News 2/20/13

Top News

Allscripts reports Q4 numbers: revenue down 10 percent, EPS –$0.14 vs. $0.14. The company’s reported revenue of $350.9 million fell short of expectations of $368 million on weaker sales and a deferred revenue provision, while the loss of $0.14 per share missed expectations of a positive $0.20 per share. President and CEO Paul Black says both the quarterly and annual results “did not meet our expectations.” Shares are up 6 percent in after-hours trading due to higher-than-expected bookings. From the conference call:

• Reception to the MyWay to Professional program “has been strong.”
• Two Sunrise acute care agreements have been signed so far this year, one of them with an existing client.
• The four key areas of focus are client alignment, unlocking competitive advantage, reducing costs, and reporting consistent financial results.
• Two-thirds of developers will be located in either Raleigh, NC or Boston after office consolidation.
• The company plans to expand its hosting business.

Reader Comments

From UAHN Rocks: “Thanks for all the great work you to.  I am writing to share a video made by patients, clinicians, and executives from The University of Arizona Health Network’s Diamond Children’s hospital to celebrate the amazing work that they do to improve the lives of children in the community. UAHN is in the midst of an enterprise implementation of Epic, covering Diamond Children’s as well as all of our adult and outpatient facilities, with a go-live later this summer.” The video contains a medley of music, so keep playing, including a big finish with the magnificent Electric Light Orchestra at 3:00.

From HIMSS Bound and Gagged: “Re: flights to New Orleans. Costs are out of control, causing us to scale back our attendees. Have you heard anything?” According to Travelocity, the round-trip cheapest flights are $1,767 (Chicago), $1,142 (Atlanta), $1,582 (Los Angeles), and $1,687 (New York). Those include some really crappy connections as well, like going through Denver from New York. I seem to recall that the HIMSS post-Katrina booking of New Orleans in 2007 had similar problems, where flights were not sufficient to get people in and out. HIMSS was supposed to have narrowed down its conference cities to just three – Orlando, Atlanta, and Las Vegas – if I’m remembering right from a few years ago. All three are easy to get to, cheap, and have endlessly available hotels, restaurants, cabs, service workers, etc. Then came the charitable addition of New Orleans (whose infrastructure clearly wasn’t up to the challenge despite the HIMSS pitch) and the hometown reach-around to Chicago (where everything, especially union member surliness, cost twice what it would have in those other three cities and it was cold and snowy besides). Both were HIMSS low points in my opinion, yet here we are going back to New Orleans this year and Chicago in 2015. The best city (San Diego) and the cheapest (Dallas) were dropped from the rotation years ago. I’m pretty sure that if HIMSS actually listened to its members, or even asked them for that matter, they would not favor returning to New Orleans or Chicago even though those cities are perfectly fine for personal travel. I booked my flight on January 23 and was griping about paying $300 and now it’s over $1,300. If you don’t already have a flight, aren’t within driving distance, and aren’t a fan of Amtrak or Greyhound, you’re screwed.

HIStalk Announcements and Requests

In case you missed it we published the HIStalk Guide to HIMSS13 over the weekend. More than 130 vendors (all of whom happen to be HIStalk sponsors) provide details on the products and services they will be featuring this year. We also created HIStalk’s Guide to HIMSS13 Meetups, which includes contact information on about 30 vendors that are not exhibiting but happy to schedule meetings with interested folks. Finally we developed HIStalk’s Guide to Exhibitor Giveaways to help you find the best swag.  When you chat with these vendors, please tell them thanks for supporting HIStalk.

I accompanied a family member to get X-rays yesterday and stood outside in the hallway during the actual scan. While waiting, I was able to read all sorts of patient-specific information on two different monitors, as well as on the computed radiography reader (Mr. H tells me that’s the name of the thingy on the left.) Why worry about privacy, right?

Welcome to new HIStalk Platinum sponsor Legacy Data Access of Marietta, GA. It’s refreshing that the company’s mission is not only easy to describe, but is even contained in its name. Legacy Data Access provides customers with access to all of that data that’s locked away in their retired legacy applications. The company eliminates the hassle and cost of keeping the old app running solely for occasional lookups or reports. Clients don’t need to pay apps vendors for support, maintain aging servers, chew up big chunks of their disaster recovery plan, and tie up high-level talent keeping an abandoned system running after Legacy has moved data from that old system to a shiny new database and given users a slick Web-based front end and extemporaneous reporting tool for their inquiries. Think of LDA as a retirement home for apps, which might include revenue cycle systems (clients still get receivables functionality), PM/EHR, nursing documentation, and ancillaries. LDA can even provide a Legal Medical Record. Some of the company’s customers are UCSF, Parkland, Stanford, Trinity Health, and others that are so recognizable that it would be just name-dropping on my part to continue reciting them. If your IT stroll down memory lane includes Carecast, Invision, STAR, MedSeries4, Series 2000, ESI, Premis, EMstat, Midas, or others whether they’re on LDA’s list or not, they can help. Once an app is ready for full retirement, LDA will move everything to its LegacyVault, where information will be available indefinitely (like in the case of a lawsuit). Move on to your new-system life by letting LDA help you move gracefully away from the old one. Thanks to Legacy Data Access for supporting HIStalk.

HIMSS Conference Social Events

At least in my mind THE social event of HIMSS is HIStalkapalooza. Here are a few vital details for those attending:

• Invitations will go out starting Wednesday. Make sure to check your spam filters. We’re inviting twice the usual number of folks, so the odds of getting an invitation are favorable.
• Medicomp is once again sponsoring HIStalkapalooza and they know how to throw a party, as those of you who attended the 2011 event at BB King’s in Orlando can attest. Guests will be greeted on the red carpet and handed a Hurricane Inga or Typhoon Jane. How’s that for hospitality?
• The Inga Loves My Shoes contest is back by popular demand, so pack your best zapatos. Since HIStalkapalooza is at the Rock ‘N’ Bowl, we will have a category for Best Bowling Shoes, as well as Hottest Men’s and Women’s Shoes.
• We will again crown a HIStalk King and Queen for the best-dressed guests, so bring your bling. We’ll also recognize the Best Bowling Attire for those opting for the ten pin look. If you haven’t figured out what to wear, here is a tip: nothing says sexy like a bowling shirt, except maybe sequins and a tux. I expect to see plenty of stilettos and Farzad-inspired bow ties. Feel free to leave your company-logoed shirt in the hotel room.
• The party starts at 6:30 and the contests (followed by the HISsies) will begin about 7:30. Our esteemed judges will begin selecting contest finalists as soon as the doors open, so don’t be late.
• After the HISsies, the Zydeco band and the fast-paced bowling tournament get going. Bowling teams currently include keglers from athenahealth, Bumrungrad International Hospital, CareCloud, Clinical Architecture, Northrop Grumman, Orion, SuccessEHS, and Vitera.
• The party goes on until 11:30, so join us late after your fancy dinner at Emeril’s.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Liaison Technologies acquires Ignis Systems, a provider of clinical data integration solutions for lab and radiology orders and results.

Allscripts discloses in a regulatory filing its plans to close 12 offices and implement other changes to reduce costs associated with product development. The company estimates that it will spend $10 million for employee severance, $16 million for relocation costs , and $3 million for lease exit costs.

Merge reports Q4 results: revenue up 1 percent, adjusted EPS –$0.13 vs. $0.04, missing consensus earnings estimates. The company also announced that its board has unanimously rejected the valuation placed on the company in strategic alternatives proposals and will instead continue to execute its own plan. In the conference call, the company pointed out strongly increased bookings, increasing subscription revenue, increased acceptance of its iConnect enterprise archive, and growth in specialty areas such as cardiology and orthopedics.

Social network platform vendor iMedicor acquires HITS Consulting Group (HITS CG) and the data mining firm ClarDIS. The company also appointed HITS CG CEO Henry Denis president and ClariDIS Founder and President Joshua Brimdyr as COO.

Clinical research services vendor Quintiles announces plans for a $600 million IPO. The company was taken private by Bain and TPG in 2008 for $3.8 billion and is $2.4 billion in debt. The founder, Bain, and TPG each own shares worth around $500 million.

Sales

Triad Healthcare Network (NC) will implement Alere Accountable Care Solutions for its HIE.

Cardiovascular Care Group selects McKesson’s Paragon HIS for use at its Bakersfield Heart Hospital (CA) facility.

Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District (CA) will deploy Medseek’s self-service portal tools.

People

Kimberly Labow (NaviNet) joins ZirMed as VP of marketing.

Clinithink appoints Russ Anderson (Availity) VP of product management.

Roland L. Surprenant (Allscripts) joins Patient Safe as a regional VP.

Hal Andrews (Mainland Morgan & Co.) joins nTelagent as CEO, replacing founder Earl Winter, who remains on the board.

The SSI Group names Terry Pefanis (Healthtech Holdings) as CFO and promotes Mary Hyland to VP of regulatory affairs/chief privacy officer.

Brian Graves (Picis) joins Connance, Inc. as VP of marketing and communications.

HCA Gulf Coast Division (TX) names Carl Vartian, MD to the additional role of CMIO. He will continue as chief medical officer of Bayshore Medical Center (TX).

Alan Huffman (Healthcare Management Systems) joins Shareable Ink as VP of engineering.

Announcements and Implementations

Benjamin Russell Hospital for Children (AL) goes live on the Versus Advantages Asset Tracking solution, which includes two-way HL7 integration to Four Rivers Total Maintenance System.

Data analytics and natural language processing vendor Health Fidelity is awarded a National Science Foundation grant to develop technology to identify patient cohorts using EHR data. 

Government and Politics

HHS names Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation the winner of its Million Hearts Risk Check Challenge for its Heart Health Mobile app and awards the Foundation $100,000 for maintenance and updates.

CDC releases Solve the Outbreak, a free iPad game.

Technology

Palomar Health will announce this week that it’s the first customer of a new wireless vital signs monitor for tablets and smartphones. The phone-sized, wrist-attached ViSi Mobile by Sotera Wireless will send continuous information on heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen levels directly to the electronic medical record, allowing non-invasive monitoring from any hospital location.

Bayada Home Health Care issues 4,000 Samsung Galaxy Tab tablets to its professionals following a 20-person pilot project. They’re using SwiftKey Healthcare ($3.99), which speeds up documentation with an on-screen keyboard, terminology dictionary, and auto-fill capability. More than two-thirds of Bayada’s nurses who use SwiftKey said they would rather document on the tablet instead of on the laptop or on paper. It doesn’t work on iOS devices, though, since Apple doesn’t permit third-party keyboards.

Other

HIMSS will lease 25,000 square feet in Cleveland’s Global Center for Health Innovation (just renamed from Medical Mart at the request of its tenants) to be used for exhibition, education, and demonstration as well as the HIMSS Innovation Center, presumably replacing its planned presence at the defunct Nashville Medical Trade Center project.

I think I remember a reader’s earlier question about Epic’s Meaningful Use Stage 2 certification status (it involved a claim that they wouldn’t be ready, as I recall). Both EpicCare Inpatient and Ambulatory are now listed on CCHIT’s site as being certified for the 2014 criteria.

A bomb scare-triggered lockdown this week at Natividad Medical Center (CA) proves the value of its electronic medical record in an emergency. According to the hospital assistant administrator, “We have an electronic medical record, so we are able to see where the patients are and what kind of service they need.”

A Black Book Rankings provider poll finds that up to 17 percent of physician practices may be planning to change EHRs in the next year, which it blames on vendors who are too busy selling and implementing their products to address unmet client needs. Of those practices contemplating a change, more than half said they would prefer a hosted solution. Specialists expressed strong dissatisfaction with their current systems, with more than 70 percent of ENT, immunology, orthopedics, gastroenterology, ophthalmology, urology, and nephrology practices saying their current EHR doesn’t meet their needs.

A trauma center in India implements a new system that eliminates readability issues with physician documentation and reduces the time required to document 30,000 accident cases per year. The self-developed, template-based new system is solely for “medico-legal cases,” i.e. it’s not for patient care, but rather to document cases that may eventually initiate a lawsuit.

Sponsor Updates

• SCI Solutions adds 93 hospitals in 2012, achieves sequential sales growth of 37 percent, and maintains an attrition rate below two percent.
• Ping Identity showcases its next-generation cloud and mobile identity management solution during next week’s RSA conference in San Francisco.
• Greenway’s PrimeSUITE (V17.0) receives 2014 ONC HIT certification as a complete EHR. The company will also integrate the Physicians Interactive eCoupon voucher and coupon distribution system into  the system.
• Covisint releases its Direct solution that provides secure, scalable point-to-point email-like messaging. 
• ICA selects Health Language from Wolters Kluwer Health to support its HIE platform.
• MedAptus VP of Client Services Rick Little shares details of MD Anderson Cancer Center’s use of MedAptus for charge capture.
• NIH experts validate PeriGen’s fetal heart rate interpretation, which was presented this week at the Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine in San Francisco.
• Aspen Advisors becomes a Premier CHIME Foundation member.
• iSirona will be featured in the Interoperability Showcase at the HIMSS conference after passing the interoperability requirements at IHE North America Connectathon.
• Beacon Partners will offer a session entitled “Habits of Highly Meaningful Users” at the HIMSS conference on March 6.
• Healthpac will embed PatientPay’s online bill management services into its practice management system.
• ICA and Futurix Health partner to offer payers, ACOs, and providers enhanced data analytics and benchmarking tools coupled with ICA’s interoperability and informatics platform.
• DynaMed and Isabel Healthcare partner to allow mutual customers linkage from Isabel’s differential diagnosis tool to DynaMed’s evidence-based clinical information resources.
• An Iatric Systems video describes the company’s vision for comprehensive healthcare IT integration.

Contacts

Mr. H, Inga, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg, Lt. Dan, Dr. Travis.

More news: HIStalk Practice, HIStalk Connect.