Respondents were nearly evenly split with regard to awareness of available solutions and vendors. Twenty-three percent of survey takers plan to invest in AI today, while 50% plan to do so within the next two years. Executives believe supply chain and revenue cycle management, finance, and human resources will benefit the most from automation.
Lawmakers in Australia accuse appointment scheduling app HealthEngine of misleading and deceptive conduct after a news investigation last summer revealed that the company sold or passed user information to insurance brokers and law firms. HealthEngine has also been accused of manipulating patient reviews, and promising its advertisers that ads could be targeted based on user symptoms and conditions. Co-founder and CEO Marcus Tan has assured customers that the company has shut down its third-party referral service and overhauled its practice recognition system: “We are working hard to rebuild the trust we’ve lost with our users.”
Apple, Eli Lilly, and data collection company Evidation Health have conducted a study to determine if information from Apple’s devices can be used to detect early signs of dementia. The 12-week study equipped participants with an Iphone, Watch, and Beddit sleep tracker. Those already diagnosed with cognitive decline typed more slowly and infrequently, sent fewer text messages, filled out fewer surveys, and relied more on support apps.
Sponsor Updates
- HCTec staff volunteer with the Nashville Food Project.
- FormFast will exhibit at the Florida Society for Healthcare Risk Management & Patient Safety annual meeting August 15-16 in Orlando.
- Hayes Management Consulting will sponsor the Epic East Coast CORE Summer/Fall 2019 event August 14-16 in Boston.
- VentureFizz.com’s CxO Briefing interviews Imprivata President and CEO Gus Malezis.
- InterSystems adds API management to its IRIS Data Platform.
- PointClickCare adds Collective Medical’s care transition technology to its post-acute care EHR.
- DrFirst uses Imprivata’s Mobile Device Access to develop single sign-on access to its HIPAA-compliant Backline messaging software.
- Elsevier and LogicStream Health will align their respective Care Planning and Clinical Process Improvement and Control Software Solutions to help improve nursing documentation.
- Norton Healthcare (KY) adds ProviderMatch for Consumers from Kyruus to its website to help patients find providers more easily.
Blog Posts
- National Health Center Week: Continuing the Legacy (EClinicalWorks)
- Venmo for Health Data? What You Need to Know About PHI Portability (Ensocare)
- Top 5 Reasons to Attend the 2019 FormFast User Group Summit (FormFast)
- 5 habits that are killing your collections (Greenway Health)
- 4 Questions with Jonathan Goldberg, Chief Information Officer, Arkansas Children’s Hospital (Optimum Healthare IT)
- 5 Ways to Spot a Weak Link on Your EHR Implementation Project Team (The HCI Group)
- HGP Health IT July Insights (Healthcare Growth Partners)
- Why Working with an MSSP Is Smarter Than Building Your Own Cybersecurity Team (Fortified Health Security)
- The Interoperability Directive: What the Proposed ONC & CMS Regulations Mean – Part 2 (InterSystems)
- The Importance of Clinical Engagement in Access Initiatives: A Provider’s Perspective (Kyruus)
- Meet Mary Pat Fralick: Nordic’s executive advisor of Cerner Solutions (Nordic)
Contacts
Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
Get HIStalk updates. Send news or rumors.
Contact us.
Re: H.I.S.-story how about a profile on Vince? I’d like to read an profile on the man behind the definitive catalog of healthcare technology!
Good idea. I always forget that maybe not everybody already knows Vince. I forgot how much fun he was to interview until I just now looked up this one I did with him in 2007, where the eminently quotable and pithy comments were flying:
https://histalk2.com/2007/08/06/histalk-interviews-vince-ciotti-principal-hi-s-professionals-llc/
It might be time for another one.
Mr Histalk, did you read all of the reddit thread linked from Chrissy’s article before sharing the summary? It sounds like Pillpack is using some very shady tactics to acquire prescriptions and that pharmacists might be doing good by shredding transfers.
I was struck by this post from a pharmacist in the same reddit thread quoted in your summary and the CNBC article (albeit with a radically different sentiment):
> I had someone in tears the other day, she had stressed to [PillPack] only to transfer two of her meds and they took everything. We could not get ahold of them to transfer back. Two hour hold then when the pharmacist finally got someone they hung up. She was so upset because she thought she would have to go without her psyche meds for a week. We had to dispense an emergency supply.
It seems like PillPack is attempting to acquire sick, elderly patients by any means necessary. Will patients benefit from this?
Ps. This CNBC article from the same author is a bit more in depth: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/05/10/why-amazon-bought-pillpack-for-753-million-and-what-happens-next.html