Tax breaks (at the expense of public services for Tennesseans, of course) and cheap real estate for their head muckity-mucks…
News 4/12/24
Top News
Transcarent CEO Glen Tullman launches 62 Ventures, a $100 million venture fund that will focus on healthcare startups in the US and India. Its portfolio already includes BridgeHealthAI (health and social care), Khyaal (senior care), and Loop Health (care management and benefits).
Tullman is also the founder and managing partner of digital health fund 7wireVentures, which has invested in Transcarent and Tullman’s former employer, Livongo.
Tullman oversaw the $18.5 billion sale of Livongo in 2020 to now-struggling Teladoc Health during his tenure as executive chairman.
Reader Comments
From My2Cents: “Re: Epic interoperability. CEOs of technology companies that facilitate data exchange via Carequality claim that Epic has cut off their records requests. I think the issue is that they supposedly were sending data to companies whose Purpose of Use does not involve Treatment, Payment, or Operations (TPO). I wonder if those companies will incur HIPAA fines for knowingly providing inappropriate access to patient records?” Unverified, but being debated on LinkedIn, including by Particle Health founder Troy Bannister. He says that Epic stopped responding to certain medical requests in claiming that the recipients do not directly support treatment, which Bannister denies. Using patient data outside of HIPAA’s TPO definition requires individual patient consent. Also at issue is whether or not providers themselves asked Epic to stop sharing data with companies that they believe were misusing it, in which case Epic has to comply.
Webinars
None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present or promote your own.
Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock
Tower Health (PA) will outsource its revenue cycle operations to Ensemble Health Partners this summer, transitioning 675 employees to the RCM company.
Sales
- AtlantiCare (NJ) will implement Oracle Health.
People
Jay Sultan (United Generations Capital) joins Tegria as its first chief data and analytics officer.
Announcements and Implementations
Inovalon announces GA of SDOH Market Insights for life sciences companies.
Government and Politics
ONC and SAMHSA will invest $20 million over the next three years to improve health IT in behavioral health and practice settings through the new Behavioral Health Information Technology Initiative.
Other
Cedars-Sinai (CA) expands the capabilities of its Connect virtual care app to include pediatric and Spanish-speaking patients. The app, which launched last year, uses technology from K Health.
UW Medicine (WA) launches a Cognition in Primary Care program to helps its primary care physicians better manage the care of patients with cognitive issues like dementia. Cognitive care protocols and shortcuts embedded in the health system’s Epic EHR have been especially helpful, according to early adopter Nina Maisterra, MD: “Until it became muscle memory, it was great to refer to dot phrases they built. In primary care, we don’t usually get content that’s this user-friendly.”
New survey findings from the American Medical Association reveal that 51% of physician practices have lost revenue due to an inability to process patient co-pays after the cyberattack on Change Healthcare, while 80% have lost revenue from unpaid claims. Though 55% have had to use personal funds for practice expenses and 31% have been unable to make payroll, only 15% have reduced operating hours.
Sponsor Updates
- CereCore releases a new podcast, “When Healthcare’s Toughest Problems Need an Outsider’s Perspective.”
- Sonifi Health expands its support for virtual hospital care with telehealth partnerships and system optimizations.
- Healthcare Choices NY uses the EClinicalWorks EHR and Healow no-show prediction AI model to reduce its no-show rate, increase revenue, and improve patient care.
- Morris Hospital and Healthcare Centers (IL) recounts its successful Meditech Expanse implementation and resultant benefits.
- First Databank names Kristin Buechler clinical informatics pharmacist, Erin Gosney operations manager, and David Morris senior software engineer.
- FinThrive releases a new Healthcare Rethink Podcast, “How Do You Tailor Healthcare Affordability?”
- Healthcare IT Leaders releases a new Leader to Leader Podcast, “Cybersecurity and Change Healthcare: Assessing the Impact of a Major Cyberattack.”
- New research from Inovalon and Harvard analyzes Medicare Advantage plan design’s impact on healthcare utilization and health equity.
- Black Book Research survey-takers rank Veradigm’s Practice Fusion EHR first in customer satisfaction with ambulatory EHR and practice management software.
Blog Posts
- Findhelp & the Dept. of Education Partner to Support Missouri Families and Children (Findhelp)
- Five9’s 10-year IPO Anniversary: A Journey of Growth and Innovation (Five9)
- Healthcare Cybersecurity Threats: March 2024 (Fortified Health Security)
- HIMSS 2024 Recap: AI, Personalized Care, and Facing Industry Challenges Head-on (Inovalon)
- Innovation is Brewing: How AI is Transforming Healthcare (InterSystems)
- How AI Can Help Prevent Hospitalizations by Detecting Diseases Early (Lucem Health)
- HTI-1 and the Future of Healthcare (Medhost)
- 4 Critical Steps to Achieving Data Interoperability for Health Plans (MRO)
Contacts
Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
Get HIStalk updates.
Send news or rumors.
Contact us.
Was not the struggle of Teladoc foreseeable with the acquisition of Livongo?
Re: Tullman/62 Ventures
Given his track record for acquiring companies, bungling day-to-day operations and then somehow selling to an unwitting suitor at a hefty premium, who ends up writing down, shuttering or selling off the acquisition at a huge loss….. You have to wonder why anyone does business with this guy.
Regarding the Particle Health – Epic Carequality Drama – it’s important to note that most existing national networks separate out the “P and the O” from TPO, and Treatment is the only POU that all participants MUST respond to. With the growth in API based network gateway services, the end user (actual org or person making the query or leveraging the results of the query) can be several layers deep. Meaning – a lot of innovative technology is being used to optimize provider workflows, thus more and more initiating queries are not being generated from within an EHR. This improvement in provider workflow is a great thing. However, this also also provides the opportunity for bad actors to insert themselves into this process if Implementers are not following a good due diligence process when onboarding new connections. Note I am NOT saying that is the case with Particle Health or their customers, but it explains why Epic and other Implementers can get concerned about whether these innovative scenarios actually represent Treatment (and not Payment or Operations). I do believe it is time for the industry to move to acceptance of a TPO use case for national networks – I’m just not sure this particular issue is going to help get us there faster – since at the end of the day – trust is paramount for healthcare data exchange.
$20 million to improve behavioral HIT? That’s like 1/7th of a typical Epic install in one hospital. Seems like symbolic action at its finest.
Honestly, I autocorrected “62 Ventures” as “62 Vultures”, and I considered posting snark about same!
Is that on me? Is that on VC behaviour? Is it commentary on healthcare startups becoming overvalued and then disappointing everyone?