Morning Headlines 2/18/25

Abridge Announces $250M Series D Investment and New Contextual Reasoning Engine to Streamline Clinical and Financial Workflows at the Point of Care

Ambient documentation company Abridge confirms reports of a $250 million Series D funding round, bringing its total raised to over $450 million.

Carecierge Revolutionizes Healthcare Delivery with Cutting-Edge Tools for Care Teams

Carecierge launches to offer physician practices workflow optimization software.

Innovaccer Launches ‘Agents of Care’ to Transform Healthcare Operations, Enhance Care Delivery

Innovaccer develops AI agents to help providers automate tasks related to patient scheduling and intake, referrals, prior authorizations, care gap identification and coordination, coding review, and patient access.

Curbside Consult with Dr. Jayne 2/17/25

I spent some time this weekend doing something that I’m sure many techie readers have done at least once. I supported an elderly relative who was having technology issues.

My particular relative is in her late 90s and still lives fairly independently, which is impressive in itself. Even more impressive is the fact that she understands the value of the internet in helping her stay connected with the rest of the world, especially as she describes it, “now that my friends who actually used the telephone are all dead.”

We’ve seen plenty of data on the fact that older people do indeed use technology, and we know that utilization numbers are growing as the population ages. Still, actually spending time with someone who is nearly 100 years old and watching them interact with technology was particularly educational.

She called me initially to say that she thought she had a virus on the tablet she uses for internet access, Based on her description, I knew it would be easier to just go see what was happening myself rather than trying to figure it out over the phone. For some of my other older relatives who primarily use PCs and laptops, we’ve installed remote access solutions so we can troubleshoot when they have issues, but I have exactly zero experience doing remote access on tablets.

I had a couple of thoughts about how I could help her, including doing a factory reset on her device versus buying a newer tablet versus replacing it with something else like a touch screen laptop. I’m not a fan of tablets because I think the user interface is clunkier than what you get on a Windows interface, plus the ability to install remote access software would be a plus. Like many older people, she’s significantly hard of hearing and also has a tremor, which can make it interesting when the user interface requires fine motor control. I packed a bag of different devices and headed out.

The first thing I identified was the fact that she actually has two tablets, although it was initially unclear why she needs two or how she decides which one to use. Seeing them jogged my memory, as I remembered hearing about this from another relative who had  helped her manage two email accounts and two Facebook accounts. She didn’t understand then that accounts can be accessed across different devices, so she had just made new accounts when she got the second device.

I asked her to show me how she uses each one and what kinds of sites she accesses with them so that I could see it for myself and not make any assumptions about her technology needs. As I watched her, we had some good conversations about how Facebook actually works and the fact that it primarily exists to make money off of people’s viewing habits, by way of explaining why her feed was entirely clogged with junk and not things she actually wanted to see.

In addition to social media, she’s a fairly heavy user of MyChart, which always impresses me. She gave me access to her account many years ago so I could help explain some of her lab results. Although Epic has proxy functionality, she prefers that I use her login and password.

That made sense once I saw her password management system in person. She uses an old Rolodex to keep track of her passwords, with a card for each website or app. Thank goodness she doesn’t write down her usernames right next to the passwords, but still it was enough to make me cringe. She writes down new passwords when she changes them, but doesn’t always cross out the old ones, which added to the adventure as I was trying to gather all of her important information in case we had to do a factory reset on her devices.

It was interesting to see the password choices of someone in their 90s, especially for sites that require some degree of complexity. I laughed when I came across a password of “OldLady” plus her age to satisfy the numeric requirement of her last password reset. There were plenty of passwords with names of people who I’ve never heard of and also words in another language. I was glad that I didn’t see “Password123,” the name of her late spouse, or other easily guessed options. We talked a little about how the Rolodex probably isn’t a great idea unless she’s willing to keep it in her lockbox, but I made a note to myself to explore password manager solutions for tablets.

One of the issues that she was having with the tablet interface was not being able to unsubscribe to emails or easily mark them as spam. As a Windows user, I can see clear links in the different email clients I use. For her, she would need to press and hold on the screen to get a dialogue that would allow her to do this, which was difficult given her motor abilities even though she is using a stylus.

She agreed to let me access her email from my laptop so I could rapidly clean up her inbox and take care of a lot of junk mail. As we began that process, I discovered how difficult it is when you don’t have a smart phone and systems want to text you a code to confirm that you are logging in on a new device. Although some of these platforms also allow you to receive a phone call for a verbal code, you can imagine the comedy of errors that ensues when the person is using a landline and a telecommunication device for the deaf to receive her phone calls.

After clearing up her primary problem — which was annoying popup ads that were being generated by a solitaire game that she didn’t remember installing — and working to clean up her tablets, we decided to send the older one to the next electronics recycling event to reduce any future confusion. Now that we had her back in action with a device she knew well, I decided to forego auditioning new devices since I have good hopes that we can probably get another six months of use out of this one. No need to upset the proverbial apple cart if we have something that meets her needs. I know from experience that the future value of a problem can sometimes be worse than the current value of a problem, but I’m willing to play the odds on this one.

The experience was a good one to remind me that although many of the elderly have access to technology, they may not understand how it works or how to stay out of trouble when they’re online. It also gave me a new appreciation for people with mobility and sensory challenges who are trying to access technology platforms. That will give me some things to think about the next time I have to write scripts for end user testing. I’m glad I could help her and she treated me to an ice cream at the end, so you can’t go wrong with that.

If you work for a technology vendor, do you consider the needs of the elderly or those who have additional needs as you design your solutions? Leave a comment or email me.

Email Dr. Jayne.

Morning Headlines 2/17/25

Agentic AI Startup, VoiceCare AI, Launches to Automate Healthcare Back Office and Super-Staff Workforce

Mayo Clinic will pilot voice AI agent technology from VoiceCare AI, which recently launched with $3.85 million in funding, in three areas for pre-authorization and benefit confirmation.

Donate Life America and Epic Bring Organ Donor Registration to MyChart

Epic integrates organ donation registration capabilities into MyChart in collaboration with the non-profit Donate Life America.

Trusting Health Care Systems to Use Artificial Intelligence

A JAMA commentary piece notes that patients don’t trust how health systems will use AI, leading author Jessica Ancker, MD, MPH to recommend that health systems clearly disclose AI interactions, specify who can access AI-generated data, and inform patients when AI is used to influence clinical decisions.

Monday Morning Update 2/17/25

Top News

A JAMA commentary piece notes that patients don’t trust how health systems will use AI, but then again, they don’t trust health systems in general.

A cited study found a mean health system overall trust score of 5.23 on a 12-point scale. Only 40% of respondents expressed high trust, down from 72% pre-pandemic.

The author, Vanderbilt informatics professor Jessica Ancker, MD, MPH, recommends that health systems clearly disclose AI interactions, specify who can access AI-generated data, and inform patients when AI is used to influence clinical decisions.

She also notes that people tend to be wary of technology they haven’t personally experienced, such as self-driving cars, but usually warm up to it once they see it for themselves.

Reader Comments

From Peds MD: “Re: Epic’s Care Everywhere. Responding to the HIStalk post last fall where Care Everywhere failed to match a critical newborn, Epic relaxed its requirements to make matches if you have the patient’s Care Everywhere number (from the place you are querying) and two other matching demographics. Today we had a patient who had “some kind of heart surgery” as a child in 2001, and it was medically important to know exactly what was done. Because they had moved across the country, I couldn’t match the patient using regular demographics — everything had changed except their name, sex, and date of birth — but when I obtained and entered the Care Everywhere number from the other hospital’s HIM department, the match came back immediately. We are still working with Epic on improving matching, but I think it’s important to recognize progress, as it made a big difference in this patient’s care. Kudos to HIStalk for helping in this.” I posted the reader’s original problem description last year. Thanks for the update and thanks to Epic, which I can say always responds quickly and personally to address issues that readers have reported here.

From Silken: “Re: Epic and SaaS. I’ve seen online commentary about the benefit of Epic moving to SaaS model. What do you and your readers think?” For me, I see the possible customer advantages of running a SaaS versus on-premise and cloud-hosted products. However, technical punditry and wishful thinking aside, you have to assume that Epic is like all companies in being most likely to take whatever path benefits it most. Thoughts:

• Big, Epic-using health systems aren’t visibly demanding a SaaS model, at least when it comes to voting with their dollars, which is the only vote that counts. They have already invested in Epic-driven infrastructure, IT expertise, and long-term budgets. These are sunk costs that shouldn’t influence future decisions, but hospitals are generally risk-averse and don’t relish major disruptions like retraining and workflow changes, especially in the absence of a clear business benefit.
• Even though Epic’s maintenance costs are high, SaaS wouldn’t necessarily be cheaper over time since it’s still up to Epic to set prices.
• Many health systems already operate a de facto SaaS model by hosting Epic for affiliated hospitals and clinics. This may be more cost-effective than Epic offering SaaS directly to an ever-decreasing number of unaffiliated small hospitals and practices.
• SaaS benefits include scalability and faster onboarding of acquisitions, but drawbacks include a reduced ability for customization, forced upgrades on Epic’s schedule, and tighter vendor lock-in.
• The Change Healthcare breach heightened concerns about reliance on a single vendor, possibly making CIOs skeptical that Epic SaaS would be more secure or resilient than their own IT capabilities.
• SaaS would increase health system dependence on Epic, with unknowns about what a post-Judy Epic looks like.
• Oracle Health talks up cloud-native ambitions but lacks market momentum, industry focus, and credibility to provide much of a medium-term threat. Health systems care less about technology compared to business results, proven ROI, and vendor responsiveness and stability. Oracle’s commitment, performance, and retention of internal healthcare expertise remains unproven, and customers have been historically burned by big tech outsiders who barged into (and then out of) healthcare. 
• A full Epic rewrite is unlikely unless the reward to Epic clearly outweighs the risk. Few vendors have pulled this off. Meditech did it seemingly effortlessly with Expanse and Cerner (as a publicly traded company) sweated through many bad years until Millennium was fully baked. Otherwise a lot of vendor-touted technology improvement is pig lipstickery, and sometimes that’s all customers care about anyway.
• Epic dominates the market and will eventually run out of deep-pockets health systems to sell to. It doesn’t need to chase new customers by teasing their CTOs into an advanced state of technical arousal.
• Potential drivers for change are Oracle Health rebounding as a serious competitor; a demand for cloud-native AI and analytics; and regulatory pressures around interoperability and cybersecurity (which seem to be lessening by the day).

HIStalk Announcements and Requests

Most poll respondents book their medical appointments by telephone or patient portal. Some say they do it at the check-out desk at the end of their visit, which I’ve seen almost universally with dentists but commonly with doctors, although that experience probably involves routine chronic condition management.

New poll to your right or here: How much of your job performance can be measured using objective metrics?This came to mind while reading an article about how much of a pay cut office employees would take to work fully remotely. The article noted that managers who oppose WFH often oversee employees whose performance isn’t easily quantified by output metrics, which forces them to rely on in-office proxies such as hours worked, enthusiasm, and the perceptions of colleagues and customers. Another question might be that if your job performance isn’t being mostly measured by metrics, then why not? Is your work inherently unquantifiable, or is it that managers haven’t created the right metrics and instead rely on direct observation?

HIStalk sponsors: fill out this form to tell me about your HIMSS25 plans by February 24 and I will include you in my guide, which will look like the one above from last year..

Readers provided microphones and speakers for students in Ms. B’s elementary school classes in Kinston, NC. She reports:

You would not believe how student engagement has changed in our classroom!!! We faithfully use the devices during our math lessons. Students love when they are able to clearly share their thinking, using the microphone, as they give explanations while solving rigorous word problems. Being in the spotlight, they aren’t shy to speak out for all to hear. The Bluetooth speaker sits stationary in the center of the room so all voices are projected throughout. I love the range and how I’m able to walk around freely without even realizing that it’s still on. The students are able to hear me no matter if I’m in the front of the room or in the back of the room.

Sponsored Events and Resources

Instant Access Webinar: “How AI Addresses Resource Constraints Within Identity Data Management.” Sponsor: Rhapsody. Presenters: Lynn Stoltz, MS, director of product management, Rhapsody; Drew Ivan, MS, chief architect, Rhapsody; Michelle Blackmer, chief marketing officer, Rhapsody. Discover how to overcome the toughest challenge in identity data management: resource constraints.  The presenters will cover how Rhapsody EMPI with Autopilot solves resource challenges like limitations in time, talent, and budget; Reduces costs and risks associated with inaccurate data; and boosts identity data accuracy through 98% decision-making precision.

Contact Lorre to have your resource listed

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

ProPublica examines the history of Zolgensma, a taxpayer- and charity-funded gene therapy for a rare nerve disease in infants whose rights were acquired by a startup. The chief scientist gained partial ownership, the startup went public, and Novartis later bought it for $8.7 billion, netting the scientist $400 million, an investor $315 million, and the CEO $190 million. Novartis then priced the drug at a record $2 million per dose. Medicaid spent $309 million on it over four years, while Novartis made $6.4 billion. The article notes that 10 gene therapy products now cost more than $2 million per dose once Novartis set the price bar so high.

People

WellSpan Health SVP/CIO Hal Baker, MD announces that he will retire in July. He encourages those who might want to succeed him to apply for the York, PA-based job, telling me that “We have a fantastic team, are doing some very cool cutting edge stuff in AI, and I think my 30 years working for a single employer says about as much as one can about how good the opportunity is.”

Announcements and Implementations

Meditech signs its 100th Meditech as a Service client.

Epic integrates organ donation registration capabilities into MyChart in collaboration with the non-profit Donate Life America.

Mayo Clinic will pilot VoiceCare AI’s voice AI agent in three areas for pre-authorization and benefit confirmation.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence deploys the first batch of 200 tablets to Air Assault Forces medics, who will use them to document frontline care in the military’s self-developed Electronic Primary Medical Records system. The tablets were donated by the Come Back Alive foundation, which supports members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Other

In England, a trade union raises concerns about a hospital’s plan to use license plate recognition software to impose fees and fines. The website of technology provider ParkingEye says that the advantages are to “increase parking revenue, reduce car park abuse, and improve customer satisfaction,” also noting that 30 NHS trusts already use its systems. Complaints abound, mostly about being erroneously told by someone on site that it was free to park or to get validated, having their credit card hit with a huge charge with no response to appeals, and angry excuses of the “I was only a little over the time limit and it wasn’t my fault” variety.

Sponsor Updates

• Health Data Movers hires Andrew O’Hara as a health IT recruiter.
• TruBridge announces its selection as a preferred partner to healthcare services company Cibolo Health.
• Visage Imaging General Manager, North America Brad Levin recaps the first Sharp HealthCare Spatial Computing Health Care Summit in San Diego.
• Contessa Health (TN) works with Netsmart to develop and configure the first application in a suite of tools that is its new population health management platform for palliative care at home.
• Nym publishes a new case study, “Transforming Medical Coding at Inova.”
• Optimum Healthcare IT publishes a new white paper, “Improving Efficiency & Meeting User Demand with ITSM Practices in Healthcare.”
• Praia Health announces it has been granted a second patent for its account and experience orchestration technology.
• QGenda offers a new case study, “North American Partners in Anesthesia Achieves Faster, More Accurate Payroll with QGenda’s Schedule-Driven Time and Attendance Solution.”
• Waystar earns top rankings for its payment solutions in eight categories, according to Black Book Research’s latest analysis of AI-powered RCM software platforms.
• WellSky publishes an EHR checklist for behavioral health facilities.

Blog Posts

• Best Practices for Collaborating with Payers (FinThrive)
• CMS TEAM is coming: Why CIOs must act now on EHR optimization (Nordic)
• Top Physician Communication Frustrations (PerfectServe)
• The Cost of Doing Nothing (Praia Health)
• How Redox and Databricks are transforming prior authorization through interoperability (Redox)
• Powering the Prior Authorization Transformation (Surescripts)
• How a Healthcare Platform Transforms Patient Care & Operations (Symplr)
• How to Align Operations + Technology to Improve Patient Access (Tegria)
• Value-based care requires creativity and technology partnerships (Wolters Kluwer Health)

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
Get HIStalk updates.
Send news or rumors.
Follow on X, Bluesky, and LinkedIn.
Contact us.

Morning Headlines 2/14/25

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Sworn in as 26th Secretary at HHS, President Trump Signs Executive Order to Make America Healthy Again

Newly sworn in HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., JD, LLM will manage a $2 trillion budget and oversee CMS, CDC, FDA, NIH, the Public Health Service, HHS OIG, AHRQ, Office for Civil Rights, and ASTP.

CVS shares pop 15% on big earnings beat, even as high medical costs drag down insurance unit

CVS Health reports Q4 results: revenue up 4%, EPS $1.30 versus $1.58, beating expectations for both and sending battered shares up 15%.

Vitalchat Secures Series A Funding Led by GHC Industries to Scale Virtual Nursing and Telehealth Solutions

Vitalchat, which offers an AI-powered inpatient virtual nursing and procedural telehealth platform, raises $6 million in a Series A funding round.

News 2/14/25

Top News

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, JD, LLM is sworn in as HHS secretary.

He will manage a $2 trillion budget and will oversee CMS, CDC, FDA, NIH, the Public Health Service, HHS OIG, AHRQ, Office for Civil Rights, and ASTP.

HIStalk Announcements and Requests

Welcome to new HIStalk Platinum Sponsor Inbox Health. Inbox Health directly addresses one of the fastest-growing problems in healthcare — the challenge of patient A/R. Built for healthcare revenue cycle leaders, Inbox Health automates patient billing and patient payments and modernizes the patient support experience. Inbox Health improves patient engagement by providing clear medical bills immediately after service; choice of payment methods and communication channels; and fast, empathetic support through the phone and live chat. By improving the patient experience, practices see an increase in profitability, cash flow, and collection speeds. With Inbox Health, customers report a 60% increase in collection speeds in the first 60 days. Inbox Health provides an automated, streamlined platform that increases revenue, saves time, and reduces costs. Inbox Health serves over 3,000 healthcare practices and more than 2 million patients a year. Headquartered in New Haven, CT, Inbox Health was recently named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in America. Thanks to Inbox Health for supporting HIStalk.

Sponsored Events and Resources

Instant Access Webinar: “How AI Addresses Resource Constraints Within Identity Data Management.” Sponsor: Rhapsody. Presenters: Lynn Stoltz, MS, director of product management, Rhapsody; Drew Ivan, MS, chief architect, Rhapsody; Michelle Blackmer, chief marketing officer, Rhapsody. Discover how to overcome the toughest challenge in identity data management: resource constraints.  The presenters will cover how Rhapsody EMPI with Autopilot solves resource challenges like limitations in time, talent, and budget; Reduces costs and risks associated with inaccurate data; and boosts identity data accuracy through 98% decision-making precision.

Contact Lorre to have your resource listed.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

CVS Health reports Q4 results: revenue up 4%, EPS $1.30 versus $1.58, beating expectations for both and sending battered shares up 15%. Executives emphasized plans to boost margins in its Aetna insurance unit, which was hit by high utilization costs, and refine drug pricing models.

Revenue cycle automation vendor Candid Health raises $52.5 million in a Series C funding round.

No-code healthcare workflow automation and integration platform vendor Keragon raises $7.5 million in seed funding.

Vitalchat, which offers an AI-powered inpatient virtual nursing and procedural telehealth platform, raises $6 million in a Series A funding round. CEO Michael Raymer, Chief Marketing Officer Jennifer Haas, and board member Peter Neupert spent time at Sentillion / Microsoft and the executive team has deep health tech experience in general.

Half-year results of Pro Medicus, Visage Imaging’s Australia-based parent, report a 35% jump in revenue from North America.

Oracle EVP and lobbyist Ken Glueck fires off another unhinged rant against Epic and CEO Judy Faulkner after his initial diatribe last spring. Snips:

• “We set on a path to build a modern EHR Cloud, focused on innovation while Epic built a yellow brick road to nowhere. At Epic, product demos were replaced by campus tour.”
• He spends most of his 21 paragraphs accusing Epic of favorably editing its own Wikipedia page, although he (a) admitted that it’s possible that nobody associated with Epic actually did this; and (b) didn’t elaborate on why Epic would find Wikipedia pages important enough to justify “a more sophisticated, coordinated, and sustained effort.” 
• Glueck says that Epic has run a smear campaign against Oracle EVP/GM Seema Verma, who he says riled Judy by pushing interoperability in her former role as CMS administrator. (note: Verma’s Wikipedia page is certainly an interesting read without any Epic embellishment).

Oracle Health employees reacted negatively on Reddit:

• “Childish and stupid. Truly embarrassing.”
• “Who the hell is Ken Glueck and is this external for clients to read? That’s totally embarrassing. Also, Feinberg said Epic isn’t our competitor anyway, so what’s the problem?”
• “I am not sure I have witnessed a more profound ass kissing. How the hell does a professional organization let a piece like that out the door?”
• “To paraphrase Steve Jobs, real wizards ship.”

Sales

• Cordea Consulting brings Jupiter Medical Center (FL) live on Epic on Amazon Web Services.

People

RWJBarnabas Health hires Roshan Hussain, MBA, MPH (UK HealthCare) as SVP/chief data and analytics officer.

Mark Amey, MBA (Alameda Health System) joins Ellit Groups as COO.

CloudWave promotes Tina Brown, MBA to VP of cloud operations; Tony Rienzo to VP of service delivery; and John Duffy to VP of cloud infrastructure.

Evidently hires Kai Romero, MD (By The Bay Health) as head of clinical success.

Jay Volk, JD, LLM, MA (EtherFax) joins Weave Cloud Solutions as CEO.

Announcements and Implementations

Medicomp System announces support for USCDI Version 3 and Version 4 for its Quippe platform, which gives its partners access to SDOH screening tools and export capability to FHIR.

Surescripts announces Touchless Prior Authorization.

Apple adds heart rate monitoring to its new $250 Powerbeats Pro 2 earbuds.

Meditech renames its patient portal to MyHealthHub.

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Apple launches the Apple Health Study in collaboration with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which will use the Research app to explore how data from Apple devices relates to health.

In England, Fordcombe Hospital goes live on Altera Digital Health’s Sunrise EPR.

Government and Politics

Politico reports that three HHS / ASTP technology executives who were hired into newly created positions four weeks ago appear to no longer work for the organization – Meghan Dierks, MD (chief AI officer); Alicia Rouault (CTO); and Kristen Honey PhD, MA (chief data officer).

Other

Former Theranos CEO and federal inmate Elizabeth Holmes tells People that she is still filing patents and plans to re-enter healthcare technology after her scheduled release in 2032. Critics say that the article might indicate that she is angling for a sentence reduction or possibly a White House pardon by creating sympathy for her children, ages 2 and 3, who were born during her fraud trial. She says that her newfound passion is to become an advocate for reforming the US criminal justice system.

Sponsor Updates

• Digital Health New York inducts Capital Rx into its inaugural Hall of Fame as part of a cohort of companies that have built the foundation of New York’s Digital Health ecosystem.
• Black Book Research publishes its first comprehensive industry review of AI applications in revenue cycle management.
• TruBridge names Jerry Canada and Dris Upitis to its board as a part of cooperation agreements with Pinetree Capital and Ocho Investments.
• Clearsense announces a strategic rebrand, the relocation of its headquarters to Nashville, and the addition of new features to its 1Clearsense data-enablement platform.
• Jack Squires (WellSky) joins Healthmonix as sales executive.
• Riverside University Health System – Behavioral Health (CA) adds Netsmart’s CareRouter mobile dispatch tool to improve the efficiency of its Mobile Crisis Response Program.
• WellSky launches a new patient panel, available in the WellSky CarePort Connect solution, that will equip providers with critical and holistic knowledge of their patient population.
• Health Data Movers hires Andrew O’Hara as a health IT recruiter.
• Inovalon releases an eight-episode podcast, “INOvators 2025 Forecast.”

Blog Posts

• 5 Tips for Achieving 2025 Readiness in the IDD Industry (Netsmart)
• 211 Day: Celebrating Innovation Meeting Impact (Findhelp)
• Healthcare Insurance Discovery: How It Works and Why Providers Need It (FinThrive)
• Riding the Wave Into 2025: Top 5 Highlights From Five9 SKO (Five9)
• The Importance of Migrating from Your Legacy ERP to a Modern Cloud-Based Solution: Doing Nothing is Not a Strategy (Impact Advisors)
• How MyHealthHub elevates the patient experience (Meditech)

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
Get HIStalk updates.
Send news or rumors.
Follow on X, Bluesky, and LinkedIn.
Contact us.

EPtalk by Dr. Jayne 2/13/25

California legislators are getting on the AI regulation train. A bill was introduced earlier this week that would prevent AI systems from calling themselves health professionals. Mia Bonta represents California’s 18th Assembly District, which includes the East Bay area, and chairs the Assembly Health Committee. She stated, “Generative AI systems are not licensed health professionals, and they shouldn’t be allowed to present themselves as such.”

The legislation, AB 489, is supported by SEIU California and the California Medical Association. It would help patients understand whether they’re interacting with a licensed professional or an AI-powered chatbot. Perhaps clear definitions around the idea of “AI nurses” would have helped avoid some of the confusion that the new Secretary of Health and Human Services encountered when he was recently at the Cleveland Clinic.

Another AI-related headline that caught my attention this week was around using the technology to “make our physicians superhuman.” A health system is using AI tools to help detect lung cancer by using radiology reports where nodules are mentioned, then reviewing and tracking those reports. One of the organization’s leaders stated that physicians are “receiving a CT report on the patient, then having to read the entire body of it and make multiple decision analyses of the individual nodules. Let’s automate that. Let’s make our physicians superhuman in their ability to manage the number of patients under their purview.”

I don’t have an issue with the concept of making physicians more efficient or allowing them to better manage the patients in their care. I do have an issue with the use of the word “superhuman,” though. As someone who saw patients in emergent settings through the worst parts of the COVID pandemic, I feel strongly that this idea of physicians needing to be superhuman is detrimental. It conditions us and our patients that physicians aren’t allowed to fail, have a bad day, or make mistakes. It can raise patient expectations beyond what one can reasonably deliver. I saw this acutely during the pandemic, when we were expected to see ridiculously high patient volumes without appropriate personal protective equipment, support staff, or supplies.

I’ve practiced in a small town as well as in the big city. I honestly feel like the time I spent in rural America and interacted with my patients regularly outside the office was better as far as helping set expectations about what physicians should and could do. When you see your patients at the grocery store picking up bread and milk just like everyone else, it gives both the clinician and the patient a different perspective. There’s nothing more human than sitting in the stylist’s chair at the local hair salon or “beauty parlor” with foils all over your head and chatting with your patient over a People magazine. I definitely miss those times when I’m working on projects that turn patients into numbers and physicians into productivity widgets.

I frequently work on EHR adoption and optimization projects, so I always like reading about others’ efforts in the literature. A recent article on team approaches to training and optimization caught my eye. The authors surveyed health organization informatics leaders and received 193 responses from 147 organizations. Some of the statistics were rather interesting: “Of these, 69% offer ongoing EHR training, and 52% offer some version of an ETOP (EHR Training and Optimization Program).”

That leads me to wonder what the other organizations are doing. One might assume that they are training once and then just hoping that clinicians wing it as they go. The authors suggest that ongoing optimization and training programs can lead to reduced healthcare worker burnout through improved EHR efficiency and satisfaction. They recommend that additional research be done “to identify the optimal features, methods, and outcomes of ETOPs, and to disseminate them across HCOs.”

Although I’ve seen cool presentations at various EHR user group meetings about how different organizations approach it, I know that in my own consulting practice, what I see varies widely.When I was a health system informaticist, I certainly didn’t want to reinvent the wheel when I could copy from someone who was successful. The article confirms the variety of different offerings, including tip sheets, videos, training software, one-on-one training, clinic rounding by trainers, and formal programs.

As keen as physicians are on the concept of evidence-based practice in caring for patients, I would think they would be more excited about developing best practices for implementing and maintaining EHRs. I think we’re going to see shifts in what is needed as the clinician workforce demographics change, and it will be interesting to see how the research keeps up with this evolution.

Worker retention is a huge issue in healthcare. Especially in cities with multiple health systems, there can be frequent movement among IT roles as people try to improve their compensation. It always amused me as a health system leader that I couldn’t pay my valued workers more, but if they quit and I had to replace them, I could get the role moved into a higher salary band. It seems like it would have been easier to just pay people commensurate with their skills and experience, but hey, I’m just the doctor.

A healthcare article states that the average worker with capped vacation days takes 14 days off annually, while those with unlimited PTO take an average of 16. This is in stark contrast to European countries, where more paid time off is typically the norm. Jefferson Health notes that “executives typically use for to six weeks of PTO annually,” but doesn’t mention how much other employee classifications typically use. I would be interested to hear from care delivery organizations that have unlimited PTO and what their statistics are like. I’m happy to maintain your anonymity.

I appreciate the shout out from Mr. H last week as he mentioned the expanding partnership between EHR vendor CampDoc and Scouting America (formerly known as Boy Scouts of America). I read the press release in detail and noted that CampDoc will also be used for the 2026 National Jamboree.

This means that CampDoc has replaced Cerner, which made a simplified version of its flagship software available for previous major scouting events ,including the 2019 World Scout Jamboree where I made friends with quite a few Cerner implementation specialists who were there to support us. I have to say that it was the easiest version of Cerner I’ve ever used since we only had to document the important parts of acute patient care. We didn’t have to worry about the other data elements that are required for long-term population health, preventive screenings, or billing.

I hope the folks from CampDoc get into the spirit — the Cerner team had patches to trade and were a lot of fun. If you work for CampDoc and you are looking for someone to advise you on how to be the coolest kids at camp, I might know someone.

Email Dr. Jayne.

Morning Headlines 2/13/25

Candid Health Raises $52.5 Million Series C to Enhance GenAI Features, Expand Revenue Cycle Automation Platform to More Providers

RCM automation company Candid Health announces Series C funding of $52.5 million, bringing its total raised to $99.5 million.

Keragon, an AI-powered healthcare automation platform, secured a $7.5M seed round six months post-launch

Healthcare automation startup Keragon raises $7.5 million in a seed funding round, bringing its total raised to $10.5 million since launching in 2024.

Leading Global Healthtech Company, Harrison.ai, to Bring Proven AI-Powered Medical Diagnostic Support and Workflow Solutions to the United States; US$112 Million Series C Fuels Global Expansion

Australia-based Harrison.ai, which offers AI diagnostic solutions for radiology and pathology imaging, will use $112 million in new funding to expand its US operations.

Healthcare AI News 2/12/25

News

Nine hospitals in the UK are using AI to prioritize high-risk patients who are stuck in the NHS’s 7.5 million-long waiting list. The C2-Ai system has flagged 1,000 patients who are at risk of deterioration during their wait to be seen, which reduced surgery-related complications and shortened inpatient stays by four days. 

Mass General Brigham and IBM partner through the IBM Sustainability Accelerator to develop an AI tool that will predict extreme heat events, identify at-risk patients, and send warnings to those who are at risk. Previous research indicates that heat event days will cause 235,000 ED visits, 56,000 hospital admissions, and $1 billion in costs, much of that in urban areas. 

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman predicts in a blog post that AI will soon reach human-level problem-solving ability (AGI), a transformation that will be comparable to the invention of the transistor. Key points:

• AI intelligence scales predictably with investment since it correlates with the log of resources used.
• AI costs drop 10x every 12 months, far outpacing Moore’s law.
• Exponential AI investment will persist due to its super-exponential socioeconomic value.
• AI agents will handle most tasks of mid-level professionals but won’t generate big ideas, will require human oversight, and will still fail in some areas.
• AGI’s greatest impact will likely be in science.

Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD urges the FDA not to classify AI as a medical device if it simply synthesizes and presents information, warning that excessive regulation could hinder AI integration into EHRs and limit its ability to generate clinical insights. He emphasizes that AI is most effective when it is embedded in physician workflows with access to EHR data.

Business

Australia-based Harrison.ai, which offers AI diagnostic solutions for radiology and pathology imaging, raises a $112 million Series C funding round. The company will use the proceeds to expand its US operations.

Cedars-Sinai nurses are piloting an AI tool that was developed by Aiva Health, which was developed through the hospital’s accelerator program. Nurses dictate into the nurse assistant app, which then populates Epic fields upon their approval.

Research

An American Medical Association survey finds that two-thirds of physicians recognize the benefit of AI. Use of AI in practice doubled in one year to 66%, while 57% see administrative burden as its biggest opportunity.

Other

A student-run media site profiles how Brown University Health physicians are using AI, including simplifying the language of surgical consent forms and using OpenAI’s Voice Engine to provide patients who have lost their voice with a text-to-speech tool that sounds like them.

Harvard Medical School psychiatrist and bioethics professor Rebecca Brendel, MD, JD ponders whether AI should be used in end-of-life decision-making, raising these issues:

• Clinicians will respect the wishes of a patient as long as they are competent to make decisions and don’t want something that is medically contraindicated.
• AI might help after the initial diagnosis if decisions will be made between treatment and palliation.
• It might also help in situations where patients are incapacitated, have few relationships, and have avoided treatment.
• It’s not enough to decide from the odds of survival alone since people who have experienced a sudden tragedy wouldn’t necessarily have the same wishes as someone who has battled a chronic illness over time.
• Decisions of high consequence should always be made by humans.
• Information asymmetry has always caused healthcare professionals to be held in high esteem, but AI might outperform humans in some aspects, which would shift professional emphasis to how they use information and interact with patients.

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
Get HIStalk updates.
Send news or rumors.
Follow on X, Bluesky, and LinkedIn.
Contact us.

Morning Headlines 2/12/25

PSI Secures $156M VA Contract for EHR Test & Evaluation Support

The VA awards Planned Systems International a contract to support the EHR Modernization Integration Office’s software testing and evaluation as Oracle Health is rolled out to additional facilities.

Apple brings heart rate monitoring to Powerbeats Pro 2

Apple adds a heart rate monitoring feature to its newest earbuds that is compatible with its Health app and several other popular fitness apps.

Backline by DrFirst, Five Wishes, and MyDirectives Partner to Offer ACP Complete, a Beginning-to-end Advance Care Planning Solution

Backline by DrFirst, Five Wishes, and MyDirectives launch ACP Complete, an advance care planning solution that guides patients via virtual consultations.

News 2/12/25

Top News

Doximity reports Q3 results: revenue up 25%, EPS $0.40 versus $0.26, beating analyst expectations for both and sending shares up nearly 40% on the news.

DOCS  shares have gained 170% in the past 12 months, valuing the physician professional network company at $14 billion.

Co-founder and CEO Jeff Tangney holds shares worth nearly $5 billion.

HIStalk Announcements and Requests

Check out what HIStalk sponsors will be doing at the ViVE conference in Nashville next week. 

Welcome to new HIStalk Platinum Sponsor Symplr. Symplr is a leader in enterprise healthcare operations software and services with a first-of-its-kind operations platform. Trusted in nine of 10 US hospitals and 400+ US health plans, Symplr optimizes operations and maximizes care powered by its cloud-based workforce, quality, provider data management, and spend solutions. Gain efficiencies, reduce complexity, and improve outcomes where it matters most. Thanks to Symplr for supporting HIStalk.

I found this Symplr explainer video on YouTube.

Sponsored Events and Resources

Instant Access Webinar: “Successfully Navigating Post-Acute Rev Cycle Challenges.” Sponsors: Inovalon and KanTime. Presenters: David Swenson, senior manager of sales engineering, Inovalon; Lucy Lopez, VP of product management, KanTime. Learn how to speed up your revenue cycle processes and avoid the common RCM and eligibility errors that cause delays and denials. Discover strategies to boost your bottom line: streamline eligibility verification, simplify complex processes, and optimize denial management for improved cash flow.

Instant Access Webinar: “How AI Addresses Resource Constraints Within Identity Data Management.” Sponsor: Rhapsody. Presenters: Lynn Stoltz, MS, director of product management, Rhapsody; Drew Ivan, MS, chief architect, Rhapsody; Michelle Blackmer, chief marketing officer, Rhapsody. Discover how to overcome the toughest challenge in identity data management: resource constraints.  The presenters will cover how Rhapsody EMPI with Autopilot solves resource challenges like limitations in time, talent, and budget; Reduces costs and risks associated with inaccurate data; and boosts identity data accuracy through 98% decision-making precision.

Survey: “Data Quality Survey 2025.” Sponsor: Clinical Architecture. This annual survey measures the perceived quality of the data in healthcare, the impact of data quality on individual and collective objectives, and the factors contributing to poor quality. We do this across different healthcare market segments since each segment creates, collects, uses, and disseminates the data differently. Responses are welcome and appreciated from those who are associated with providers, payers, life sciences, public health, academia, value-based care, analytics vendors, EHR vendors, and consultants.

Contact Lorre to have your resource listed.

Sales

• Columbus Community Hospital (NE), Pipeline Health System (CA), Sioux Falls Specialty Hospital (SD), and West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital (LA) will roll out Altera Digital Health’s Paragon Denali EHR.
• Vizient selects Andor Health’s ThinkAndor virtual care collaboration software.
• Southern Illinois Healthcare will implement Counterpart Health’s AI-powered physician enablement and patient insights software.
• The VA awards Planned Systems International a contract to support the EHR Modernization Integration Office’s software testing and evaluation as Oracle Health is rolled out to additional facilities.
• AdventHealth will implement care coordination software from Aidin at its hospitals in nine states.
• Door County Medical Center (WI) will replace Meditech with Epic in February 2026.
• Doctors Hospital (FL) selects virtual care technology from CareView Communications.
• Virtua Health (NJ) will use Unite Us software to standardize its Health-Related Social Needs referral process.

People

LeanTaaS promotes Tim Vasil, MS, MBA to CTO.

Episcopal Health Services (NY) names John Rossi (Stamford Health) VP and chief digital information officer.

Upfront Healthcare promotes Lisa Rhind, MA to SVP of client services.

Industry long-timer Tom Griga (The HCI Group) joins Divurgent as SVP of client service. 

OncoHealth names Jon Maack, MBA (Definitive Healthcare) as CEO.

Todd Dunn, MBA (The Innovators Journey) joins Accuryn Medical as chief transformation officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Lincata introduces LincTV, an HDMI plug-in device that enables Epic MyChart Bedside to run on existing TVs. The device supports virtual nursing and patient monitoring by connecting to cameras, microphones, and motion sensors. Chairman and CEO Tom White, MBA is an industry veteran who previously co-founded Vocada and Phynd, which were acquired by Nuance and Symplr, respectively.

AdvancedMD releases its first major enhancements to its EHR, PM, and patient engagement platform since the company was acquired by Francisco Partners last fall. Updates include redesigned Patient and Responsible Party cards, a population health reporting system, and clinical notes auto-save.

Backline by DrFirst, Five Wishes, and MyDirectives launch ACP Complete, an advance care planning solution that guides patients via virtual consultations.

A new Black Book Market Research report names Clearwater as the leading healthcare cybersecurity firm.

KLAS’s inaugural report on revenue cycle optimization ranks Guidehouse, Chartis, and Tegria as top performers for Epic users; Signature Performance for Oracle Health; and Huron for Meditech. Huron, Chartis, Healthrise, and Impact Advisors lead in identifying high-value optimization opportunities.

Other

Saudi Arabia’s deputy minister for e-health and digital transformation says that Seha Virtual Hospitals is using advanced AI to analyze images and screen people for chronic conditions. It is connected to 200 hospitals via the country’s HIE.

Three Germany-based university hospitals saw no significant change in inappropriate imaging ordering following their implementation of a clinical decision support system. Those orders made up  5% to 8% of the total.

Sponsor Updates

• Availity sponsors the Wolfson Children’s Challenge to support Wolfson Children’s Hospital (FL).
• Healthcare IT Leaders appoints CEO Ben Hilmes, MHA to its board.
• Nordic releases a new episode of its “Designing for Health” podcast, “Interview with Aaron Neinstein, MD.”
• Vyne Medical announces that its hosted Trace Platform and Refyne Denials Management solutions have earned certified status by HITRUST for information security.
• Capital Rx releases a new episode of “The Astonishing Healthcare Podcast,: “Selling Pharmacy Benefits: Relationships, Rebates, GLP-1s, and More, with Bridget Mulvenna.”
• Optimum Healthcare IT publishes a new white paper titled “Improving Efficiency & Meeting User Demand with ITSM Practices in Healthcare.”
• Clearwater will present at the University of Louisville’s ISACA Kentuckiana Chapter’s Secure Digital Conference February 14.

Blog Posts

• Denial Remediation: Preventing Denials (AGS Health)
• The journey toward better healthcare is underway: A look at Sunrise (Altera Digital Health)
• CIO Insights: Seizing Big Tech Opportunities for Greater Impact (CereCore)
• Extreme Usability in Post-Acute Care: Technology That Works the Way You Do (Netsmart)
• “This is how I do it”: uncovering gaps in data-driven clinical workflows (Philips Capsule)
• Overcoming Capacity Management Challenges in Patient Access (Tegria)
• Our 11th Best in KLAS: Leading the Future of Healthcare Analytics (Dimensional Insight)

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
Get HIStalk updates.
Send news or rumors.
Follow on X, Bluesky, and LinkedIn.
Contact us.

Morning Headlines 2/11/25

HealWell Receives Regulatory Approval from Overseas Investment Office of New Zealand to Acquire Orion Health

New Zealand’s Overseas Investment Office approves Toronto-based Healwell’s plan, first announced in December, to acquire Orion Health.

Cotiviti Announces Agreement to Acquire Edifecs

Cotiviti, a healthcare payments and analytics company based in Salt Lake City, will acquire healthcare interoperability vendor Edifecs.

Pinehurst Radiology Closes ‘Indefinitely’ Due To Cybersecurity Threat

Pinehurst Radiology Associates (NC) will close “for the foreseeable future” as it struggles to recover from a ransomware attack that forced it to take systems offline and cancel services.

HIStalk’s Guide to ViVE 2025

Agfa HealthCare

Booth 641

Contact: Hannah McFadden, marketing communications specialist
hannah.mcfadden@agfa.com
518.796.0908

Harness innovation to elevate your radiology practice with Agfa HealthCare’s Enterprise Imaging solutions. Designed for rapid growth and seamless integration, our platform empowers faster reading, exceptional image fidelity, and enhanced efficiency – without burnout. With Enterprise Imaging Cloud, Streaming Client enabling blazing fast image access, and Workflow Orchestration, Agfa EI helps you grow, work, and live in balance. Step into the future and redefine what’s possible with Agfa HealthCare.

Altera Digital Health

Booth 2307

Contact: Shawn Sayeed, events marketing specialist
shawn.sayeed@alterahealth.com
708.275.1885

A global healthcare IT leader, Altera Digital Health develops and elevates technology to bring next-level healthcare within reach. Altera’s approach to our solutions is changing the way healthcare is delivered – we see the summit of what healthcare can be, but rather than total transformation, we’re focused on helping organizations take the steps they need to get there.

At ViVE, we’re excited to showcase how Altera is addressing the challenges healthcare providers are facing today by enabling system interoperability and data sharing, ensuring financial stability, and leveraging AI to help alleviate clinical and administrative burden. Stop by our booth to meet with our experts and learn more about how Altera can help you deliver next-level care. For more, visit www.alterahealth.com

Artera

Viosk 2038

Contact: Elyssa Jaffe, senior director, growth marketing
elyssa.jaffe@artera.io
904.536.7790

Artera is a SaaS digital health leader redefining patient communications. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Santa Barbara, CA, the company is trusted by 800+ healthcare systems and federal agencies to facilitate more than 2 billion communications annually, reaching over 100 million patients.

The Artera platform integrates across a healthcare organization’s tech stack, EHRs, and third-party vendors to unify, simplify, and orchestrate digital communications into the patient’s preferred channel (texting, email, voice, and secure chat) in 109+ languages. The Artera impact: more efficient staff, more profitable organizations, and a more harmonious patient experience.   

At ViVE: Our team will be available throughout ViVE 2025 to share patient engagement best practices, product demonstrations, and to answer your questions. Schedule and attend a meeting with an Artera team member and earn a $25 Amazon card. As an added bonus, you’ll be entered to win an iPad Pro in our post-event raffle.   

Schedule a meeting with our team.

AvaSure

Booth 2232

Contact: Nicole Douglas, product marketing manager
nicole.douglas@avasure.com
614.315.8112

AvaSure is an intelligent virtual care platform that healthcare providers use to engage with patients, optimize staffing, and seamlessly blend remote and in-person care at scale, addressing critical challenges in staffing shortages, rising patient complexity, and increased costs.   

Join us at ViVE in booth 2232
Experience Innovation: Explore the next generation of AI-powered care and discover how AvaSure is leading the charge in creating the smart room of the future. 
Interactive Demos: See our latest advancements in virtual care technology, including new devices designed to outfit every hospital room with virtual care and AI-enabled workflows.  
Expert Insights: Don’t miss us live on the CHIME stage on Tuesday, February 18, at 1:35 pm to hear from industry leaders on how to scale virtual care beyond pilots.    

Visit AvaSure at ViVE and discover how we’re shaping the future of healthcare. We look forward to connecting with you and sharing our vision for transforming patient care.

Cardamom

Contact Bridget Bell to schedule a meeting.

Contact: Bridget Bell, VP, business development
bridget@cardamom.health
608.658.3461

Cardamom is a minority-owned, healthcare technology services company specializing in data, analytics, AI, and applications with a strong focus on EHRs – particularly Epic. With expertise in revenue cycle optimization, managed services, implementation, and flexible AI solutions, we help healthcare organizations maximize the value of their data and technology to reduce costs, enhance care quality, and improve patient engagement. Learn more at www.Cardamom.Health.

Censinet

Booth 1218

Contact: Mark Gaudet, director, market development
markg@censinet.com

Censinet, based in Boston, takes the risk out of healthcare with Censinet RiskOps, the industry’s first and only cloud-based risk exchange of healthcare organizations working together to manage and mitigate cyber risk. Purpose-built for healthcare, Censinet RiskOps delivers total automation across all third party and enterprise risk-management workflows and best practices. Censinet transforms cyber risk management by leveraging network scale and efficiencies, providing actionable insight, and improving overall operational effectiveness while eliminating risks to patient safety, data, and care delivery. Censinet is an American Hospital Association (AHA) Preferred Cybersecurity Provider. Find out more about Censinet and its RiskOps platform at censinet.com.

Visit Censinet at booth 1218 at ViVE 2025 for information on early findings from the landmark Healthcare Cybersecurity Benchmarking Study 2025 and see live demonstrations of new AI product releases that transform how healthcare organizations assess, manage, and mitigate third-party and enterprise risk.

CereCore

Booth 856 (within Club CHIME)

Contact: Emily Scott, business development
emily.scott@cerecore.net
270.799.8115

CereCore works behind the scenes to empower hospitals and health systems with IT services around the nation and globe. Looking for IT and application support, technical professional and managed services, strategic IT consulting and advisory services, or EHR consulting? Let’s meet so we can help you find EHR experts to maximize your investment, tap into support desk solutions that will result in happier users and providers, supplement your technical and support teams, and connect you with the right talent so you can better manage IT operations. Find meaningful change with CereCore’s healthcare IT managed services.

CereCore is a proud sponsor of Club CHIME, so drop by the Club CHIME Lounge for some refreshments, swag, and to connect with our experts. Schedule a meeting with us. See you in the Club CHIME Lounge at ViVE 2025.

Clearsense

Booth 1602

Contact: Heather MacNeill, head of marketing
heather@hmadvance.com
602.400.8651

Clearsense, a leader in active data archiving and clinical trial matching solutions, transforms how health systems access and utilize critical health and operational data. With the scalable 1Clearsense Platform, health systems of all sizes can achieve faster time to value and streamline workflows for a more efficient organization.

Clearwater

Booth 2925 (in the Cybersecurity Pavilion)

Contact: John Howlett, SVP and chief marketing officer
john.howlett@clearwatersecurity.com
773.636.6449

Clearwater will be leading the conversation about strengthening cybersecurity practices in healthcare again this year, including a presentation by our corporate CISO and CTO of our Clearwater Managed Security & Managed Cloud Services, Steve Akers, that will share insights on the state of vulnerability management in healthcare. Be sure to catch Steve’s presentation in the Cybersecurity Pavilion at 2 pm on Monday, February 17, and stop by our booth to receive a copy of our analysis.    

And for healthcare investors wrestling with how to manage cybersecurity risk in their portfolios, we will have insights on the areas where emerging companies need to focus most based on dozens of assessments we have conducted over the past two years.

Clinical Architecture

Booth 1133 (in the InteropNow! Pavilion)

Contact: Jaime Lira, VP, marketing
jaime_lira@clinicalarchitecture.com
317.580.8400

Visit Clinical Architecture at ViVE at booth 1133 and be sure to attend “Measuring Patient Data Quality with PIQI” Tuesday, February 18 at 10:20 am in the InteropNow! Pavilion, Stage 2. Charlie Harp, CEO of Clinical Architecture, and Ryan Howells, principal at Leavitt Partners, will present a 20-minute case study about the Patient Information Quality Improvement (PIQI) framework, an emerging standard for assessing patient data quality.

Consensus Cloud Solutions

Booth 1610

Contact: Alyssa Beard, associate director, events
alyssa.beard@consensus.com
319.325.2389

Visit us in booth 1610 for live demos and engaging discussions. Find out how we’re modernizing Fax with AI and join the healthcare providers and payers who have achieved:
– Reduced costs with scalable, cloud-based solutions.
– Improved accuracy and efficiency when receiving faxed records into the EHR. 
– Faster prior authorizations and improved workflows.
– Enhanced reliability, data security, and HIPAA compliance.

Cordea Consulting

Booth 2534

Contact: Sara Braner, VP of sales
sara.braner@cordeaconsulting.com
816.510.5792

Cordea Consulting provides expert IT advisory services, digital health and cloud leadership, and contemporary staffing support to hospitals and health systems globally. Healthcare IT is all we do. We use proven tools and methodologies to help organizations build and optimize EHR/ERP/EIS systems and evolve their technology portfolios. Organizations partner with us to unlock funding, accelerate innovation, and grow more competitive in their market. Please stop by booth 2534 for some insightful demos or register to attend one of our after-hours events here.

CTG

Booth 819

Contact: Sarah Blafer, marketing business partner
sarah.blafer@ctg.com
860.942.2180

With over 35 years of expertise, CTG leads the healthcare IT consulting market by delivering innovative solutions and technologies tailored to the industry’s unique challenges, requirements, and regulations. Our range of services includes EHR managed services (including activation, go-live, and training support), cybersecurity, ERP, cloud and infrastructure, application management, support and development, and IT support. Visit booth 819 to explore how CTG can help your organization transform.

Direct Recruiters

Contact Emily Baron to schedule a meeting.

Contact: Emily Baron, client engagement and operations manager
ebaron@directrecruiters.com

Direct Recruiters builds unique partnerships with organizations to not only recruit and retain their valued human capital, but also to provide them with strategic growth solutions, as well as opportunities to partner with other successful organizations and/or PE/VC investment firms. DRI provides retained, contingency, and contract search options, in addition to partnership consulting, tailored to fit clients’ unique organizational needs.

Divurgent

Divurgent booth at Club CHIME

Contact: Joe Grinstead, chief of US operations
joe.grinstead@divurgent.com
214.533.9313

Divurgent is a leading healthcare IT consulting firm dedicated to transforming organizations through innovative solutions and exceptional service. Since 2007, we’ve specialized in strategic healthcare advisory services, digital transformation, and operational efficiency. As a 100% privately-owned company, we’re accountable only to our clients, ensuring they achieve measurable improvements in patient care and organizational performance.   

Divurgent has led more than 700 projects across the US and Canada, drawing from a team of over 22,000 experienced subject matter experts. We collaborate closely with clients to deliver tailored solutions that drive success in an ever-evolving healthcare landscape, from EHR implementation and go-lives to managed services, analytics, talent augmentation, and total experience (TX). Our team has seen it all, drawing on years of experience to learn what works and help clients get the most out of their investments in healthcare technology.   

At Divurgent, we’re committed to helping our clients achieve their vision and build a healthier, happier tomorrow.

Ellkay

Booth 1518

Contact: Auna Emery, VP, marketing
auna.emery@ellkay.com
520.481.2862

Experience healthcare connectivity in action with Ellkay at ViVE  At ViVE 2025, Ellkay is bringing seamless interoperability to life. Visit our booth to see live demos of our cutting-edge data management solutions and discover how we empower hospitals, labs, payers, and healthcare IT vendors with effortless data exchange and connectivity. With integrations spanning 750+ EHR/PM systems and 1,100+ versions, we help organizations optimize workflows, fuel value-based care, and make smarter decisions.    

Why Stop By? 
– Live Demos – See our powerful platforms in action.
– Expert Insights – Learn why the industry is choosing Ellkay and chat with our team about your data challenges.
– Fun and Treats – Network while enjoying our exclusive booth events.  

Don’t Miss These Special Events 
– Monday, February 17 (3:30-5:30 pm): Milkshakes and floats.
– Tuesday, February 18 (3:30-5:30 pm): Espresso martinis 
– Wednesday, February 19 (8:30-10:30 am): Fresh-baked donuts   

Let’s talk about how Ellkay can power your healthcare data connectivity. Stop by and see interoperability in action. Learn more at Ellkay.com or connect with us on YouTube, LinkedIn, X/Twitter, or via TeamEllkay@Ellkay.com.

Elsevier

Booth 745 (in the AI Pavilion)

Elsevier is excited to exhibit at ViVE 2025! Visit booth 745 in the AI Pavilion to learn more about Elsevier’s solutions, including ClinicalKey AI and PatientPass. Interested in learning more about an evaluation methodology for AI in clinical decision-making? Mark your calendars to attend Elsevier’s session, “Evaluation of Generative AI for Clinical Decision Support,” on February 18 at the InteropNow! and AI Pavilion – Stage 1 at 10:25 am. You’ll hear insights from Elsevier’s Generative AI Evaluation Team’s experience establishing and implementing a framework for assessing clinical priorities such as correctness, completeness, and helpfulness of responses generated by AI-powered clinical decision support.

Findhelp

Contact Art Lopez to schedule a meeting.

Contact: Art Lopez, VP of business development
alopez@findhelp.com

Building healthier and happier communities starts with supporting the whole person. That’s why Findhelp was founded in 2010 – to connect all people in need to the programs that serve them with dignity and ease. Our software platform enables community organizations, governments, and businesses across industries to easily manage and coordinate care. From screening and closed-loop referrals to outcomes tracking and actionable health equity insights, Findhelp is leading the modernization of the social safety net.

At ViVE, be sure to attend “Community Health Centers: Making America Healthy One Community At A Time” on Wednesday, February 19 from 9:00-10:00 am on the Blues Stage. Findhelp COO Jaffer Traish will join panelists from San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium and Neighborhood Health to discuss the the innovative ways CHCs integrate primary care and promote healthy behaviors through ‘”food pharmacies,” community gardens, nutrition counseling, cooking and exercise classes, career counseling, and more.

Visit company.findhelp.com to learn more.

FinThrive

Meeting Pod MP2467

Contact: Lindsey LaMotta, senior events manager
lindsey.lamotta@finthrive.com
708.738.3242

FinThrive is advancing the healthcare economy by addressing every transaction and patient experience holistically with advanced, scalable solutions that integrate seamlessly with EHRs, enabling your organization to focus on growth, efficiency, and delivering an outstanding patient experience. Backed by decades of expertise, our comprehensive suite of RCM tools — powered by AI, automation, and analytics — unlock efficiency, boost satisfaction, and accelerate revenue growth. By removing the limitations of fragmented systems, we help you realize your full revenue potential. Our solutions give finance teams and stakeholders greater reliability and control to drive better outcomes while increasing revenue, reducing costs, expanding cash collections, and ensuring regulatory compliance. When finance becomes effortless, the possibilities for care expand. With over $10 billion in net revenue and cash delivered to more than 3,245 customers worldwide, that’s healthcare finance done right. Visit FinThrive.com to learn more.

Five9

Booth 526 (near the Provider and Payer Connect Lounge)

Contact: Roni Jamesmeyer, senior healthcare marketing manager
roni.jamesmeyer@five9.com
972.768.6554

Please come by our booth and see how AI is used in the healthcare contact center space! Five9 has a HIPAA-compliant healthcare cloud contact center solution that lets you seamlessly monitor and report call volumes in real-time across critical areas such as patient access, scheduling, prescription refills, and revenue cycle management, thus enhancing your staff’s efficiency. We integrate with Epic natively, as well as EHRs and back-end systems like Salesforce, serving as a central hub to facilitate your patients’ digital engagement journeys. AI governance in healthcare is top of mind at Five9 – let us show you how we do it.

Get-to-Market Health

Contact: Steve Shihadeh, founder and CEO
steve@gettomarkethealth.net
610.613.407

The continued pace of transformation in healthcare creates enormous pressure on technology companies to adapt and deliver clear value. Get-to-Market Health (GTMH) was formed to address this challenge. Whether a company needs to accelerate its top-line growth following an investment round or is bringing new products to market, GTMH helps healthcare technology leaders market, sell, and create sustainable, long-term relationships with their customers.

Health Data Movers

Contact Brooke Foster to schedule a meeting.

Contact: Brooke Foster, marketing coordinator
brooke@healthdatamovers.com
847.404.0326

Join us on February 17 at 8:00 pm and rock the AC Hotel rooftop RTB with Health Data Movers at ViVE! Jam out to some live music, enjoy a beverage, soak in the view! RSVP here, space is limited!

Also find us at our focus group on Sunday at 3:00 pm: “Unlocking M&A Success: Merging Systems for Seamless Integration and Maximum Impact,” with Curtis Cole, MD chief global information officer at Cornell University, Nitu Kashyap, MD VP and chief health informatics officer at Emory Healthcare, and Mehul Malhotra, director of delivery at Health Data Movers.

Health Data Movers (HDM) is a healthcare technology services firm. We are trusted partners to healthcare organizations, biotechnology companies, and digital health enterprises through our Services – Data Management, Integration, Project Management, and Clinical and Business Applications. We are the smart choice for creating unique solutions that empower patients and providers by unleashing the potential of healthcare data and technology. We Make IT Happen! Visit www.healthdatamovers.com.

Healthcare IT Leaders

Booth 1217

Contact: Peter Sfraga, VP, marketing
peter.sfraga@healthcareitleaders.com

A few days in Nashville is music to our ears! Come say howdy to the Healthcare IT Leaders team at booth 1217 and enter to win a gen-u-ine Stetson hat. Here are some other happenings we’re cooking up for you at ViVE:

• Mosey over to meet our Managed Services team and ask us how we’re delivering savings and higher customer satisfaction at health systems like yours.
• Sit a spell with our EHR Advisory experts to learn how we can help with everything from system selection to integration, optimization, data migration, and the latest in AI.
• Giddy up to our happy hour for cocktails and conversation with your peers and a chance to win a pair of authentic Tecovas cowboy boots. We’re at The Hampton Social – Rosé Lounge, Monday, February 17, from 6:30-8:30 pm.

Impact Advisors

Contact John Stanley to schedule a meeting.

Contact: John Stanley, chief growth officer
john.stanley@impact-advisors.com
562.243.4937

Impact Advisors is a leading healthcare management consulting firm committed to solving the industry’s emerging and evolving challenges. Our high-performing team of clinical, financial, operations, and technology experts collaborate to architect quality solutions and deliver measurable value for our clients. We are the most awarded consulting firm in healthcare, with services recognized among Best in KLAS for 17 consecutive years, including 2024 Best in KLAS #1 Overall IT Services Firm, and a culture deemed a “Best Place to Work” by Modern Healthcare.

Med Tech Solutions / Stoltenberg Consulting

Contact Kaitlyn Nelson to schedule a meeting.

Contact: Kaitlyn Nelson, director of account solutions and development
knelson@medtechsolutions.com
412.854.5688

Stoltenberg Consulting – a Med Tech Solutions company – exclusively serves the healthcare industry by providing customizable IT support solutions. FlexSourcing, Stoltenberg Consulting’s three-time Best in KLAS Partial IT Outsourcing program, delivers EHR system ROI through a versatile, on-demand health IT support workforce – including Tier 1+ help desk services – that can scale up at any time. Averaging 15 years of experience, Stoltenberg’s vendor-certified analysts are skilled in both financial and clinical systems with best practice expertise for Epic, Oracle Cerner, Meditech, NextGen, Veradigm (Allscripts), Altera, and EClinicalWorks systems. Turn to Stoltenberg and MTS as your partners through your EHR journey – from legacy system support, to go-live call command and ATE support, to EHR-certified staffing and EHR help desk support.

Medicomp Systems

Booth 2007

Contact: James Aita, director, strategy and business development
jaita@medicomp.com
703.803.8080

A leading provider of evidence-based, clinical AI-powered solutions, Medicomp Systems makes clinical data usable for enhanced decision-making and better outcomes. Medicomp works with physicians to deliver trusted, diagnostically relevant, actionable information to the point of care. The Quippe Clinical Intelligence Engine works with EHRs and health tech, driving intelligent clinical workflows that support the way clinicians think and work.

At ViVE 2025, Medicomp is excited to introduce new technologies available to healthcare organizations to make clinicians’ lives easier, and to extend AI with interactive multi-modal workflows. Specifically, Medicomp will be showing cutting-edge capabilities that convert dictation to trusted, structured, reportable data to drive billing, interoperability, and compliance. Medicomp will also introduce support for USCDI v3 and v4 along with SDOH compliance tools.

For more, visit medicomp.com.

Meditech

Booth 2126

Contact: Rachel Wilkes, director of marketing
rwilkes@meditech.com
781.774.4555

Discover what makes Expanse the intelligent EHR platform for an interconnected world at ViVE 2025. Meditech will showcase its groundbreaking advancements in interoperability, including the new Traverse Exchange network, which empowers organizations to maintain their independence by removing barriers to care through an open exchange of discrete patient information across all participating care networks and vendor solutions. Traverse Exchange allows for the secure and effortless sharing of meaningful health data through intelligent and intuitive workflows. This network provides embedded QHIN services to support TEFCA, while also looking beyond TEFCA at new use cases — from genomics to clinical trials — driven through timely adoption of the latest FHIR-based standards.

Meditech leaders will also be available to discuss how the latest features in Expanse deliver targeted, patient-centered care while reducing staff burnout. Solutions include:
– AI tools to reduce documentation time and increase face time, intelligently search the chart and summarize patient conditions, determine missed appointment risk, and more.
– Precision medicine solutions that integrate actionable genetic data into Expanse to enable targeted treatments for cancer care and clinical trials.
– A cloud-based subscription model, Meditech as a Service (MaaS), enables organizations to deploy a modern Expanse EHR at a sustainable cost while maintaining their autonomy.
– Expanded care models, including behavioral health, virtual care, virtual nursing, and home care.
– Mobile solutions that connect to the entire patient journey, wherever you are.

Meditech invites guests to an in-booth networking reception on Monday, February 17, from 4:45- 5:45 pm in booth 2126.

Visit Meditech’s ViVE 2025 event page for the latest updates and additional information, including Meditech customer leaders participating in ViVE educational sessions, and a special customer appreciation event.

MRO Corp.

Booth 1246

Contact: Brad Hawkins, national director, sales
bhawkins@mrocorp.com
610.994.7500

MRO is accelerating the exchange of clinical data throughout the healthcare ecosystem on behalf of providers, payers, and users of clinical data. By utilizing industry-leading solutions and incorporating the latest technology, MRO facilitates the efficient management and exchange of clinical data for all stakeholders. With a 20-year legacy, MRO brings a technology-driven mindset built upon a client-first service foundation and a relentless focus on client excellence. For more information on how MRO is empowering healthcare organizations of every type and scale with proven, enterprise-wide clinical data solutions, visit www.mrocorp.com.

Navina

Booth 1326

Contact: Dana Naim, director of marketing
dana.naim@navina.ai

Navina’s AI copilot for value-based care empowers clinicians and care teams to master workflows and enhance patient care without the admin burden. Navina’s powerful AI transforms fragmented patient data into a concise patient profile with actionable insights at every clinical touchpoint. Designed for and loved by physicians, Navina enables proactive patient care, increasing satisfaction, reducing administrative burden, and improving clinical and economic outcomes.   

Stop by booth 1326 to see how Navina’s AI copilot is empowering clinicians and care teams to deliver proactive, personalized care while driving clinical and value-based outcomes. Book a meeting or learn more here.    

Be sure to join us for:   
– Live demos running all day. 
– Guided meditation and massage chair.
– Fireside chat: “Transforming patient care: How Privia Health leverages AI and partnerships for value-based success,” February 18 at 12 pm on the Cybersecurity Stage. 
– Fireside chat: “Transforming specialty value-based care with AI (featuring Upperline Health),” February 18 at 3 pm on the Cybersecurity Stage.
– Booth meet and greet with Hospitalogy’s Blake Madden, February 18 at 4:30 pm at booth 1326.

Optimum Healthcare IT

Booth 1008

Contact: Larry Kaiser, chief marketing officer
lkaiser@optimumhit.com
516.978.5487

Optimum Healthcare IT is a Best in KLAS healthcare IT digital transformation and consulting firm based in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Optimum’s comprehensive service offerings include Enterprise Application Services; Digital Transformation; and Workforce Management, which features our skill development program, Optimum CareerPath. At booth 1008, we will showcase our Digital Transformation services such as ServiceNow and Cloud. Stop by our booth to meet our experts and learn more about how Optimum can help you achieve your digital transformation goals.

Praia Health

Contact Jared Johnson to schedule a meeting.

Contact: Jared Johnson, chief marketing officer
jared.johnson@praiahealth.com

Praia Health is the first consumer experience orchestration platform for healthcare, revolutionizing the way health systems engage and retain patients. Praia provides a digital flywheel, connecting all of the ways that a consumer interacts with a health system before, during, and after care visits based on actual data across an entire ecosystem — not just on segments, models, or clinical records. This allows health systems to provide consumers with truly personalized recommendations that reduce friction, increase engagement, and drive system loyalty.

Prominence Advisors

Contact Mark Ostendorf to schedule a meeting.

Contact: Mark Ostendorf, chief revenue officer
mark.ostendorf@prominenceadvisors.com
573.579.6992

Founded in 2011 by former Epic leaders, Prominence empowers healthcare organizations to execute strategic data initiatives with confidence. We’ve led the way in automating data pipelines and facilitating cloud migrations, delivering governed data products that enable self-service analytics, real-time insights, AI, machine learning, de-identification, and visualization. By seamlessly embedding analytics into workflows, we transform data into frictionless insights that drive action.    

Recognized as the 2023 Best in KLAS for Technical Services and the 2024 Best in KLAS for HIT Staffing, our team brings unmatched expertise in maximizing your existing investments and upskilling your workforce. Our strong partnerships with leading cloud, lakehouse, analytics, AI, visualization, and governance vendors make Prominence the only firm capable of supporting every step of your data journey. Let’s unlock the full potential of your data and make healthcare smarter — together.

Rhapsody

Booth 950 (in the AI Pavilion)

Contact: Purvi Thakur, director, growth marketing
purvi.thakur@rhapsody.health
214.727.8981

Rhapsody is a digital health enablement platform, providing Best in KLAS integration and identity management solutions for health tech builders and care providers. We’re in booth 950 in the AI Pavilion, right by the stage! BioIntelliSense Founder and CEO James Mault, MD will share how they use Rhapsody to achieve their innovation goals. Drew Ivan, our chief architect, will speak about using the right AI for the job. Get a demo of our newly launched EMPI with Autopilot, designed to help you overcome resource challenges.

SmarterDx

Booth 1012

Contact: Marisa Johnson, head of marketing
marisa.johnson@smarterdx.com
701.370.9907

SmarterDx builds clinical AI that empowers hospitals to analyze the complete patient record to fully capture the value of care delivered. Our proprietary AI platform understands the nuances of clinical reasoning, enabling hospitals to true the patient record and recover millions in earned revenue, enhance quality metrics, and overturn denials.

Plus, stop by for out-of-this-world swag, like Smartian piggy banks (our lovable mascot!) and personalized mini Etch a Sketch portraits.

Sonifi Health

Viosk 2430

Contact: Mindy Cooper, VP sales, strategic accounts
mcooper@sonifihealth.com
704.277.7770

Sonifi Health provides industry-leading, interactive patient engagement technology proven to improve patient outcomes and staff productivity. The EHR-integrated platform is designed to anticipate the needs of patients and clinicians, infusing the principles of hospitality into care experiences. As part of Sonifi Solutions Inc., the company supports more than 300 million end user experiences annually. Learn more at sonifihealth.com.

Surescripts

Booth 1245

Contact: Kate Giaquinto, PR manager
kate.giaquinto@surescripts.com
603.548.5273

Connect with Surescripts at ViVE in Nashville, February 16-19, anytime at booth 1245. And be sure to join Surescripts’ Lynne Nowak, MD, chief data and analytics officer, for a presentation, “Transforming Prior Authorization,” on Monday, February 17 at 10:45-11:05 am at the InteropNow! Pavilion – Data Innovation Theater. She will share results of a recent partnership to reimagine the prior authorization workflow for greater efficiency, a better experience for prescribers, and faster speed to therapy for patients.

Symplr

Booth 1348

Contact: Ann Joyal, VP, marketing communications
ajoyal@symplr.com
617.791.5066

Symplr, a leading provider of enterprise healthcare operations software, will be unveiling the Symplr Operations Platform (SOP) live at ViVE! Symplr is also hosting a PGA Ambassador event and happy hour with pro golfers Russ Hunley and Seep Straka on Monday, February 17 at 4:30 pm. Stop by booth 1348 for more information, and don’t miss Symplr’s executive panels:

• Monday, February 17, 10:55 am | Live from the CHIME stage – Don’t miss this session on digital health platform strategy featuring Symplr CEO BJ Schaknowski and CHIME CEO Russ Branzell, with Baptist Health CIO Aaron Miri, Advocate Health CIO Andy Crowder, and Cook Children CIO Theresa Meadows.
• Tuesday, February 18, 10:55 am | “I’ve Got 99 Problems, but Tech Ain’t One” – Check out this panel at the Jazz Stage on data quality and organizational readiness for successful AI integration, featuring Symplr CMO Dr. Angel Mena.
• Tuesday, February 18, 2:55 pm | InteropNOW! stage presentation – Symplr CEO BJ Schaknowski will discuss healthcare transformation and platform thinking.

TeamBuilder

Booth 426

Contact: Taylor Bockweg, VP, sales
taylor@teambuilder.io

TeamBuilder is the first smart staff scheduling platform that utilizes real-time volume data, specifically designed to address today’s most pressing workforce challenges in the ambulatory care setting.   

What Makes Us Different?   
Move Beyond Traditional Staffing Ratios: Leverage predictive analytics to staff based on actual demand, ensuring you have the right people in the right place at the right time. 
Increase Operational Agility: Quickly adjust staffing levels to accommodate unexpected changes in volume or last-minute callouts. 
Improve Access to Outcomes: Streamline staffing to enhance patient access and overall care quality, leading to better health outcomes. 
Enhance Staff Satisfaction: Provide your team with the flexibility they need to excel, resulting in a more engaged workforce.   

We’re thrilled to be part of the ViVE 2025 conference and invite you to visit us at booth 426 to:   
– Discover how our data-driven schedules guarantee optimal staffing. 
– Book a demo and receive a free AirTag. 
– RSVP to our happy hour event and unwind with great conversations and drinks!

Trust Commerce, A Sphere Company

Booth 1220

Contact: Ryne Natzke, chief revenue officer
rynen@spherecommerce.com

Transform the way you process payments with TrustCommerce’s 25+ years of expertise in healthcare provider support. Experience secure and compliant payment processing, anytime and anywhere – all while being seamlessly connected to leading EHRs like Epic, Veradigm, and AthenaIDX.   

Stop by our booth and learn about TrustCommerce’s next generation, card-present solution Cloud Payments.   

Not able to make it? Schedule a meeting.

Vyne Medical

Booth 744

Contact: Jen Fontanella, marketing director
jen.fontanella@vynecorp.com
949.300.8200

Vyne Medical is revolutionizing healthcare by streamlining operations with AI and automation. Join us at ViVE 2025 to discover how our innovative solutions can enhance efficiency, reduce clinician burden, and improve patient care.

Why visit Vyne Medical? AI-powered solutions to automate document management and revenue cycle workflows.  Smarter, faster processes that increase accuracy and reduce manual effort. Scalable technologies designed to support long-term growth. 

Featured Sessions 
“Automation in Action: How VHC Health is Shaping the Future of Document Management” 
Explore how VHC Health has reduced document processing times by automating incoming orders. 
Speakers: Jess Czelusniak (VHC Health) and Tim Hoskins (Vyne Medical) 
Date/Time: February 18, 11:40 am–12 pm 
Location: Data Innovation Theater – 944   

“Smarter Workflows, Better Care: How AI is Revolutionizing Healthcare Operations”
Discover how AI is transforming healthcare workflows to improve efficiency and patient care. 
Speaker: Caleb Manscill (Vyne Medical) 
Date/Time: February 17, 2:35-2:55 pm 
Location: Data Innovation Theater – 944   

Join us to see how Vyne Medical can help you achieve smarter workflows and better outcomes.

Curbside Consult with Dr. Jayne 2/10/25

I attended a regional medical society meeting this week where the agenda was entirely taken over by physicians who are concerned about the fallout from the recent deluge of executive orders. The American Academy of Pediatrics and other groups have called for the restoration of federal health information online. Two of my former colleagues have spun up a website that hosts archived copies of the missing and edited documents so that clinicians don’t have gaps in the resources available to treat patients.

Since our part of the country is chock full of research institutions, there was also concern about the National Institutes of Health slashing research funding, with concerns about the larger economic impact of immediate funding changes. Most of those who are speaking about the topic understand that while the way research is funded needs to be reformed, yanking the rug out from under research institutions with no warning isn’t the way to go.

Others were concerned about potential cuts to Medicare and Medicaid and the devastating effect that would have on patients who already have trouble getting care because physicians are opting out of those programs due to low payments and attached federal and state penalties. The wait in my area for subspecialty care for a patient on Medicaid is usually anywhere between nine and 18 months. That assumes that the clinics, which are usually teaching clinics that are affiliated with the local medical schools, even agree to put a patient on a wait list. I was impressed by the number of physicians who normally don’t speak out about that topic who were engaged in the conversation.

There were plenty of other concerns, but as I listened, I realized one significant fact: this was the first medical society event I’ve been at in the last 20 years where no one has complained about EHRs, insurance companies, or hospital administrators making decisions that negatively impact patient care. Usually at least one person tries to bend my ear about EHRs or government incentive programs. I had to conclude that there is finally something that physicians detest more than computers, which really says something.

I was catching up on some email this week and had a note from a friend in Colorado, who mentioned that her state lawmakers were again proposing legislation to explore the potential of developing a statewide universal healthcare payment system. The proposed legislation calls for the Colorado School of Public Health to examine a model for a system with a single payer that is designed to be non-profit, publicly funded, and privately delivered. The School would have until the end of 2026 to complete the analysis detailing costs, benefits, and impacts on residents, care providers, and the healthcare industry in general.

The review would also examine how such a system might coexist with current federal and state requirements involving the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, and Medicare. It will be interesting to see if it passes and if so what the analysis yields. Colorado readers: what are your thoughts on this? Does it have a chance to pass?

I’ve mentioned this before, but I really dislike it when publications promote a link to what appears to be a news article but then turns out to be a video without any kind of transcript. I was lured to an article about new things planned for HIMSS25 only to find a video interview with HIMSS CEO Hal Wolf that included neither captioning nor a transcript. I wonder if HIMSS has thought about the message this sends – that those who require captioning or written communication aren’t valued. Although I don’t require written communication, I definitely prefer it because I can read faster than I can listen to the talking heads of HIMSS TV,  so I guess my needs and preferences aren’t respected either. Especially in the age of AI transcription, there is no reason to have a video without captions or a transcript. Do better, HIMSS.

The Super Bowl is now behind us. I am aware of at least two health systems that dropped significant amounts of cash on ads. NYU Langone Health had a spot championing the idea that “Better Health Starts with a Better Health System,” while MUSC Health ran a commercial focusing on heart and vascular care.

I don’t know the details of the advertising agreements, but I would hope that these were just local ads, which are lower cost than national ads. That would still be an outrageous amount when you consider how much preventive care could be delivered for the same amount of money. The Washington Post offered a list of “best, worst, and weirdest” commercials that was paywalled, but I know I can count on the folks I’ll be on calls with tomorrow to share their ideas about what was the weirdest thing they saw.

My personal favorite ad was the one for On sportswear, where Elmo debated the merits of the logo with tennis great Roger Federer. Elmo said what a lot of us are thinking, that the logo looks like a Q and a C. You can always count on Elmo to have a positive message, so he closes by saying, “Elmo loves you, Mr. Roger Federer. Even if you don’t know your alphabet yet.” Elmo has been a public health ambassador for years, teaching about germs, handwashing, covering your cough, and the importance of preventive vaccines.

I’m not a huge fan of NFL football given the negative health impacts of the sport. However, I do enjoy getting together and sharing food that is usually delicious although not typically heart healthy. Still, I’ve never seen anyone shamed for their food choices as a Super Bowl party and there’s usually at least one green vegetable present in my area, even if it is in the form of celery served with Buffalo chicken dip or wings. I was happy to contribute some baked goods to the effort this year, trying a new recipe and bringing home an empty plate, so I didn’t end up eating the whole thing myself.

What’s your favorite game day food? Leave a comment or email me.

Email Dr. Jayne.

Readers Write: HIPAA Security Rule Update: Why Should Every Practice and Hospital Have to Build Their Own Defenses?

HIPAA Security Rule Update: Why Should Every Practice and Hospital Have to Build Their Own Defenses?
By Joseph Schneider, MD, MBA

Joseph Schneider, MD, MBA is with the University of Texas Southwestern.

I read Jason Ward’s excellent Readers Write and agree that it’s important to have clear best practices for security and that the Security Rule needs an update. However, I strongly disagree that a “one size fits all” approach like the proposed HIPAA Security Rule update is the right approach. The impact on smaller physician practices is tremendous and is not commensurate with the “probability and criticality of potential risks to ePHI” as required by the wording of the original HIPAA legislation.

Here are some comments on the proposed rule that are being sent to HHS:

• HHS states (on page 1004 of the Federal Register) “if the proposed changes in the NPRM reduce the number of affected individuals by 7 to 16 percent, the rule would pay for itself. Alternatively, the same cost savings may be achieved by lowering the cost per affected individual’s ePHI by 7 percent ($35) and 16 percent ($82), respectively.” Logically, the changes should reduce breaches or reduce costs, but there’s no evidence cited (that I could find) that supports this level of improvement. How much will this impact things? We don’t know, and it’s going to cost a huge amount to find out. First-year costs are ~$9 billion, with years 2-5 costing $6 billion annually. The present value of the costs, if I’m reading it correctly, is $32 billion, which coincidentally was just a little less than the original estimated cost of the Meaningful Use program. 
• On page 1007, HHS estimates that “the cost for a one-establishment [location] firm is $1,235 …” That’s absolute nonsense. The cost of doing all these things could be WAY more than $1,235 per practice. The averaging methodology used to come up with this number is flawed. A detailed cost analysis by requirement should be done and published for review. 
• HHS goes on to say, “In the context of the RFA, HHS generally considers an economic impact exceeding 3 percent of annual revenue to be significant…” Three percent of revenue spent on this activity alone is enough to put some small practices and possibly some rural hospitals out of business. No practice has 3% of revenues just sitting around. 
• Finally, HHS says that “In the context of the RFA, HHS generally considers an economic impact exceeding … 5 percent or more of the affected small entities within an identified industry to represent a substantial number.” This is ridiculous and arbitrary. In essence, HHS is saying that it’s OK for up to 4.99% of small practices to be bankrupted or badly damaged. Additionally, it’s easy to say that practices can go out of business, and it’s not significant, but it ignores the impact on the community when the only practice in town or for miles may close. 

Two additional global thoughts:

This is a gross over-expansion of the original HIPAA legislation wording. As noted on the HHS website: “The Security Rule does not dictate the specific security measures that a regulated entity must use. Instead, it requires the regulated entity to consider the following factors when selecting security measures that meet the Security Rule’s requirements: 1) its size, complexity, and capabilities; 2) its technical infrastructure, hardware, and software security capabilities; 3) the costs of security measures; 4) the probability and criticality of potential risks to ePHI.” By defining specific measures that MUST be taken, HHS is going far beyond what the law says. If the proposed changes are put into place, I expect that they will be challenged based on the Lopez Bright Enterprise v. Raimondo decision that overturned the Chevron doctrine.

Most importantly, the approach that we’re taking regarding security protection requires each organization to do everything. That stems from our culture of individualism. A better alternative would be if we had national approaches to at least some elements of this national problem. 

Here are two examples. Instead of every hospital and practice having to develop its own training, why not have a single national training and re-education program that clinicians and staff need to complete just once? And instead of having every small practice / rural hospital bear the costs of developing their own security plans and pay for audits, why not have the equivalent of the Agricultural Extension Offices provide these? It would cost less than having everyone do everything. Security is a national priority and we need to start thinking about national solutions, just as we do with national defense.  

I’m not suggesting that we keep the status quo of security, but we have to have different thinking about how to approach this so that we don’t damage or destroy small practices and rural hospitals. And while I don’t agree with a lot that’s going on in Washington right now, if this proposed rule died in the transition, I wouldn’t be crying too hard.

Morning Headlines 2/10/25

FDA Alerts Patients of Potential to Miss Critical Safety Alerts Due to Phone Settings When Using Smartphone-Compatible Diabetes Devices

The FDA warns users of diabetes devices — including continuous glucose monitors, insulin pumps, and automated insulin dosing systems — that critical alerts may be missed due to their phone settings.

Sentara’s virtual nursing system to serve nearly 1,800 hospital beds

Sentara will expand its virtual nursing program, launched using ThinkAndor technology at its hospital in Norfolk, VA, last November, to its remaining 11 hospitals by October of this year.

Frederick Health in Frederick, Md., provides update on operations, ransomware attack

Frederick Health works to restore its IT systems after a ransomware attack discovered on January 27 forced it to revert to downtime procedures.

Telehealth Platform Doximity Stock Soars as AI Boosts Performance

Physician networking and clinical workflow tools company Doximity’s shares jump on the news of its Q3 2025 results, with revenue and EPS going above and beyond analyst expectations.

Monday Morning Update 2/10/25

Top News

The FDA warns users of diabetes devices — including continuous glucose monitors, insulin pumps, and automated insulin dosing systems — that critical alerts may be missed due to their phone settings.

Reported issues include misconfigured app permissions, use of “Do Not Disturb” or focus modes, apps going to sleep from inactivity, Bluetooth connections altering volume settings, and OS updates that are incompatible with the device’s app.

Reader Comments

From P.S. “Re: MyChart. A friend was looking for results for her daughter from a hospital that went live on MyChart in February. MyChart pulled up another patient’s records with their name, birthdate, and medical record number. Has anyone seen this or is it a one-off? I am interested because we are moving to Epic soon at my hospital.” I’m guessing that it’s a problem with the source system that sent the results to Epic rather than Epic itself. I say that because Googling “mychart wrong patient” brings up a few examples, most commonly attributed to an outside lab or practice and a hospital error in patient matching. Readers, have you ever seen someone else’s information in your MyChart?

From Adhesion: “Re: Oracle Health non-compliance with Section 508 disability requirements. How did the VA miss that federal requirement?” The VA should have been aware of Section 508 compliance given its long history with its previous patient portal My HealtheVet, which it boasted was fully compliant. However, federal software accessibility compliance is often more aspirational than fully realized because it’s a lot of work to retrofit support for assistive technologies and keyboard-only operation. Supposedly around 75% of software that is used by the federal government isn’t fully compliant. Related: Epic was sued a few years ago by a blind advocacy group who said that disabled people could no longer perform their jobs when their employer went live with Epic, but the case was dismissed and it addressed only employees, not outside users. Epic demonstrated Nuance-powered voice navigation at HIMSS17 that it said would meet the requirements for Section 508 compliant self-scheduling, but that was part of the VA’s MASS scheduling system that the VA walked away from in choosing Cerner.

HIStalk Announcements and Requests

Sore throat probably wasn’t a great choice for a treatment venue preference poll given the strep swab confounder, not to mention that self-managing symptoms is also an option.

New poll to your right or here: How did you schedule your most recent non-emergency, in-person medical encounter? I listed the options that I could think of, but it’s likely I missed some.

A long-term sponsor will soon be vacating the stratospheric ad aerie way up there at the top of the column because they’ve been acquired. New or upgrading sponsors, get in touch with Lorre to move up there to the penthouse, even in time for the HIMSS conference if you are ready.

Dr. H from Bronx, NY provided an update to a reader’s donation that funded his Donor’s Choose request for help covering the $150 cost of having a PBS documentary filmmaker conduct a virtual workshop and screening for his early college class. He says, “The presentation and workshop have made an incredible impact in the classroom. The students have been working on short films of their own creation and direction. Students have also been composing their own film music on keyboards. Students computer literacy has improved with greater exposure to the workshop. We will have a screening in May where every student screens their film shorts for the entire school and local community.” Health system executives, technologists, and radiologists can help fund similar projects by completing this quick AI purchasing survey, which triggers a donation from Volpara Health.

Sponsored Events and Resources

Instant Access Webinar: “Successfully Navigating Post-Acute Rev Cycle Challenges.” Sponsors: Inovalon and KanTime. Presenters: David Swenson, senior manager of sales engineering, Inovalon; Lucy Lopez, VP of product management, KanTime. Learn how to speed up your revenue cycle processes and avoid the common RCM and eligibility errors that cause delays and denials. Discover strategies to boost your bottom line: streamline eligibility verification, simplify complex processes, and optimize denial management for improved cash flow.

Instant Access Webinar: “How AI Addresses Resource Constraints Within Identity Data Management.” Sponsor: Rhapsody. Presenters: Lynn Stoltz, MS, director of product management, Rhapsody; Drew Ivan, MS, chief architect, Rhapsody; Michelle Blackmer, chief marketing officer, Rhapsody. Discover how to overcome the toughest challenge in identity data management: resource constraints.  The presenters will cover how Rhapsody EMPI with Autopilot solves resource challenges like limitations in time, talent, and budget; Reduces costs and risks associated with inaccurate data; and boosts identity data accuracy through 98% decision-making precision.

Contact Lorre to have your resource listed. 

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Teladoc Health shares popped on Thursday and Friday after an analyst gave it a glowing recommendation as a back door AI play, noting that shares have shed 96% of their 2021 value because of lower growth but the company still enjoys high margins and cash flow. I was surprised to learn that Teladoc has 5,600 employees.

Sales

• Tanner Health will implement Abridge’s ambient documentation.

People

Bamboo Health hires Ross Armstrong, MSHA, MBA (Biofourmis) as chief commercial officer.

Stephen Fischer, MD, who developed the SpringCharts primary care EHR 25 years ago, died last week at 68.

Government and Politics

Health tech is represented on Elon Musk’s DOGE team. Industry long-timer Amy Gleason most recently worked for primary care operator Main Street Health and the White House’s US Digital Service. Brad Smith is chairman and CEO of Main Street Health, co-founder and former CEO of Aspire Health (sold to Anthem / Elevance in 2018), and co-founder and former executive chair of CareBridge (sold to Elevance in October 2024 for $2.7 billion). Smith also ran CMS’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation from 2020 to  2021.

Sponsor Updates

• Vyne Medical announces the expansion of its cloud fax services and email-to-fax technology in a major academic medical center.
• Nordic celebrates its 15th anniversary.
• Hearst Health-owned care and membership management software vendor MHK will integrate its CareProminence platform with Findhelp’s closed-loop social services referral system.
• Nym publishes a new guide, “10 Questions to Ask Autonomous Medical Coding Vendors.”
• Prominence Advisors will sponsor CDO Healthcare Exchange 2025 February 11-13 in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
• Redox prepares to launch its Shut the Backdoor Podcast about healthcare security.
• Sectra releases a new episode of its “Let’s Talk Enterprise Imaging” podcast, “Greater Manchester’s path to AI in chest x-ray imaging.”
• Primary Venture Partners recognize SmarterDx co-founders Michael Gao, MD and Josh Geleris, MD as startup honorees at the NYC Tech Awards.
• Waystar will exhibit at the EClinicalWorks Day Show February 12 in Dallas.
• The Overland Park Chamber of Commerce honors WellSky Chairman and CEO Bill Miller with its Nova Award for fast-growing and innovative companies.

Blog Posts

• 2025 Readiness: 8 Enhancement Considerations for Human Services & Post Acute Teams (Netsmart)
• Addressing cybersecurity challenges in rural healthcare (Nordic)
• Top 2025 Healthcare Trends and Predictions (PerfectServe)
• Should You Build or Buy Your Consumer Experience Orchestration Platform? (Praia Health)
• Building Better Community Care with Tailored Solutions (TruBridge)

Contacts

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