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News 7/7/21

July 6, 2021 News Comments Off on News 7/7/21

Top News

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UC San Diego Health adopts the SMART Health Card, giving patients and employees digital access to their vaccine records through the health system’s patient portal.

Reader Comments

From Informatics Nurse: “Re: COVID-19 vaccination. Since the ruling was upheld to allow hospitals to make COVID-19 vaccination a condition of employment, five consulting companies have reached out, saying they have a need for vaccinated go-live staff. The contracts are for 2-4 weeks, starting immediately, with all expenses paid and at hourly rates not seen since 2009. The reason is the termination of unvaccinated hospital IT staff who must have felt themselves indispensable and immune (pun intended) from termination after years of working on the project with go-live impending.” Unverified. Consulting folks – are hospitals calling to get quick, short-term replacements for IT-related staff who were let go because they declined vaccination?

From Inappropriate Umbrage: “Re: interviews. Some you’ve done contain fun or insightful tidbits, while others seem to recite the obvious. How do subjects prepare?” They don’t, because I don’t give them a topic list in advance, I don’t allow anyone else to get on the call, and I don’t give them the interview transcript draft afterward for their approval or editing. I decided early on to  buck the trend of dull health IT “interviews” that are really just committee-formulated company responses to a emailed list of non-insightful questions. I interview CEOs only, talk about whatever interests me, and then run a full transcript of that conversation, so give those interviewees credit for being willing to have an actual unscripted dialog — much of it related to the industry as a whole rather than the company — and have it just appear on the site without any other personal or company involvement. That requires a certain amount of courage and trust by the subject and some tolerance by readers who might not recognize the pressure the subject is under in being interrogated by an anonymous nobody of uncertain agenda in an unfamiliar setting.

HIStalk Announcements and Requests

I watched Questlove’s powerful, exuberant “Summer of Soul” Monday on Hulu and it was a stunning documentary, a historical look back at the tumultuous 1960s that is backdropped by concert footage of the forgotten “black Woodstock” of 1969’s 300,000-attendee Harlem Cultural Festival over six weekends. Musical highlights for me were shockingly charismatic The 5th Dimension and Sly and the Family Stone (I’m not really a gospel-funk fan even though I acknowledge the obvious talents of Mahalia Jackson and Mavis Staples) and seeing Stevie Wonder drumming better than most drummers. The film sat unprocessed and forgotten in a basement for 50 years — thank goodness it wasn’t on videotape — yet it offers perfect audio quality and depicts a bold palette of 1960s colors that, like the festival, have been largely forgotten (seen any bands wearing matching Creamsicle orange suits lately?) Questlove is a multi-talented and curious genius, of course, and he stayed out of the film’s way, allowing the tears and wistful reminiscing glow of festival performers and attendees who were shown footage 50 years after the event to provide the narrative. This festival was 100 miles geographically and light years away culturally from Woodstock. Segments about the Vietnam war, assassinations, and the moon landing are jaw-dropping, and you’re left with the message that while the music and fashion have changed, the struggle has not. 

I’m peeving once again on people who say they have “over 12 years of experience.” We know it isn’t 13 years or their carefully enumerative precision would have said so, maybe even rounded up if it was more than 12 years and six months, so why not just say “12 years of experience” and assume that the absence of those few extra months is immaterial? Otherwise, every since person’s resume would, except for one day per year, pointlessly describe their years of experience as “more than.”

Webinars

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present your own.

People

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CMS appoints Meena Seshamani, MD, PhD (MedStar Health) as deputy administrator and director of the center for Medicare.

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Dina hires Maryann Lauletta, MD (Inspira Health) as its first chief medical officer.

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John Sheehan (All Tier Health Care Consulting) will join Rochester RHIO as CEO on August 1.

Announcements and Implementations

The incubator of Innovation Institute — whose members include Bon Secours Mercy Health System and MultiCare — will co-develop solutions with process automation vendor Olive and share commercialization revenue.

Children’s Hospital & Medical Center implements cloud-based enterprise imaging informatics and data insight solutions from Philips across its facilities in five states.

An InterSystems TrakCare Unified Health Information System update includes integration with its HealthShare Personal Community patient portal to support appointment scheduling and synchronization of third-party app data with patient records; support for virtual visits using Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and WeChat; and support for SMART on FHIR apps. TrakCare is used in 27 countries, although not the US.

Privacy and Security

In England, an Information Commissioner’s Office analysis finds that more data breaches occurred in healthcare between 2019 and 2020 than in any other sector examined, prompting NHS Digital to delay its plans to share the health records of NHS patients with third-party organizations.

Other

A randomized controlled trial of a large company’s multi-site workplace wellness program after three years finds that while employees said they more actively managed their weight using the program, it otherwise had no impact on self-reported health, clinical health markers, healthcare spending or utilization, absenteeism, or job performance.

A Kaiser Health News report finds that rural, volunteer-based ambulance services are struggling to respond to calls due to a shortage of volunteers who are wiling to take the extensive emergency medical technician training and tests. it also notes that Medicare and Medicaid payments cover only about one-third of actual costs, leaving the services running in the red. Suggested solutions include funding EMS services via taxes, merging the services with fire departments, or turning them over to hospitals. 

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Saint Vincent Hospital (MA) CEO Carolyn Jackson cites an ongoing nurses strike as the reason for the Tenet-owned hospital’s decision to delay its Cerner implementation until early next year. The strike, which mostly involves concerns about nurse-to-patient staffing ratios, has been going on for nearly five months.

Sponsor Updates

  • EClinicalWorks releases a new customer success story, “PrimeCare Medical Clinic: Rocking Patient Engagement in Little Rock.”
  • Agfa HealthCare adds a chest X-ray visualization package to its Rubee for AI workflow software for radiology.
  • Clinical Architecture releases a new The Informonster Podcast, “Working Towards Price Transparency in Healthcare.”
  • Divurgent releases a new The Verged Podcast, “The Promise of the FDA Real-World Evidence Program.”
  • Ellkay recognizes VP of Customer Success Sunita Pradhan as part of its Women in Health IT Program.
  • Experian Health’s Enterprise Health Patient Identifier Solution and Hospital Claims Management Systems have been recognized as top-rated solutions in Black Book’s “Top Client-Rated Financial Solutions Achieving Accelerated Digital Transformation in the Nation’s Healthcare Systems” rankings.

Blog Posts

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
Get HIStalk updates.
Send news or rumors.
Contact us.

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Comments Off on News 7/7/21

Morning Headlines 7/6/21

July 5, 2021 Headlines Comments Off on Morning Headlines 7/6/21

Vitalhub Corp. Announces Acquisition of UK Based Alamac Limited

Canadian health and human services software vendor VitalHub acquires Alamac, a consulting firm that caters to NHS organizations.

R1 Completes Acquisition of VisitPay

First announced in May, R1 RCM finalizes its $300 million acquisition of digital payment company VisitPay.

Saint Vincent nurses strike delays modernization of hospital’s record system to 2022

Saint Vincent Hospital (MA) CEO Carolyn Jackson cites an ongoing nurses strike as a contributing factor to the hospital’s decision to delay its Cerner implementation until early next year.

Comments Off on Morning Headlines 7/6/21

Morning Headlines 7/5/21

July 4, 2021 Headlines Comments Off on Morning Headlines 7/5/21

Texas Health Informatics Alliance launches, opens registration for its first conference

University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, The University of Texas at Arlington, and The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center form the Texas Health Informatics Alliance.

Thousands of patients hit by NHS data breaches

In England, an Information Commissioner’s Office analysis finds that more data breaches occurred in healthcare between 2019 and 2020 than in any other sector examined, prompting NHS Digital to delay its plans to share the health records of NHS patients with third-party organizations.

An email sent by One Medical exposed hundreds of customers’ email addresses

Primary care company One Medical inadvertently exposes 981 email addresses when an employee forgets to use the BCC option on a mass patient mailing.

Comments Off on Morning Headlines 7/5/21

Monday Morning Update 7/5/21

July 4, 2021 News 6 Comments

Top News

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Three University of Texas organizations – University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, The University of Texas at Arlington, and The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center – form the Texas Health Informatics Alliance.

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THIA will hold its first conference virtually on September 9.

Reader Comments

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From Censored: “Re: HIMSS21 podcasts and video. The conference guidelines say that audio and video recording are mostly banned. Attendee interviews must be scheduled in advance and recorded in an enclosed location outside the aisles. Perhaps that applies to press only.” I’m one of few people who have been threatened (years ago) with expulsion by the HIMSS police for daring to snap a photo of a booth I was walking by. Despite that, I expect it’s mostly a complaint-based system designed to protect exhibitors from competitive espionage. According to the HIMSS21 guidelines:

  • Video recording, audio recording, and photography is prohibited during keynote sessions. HIMSS warns attendees that its staff will immediately escort anyone out who takes photos (good luck with that).
  • In the exhibit hall, photos and videos can be taken only in the exhibitor’s booth, with cameras or other equipment facing into that booth. Recording another exhibitor’s booth may result in termination of future exhibiting privileges. Media members must have HIMSS media credentials to take video or photos in a booth.
  • Attendees may not record interviews by walking up to people – interviews must be scheduled ahead of time and done in a booth or enclosed location away from the exhibit hall aisles and hallways outside keynote presentations.

Bottom line, as the reader is suggesting, anyone who is recording or taking pictures other than in an individual exhibitor’s booth is breaking conference rules. I swear last conference you could barely walk around without constantly running into someone who was recording an interview that the world cared nothing about.

HIStalk Announcements and Requests

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Most poll respondents don’t believe that the compensation of remote workers should be adjusted based on their local cost of living, with comments reflecting a “just pay people what the are worth” belief.

New poll to your right or here: How much impact has the information technology used by your providers and insurers had on your overall health and happiness?

Thanks to these companies that recently supported HIStalk. Click a logo for more information.

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I’m fascinated by the sad situation at the collapsed Champlain Towers South in Florida, mostly because it is unfolding nearly exactly as laid out by John D. McDonald’s 1977 novel “Condominium.” The book weaves a tale of Florida condo builder greed, the misery of living under HOA oversight, volunteer condo board members who are personally attacked by their neighbors over the necessary but potentially unaffordable cost of maintaining their shared homes, construction shortcuts that builders get away with, and Florida’s draw of newcomers who treat every day as a responsibility-free vacation. I got my copy in a “fill a bag with books for $5” library sale years ago and I’ve read it at least 10 times since, although I’ve misplaced that copy and am balking at paying $12 for its Kindle replacement. It’s a great read at nearly 600 pages, so I’ll probably pull the trigger even though I would be happier if Amazon allowed me to lend or gift the Kindle copy after I’ve read it for the 11th time as I did its $0.25 predecessor.

Webinars

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present your own.

Sales

  • Virtual care vendor Orb Health chooses Redox to enable access to provider EHRs.

People

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TransformativeMed hires industry long-timer Shawn DeWane (Hayes MDaudit) as president and CEO.

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Mon Health (WV) promotes Mon Health Medical Center Chief Administrative Officer Mark Gilliam to SVP of the health system (he was the health system’s first CIO through June 2021) and promotes Associate CIO Mark Combs, MBA to CIO.

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The city celebrates retiring Huntsville Hospital CEO David Spillers, MBA, who started his healthcare in the 1980s as an IT analyst and then became CIO of Mission Hospitals (NC). 

Announcements and Implementations

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Belma Andric, MD, MPH, chief medical officer at Health Care District of Palm Beach County, celebrates its Epic go-live with a team photo. 

Other

Providence St. Joseph Health Senior Clinical Data Engineer Angelique Russell, MPH lists reasons that sepsis predictive models – like the one offered by Epic – fail:

  • Hospitals don’t equip many of their beds with continuous monitoring technology, so manual vital sign measurement and entry is delayed.
  • Hospitals upcode to maximize revenue, as coders are prodded to find enough sepsis criteria in “rule out sepsis” orders to justify higher bills that may not meet a strict clinical definition of sepsis. Systems that use bill codes for clinical purposes are likely to be unsuccessful.
  • Models developed elsewhere may not be generalizable depending on the other facility’s clinical definition of sepsis and the at-risk populations it treats.
  • No evidence exists to guide sepsis treatment that is predicted hours in advance.

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I don’t usually get involved with open positions, but Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas in Pittsburg, KS is recruiting a CIO. I figured they could use some pro bono help and I’ve got little to write about this holiday weekend, so there you go. Pittsburg is a two-hour drive from Kansas City or Tulsa and you can get a lot of house for the money – a richly detailed 4,000 square foot two-story from the early 1900s is less than $300K. I’ve heard of the town because it has two fried chicken restaurants next door to each other, Chicken Mary’s and Chicken Annie’s (their curious existence spawned a well-received fictional novel called “The Chicken Sisters.”) Anyway, I’ve worked in rural health systems and the opportunity and quality of life can be excellent, so consider your career objectives and whether a CIO job might help you attain them.

Sponsor Updates

  • Intrado’s HouseCalls Pro digital patient engagement platform earns a score of 88.3 out of 100 in a new First Look report from KLAS.
  • Protenus Chief of Staff Sherrod Davis wins a Baltimore Business 2021 Best in Tech Award.
  • Talkdesk launches Talkdesk for Service Cloud Voice on Salesforce AppExchange.
  • Business First Louisville names Waystar CFO Steve Oreskovich to its Best in Finance list.

Blog Posts

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
Get HIStalk updates.
Send news or rumors.
Contact us.

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6 Comments

Weekender 7/2/21

July 2, 2021 Weekender Comments Off on Weekender 7/2/21

weekender 

Weekly News Recap

  • The valuation of process automation vendor Olive reportedly reaches $4 billion following a new $400 million investment.
  • HIMSS announces COVID-19 vaccine verification and masking policies for HIMSS21.
  • The VA reaffirms its commitment to implementing Cerner while awaiting the results of an internal project review.
  • Harris acquires Ingenious Med.
  • Ireland’s health service estimates that the ransomware attack that has kept its systems down for six weeks and counting will cost at least $600 million for recovery.
  • A private equity firm acquires and combines Verisys and Aperture Health.
  • Health Catalyst announces its intention to acquire Twistle.
  • Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock resigns after a tabloid runs photos of him kissing a female executive who he appointed.

Best Reader Comments

Not sure I’d put so much faith in the public market, given Doximity’s IPO valuation of $9B+ for a business not that much different in its fundamentals than the founders’ previous effort (Epocrates) which lost 75% of its IPO value and ultimately sold for ~$250M. But America loves second chances! (Debtor)

Olive’s valuation at $4B is a signal that we’re in the midst of a bubble. They were valued at $1.5B as recently as December 2020. One could argue that the $1.5B valuation was frothy. Now they claim to be worth nearly 3 times that, a mere 6 months later. I’ve seen these companies before: Raise, dilute, raise, dilute, acquire, raise, dilute, acquire, raise. The real test will be if they IPO, what valuation does the market support. The market will be more careful, and do more diligence .., Olive seems like they are somewhere in between an enterprise software company (valuation would be 5-6 times revenue) and a consulting firm (valuation would be 1-2 times revenue). I’ve looked at lost of pure SaaS companies in my day, and Olive does not deserve a pure play SaaS valuation. Unless their revenue is way above what we estimate (even with the recent tuck-in acquisitions), this $4B valuation is an outlier – and in a bubbly way. Too bad they can’t just cash in now (but not from me). (Healthcare VC Guy)

I agree that mortality probably isn’t the best measure of EMR benefit. I also agree that having EMRs, e-prescribing, electronic transmission of lab results and vaccine receipt, and an ability to do a quick pívot to telehealth have all been very important in dealing with the pandemic. I’m less convinced that quality of care has improved in general [with EHRs] and don’t believe that documentation is improved (except for being legible). However, it’s hard to figure out because there are so many confounding factors that were introduced at about the same time … Despite the hype associated with the “learning health system”, much of the data in the EMR is incomplete or inaccurate. This will become even worse with greater propagation of errors through more and more health records with the push for interoperability … Overall EMRs have probably had more benefits than negatives but it could have been and could be so much better if the focus was actually on delivering care and less of the regulatory and payment related impediments. (Clinical N Cynical)

Watercooler Talk Tidbits

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Readers funded the Donors Choose teacher grant request of Ms. B in Nebraska, who is in her second year of teaching and, as she says, “still waiting to experience a ‘normal’ year.” She asked for a library of books, organizers, clipboards, earbuds, and supplies for her fourth grade class. She reports, “Our school district is using a unique model this year where we only have half of the students in-person at one time. The other students are learning at home through pre-recorded videos made by the district. The headphones allowed my students to listen to their instructional videos in peace, without any loud interruptions. The books that were provided to my students absolutely LIT UP my kiddo’s faces! They loved being able to have books of their own, since we can’t share books through my classroom library.”

NBC News covers the medical care obstacles faced by people who are too large to fit in a CT scanner or hospital gowns. One woman can’t have a cardiac ablation procedure for fibrillation because she exceeds the surgical table’s weight limit and she can’t get an MRI for the same reason, leading her to unsuccessfully to seek testing from veterinarians whose machines are sized for horses and cows.

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This is for the programmers out there. A woman’s last name of True locks her out of Apple ICloud, which mistook it for a Boolean value when she mistakenly failed to capitalize it. For disco and 1970s porn fans, her first name isn’t Andrea.

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A North Carolina nursing home suspends a nurse whose TikTok videos featured her joking about mistreating patients. She says she’s a victim of “cancel culture” since “all my videos are comedy skits.” Her GoFundMe to raise $20,000 for legal fees has yielded $170.

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A closed hospital that has been called “Kentucky’s second most haunted place” is listed for sale, with the former Hayswood Hospital (built in the early 1800s as a school, expanded to its current form in 1925, and opened as a hospital in 1931 that closed in 1983) featuring 80,000 square feet on nearly 3 acres. Locals say the building is not only full of ghosts and trespassers from outside the state hoping to spot them – especially in its former morgue on Halloween — but also asbestos that will cost $3 million to clean up to the point the $800,000 building can be torn down.

In Case You Missed It

Get Involved

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Comments Off on Weekender 7/2/21

Morning Headlines 7/2/21

July 1, 2021 Headlines Comments Off on Morning Headlines 7/2/21

Olive hits a $4 billion valuation with $400 million of capital led by Vista Equity Partners

Process automation vendor Olive raises $400 million in a funding round that values the company at $4 billion.

Tendo Systems Secures $50 Million to Accelerate Digital Engagement Between Patients, Clinicians, and Caregivers

Tendo Systems raises $50 million in a Series B funding round, valuing the healthcare digital engagement platform vendor at $550 million less than a year after its founding.

Osmind Closes $15 Million Series A Round to Help Clinicians and Researchers Bring Innovative Mental Health Treatments to More Patients

Neuropsychiatry-focused EHR and research company Osmind raises $15 million in a Series A round led by Future Ventures.

Comments Off on Morning Headlines 7/2/21

News 7/2/21

July 1, 2021 News 5 Comments

Top News

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HIMSS will offer HIMSS21 attendees three options for proving that they have received COVID-19 vaccine, which is required for picking up their conference badge and entering the conference venue:

  1. Install the Clear Health Pass app and either link to their vaccine provider’s records or upload a copy of a CDC-issued vaccination card. This option is not available for attendees from outside the US.
  2. Book an appointment to show paper or digital vaccination record in a virtual call with a Vaccine Concierge, who will then email a verification card for printing or displaying on a mobile device. Appointments for the video calls will be available weekdays starting July 12.
  3. Bring paper or digital vaccination records to the conference and have them reviewed on site at one of four Vaccine Verification Centers.

Other safety procedures:

  • Attendees will not need to show vaccine-related records once they have picked up their badge.
  • Mask-wearing won’t be required.
  • HIMSS has eliminated its previous requirement that presenters wear face shields.
  • Exhibitor staff will need to pick up their badges individually since they will be required to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination.
  • COVID-19 testing will be offered on site.

Reader Comments

From Servile Pleaser: “Re: HIMSS21. Any updates?” We’re just about five weeks out, it’s 110 degrees every day in Lost Wages, and the enthusiasm I’ve seen mostly comes from excessively exuberant amateur podcasters and video-makers who can’t wait to clog up the exhibit hall aisles with self-important “broadcasting” that nobody will actually consume. Exhibitor count has improved to 626, about half the usual number. I usually get many dozen HIStalk sponsors providing their information for my HMSS guide, but so far I’ve received submissions from just five companies (the last chance to be included is at hand – submit your information here). I’m dreading going, but happy it will likely be far from the usual grueling marathon – I’ve rearranged my travel to leave on a Thursday night redeye to minimize my time in Las Vegas.

From Grammar-Minded Lad: “Re: Bill Cosby getting off on a ‘technicality.’ Wondered what you think about the use of that term?” Labeling a controversial but legally supported decision as being due to a “technicality” or a “loophole” is an insidious way for news organizations to pander to armchair experts who think they know more than actual experts (i.e., just about anyone who uses Facebook or Twitter and will obligingly click an inflammatory link). Our democracy is built on technicalities and loopholes, such as reading a suspect their rights even though they’ve heard them on TV a thousand times. Both are, by definition, legal and thus ethical. I’m skeptical that high-horsers who claim they would not personally take full legal advantage of tax or criminal laws that would give them huge personal benefit. As has been said way too many times, don’t hate the player, hate the game.

HIStalk Announcements and Requests

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Welcome to new HIStalk Platinum Sponsor EZDI. The Louisville, KY-based company offers a cloud-based, AI-powered integrated clinical documentation and medical coding platform (computer-assisted clinical documentation, computer-assisted coding, computer-assisted coding compliance, comprehensive data analytics, and clinical NLP APIs). Its computer-assisted coding platform earned the top overall KLAS score of 92.5 among competitors. Its clinical NLP APIs extract meaningful clinical entities (problems, procedures, modifiers, lab data, etc.) from structured and unstructured data such as physician notes, clinical reports, and lab reports for use cases such as risk adjustment, prior authorization, fraud detection, semantic search, clinical trials management, population health, and predictive analytics. Thanks to EZDI for supporting HIStalk.

Webinars

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present your own.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Process automation vendor Olive raises $400 million in a funding round that values the company at $4 billion. The company says its products are being used in 900 US hospitals.

Netsmart acquires post-acute care reimbursement and quality measures analytics vendor SimpleLTC.

Virtual musculoskeletal pain physical therapy vendor Sword Health raises $85 million in a Series C funding round.

Tendo Systems raises $50 million in a Series funding round, valuing the healthcare digital engagement platform vendor at $550 million less than a year after its founding. The company’s website is maddeningly vague on exactly what it is selling.

People

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Lawrence General Hospital (MA) promotes Gerald Greeley, MHA to CIO.

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NThrive names Hemant Goel, MBA (Capsule Technologies) as CEO and James Evans, MBA (ESolutions) as CFO.

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Bryan Wolf, MD, PhD retires from a long career at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn’s medical school that included years as CIO and chair of the department of biomedical and health informatics.

Government and Politics

VA Secretary Denis McDonough reaffirms its commitment to its Cerner implementation as a review of the project concludes, indicating that any changes to the VA’s program will be announced within two weeks.

Privacy and Security

Google asks a California federal judge to dismiss a proposed class action lawsuit that claims the company’s COVID-19 free contact tracing app – which it developed with Apple — exposes the confidential information of Android users. Google says the plaintiffs are making theoretical arguments related to storing contact tracing data in Android system logs, which it says has never resulted in an actual exposure of information. Google cites previous rulings that information must be viewed to violate someone’s privacy and that California privacy claims must allege that information was wrongfully disclosed.

Other

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Screenshots have been leaked by supposed early testers of the Google Health medical records management app, Android’s equivalent of IOS-only Apple Health Records.

The New York Times reviews the roughly 80 medical schools – most of them for-profit — that operate from the Caribbean, noting that 60% of their graduates are chosen for US residencies versus 94% of graduates of US schools. The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates will stiffen school accreditation requirements by 2024 and has already banned certification of graduates of two Caribbean schools.

Interesting: IBM employees report a multi-day loss of access to emails and calendars after the company’s attempt to convert from an old version the Notes platform it formerly owned. IBM sold the former Lotus Notes and Domino to India-based HCL Technologies awhile back, then decided to migrate off that platform because its employee email data would have been stored in that country.

Sponsor Updates

  • Summit Healthcare publishes a new client use case, “Cottage Hospital Improves Physician Relationships, ROI, and Secure Data Exchange with Summit All Access.”
  • Glytec publishes the largest descriptive analysis of adult T1D patients with and without diabetic ketoacidosis treated with insulin management software.
  • Goliath Technologies publishes a new case study, “Universal Health Services Uses Goliath to Prevent EHR and VDI Logon Issues.”
  • The How AI Happens Podcast features Gyant co-founder and CEO Stefan Behrens.
  • Halo Health publishes a new case study, “Improving Clinical Communication and Collaboration at Great River Health System.”
  • Jvion’s clinical AI wins a Globee in the 2021 IT World Awards.
  • Optimum Healthcare IT adds Robert Morris University as a partner in its CareerPath program.
  • Medicomp Systems releases a new Tell Me Where It Hurts Podcast featuring Amy Gleason, project lead at the US Digital Service.
  • Pivot Point Consulting publishes its Q3 healthcare insights and trends report.
  • Meditech customers receive top hospital safety grades from the Leapfrog Group.
  • HealtheConnect Alaska renews its contract with NextGate for patient identification and statewide data exchange.

Blog Posts

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
Get HIStalk updates.
Send news or rumors.
Contact us.

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5 Comments

EPtalk by Dr. Jayne 7/1/21

July 1, 2021 Dr. Jayne Comments Off on EPtalk by Dr. Jayne 7/1/21

Patient engagement is a hot topic. I’m glad to see organizations really starting to think through how patients of different ages, educational statuses, and technical abilities can interact in the digital health world. Organizations that think that everyone can just “use a smart phone” are likely missing out on a good percentage of the population that either doesn’t want to interact that way or who lack the skills (or confidence) to try. I was pleased to see a Kaiser Health News article covering the topic. It starts with a vignette of a person who bought a computer to email and Zoom with her great-grandchildren, but she ended up never taking it out of the box because of concerns around setup and lack of help.

The article cites some good data from AARP about the number of seniors needing help with technology. I’m far from senior status, but I admit that some new technologies leave me baffled, even as a clinical informaticist. Sometimes what 20-something UX designers feel is intuitive isn’t so easy to use for those who don’t share a common digital experience. Also, depending on people’s learning styles there are many of us who prefer to read a manual or follow a tutorial as opposed to just experimenting around with something and hoping for the best. I am being forced by my wireless carrier to upgrade my phone (despite the fact that it works well for me and does everything I need it to do) and am honestly dreading the process. It’s supposed to be seamless but never is, at least in my experience. I have until February to get it done though, so wish me luck.

For those patients who are tech savvy and want to interact through text messaging or video calls, a recent study looked at those modalities for case-managed patients living with HIV. The sample size was small, but both patients and providers were in agreement that text and video interaction was desirable. Convenience was a positive, but cost and access were potential barriers to adoption. As one might expect, “some providers were concerned that offering text messaging could lead to unreasonable expectations of instant access and increased workload.” The authors concluded that overall, both patients and providers found value in expanded lines of communication, however, “taking both perspectives into account when using implementation frameworks is critical for expanding mobile health-based communication, especially as implementation requires active participation from providers and patients.”

Speaking of telehealth, the state of Florida’s executive order declaring a public health emergency expired on June 26, decreasing telehealth flexibility for Florida residents. Phone-only visits are no longer acceptable for delivering services to non-Medicare patients, physicians can’t use telehealth to prescribe controlled substances to existing patients for chronic non-cancer pain, and telehealth can’t be used to recertify patients for medical marijuana. Additionally, out-of-state physician and nurses can no longer treat Florida residents without a specific Florida license, which they’ve been able to do for the majority of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of July 1, Medicaid behavioral health services will be limited in frequency and duration, and by July 15, prior authorization requirements for those services will go back into effect.

Parts of my state are being hammered by continued COVID-19 outbreaks and hospitals are again stressed, but I guess things are just fine in Florida. They might be an outlier, though, because The Commonwealth Fund notes that 22 states have changed their laws or policies during the pandemic to increase coverage of telehealth services. There are a variety of changes that states have made, including coverage of audio-only services (18 states added this for the first time, for a total of 21) and 10 states created payment parity policies. The report concludes that not all patients have benefitted from telehealth, with usage being lower in economically disadvantaged areas and by patients with limited English proficiency.

The fragmentation of care from state to state will continue as long as we don’t have a national health policy or robust public health infrastructure, and I’m not sure that Congress will have the wherewithal to address the inconsistencies. Time will tell whether telehealth really bends the cost curve or whether it can lead to improved clinical outcomes, but we won’t be able to measure those potential changes unless we commit the funding to study them. Based on some of the behaviors I’ve seen over the last couple of weeks, people think we are completely out of the woods with the pandemic, and I’m not convinced that public health efforts will continue to have the visibility or the funding that they deserve.

A recent study by my friends at Regenstrief Institute, Indiana University, and the US Department of Veterans Affairs shows that EHRs are failing to deliver on their promise for improved primary care. Ambulatory physicians are struggling to make sense of fragmented data that fails to show a comprehensive view of the patient. The authors reviewed numerous studies that describe misaligned EHR workflows, usability issues, and fragmented communication that make it difficult for physicians to achieve situational awareness. They conclude that more user-centric design processes could improve the situational awareness, satisfaction, and decision-making capabilities of primary care physicians.

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HIMSS has announced more details related to its COVID-19 vaccination requirements. Participants will have to complete a two-step validation process prior to picking up their badges. Step One involves obtaining Clear Health Pass Validation, Safe Expo Vaccine Concierge Validation, or Safe Expo On-Site Validation. Step Two involves bring proof of one of those validation options, along with a photo ID, to the registration area for badge pickup. HIMSS notes that links to the Clear and Safe Expo validation options will be provided in early July. Given that many of us in healthcare have hastily scrawled and often handwritten vaccination cards, I’m not sure how this is going to go. If you’ve been through either of the validation processes, I’d be interested to hear about your experiences.

Regarding masking, the HIMSS21 guidance states: “Masks will be supported but not required on the HIMSS21 campus.” Every year I come home from HIMSS with a nasty cold, which COVID-19 vaccination will not prevent. Based on the fact that there are plenty of non-COVID viruses circulating freely in the population due to reduced masking and increased mingling, I’ll definitely be wearing a medical grade mask, possibly with something decorative over the top.

Should fancy masks be the new fancy shoes at HIMSS? Leave a comment or email me.

Email Dr. Jayne.

Comments Off on EPtalk by Dr. Jayne 7/1/21

Morning Headlines 7/1/21

June 30, 2021 Headlines Comments Off on Morning Headlines 7/1/21

Netsmart Expands Predictive Analytics Solution Offerings with Acquisition of SimpleLTC

Netsmart acquires post-acute care data analytics vendor SimpleLTC and professional services and consulting firm Selman-Holman, which it will combine with its McBee consulting division.

MDI Health announces $6 million seed round, launches personalized AI medication platform

Medication management startup MDI Health secures $6 million in seed funding and announces GA of its AI-powered prescription decision support software.

VA’s McDonough reaffirms commitment to Cerner records management platform

VA Secretary Denis McDonough says the department’s review of Cerner implementations has concluded and that a timeline for remaining implementations will likely be available in mid-July.

Sword Health closes on $85 million Series C for virtual MSK care

Digital physical therapy company Sword Health raises $85 million in a Series C round of funding led by General Catalyst.

Comments Off on Morning Headlines 7/1/21

HIStalk Interviews Sonny Hyare, MD, CEO, ReMedi Health Solutions

June 30, 2021 Interviews 2 Comments

Sonny Hyare, MD is CEO of ReMedi Health Solutions of Houston, TX.

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Tell me about yourself and the company.

I was born and raised in Houston, Texas. I did my undergrad degree in Europe and then started medical school. I finished up my medical training in Chicago. I’ve been in the EHR space for about 11 years now. I worked for some pretty big consulting companies through 2017 and then started ReMedi Health Solutions, so we are five years in now.

What post-pandemic changes are you seeing with the company and its customers?

When the pandemic hit, we saw everything change, either going virtual or shutting down certain aspects of what was happening in the hospitals. Rightfully so, because of everything that was happening, especially with some of our clients in the Northeast that were being hit with COVID a lot harder than we were down south at that time. What I saw was quick adoption of tools that already existed. I didn’t see anything new come up. I just saw a bunch of people take platforms or technology stacks, put them together, and create what they needed. 

Post-pandemic, we assumed that we would have a hybrid model, or even not going back at all to what the norm had been. But I feel like we are getting more back to normal than we had originally anticipated. Some of the workforce wants to be back in the office. They’re trying to get out of the space that they’ve been in for the last 18 months. People are also seeing a different type of productivity versus at home or in the office.

Many health systems are operating under a budget that was created during the pandemic’s bleakest times. Are they reconsidering their priorities or just making it up as they go?

A little bit of both. They were making it up as they went, but now I l feel like the budgets are coming back into the plans they originally had. It is all coming back as if it hadn’t taken that 12- to 16-month pause.

How do you combine the value of a remote go-live with the benefit of having people wandering the halls looking for puzzled or frustrated clinicians who probably won’t open a help desk ticket?

That’s one reason that our virtual model includes a live video feed. It gives the feeling that somebody is there. But your example is why we need some folks to be on ground. We need this hybrid model to engage the physician who we won’t find sitting on a computer or being in a newsfeed, where you could see frustration in any end user. The live feed makes sure that we maintain that emotional connection, but you could have five tablets with one resource supporting all five of those clinics at the same time. The support model will definitely change post-pandemic, and instead of bringing 1,000 resources, you figure out how to bring in a hybrid model of on-site versus remote.

Are you seeing health systems that are worried less about physician EHR satisfaction and instead see the EHR as a way to implement corporate decisions that may take away individual physician choice?

I do see it, but I’m also seeing  more physicians getting involved in the administrative side of things, making sure that the right decisions are made for the physicians. That was one of the reasons we came about — we essentially understood both sides of the playing field. It was our job to be that liaison, to help the physicians understand why these decisions were being made from an administrative level. Then on the flip side, help explain to the administrative side of things of why physicians needed certain things.

It is getting harder for physicians to what they need, but it’s also getting more complicated on the IT side as well, where you see both sides of the story.

Are you seeing physician EHR dissatisfaction that is driven by local implementation decisions rather than core product design?

That definitely is one of the reasons. Sometimes what I see, and have seen in the past, is having the knowledge of what the tool can do and how it can drive the efficiency that we are all trying to achieve. Sometimes it starts as simply as that. We’ve seen this across the board. You don’t know what you don’t know. Physicians who I’ve known and worked with have dug into these systems over the last decade and could probably answer any question that a physician might have on what and how they need to do something. They have the inefficiencies in both ways.

When we talk about certain changes, we know there’s a lot that goes behind getting something changed like that. Nine out of 10 times, the physicians will be satisfied, but they just don’t know how to do it. That comes back to, are we talking about training, or upgrades, or new additions? These systems have the capability of doing a lot more than the way the physicians are using them now.

Health systems have said in various recent KLAS reports that they wish their software vendors would take a more active role in telling them how to implement and optimize their systems. Are you seeing more demand for a prescriptive approach that takes advantage of broad vendor experience?

Absolutely, and it makes sense. Why would we not explain these certain milestones or scenarios in the implementation in a better way? We were working with a client 18 months prior to them hitting the switch on the EHR that they had selected. The EHR vendor had a list of items that they were going to run through, but at the end of the day, there was no explanation or details in what needed to be done. Some of these bullet points were engagements that would have taken one or even two months. That is misleading the client.

The consulting company and the EHR vendor have to help them guide and understand the decisions that they are making to maximize satisfaction as a whole for everyone. Not only the end users, but the people who made the decision to bring that EHR vendor in.

Are metrics used to identify users who are struggling or functions that aren’t being used optimally?

We live in a data-driven world. Every metric and every data point that we can grab helps us make a better decision. It helps us explain to our clients, as well as to the vendors, why and how this is happening and how we can mitigate the issue. I don’t look at it as a ticket, but something more detailed than that, that has helped us get success. We have to collect information from one-on-one sessions and at-the-elbow support to get a bird’s eye view and understanding of what’s actually happening.

What changes do you expect to see in the company and in the industry over the next 3-5 years?

Three to five years ago, I thought all of this implementation and conversion activity was going to end. But it seems to be constant due to mergers and acquisitions and systems deciding to replace or upgrade software. We may see the same types of engagements in 3-5 years that we are seeing now. I only hope that we are getting better and better as a whole, the EHR vendors, the hospital organizations, and the consulting companies. How can we make this process better for the actual end users who are going to be using these systems on a daily basis? Can we get rid of the term physician burnout?

Do you have any final thoughts?

We are thankful where we’ve gotten to over the last five years. We’re thankful for all our clients that have trusted us. We are still working with our first client, all the way until our last client. Our firm appreciates that, knowing that we’re giving the value that we said we would. For that, we are thankful for the hospitals that took a chance on us.

2 Comments

Morning Headlines 6/30/21

June 29, 2021 Headlines Comments Off on Morning Headlines 6/30/21

Harris acquires US-based healthcare SaaS provider Ingenious Med

Harris acquires physician practice and hospital software vendor Ingenious Med.

Costs from ransomware attack against Ireland health system reach $600M

Ireland’s health service estimates it will cost $600 million to recover from a ransomware attack six weeks ago, from which it still hasn’t recovered.

VisualMED has closed its agreement with Rennova Health

Rural hospital operator Rennova Health sells its software and genetic testing interpretation divisions to VisualMed Clinical Solutions.

Comments Off on Morning Headlines 6/30/21

News 6/30/21

June 29, 2021 News Comments Off on News 6/30/21

Top News

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Harris acquires physician practice and hospital software vendor Ingenious Med.

Webinars

June 30 (Wednesday) 1 ET. “From quantity to quality: The new frontier for clinical data.” Sponsor: Intelligent Medical Objects. Presenters: Dale Sanders, chief strategy officer, IMO; John Lee, MD, CMIO, Allegheny Health Network. EHRs generate more healthcare data than ever, but that data is of low quality for secondary uses such as population health, precision medicine, and pandemic management, and its collection burdens clinicians as data entry clerks. The presenters will review ways to reduce clinician EHR burden; describe the importance of standardized, harmonious data; suggest why quality measures strategy needs to be changed; and make the case that clinical data collection as a whole should be re-evaluated.

Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present your own.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

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Providence Ventures invests in RxRevu one year after its affiliated health system in Seattle deployed the company’s SwiftRx real-time prescription benefit software.

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Stone Point Capital acquires and combines Verisys and Aperture Health, creating a company focused on credentialing, enrollment, and provider data management. Aperture Health CEO Charlie Falcone will lead the new company.

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Utilization management software and physician services company Xsolis secures a $75 million investment from Brighton Park Capital. The company recently hired Mandy Cruz (Sunquest) as VP of customer delivery and Tim Mueller (Optum) as VP of client success.

Healthcare governance, risk, and compliance solutions vendor RLDatix acquires UK-based Allocate Software,. which offers human capital management solutions.

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Hospital IQ, an operational management software vendor based in Massachusetts, raises $25 million in a Series C funding round.

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Nearly 500 One Medical employees (excluding physicians and other clinicians) announce their intent to unionize to address the mistreatment they say they’ve suffered during the pandemic. Their complaints include:

  • The company’s mismanaged COVID-19 vaccine program, which wound up making national news after company whistleblowers alerted the media to the fact that ineligible patients – some with ties to leadership – received the vaccine ahead of eligible patients, resulting in a congressional investigation.
  • Denial of hazard payment to frontline workers.
  • The wrongful termination of 19 employees.
  • Hiring unlicensed and/or inexperienced phlebotomists.
  • Sub-par care for community members who couldn’t afford One Medical’s typical membership fees.

One Medical went public earlier this year, and acquired senior-focused primary care company Iora Health several weeks ago for $2 billion.

Sales

  • CyncHealth, an HIE that serves seven Midwestern states, selects Lyniate’s Rhapsody software to improve participant onboarding, privacy, and security.
  • Marshfield Clinic Health System (WI) will implement NowPow’s community services referral software.
  • USMD Health System and WellMed (TX) select Leading Reach’s referral communication and care coordination software.
  • The North Estonia Medical Centre joins the TriNetX network to increase its engagement with the international healthcare research community.
  • UBC will use Surescripts Specialty Enrollment service in its biopharma support services that include REMS enrollment, clinical studies and registries, and patient support services.
  • In Canada, six Ontario hospitals will implement a shared regional instance of Cerner Millennium.

People

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Chuck Podesta (UConn Health) joins Renown Health as CIO.

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Eron Kelly (Amazon Web Services) joins Inovalon as president.

Announcements and Implementations

The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation will use data normalization services from Intelligent Medical Objects to improve clinical data from its CureCloud and CoMMpass clinical trial programs.

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A new KLAS report on security and privacy consulting services finds that Meditology, Clearwater, and CynergisTek top the list of companies that are most often viewed as partners by customers. The report notes that Impact Advisors has the highest overall performance score at 99.1 on a 100-point scale even though its security offering is less widely known. Clients of audit-focused firms such as Deloitte, EY, and PwC are more likely to seek less-prominent companies in search of  higher value or staff quality, with Deloitte customers in particular reporting problems with executive involvement, quality, delays, and its perceived use of a B-team of inexperienced employees

Other

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Ireland’s health service facilities continue to operate under downtime procedures after a ransomware attack took out their computer systems six weeks ago. The health service estimates that recovery costs will exceed $600 million.

Sponsor Updates

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  • Cerner employees assemble 300 hygiene kits, prepare 100 dental bags, and stuff 2,000 envelopes for its Care Kits and Healthe Kids Screenings programs.
  • Dina CEO Ashish Shah will speak at the Home Care 100 Leadership Conference June 30.
  • Lumeon publishes “The Future of Digital Transformation in Healthcare Report 2021.”
  • Surescripts announces that last year more than 745,000 individuals and organizations used its Clinical Direct Messaging to improve transitions of care, send immunization notifications, coordinate medication management efforts and achieve federal incentives requiring the use of secure electronic messaging.

Blog Posts

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
Get HIStalk updates.
Send news or rumors.
Contact us.

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Comments Off on News 6/30/21

Morning Headlines 6/29/21

June 28, 2021 Headlines Comments Off on Morning Headlines 6/29/21

Combination of Verisys Corporation and Aperture Health Creates Market Leader in Healthcare Credentialing and Provider Data Management

Stone Point Capital acquires and combines Verisys and Aperture Health, creating a company focused on credentialing, enrollment, and provider data management.

XSOLIS Poised for Scale with $75 Million Growth Investment from Brighton Park Capital

Utilization management software and physician services company Xsolis secures a $75 million investment from Brighton Park Capital.

Hospital IQ Raises $25 Million to Meet Market Demand for its Software which Optimizes Health System Operations

Operational management software vendor Hospital IQ raises $25 million in a Series C funding round.

Comments Off on Morning Headlines 6/29/21

Curbside Consult with Dr. Jayne 6/28/21

June 28, 2021 Dr. Jayne 3 Comments

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It’s been an interesting week, and one I’d rather not repeat. I took a brief break from the healthcare IT trenches to do some volunteering at a youth camp, and the theme for the week quickly became “A Series of Unfortunate Events.”

All of our pandemic handwashing and sanitation skills were put to full use as the camp experienced an outbreak of norovirus, which is something I wouldn’t wish on anyone. The state epidemiologists had a rapid response and the camp was quick to put all participants in lockdown while they worked to determine the source of the outbreak.

Since they weren’t sure if the affected campers brought it with them or caught it at camp, all food service venues were closed. The National Guard quickly rolled in with thousands of boxes of MREs (meal ready to eat) and the dining experience was an adventure for many. I highly recommend the chili mac, although the penne with vegetable sausage crumbles wasn’t bad either. As to the Pop Tarts that were welded together by the vacuum packing process, I have no comment.

After the initial contact tracing, campers were released from the strict lockdown to do hikes and fishing with their campsite cohorts while further investigation occurred. I was surprised by how little our participants were phased by everything going on around them, although I attribute that to spending the better part of the last year and a half trying to avoid COVID-19.

After campers were tired of hiking, board games were delivered to the groups and some vicious rounds of Connect Four and Blokus ensued, followed by The Game of Life, which I didn’t know was still in production. It was great to see kids interacting with each other in non-electronic ways and experiencing some of the board games their “elders” grew up with.

The following day, we were cleared to return to activities, but food service was still stalled. Due to some just-in-time supply chain snags, the camp staff was forced to clean out local Sam’s Club and Costco warehouses for breakfast supplies. Lunch was another round of MREs, and since the majority of participants hadn’t eaten one before (let alone three), we prepared to triage additional gastrointestinal complaints. Fortunately, the norovirus cases had stabilized and the field hospital that had been configured was put to little use and we could go back to managing the sprains, abrasions, and blisters we expected. Unfortunately, at the end of the week, we had three medical evacuations by helicopter and one by ambulance, so things weren’t as quiet as we hoped.

It’s always a challenge to see how medical care is rendered in the great outdoors. I’m glad that the majority of the participants stayed healthy since so many camps were canceled last summer. There were certainly some memories created that will last a lifetime, but based on the overall experience, I was for once glad to return to my overflowing inbox. Having an actual bed instead of a cot was also a big plus.

I recently accepted a couple of new clients and am trying to sort out the schedules for the various engagements as I wind down a few projects at the end of the month. Although I’m excited for new things, I’ll miss the teams that I’ve worked with over the last year. But that’s my goal as a consultant – helping clients move forward and celebrating with them when they become self-sustaining. The baby birds are leaving the nest and I couldn’t be prouder of the work they’ve done along the way.

My mailbox contained quite a few HIMSS-related emails, including some party invites, so that added a bit of excitement to the day. I’ve scheduled a couple of Exhibit Hall Booth Crawl sessions with some of my favorite people and hopefully there will be enough excitement on the show floor that it will make for good reading material. I was less excited about my invitation to HIMSS Executives Circle events, which included a VIP luncheon with Alex Rodriguez. I’m a little skeptical about what he has to offer to the healthcare IT world in the form of a keynote address, let alone what might be discussed in a less formal setting, so I took a pass.

My inbox also had its usual complement of LinkedIn invites from people I don’t know who are clearly trying to sell me something, so there was plenty of deleting going on. (Sorry, Fruit Street, you might as well give up at this point.) The usual ads from Office Depot and Staples didn’t entice me to buy anything, nor did Lenovo. Next, I perused messages from my professional organizations and there I found something that caught my eye. ONC has launched an initiative for the public to complete the sentences “Because of interoperability, before/by 2030 [who] will [what]” or “Because of interoperability, _____ before/by 2030” as a part of its Health Interoperability Outcomes 2030 project.

ONC plans to use the public feedback to inform a prioritized set of interoperability outcomes and a road map for what health interoperability can achieve over the next decade. I’ve definitely got a few ideas to throw into the mix:

  • Because of interoperability, I will be able to carry my complete medical record on my phone by 2030.
  • Because of interoperability, by 2030 a new physician will have complete access to my records before I even walk in the office door or pop up in their telehealth queue.
  • Because of interoperability, by 2030 I will never be asked again for a fax number.
  • Because of interoperability, by 2030 I can update my records across disparate care delivery organizations with a few keystrokes rather than a dozen visits and phone calls.
  • Because of interoperability, by 2030 I can see all my own images and films.
  • Because of interoperability, we need to have a unique patient identifier before 2030.

The last one is my favorite, but unfortunately that goal has become more political than patient centric, so we’ll have to see how long it takes. The public can visit the Health Interoperability Outcomes 2030 page to submit a response, or use Twitter to tag #HealthInterop2030 to @ONC_HealthIT if they want to go the social media route. Submissions will be accepted through July 30, so get those creative juices flowing.

What are your goals for the next decade, personally or professionally? Leave a comment or email me.

Email Dr. Jayne.

3 Comments

Morning Headlines 6/28/21

June 27, 2021 Headlines Comments Off on Morning Headlines 6/28/21

UF Health restores records system a month after ‘cybersecurity event’

UF Health (FL) restores its EHR at its Leesburg and The Villages campuses after nearly a month of ransomware-caused downtime.

Kindbody Announces Largest Fertility Raise in History with $62M Series C Funding

Kindbody, a provider of fertility services using proprietary technology, raises $62 million in a Series C funding round that brings its total raised to $122 million.

Hims & Hers Deepens Dermatology Investment, Acquires Apostrophe

Online health and wellness company Hims & Hers Health acquires Apostrophe, which offers tele-dermatology and online prescriptions.

Comments Off on Morning Headlines 6/28/21

Monday Morning Update 6/28/21

June 27, 2021 News 1 Comment

Top News

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Health Catalyst will acquire patient engagement technology vendor Twistle, which it says will allow it to offer a comprehensive population health management solution to healthcare providers and life sciences companies.

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SEC filings indicate that Health Catalyst will pay up to $170 million for Twistle, which has $8 million in annual revenue and will lose an expected $3 million in 2022.

Reader Comments

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From William Pay: “Re: Doxo. Our hospital is getting complaints from patients about Doxo. The consumer bill pay network is paying for Google search results for specific hospital names.” Doxo came up in the top handful of my Google results for some randomly chosen hospital names plus “online bill pay.” The link leads to specific webpages that Doxo has created for those hospitals. Each hospital’s Doxo page clearly says that Doxo has no connection to that hospital. Doxo has generated 185 complaints on the Better Business Bureau website, quite a few of them from people who had problems with fees or delayed payment resulting from their use of Doxo to pay their hospital bills. Several business and city government websites have warned their customers against using Doxo, with some of them directly calling Doxo a scam.

From Informatics MD: “Re: Epic Sepsis Model. The published work is important and highlights the need for internal validation, but their experience is not shared by our institution or others we’ve interfaced with since. The implication is that health systems implemented the model without validation or careful oversight. We validated it in a unique, limited setting (the ED) and found its performance to be acceptable enough to proceed with cautious implementation through a controlled quality improvement intervention. Our results are forthcoming, although we can’t discuss them yet due to standard journal embargo policy.”

HIStalk Announcements and Requests

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Personal connections enabled half of poll respondents to get their present jobs.

New poll to your right or here: Should companies pay remote workers based on their local cost of living?

Webinars

June 30 (Wednesday) 1 ET. “From quantity to quality: The new frontier for clinical data.” Sponsor: Intelligent Medical Objects. Presenters: Dale Sanders, chief strategy officer, IMO; John Lee, MD, CMIO, Allegheny Health Network. EHRs generate more healthcare data than ever, but that data is of low quality for secondary uses such as population health, precision medicine, and pandemic management, and its collection burdens clinicians as data entry clerks. The presenters will review ways to reduce clinician EHR burden; describe the importance of standardized, harmonious data; suggest why quality measures strategy needs to be changed; and make the case that clinical data collection as a whole should be re-evaluated.

Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present your own.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Shares of Doximity closed at $55.98 on Friday, valuing the physician social network platform vendor at $10 billion. The company booked $207 million in revenue and $50 million in net income in the latest fiscal year. CEO Jeff Tangney has beneficial ownership of $3 billion worth of shares.

Announcements and Implementations

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HIMSS announces that Dwight Schrute from “The Office” (actor Rainn Wilson) will keynote at HIMSS21. HIMSS says he will deliver a hilarious, insightful talk full of anecdotes and warmth.

Government and Politics

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Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock resigns after a tabloid publishes photos of him kissing a health advisor-lobbyist in early May before indoor cross-household contact was allowed under national COVID-19 restrictions. He and the advisor, who he appointed, are married to others. The government is investigating whether the photos were intentionally leaked. Hancock’s replacement will be former Chancellor and Home Secretary Sajid David. 

Other

UF Health (FL) restores its EHR at its Leesburg and The Villages campuses after nearly a month of ransomware-caused downtime.

Sponsor Updates

  • Divurgent launches a Customer Experience Program focused on creating additional value for its clients before, during, and after an engagement.
  • Vocera announces that its solutions are used in six out of 10 children’s hospitals included in the latest US News & World Report honor roll.
  • EClinicalWorks releases a new customer success story, “Record Retrieval Made Easy with Prisma.”
  • Optimum Healthcare IT adds The University of Texas at San Antonio Alumni Association to its Optimum CareerPath apprenticeship program.
  • Summit Healthcare publishes a new client use case, “Cody Regional Health Enlists Summit Healthcare’s Integration Services to Support Epic Migration.”
  • EY announces that Protenus co-founder and CEO Nick Culbertson is an Entrepreneur of the Year 2021 Mid-Atlanta Award finalist.
  • Parity.org includes Quil Health on its 2021 Best Companies for Women to Advance list.
  • Ascom expands its Unite software ecosystem with the addition of the new Unite Collaborate communication application.
  • Twistle publishes a new case study, “ChristianaCare: Improving Detection and Management of Postpartum Hypertension.
  • Well Health receives a Rising Star Award as part of the 2020-2021 South Coast Business & Technology Awards.
  • Vyne Medical releases a new podcast, “The New Era of Patient Access and Revenue Cycle.”

Blog Posts

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
Get HIStalk updates.
Send news or rumors.
Contact us.

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1 Comment

Weekender 6/25/21

June 25, 2021 Weekender Comments Off on Weekender 6/25/21

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Weekly News Recap

  • Health Catalyst announces its acquisition of Twistle.
  • Doximity shares surge on their first day of NYSE trading, valuing the company at $7 billion.
  • Tegria acquires KenSci.
  • Researchers say that Epic Sepsis Model performs poorly in identifying potential cases of sepsis.
  • GE Healthcare names Pater Arduini as its next president and CEO.
  • England’s NHS publishes a draft patient data strategy.
  • NextGen Healthcare announces that President and CEO Rusty Frantz will leave the company.
  • Amazon announces a four-week, virtual AWS Healthcare Accelerator program for startups.
  • California launches a digital COVID-19 vaccination record system.
  • ONC invites colleges and universities to apply for its $80 million public health IT workforce program.

Best Reader Comments

As former CIO, I am wondering if all of the billions (trillions?) spent on EMRs, etc. have really improved care / outcomes. Based on the very simple measure of life expectancy, I would say no. I am sure that billing and documentation has improved and the industry has amassed warehouses full of data for interesting studies. I know that I will be critiqued for use life expectancy as the single measure, but it is easily available and is a fundamental outcome. This should be embarrassing for a country that already had the highest cost and low life expectancy compared to other advanced economies. (Former CIO)

If you step outside the hyped world of AI/ML, a hospital system would not implement a new clinical protocol (for example, if this were a written risk-stratification model for sepsis) without it first being testing, validated, published, and even then they usually want to wait for the Professional Societies to back the protocol before widely accepting and integrating it into practice. Please explain then why hospitals are just blindly accepting these AI/ML algorithms, when there is already a standard for approving clinical decision-making tools? I suspect a large part of the issue here is that there is still not enough medical involvement / integration into the IT/IS departments at many hospitals. Their governance models still view IT and the EHR as a cost center and not a strategic asset to the organization, and think the enhancements that are being added during EHR upgrades are all functionality updates, when in fact they are slipping more and more clinical content and tools into the upgrades. (HITPM)

Coming from the overhyped world of AI/ML, I would tease apart validation of the model and validation of protocol. No model will be 100% accurate, so validating a model comes down to “sufficiently accurate” (trading off precision and recall) and some sort of explainability. In our work on sepsis models, we achieved AOC over 0.8 with the ability to see precisely which parts of the medical record led to the conclusion. We did not commercialize it, not because it was invalid, but because it needed to drive a clinical protocol that added value. And that’s the issue. First, practitioners’ intuitive sense is really good, so any model has to find marginal incremental cases that they’d miss. Second, you need to design, validate, and implement a clinical protocol for what to do when the model alarms. This has a poor ROI. (Dan G)

They [Doximity] display pharmaceutical ads to doctors. Similar to how Practice Fusion made money, but Doximity has lower risk because ad fraud is harder to bring lawsuit or regulatory action against compared to pushing oxy via EHR decision support. (IANAL)

Watercooler Talk Tidbits

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Readers funded the Donors Choose teacher grant request of Ms. C in Mississippi, who asked for an IPad and accessories to allow her to create videos of her classroom instruction for students who need extra review or if COVID-19 forced her school to close. She reported in December, “Thankfully we have not had to teach virtually so far, but having an IPad makes it possible for me to record classes that students can use for review if they need extra help on a particular objective. I enjoy having a fun way to intervene with struggling students by having them play educational games on the IPad that reinforce and review skills we are learning each day. School has changed so much this year and technology has become such an important part of our school day. Thank you for making this project possible.”

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Casamba founder and executive chairman Ronnie Amrany buys a waterfront house on Hollywood, FL that sets the record for the highest price paid in that area at $6.9 million. Net Health acquired the therapy EHR vendor in March 2021.

Eleanor Slater Hospital (RI) COO/CFO Christopher Feisthamel takes advantage of an obscure state HR law to avoid repeat attempts to lay him off. Rhode Island’s “leave to protect” provision allows a state employee to hold up to three state jobs at the same time, and if fired from one, they can return to their previous job and “bump” whoever holds it. More than 1,600 state employees have leave-to-protect status, making it hard to fire them.

St. Vincent Hospital (MA) bans activist members of the Catholic Worker Movement from hospital property after they perform an “exorcism of the demon of corporate greed” in the lobby against hospital owner Tenet Healthcare to support striking nurses.

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In India, friends of a man who was receiving COVID-19 vaccine record a video showing a distracted nurse removing a disposable syringe and injecting it without first drawing up the vaccine. Nobody noticed until one of the friends looked at the video later. The nurse has been removed from duty and the man will be brought back to receive his first dose.

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Comments Off on Weekender 6/25/21

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