Monday Morning Update 6/7/21

Top News

SAIC will acquire government health IT contractor Halfaker and Associates for $250 million in cash.

Former Army Captain and West Point graduate Dawn Halfaker started the company in 2006 after she retired as a combat-wounded amputee from injuries she sustained from a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Baghdad in 2004. She was commander of a military police platoon in the 3rd Infantry Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom. She is the company’s president and CEO.

Halfaker and Associates brought in $166 million in revenue last year from contracts with the VA, HHS, and CMS. 

SAIC says the acquisition will help it increase its digital transformation presence.

Reader Comments

From Stout Lad: “Re: HIMSS21. No keynote speakers named yet?” All are marked “TBD” except for a couple of former governors and Alex Rodriguez providing his healthcare viewpoint from between second and third base. Exhibitor count is at 535, about the same as at the 1998 conference. 

HIStalk Announcements and Requests

Poll respondents who sneak looks at their phones during work meetings are most often checking email or text messages. I’m happy that HIStalk finished OK in the list, but mystified at the appeal of LinkedIn unless the meeting is going so poorly that job-hunting is the obvious alternative.

New poll to your right or here: Should the federal government issue a national patient identifier?

Welcome to new HIStalk Platinum Sponsor Intrado Healthcare. The company helps health systems leverage communications technology to improve care coordination, increase patient volumes, and reduce operational burdens—all while delighting patients through meaningful digital engagement. Deep EHR integration means clients manage even the most complex engagement workflows with ease. Offerings include patient engagement, appointment management, care management, on-demand messaging, patient digital experience, and vaccination solutions. Intrado, formerly known as West Corporation, delivers 40 million patient engagements each year to its 10,000 provider customers, with a 25-year history of supporting leading healthcare providers. Thanks to Intrado Healthcare for supporting HIStalk. 

Thanks to these companies for recently supporting HIStalk. Click a logo to learn more.

Webinars

June 24 (Thursday) 2 ET: “6 Recommendations to Create a Better Patient & Member Experience.” Sponsor: Avtex. Presenters: Mike Pietig, VP of healthcare, Avtex; Matt Durski, director of healthcare patient and member experience, Avtex; Patrick Tuttle, COO, Delta Dental of Kansas; Chad Thorpe, care ambassador, DispatchHealth. The live panel will review the findings of a May 2021 survey about which factors are most important to patients and members who are interacting with healthcare organizations. The panel will provide actionable strategies to improve patient and member engagement and retention, recover revenue, and implement solutions that reduce friction across multiple channels to prioritize care and outreach.

Here’s the recording of week’s webinar “Diagnosing the Cures Act – Practical Prescriptions For Your Success.”

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Shares in the Global X Telemedicine and Digital Health exchange-traded fund dropped 3.9% in the past month versus the Nasdaq’s unchanged value. It’s up 12% in its 10-month existence versus the Nasdaq’s 27% rise. Its biggest holdings are Nuance, Guardant Health, Omnicell, Agilent, LabCorp, Insulet, Illumina, and Change Healthcare.

Sales

• Mayo Clinic will implement Visage Imaging’s AI Accelerator and collaborate with the company to commercialize the product.

People

Joi Smith, MBA (Bodhi Lane) joins Protenus as VP of people operations.

Announcements and Implementations

McLaren Bay Region (MI) goes live on Cerner.

Other

UF Health Central Florida’s two hospitals go back to paper following a May 31 ransomware attack.

Sally Sliger, a clinical data analyst at non-profit hospice TRU Community Care (CO), wins the first of five $1 million lottery prizes that the state of Colorado is randomly drawing from those who have been vaccinated for COVID-19. People who are dying of COVID-19 in vaccine-deprived countries must have interesting thoughts about Americans who refuse free shots that could save themselves or others until someone ups the ante with a free lottery ticket, beer, or doughnut.

Sponsor Updates

• The following HIStalk sponsors have achieved “Cybersecurity Transparent” designations from KLAS and Censinet: Agfa HealthCare, AGS Health, Arcadia.io, Cerner, Divurgent, Health Catalyst, PerfectServe, and Twistle.
• OptimizeRx will be inducted into LD Micro’s “Hall of Fame” for best-performing companies that have attended prior LD Micro conferences.
• KLAS rates Nordic a top performer in the expansive firms category in its latest “Application Management & Help Desk Services” report.
• PatientPing will present during the DirectTrust Summit June 10.
• Audacious Inquiry publishes a new e-book, “Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Planning: How to Improve Care Coordination During Natural Disasters.”
• PerfectServe’s Nurses of Note program honors Hampton Roads Community Health Center COO Erica Johnson and the COVID-19 vaccination nursing team.
• Pure Storage is recognized by TrustRadius as a leader in enterprise flash array storage and object storage for the second year in a row.
• WebPT co-founder and Chief Clinical Officer Heidi Jannenga joins the Flinn Foundation’s Board of Directors.
• SOC Telemed will host the Telemed IQ Summit October 20-21 in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
• Spirion earns a “Major Player” position in the IDC Marketscape: Worldwide Data Privacy Management Software 2021 Vendor Assessment.”
• Summit Healthcare publishes a new client use case, “Ste. Genevieve County Memorial Hospital Selects Summit Exchange Interface Engine for Affordable, Power Integration.”
• Revive Health’s podcast features SymphonyRM VP of Applied AI & Growth Chris Hemphill.
• Talkdesk announces the agenda for Opentalk 2021: Making every moment matter.

Blog Posts

• How Technology is Positively Impacting Green Initiatives in Healthcare (Vyne Medical)
• Remote Work: Three Ways to be More Present (Impact Advisors)
• Why Self-Care Matters (Netsmart)
• The good stuff is rarely learned in meetings (Nordic)
• Post COVID-19: How Providers Can Invest in Health Outcomes (PatientBond)
• Overcoming Vaccine Hesitancy: Andy Brailo with St. Luke’s University Health Network (Premier)
• Finally, A Decision Healthcare Leaders Can Make Without Losing Sleep (Protenus)
• The (Rx) Price is Right! (RxRevu)
• Nursing perspective: Cognitive overload and burnout in healthcare (Spok)
• Strategies to reduce out-of-network physician referrals (Krames)
• Helping the Nation Weather the Storm (Surescripts)
• How technology is improving patients’ experiences for leading endocrinologist (Twistle)
• Three Tips for Maintaining Active Engagement with Patients and Families (Vocera)
• Top 3 Ways to Speed Up Your Physical Therapy Documentation (WebPT)
• Overcoming the Challenges of Balancing Patient Care and Administrative Functions (Vyne Medical)
• Evidence-Based Clinical Decision Support to Improve Care in Skilled Nursing Facilities (Zynx Health)

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
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