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Morning Headlines 8/19/22

August 18, 2022 Headlines Comments Off on Morning Headlines 8/19/22

Upfront acquires PatientBond; expands capabilities for market-leading personalized patient access and engagement platform

Patient engagement and access platform vendor Upfront acquires PatientBond, which offers patient relationship solutions.

Idaho Health Data Exchange files for bankruptcy, with $4 million owed to creditors

The Idaho Health Data Exchange has filed for bankruptcy after accumulating $4 million in debt since launching in 2009, despite receiving an $8 million federal grant in May.

Impact Advisors Acquires Chicago-Based C2 Healthcare

Impact Advisors acquires business intelligence consulting firm C2 Healthcare.

Motivo Health closes $14M Series A to solve shortage of mental health therapists

Motivo Health, which has developed an online marketplace to help aspiring mental health therapists obtain licensure, has raised $14 million in a Series A funding round.

Comments Off on Morning Headlines 8/19/22

News 8/19/22

August 18, 2022 News 1 Comment

Top News

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KeyCare, which offers an virtual-first care platform that gives Epic-using health systems access to a network of independent virtual care providers, raises $24 million in a Series A funding round.

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KeyCare’s founder and CEO is industry long-timer Lyle Berkowitz, MD.

The company’s website says that patients can use the service directly to connect with clinicians starting later this year


Reader Comments

From Quiet Cacaphony: “Re: Epic. Posted a job for a medical biller who will work on RCM activities for clients. Is this the start of a tentative or aggressive entry into rev cycle outsourcing, which Epic has eschewed? The job is based at headquarters with full benefits, so the strategy certainly doesn’t involve leveraging squeezed labor costs.” The job listing is nearly identical from one from mid-2017, when Epic was first launching billing services for Resolute Professional Billing customers, so this doesn’t seem like something new.


HIStalk Announcements and Requests

UGM 2022 attendees: connect with HIStalk sponsors while you’re in Verona.

I dislike using “reimbursement” to refer to provider payments since the word means being repaid for expenses you incurred.  The correct but obsolete term is “imburse,” which simply means getting paid. It’s odd that hospitals and doctors try to hide the fact that they send bills, get paid, and make a profit from income that exceeds expense by calling it something else.


Webinars

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


Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

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Patient engagement and access platform vendor Upfront acquires PatientBond, which offers patient relationship solutions. Upfront has raised $20 million through a Series B funding round.

Nurse job-matching website Incredible Health raises $80 million in a Series B funding round that values the company at $1.7 billion. Co-founder and CEO Iman Abuzeid, MBBS, MBA went directly from medical school into health consulting, worked in project management for AliveCor, and then started a healthcare customer retention software company with a colleague that they shut down to start their current venture.

ASG, which buys and runs vertical SaaS companies, acquires MediMatrix, which sells a solution for portable radiology imaging services.

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HIPAA-compliant email vendor Paubox raises $10 million in funding.

Impact Advisors acquires business intelligence consulting firm C2 Healthcare.


Sales

  • Warren General Hospital will implement Meditech Expanse in a $2.3 million project.
  • British Columbia’s Fraser Health Authority chooses Picis Preop Manager, Anesthesia Manager, and PACU Manager for 11 acute care hospitals, integrated with Meditech as the health system replaces Client / Server with Expanse in an agreement signed in April 2022.
  • Santa Cruz Health Information Organization chooses Verato’s master patient index and identity management platform.

People

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Vyne promotes Steve Roberts to CEO. He replaces Lindy Benton, MS, who will serve as executive chair of the company’s board.

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McLaren Health Care hires Derek Morkel, MHA (HealthTechS3) as SVP/CIO after serving as interim since late 2021.

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Adam Tallinger, RPh, MHA takes a new position with Divurgent as VP of delivery.


Announcements and Implementations

Nuance and diagnostic intelligence company Covera Health launch the Quality Care Collaborative, which brings together payers, providers, and self-insured employers to support radiology quality improvement initiatives. Walmart has already joined the AHRQ-certified Patient Safety Organization as its first large-employer member.

Medical software vendor Parker Health will integrate First Databank’s FDB Vela, a cloud-native e-prescribing network, with its EHR.


Government and Politics

The Wall Street Journal reports that HHS is formulating how to shift the cost of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments to the commercial market instead of the federal government paying for everything.


Other

A study finds that higher-level EHR use is associated with a reduction in operating costs of urban hospitals – driven mostly by general / ancillary and outpatient costs – but rural hospitals don’t see any cost savings from their use. The authors note that rural hospitals more often choose vendors such as CPSI, Healthland, Evident, and Medhost than their urban counterparts, making the effect of vendor support uncertain when comparing urban versus rural hospitals.


Sponsor Updates

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  • CloudWave sponsors The Foundations for Firelands “Caddyshack” Open Golf Outing in support of cancer patients treated at Firelands Health.
  • Get Well adds a new monkeypox digital care management plan to its library of over 250 digital care management plans.
  • HIMSS Oregon appoints Pivot Point Consulting SVP Laura Kreofsky secretary and VP Joe Clemons sponsorship chair.
  • Everbridge integrates its Travel Risk Management and Critical Event Management solutions into Everbridge Travel Protector for healthcare, businesses, and government organizations.
  • Fivos Health will exhibit at AMP 2022 through August 20 in Chicago.
  • Nordic posts a new episode in its “DocTalk” video series.
  • Intelligent Medical Objects will exhibit at the Civitas Networks for Health 2022 Annual Conference August 21-24 in San Antonio.
  • Lyniate releases the latest version of its Enterprise Master Patient Index by NextGate.
  • Medicomp Systems releases a new Tell Me Where It Hurts Podcast featuring MedAllies CEO John Blair, MD.
  • Meditech releases a new podcast, “Sparking Passion and Resilience: True Stories from Nurse Leaders.”
  • NTT Data Senior Director of Statewide Consulting Patti Garofalo receives a Medicaid Enterprise Systems Conference Collaboration Award at MESC 2022.

Blog Posts


Contacts

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

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EPtalk by Dr. Jayne 8/18/22

August 18, 2022 Dr. Jayne 1 Comment

I booked my hotel for HIMSS23 this week, and I think this might be on par with the earliest I’ve ever done it. Still, my preferred dates were already sold out for the hotels closest to the convention center, which means I’ll be doing more walking but that I’ll be better located for parties.

Chicago is one of my favorite places for HIMSS when you consider the after hours scene, with plenty of interesting restaurants in close proximity when you discover that you have three events booked on top of each other. I’ve also loved the ability to just step out into the street and grab a taxi, although that might be different now in post-COVID world and with the rise of ride share services. The last time HIMSS was in Chicago I had one of those “the world is my oyster” weeks, so I have high hopes for the 2023 edition.

Hospitals claim to be running on razor-thin margins, but I still see them waste money on paper processes when they have perfectly good technology offerings ready to assist them. This week I received a letter reminding me that it’s time to schedule a mammogram, apparently without any kind of crossmatch to the fact that not only do I already have a mammogram scheduled but that it’s been on the hospital’s books for more than 11 months, so it’s not like my scheduling process crossed paths with the letter. The letter didn’t mention anything about “if you have already scheduled your study, please disregard this letter,” which made me wonder if there had been some kind of glitch, forcing me to check my patient portal and confirm that my appointment was still there.

The hospital should know that I have opted in for patient portal communications, so that’s a great way to save not only on postage, but on the service contract that I’m sure they have for mailings. They could have sent me a reminder electronically, but even better, they could have crossmatched the “patients who need a mammogram” report with the “patients who have a mammogram scheduled” report, using the magic of the very expensive analytics suite that I know they have. If they’re trying to prevent no-shows, they could use outreach tools to ask me to confirm my appointment.

Especially as a patient who is enrolled in their high-risk program and whose anxiety around the procedure is likely higher than average, I didn’t need the extra annoyance of wondering if my appointment got lost. Due to the need for taking off work since a trip to the high-risk clinic takes a minimum of three hours out of my day, I’d have been seriously irritated if it turned out to be more than just a poorly managed, wasteful, and annoying outreach effort.

Mr. H mentioned an article by physician Danielle Ofri, MD, who describes her journey to telehealth advocacy. I was excited about reading it. Many of her statements resonated with me as a telehealth physician. However, I tripped over the wording a little when she mentioned that telehealth “offers some flexibility to overburdened clinicians, who can do telemedicine from home if they happen to get grounded by a sick child or a COVID quarantine.” Seeing this kind of statement from a fellow physician makes me wonder how much Dr. Ofri actually understands the thin line that many physicians are walking with so-called work-life balance, what burnout is doing to us, or what flexibility really means. Of course, there’s a chance she was misquoted or that her statements were taken out of context, but still I ran it past a couple of colleagues who are parents to determine if I was being overly sensitive. Based on their responses, I was the least riled of the bunch.

The consensus among my colleagues (many of whom are pediatricians and primary care physicians) is that when a physician parent is “grounded by a sick child,” what they need is the same level of sick leave time that many other workers in the US have, not an expectation that they’ll just keep working at home. It doesn’t appear that the author understands what it’s like to juggle a vomiting child, or one with diarrhea, or one who’s lethargic and clingy, with basic care tasks including pumping the child full of clear liquids, doing copious loads of laundry, always having a popsicle at the ready, or watching the thousandth episode of Bob the Builder or some other show because it’s the only thing your child wants to do.

As a family physician, I would like to advocate for a world where sick children are actually cared for by their parents, not pushed to the side and only checked-on in between their parent’s telehealth visits with patients. The myth that physicians are some kind of superhumans who can work through anything (let alone should be expected to do so) needs to go away, once and for all. Of course, this should apply to all working parents, not just physicians, and the fact that families struggle with this on a daily basis shows how far we need to go as a society.

Price transparency remains a significant issue for patients, so this research letter in JAMA Surgery caught my eye. The authors looked at National-Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Centers and how compliant they were with the January 2021 requirements for price transparency. In addition to publishing their master charge lists, hospitals are required to publish the negotiated rates that they have obtained with health insurance companies. Since cancer care is a huge segment of spending ($200 billion annually), they looked at NCI-designated hospitals to see whether the information was provided and how useful it was.

By examining the websites of the 63 designated hospitals, they found that although two-thirds of them provided some information on negotiated rates, fewer than one-third were fully compliant. Failures in compliance included lack of inclusion of the required machine-readable format and lack of documentation for all of the required price parameters. The authors had some choice commentary about the data that was provided, including a note that one facility used the word “variable” over a hundred thousand times in its documentation. They found the data difficult to use with large files that “required advanced coding and statistical experience to open or analyze.” It just goes to show that some of our best efforts to help patients fall short, and it’s going to take a coordinated effort by experienced technologists to make this information useful.

How is your institution handling the price transparency rule? Do you think patients benefit or are you missing the mark? Leave a comment or email me.

Email Dr. Jayne.

HIStalk Sponsors at Epic’s UGM 2022

August 18, 2022 News Comments Off on HIStalk Sponsors at Epic’s UGM 2022

Availity

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Booth #214. People interested in reaching out to Availity can contact Stephanie Hastings at stephanie.hastings@availity.com or Kim Kirincic at kimberly.kirincic@availity.com.

Availity is the place where healthcare finds the answers needed to shift focus back to patient care. We work to solve communication challenges in healthcare by creating a richer, more transparent exchange of information among health plans, providers, and technology partners. As one of the nation’s largest health information networks, Availity facilitates billions of clinical, administrative, and financial transactions annually. Our suite of dynamic products, built on a powerful, intelligent platform, enables real-time collaboration for success in a competitive, value-based care environment. 


Baker Tilly

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As Baker Tilly will not have a booth at UGM, we will be coordinating meetings with interested readers by emailing charlie.cook@bakertilly.com.

We have been providing Epic advisory services, end-to-end implementations, Refuels, upgrades, and staff augmentation resources since 2008. Our Epic Practice Director will also be at UGM and she is available for meetings from Monday – Thursday during UGM.


ELLKAY

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Booth #206. ELLKAY Attendees: Ajay Kapare (Ajay.Kapare@ELLKAY.com) and Leah Gorman (Leah.Marshall@ELLKAY.com).

ELLKAY empowers hospitals, health systems, diagnostic laboratories, healthcare IT vendors, payers, and healthcare organizations with cutting-edge solutions. Since 2002, ELLKAY’s system capability has grown to over 58,000 practices connected and 700+ EMR/PM systems across 1,100+ versions.

Join us for “ELLKAY’s Taste of Wisconsin” on Monday, August 22 from 7-9 p.m. Enjoy locally-sourced favorites from Cedar Grove Cheese Curds to beers from the top six breweries in Wisconsin. Come get whisked away by the flavors from farmers and producers in the state of Wisconsin which will be paired with great conversation! RSVP today! https://lnkd.in/gk3Zjyxn.


Elsevier

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Booth #201.

Since 2004, Elsevier has worked with Epic to deliver the highest quality content and solutions, ensuring you not only have the content necessary to support critical thinking and decision-making, but also seamless integration to optimize your IT investment. Elsevier can help you maintain consistent top performance, reduce variability in care, and ultimately improve patient outcomes. Come visit the Elsevier booth to learn more about all we are doing to support Epic customers for nursing and patient solutions (acute care plans, ambulatory care plans, patient education content and FHIR solutioning) reference (Skills, ClinicalKey Point of Care for Physician, Nurse, Pharmacy), provider pathways (ClinicalPath), and more.


FDB (First Databank)

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Booth #211.

FDB (First Databank) creates and delivers the world’s most powerful drug knowledge that ignites, inspires, and illuminates critical medication decisions. We collaborate with our partners to help improve patient safety, operational efficiency, and health outcomes. Our drug databases drive healthcare information systems that serve the majority of hospitals, physician practices, pharmacies, payers, and all other areas of healthcare and are used by millions of clinicians, business associates, and patients every day.

Major solutions we will be sharing with our Epic user colleagues at the Epic UGM:

  • CDS Analytics. An intuitive and powerful analytics tool to easily evaluate and improve the efficacy of clinical decision support for meds and beyond.
  • Targeted Medication Warnings. Actionable medication guidance from a patient-first perspective. Including hyperkalemia, QT prolongation, opioid use risk assessment, nephrotoxicity, bleeding risk and pharmacogenomics.
  • Pharmacogenomic CDS. Actionable drug-gene guidance within the workflow for appropriate drug therapy, to help prevent patient harm and ensure effective treatments.
  • AlertSpace. Enabling clinicians to collaboratively improve and customize alerts to make them more meaningful, intuitive, and actionable.
  • Meducation. Address patient medication adherence and understanding with personalized and simplified medication instructions, multilingual labeling support, and custom calendars in 30+ languages.
  • FDB Vela. A new cloud-native electronic prescribing network that enables the seamless flow of critical prescription information, real-time benefits verification, and decision support between prescribers, payers, and pharmacies.

KeyCare

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KeyCare and Spectrum Health will be presenting more details about their innovative use of the Epic platform and its Telehealth Anywhere technology.


Lyniate

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Booth #207. People interested in reaching out to Lyniate can contact Mike Barbour at mike.barbour@lyniate.com.

Lyniate partners with healthcare organizations around the globe delivering a flexible interoperability suite that reliably connects people and the quality data they need. The Lyniate interoperability suite includes:

  • Lyniate Corepoint Integration Engine
  • Lyniate Rhapsody Integration Engine
  • Lyniate Envoy Managed Service
  • Lyniate Rapid API Gateway
  • Lyniate EMPI
  • Lyniate HealthTerm Clinical Terminology Management

Earlier this year, Epic selected Lyniate for integration within its Garden Plot offering, Epic’s new hosted and supported Software as a Service (SaaS) model for independent medical groups.


Sphere

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Visit Sphere | TrustCommerce at Booth #200.

Sphere, powered by TrustCommerce, is trusted by the nation’s largest health systems to facilitate their integrated patient payments. Sphere helps clients process payments anytime, anywhere—securely, in compliance, and connected with core business software including EHRs. Stop by Booth #200 to learn about:

  • Sphere’s TrustCommerce patient payment platform and its new digital wallet support within MyChart.
  • How Sphere is now included in the Epic Garden Plot offering with integrated payments.

We’ll be giving away a set of Apple Airpod Pros. Visit us and enter to win.


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Morning Headlines 8/18/22

August 17, 2022 Headlines Comments Off on Morning Headlines 8/18/22

Eir Partners invests in ClaimLogiq, the Leader in Healthcare SaaS Payment Integrity Solutions

Eir Partners announces a growth recapitalization investment in ClaimLogiq, a payer-focused payments company that recently acquired natural language processing-enabled medical claims and coding vendor SyTrue.

AliveCor Announces Series F Financing to Help Expand Offerings to Key Healthcare Industry Stakeholders

Heart health technology vendor AliveCor secures an undisclosed amount of funding in a Series F round led by GE Healthcare.

KeyCare Expands Nation’s Only Virtual-First Care Platform Built with Epic via $24M Series A Investment

Epic-enabled virtual care startup KeyCare, launched by health IT veteran Lyle Berkowitz, MD raises $24 million in a Series A funding round.

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HIStalk Interviews William Febbo, CEO, OptimizeRx

August 17, 2022 Interviews Comments Off on HIStalk Interviews William Febbo, CEO, OptimizeRx

William J. “Will” Febbo is CEO of OptimizeRx of Rochester, MI.

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Tell me about yourself and the company.

I’m CEO and director of OptimizeRx, going into my seventh year. I’ve been in healthcare technology for about 25 years. Early on, I decided to put myself between industry and healthcare providers and patients and try to use technology and data to make that relationship more seamless. That’s obviously a challenge, but both groups need each other. I’m excited to be part of OptimizeRx because It helps me down my personal journey to get those two groups communicating better with technology and data and doing it all compliantly.

OptimizeRx is a health technology platform that enables digital engagement among our clients, life science organizations, healthcare providers, and patients, particularly at critical junctures through the care journey. We reach about 60% of healthcare providers and millions of their patients through this platform that we’ve built over the years, which we call Digital Point of Care Network. We like to say, as a team and in our culture, that we are helping patients start and stay on their medication.

Pharma marketing used to involve aggressive sales reps and buying lunch for doctors. How has that changed?

Even before the pandemic, acts such as HITECH and Sunshine made it nearly impossible to continue the usual lunches, entertainment, connectivity, and building relationships. Then the pandemic hit and made that even harder. The industry is going through a pretty big change right now. Everyone woke up in January 2020 thinking pretty much the same strategy — we’ve got our reps, conferences, and speaker bureaus and we’re figuring out this digital thing to try to make it all smoother.

Then obviously we all had to stay home. What we saw as a company — and I think my peers did as well after talking to other CEOs and team members – was that all of a sudden there were a lot executives from our clients in meetings around digital enablement of connectivity. How to communicate, how to leverage call centers using technology, and how to communicate at the point of care, the point of dispense, and in the waiting room. Obviously digitally, because we were all staying home.

Then in 2021, we saw a lot of micro trying. Pharma tried, either through agencies or directly, lots of different solutions. OptimizeRx has been in the market for a while. This is our seventh year. We like to say we re-founded the business to have a broader platform to approaching communication between industry and doctors and patients. But the pandemic helped awareness and adoption happen. One of the challenges was that a lot of solutions stepped up. They all sound terrific when they’re presented. When you can’t talk to your clients, you’re going to try anything that’s compliant. 

What we have found lately is that pharma is seeing some terrific digital technology and now wants to see who can scale. They are looking at the whole country and then beyond the states as a way to communicate, and not just micro populations and pilot tests with different solutions. 

The pandemic helped pharma lean into digital more, to put continued pressure on the model of people and gatherings, but certainly didn’t kill it. There are lots of questions every day that doctors have for reps in their territories, especially as we’re seeing so many specialty medications come to market. If you think of how many medications people are on and the type of conflicts those can have, then there are questions. So that infrastructure is needed, but I think we’re going to see a wonderful hybrid of digital enablement and people working together and pharma helping that move as fast as possible.

In a perfect world, pharma marketing would benefit the patient, the prescriber, and the sponsor company more than just blasting ads to increase product use.

That’s right. We focused in on two solutions. TeleRep is a connectivity point in the workflow of EHR that the doctor can click on and connect to their local rep to either email or text a quick question. We found in a newly launched six-month case study, and this happened to be in the autoimmune area, that 89% of the brand reps were contacted. It’s a button in the workflow.

There’s not much hard about that, other than getting it there and making sure the doctors are aware of it, but we saw a 42% increase in the engagement over the baseline. It was relevant, timely engagement and support at a time where people had questions and the reps couldn’t be in the hospital. We think there’s some real benefit that’s coming out of the connectivity, but the key is being in that workflow and being present because doctors are on EHRs a big part of their day.

We also launched a real-world data evidence solution that addresses the lack of interoperability between EHRs. We gather data on a patient cohort from various sources. We then build an algorithm around a mechanism of action so that we can compare a patient in workflow to a set or cohort of patients and trigger the appropriate message to the physician at the right time. Targeted, data-driven, and highly relevant. For our clients, we uncovered a significant opportunity and saw an increase of their addressable physician audience of about 200%.

We hear a lot about the newfound effectiveness of inserting information into the clinician’s workflow. How will companies and organizations avoid the clinical decision support dilemma, where users get so frustrated with unwanted or unhelpful interruptive messages that they tune them out completely?

We work with our partners. Their clients are physicians. Through our Innovation Lab, we partner with these EHRs and hone in on the pain points or friction points that frustrate physicians when in the care journey.

Trying to come up with a platform that tells a doctor what to do clinically is not wise. They can do that. The key is giving them tools that help them get information that is highly relevant. Not tangentially relevant, but directly relevant is the key. We also heard from talking to physicians and our partners — no more clicks, no popups, don’t disrupt the workflow. That’s key to keeping the noise out of that care journey.

People with good intentions have come up with lots of solutions, but there’s always a sentence at the end that says, “They just need to go to this app or just need to go to this website.” That’s the hardest part of those models. Physicians aren’t looking for another app. They’re not looking for another website. They really don’t like working in the EHR, but they have to. The key is focusing in on reducing friction, actually reducing time on the tech, and bringing the right tools and information at the right time. That’s hard to do if you’re not integrated, because otherwise, you’re asking them to go somewhere else, and frankly, they don’t want to.

How can technology support the increasing use of specialty drugs and their associated information burden?

It’s a huge problem. You have awareness prior to prescribing, but then a whole host of problems post-prescribing. Pharma has used specialty pharmacy contracts and also hubs to try to make that better for the patient. We had a partnership with a company called EvinceMed last year, which built technology to give an alert about which specialty pharmacy should go with a prescription. They did some of the prior authorization work between the EHR and the specialty pharmacies and the hubs.

We ended up acquiring that company earlier this year because we saw such a friction point, so much frustration with the doctors and the patients and the hubs, and the whole ecosphere. This was a really elegant technology. A couple of other companies are doing it as well, but it’s a big space with so many new medications that have different distribution channels.

Specialty drugs are expensive and complex and involve a lot of questions. Just calling through the pharmacy is not going to do it 100% of the time. The technology that we acquired and that others have is trying to take that friction out, focused on specialty only, not the general meds or the volume meds through retail. We’re pretty excited about that space. And the same way we help agencies help pharma, we see an opportunity to help the hubs help their clients. Technology is going to be a friend to that problem.

Many digital health companies have taken a hard fall in share price along with layoffs. What factors will determine which ones succeed or even survive?

We and our peers have all taken it on the chin. There’s different reasons for different sectors, but what the pandemic did to the investor base was get them excited about solutions that can help with health. That’s happened in fintech and in the consumer world and it rushed into health. There really aren’t that many public companies that can scale.

You had a real rush of retail and institutional investment. In the exuberance, there were some mergers and acquisitions that frankly just either didn’t make sense or couldn’t sustain what was promised. The investor base, at least the one I talk to, is looking at who has a long-term, sustainable competitive advantage. Who’s your client? Is it pharma? Is it a payer? Is it the government? Is it providers? There’s just so much more awareness now.

As pharma leans more towards digital, they are going to look for clients that scale. That makes it a good opportunity for investors. They can look at companies that are public and private that have true connectivity to an HCP or patient and can improve care and not just be a website.

I’m excited about the space. Most of us get into healthcare to actually make a difference and don’t get too caught up in stock price. That’s what I tell my team. Our culture is not about the stock price. It’s about helping patients start and stay on therapy. If you just delight the client and focus there, you’ll build a great business. We’re all getting over the drop in valuation and are focused more on the clients, doctors, and patients.

What will be important to the company over the next three or four years?

We are focused on our clients being connected digitally to doctors and patients wherever they are. We want to help patients start and stay on therapy. We want to get rid of friction. We’ve made huge progress in the almost two years since you and I last spoke. We have enhanced the leadership team, won all sorts of really cool awards around that RWD solution, and added some great people in AI and just great team members. The issue of communication has only gotten more challenging. It’s still a fragmented way to get to people. We will not only have the platform to facilitate that, but it will be omnichannel as well. We’ll be able to get to them wherever they are, whether that’s in the hospital setting, at home, on their cell phone, or in the pharmacy.

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Morning Headlines 8/17/22

August 16, 2022 Headlines 3 Comments

CDC to regain control of US hospital data after Trump-era seizure, chaos

CDC will regain control of hospital-reported COVID-19 data when the government’s contract with TeleTracking ends on December 31.

Intelerad Acquires PenRad Technologies, Inc., Expanding Breast Imaging and Lung Screening Capabilities

Enterprise medical imaging vendor Intelerad acquires PenRad Technologies, which offers productivity tools for breast imaging and lung screening.

SpendMend Acquires Pharmacy Procurement Software Pioneer, Trulla

Hospital cost management system vendor SpendMend acquires Trulla, which sells pharmacy procurement software.

News 8/17/22

August 16, 2022 News Comments Off on News 8/17/22

Top News

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CDC will regain control of hospital-reported COVID-19 data on December 31 when the government’s contract with TeleTracking ends.

HHS hired the patient flow technology company in July 2020 via a direct call to its co-CEO. HHS then instructed hospitals to stop sending their data to CDC and to instead use TeleTracking to populate the HHS Protect system.

TeleTracking has earned $50 million from the contract.


HIStalk Announcements and Requests

HIStalk sponsors who are attending Epic UGM, send me your participation information and I’ll include it in an online guide that I’ll run later this week. I’ve only heard from Availity, FDB, and Sphere so far, not counting the non-sponsors that submitted a form that will unfortunately remain unused. After-hours social events likely abound, so send me your info if you’re running short on invitees.

Mrs. HIStalk drafted me into doing some video recording and YouTube posting for a non-profit where she volunteers. My quickly assembled on-the-cheap technology arsenal involves an IPhone, a $32 wireless lavalier microphone, and Movavi Video Editor Plus 2022, for which I Googled to find an online coupon that dropped the no-subscription-required license down to $40. That software made it easy to edit and connect various video clips with one-click color and volume correction, insert some royalty-free opening music, and add a few text titles. I think I chose wisely (if somewhat randomly) since the Movavi software is easy to use while having a lot of powerful functions that are unobtrusive until needed. I’m not a video expert and have no interest in becoming one, so the small expenditure of cash and effort hit my sweet spot.


Webinars

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


Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

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UK-based digital healthcare company Babylon denies reports that it may be seeking a buyer as it wrestles with sinking share price. The business, which initially made a name for itself by offering virtual care services to the NHS, has gained a foothold in the US by acquiring 700-physician Meritage Medical Network; health kiosk vendor Higi; and DaytoDay Health, which offers patients pre- and post-visit care education, communication, and clinical support via personal care teams. BBLN went public via a SPAC merger in October 2021 at a valuation of $4.2 billion, with share price having dropped 93% in the ensuing 10 months for a company valuation of $335 million.

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Sema4, which offers precision medicine and clinical trials tools, eliminates 250 jobs, 13% of its workforce. The founder and president has left the company and board. SMFR share price dropped 33% Tuesday on the news and have shed 86% of their value since the company went public via a SPAC merger in July 2021, valuing the company at $611 million.

Chronic disease management software and services company CareHarmony raises $15 million in a Series A funding round.

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Hospital cost management system vendor SpendMend acquires Trulla, which sells pharmacy procurement software. That’s a pretty large misspelling of “visibility” on their webpage above.

Signify Health, the value-based home health provider that is reportedly being pursued by CVS Health, will lay off 489 people beginning October 1. The majority of affected workers work remotely, according to the company, which says the workforce reduction is the result of its decision to shutter its Episodes of Care Services segment.

Enterprise medical imaging vendor Intelerad acquires PenRad Technologies, which offers productivity tools for breast imaging and lung screening.

Activist investor Elliott Management buys a large stake in Cardinal Health and nominates five candidates for board positions. 


Sales

  • Christus Health will implement the KyruusOne provider data management platform to create a digital directory.
  • SSM Health will work with Optum to develop new inpatient care delivery models, billing processes, and patient engagement experiences using clinical technologies and analytics.
  • University of Florida Health Shands chooses Syntellis Performance Solutions for financial planning, cost accounting, and decision support.

People

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Ross Martin, MD, MHA (360 Degree Insights) joins consulting firm Agilian as CMIO.

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Health Gorilla hires Steven Lane, MD, MPH (Sutter Health) as chief medical officer.

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The SSI Group promotes Lori Brocato to SVP of product management.

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University of Chicago Medicine names Maia Hightower, MD (University of Utah Health) chief digital and technology officer.

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Philips will promote Roy Jakobs, head of its connected care business, to president and CEO when Frans van Houten steps down on October 15.

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Nicole Dowsley, MBA (Genomind) joins Clearwater as chief transformation officer.

Verato hires Richard Jordan (Sutherland) as chief commercial officer.


Announcements and Implementations

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NextGen will apply to ONC to become a TEFCA-enabled, vendor-agnostic Qualified Health Information Network. According to the company, it is the first ambulatory-specific vendor to apply to become a QHIN.

The California Department of Public Health will implement lab result collection and reporting software developed by Manifest MedEx as part of its new Surveillance and Public Health Information Reporting and Exchange. Manifest MedEx, Diameter Health, and Lyniate developed the SaPHIRE system.

Duke Health (NC) implements Scanslated’s interactive radiology reporting service at its three hospitals and 14 outpatient imaging facilities.

Australia’s Northern Territory Government deploys the first phase of its $182 million patient health record system. Built on InterSystems TrakCare software, the technology will ultimately replace six legacy systems.


Government and Politics

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The 6th Medical Group at Macdill Air Force Base (FL) and Fox Army Health Center (AL) will go live in the next wave of MHS Genesis deployments on September 24.

FDA will allow hearing aids to be sold over the counter to people who have mild to moderate hearing loss, starting in the next few weeks. FDA says that 80% of the 30 million Americans who have hearing loss don’t seek help, audiologist exams aren’t covered by insurance, and the market is dominated by a handful of companies that sell the devices for thousands of dollars. Experts say that FDA’s decision will spur innovation that could radically change the way that hearing devices work and look. My prediction is that the future’s hearing aids will be like listening to the Spotify phone app on Beats by Dre wireless buds, because why not? Get in there, Apple.


Privacy and Security

Conifer Health Solutions reports that an unauthorized user gained access earlier this year to a Microsoft Office business email account that was associated with Brookwood Baptist Medical Center (AL). The RCM vendor has been unable to determine if the personal information of BBMC patients has been accessed. 

An internal report determines that an IT systems failure in May at four hospitals in the UK cost $686,000 and led to the cancellation of 1,000 appointments. The report also revealed that the outage, which was caused by a VMware software defect, led to 330 incidents of patient harm.


Other

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Researchers and stroke experts from Wake Forest University School of Medicine (NC) and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist’s Comprehensive Stroke Center develop COMprehensive Post-Acute Stroke Services – Care Plan, a digital health tool that uses algorithms to create custom-made care plans for stroke patients. The COMPASS-CP tool can be embedded within a patient’s EHR and integrated with remote patient monitoring programs. Wake Forest’s Innovations arm has created Care Directions Inc. to commercialize the technology.

A study published in a data science journal finds that digital health companies are sending data to Facebook to target user advertising, sometimes violating their own policies that prohibit user tracking across websites. The authors found that participants in an online cancer community had their activity tracked by apps from Color Genomics, Myriad Genetics, Invitae, Health Union, and Ciitizen. The only company of the five companies to inquiries by Forbes was Health Union, which said it tracks information but gives users the option to accept or reject cookie-based tracking, also noting that the company isn’t bound by HIPAA because it isn’t a provider. Facebook parent Meta said the companies should not be sharing user information using its Business Tools.

Physician and author Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD describes in an article in The Atlantic why her experience took her from telemedicine skeptic to advocate, labeling it as “an indisputable complement to in-person care:”

  • She saw how hard it was for patients to miss a day’s pay to take public transportation to office visits.
  • Telemedicine dropped her no-show rate to nearly zero since patients weren’t canceling because of unexpected job demands or transportation difficulties.
  • Eye contact has improved, as she can focus on the on-screen patient rather than the computer screen, and they can see each other face-to-face without masks.
  • She can see the patient’s living situation and get to know them better by meeting their families and aides.
  • Research has shown that routine physical exams are “largely ceremonial” and chronic illness mostly requires cognitive and conversational interaction.
  • Providers, like patients, can work from home if they have sick children or are affected by COVID-19.

Sponsor Updates

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  • HCTec sponsors AltaMed Foundation’s East LA Meets Napa charity fundraiser to help women and families access necessary resources.
  • Arcadia makes its research available in the Prognos Marketplace for life science customers.
  • CHIME releases a new 30th Anniversary Podcast featuring 2005 CHIME Board Chair Pat Skarulis.
  • Dresner Advisory Services names Dimensional Insight an overall leader in business intelligence in its annual Industry Excellence Awards.
  • Sectra will launch the next generation of its Education Portal for medical educators and students this fall.

Blog Posts


Contacts

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

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Comments Off on News 8/17/22

Morning Headlines 8/16/22

August 15, 2022 Headlines Comments Off on Morning Headlines 8/16/22

NextGen Healthcare Announces Intention to Become a Qualified Health Information Network

NextGen becomes the first ambulatory-focused vendor to apply to become a TEFCA-enabled Qualified Health Information Network.

Babylon Denies Acquisition Rumors

UK-based digital healthcare company Babylon denies it is contemplating putting itself up for sale as it wrestles with sinking share prices after going public nearly one year ago.

CareHarmony Secures $15 million in Series A Funding Led by Maverick Ventures

Chronic disease management software and services company CareHarmony raises $15 million in a Series A funding round.

Comments Off on Morning Headlines 8/16/22

Curbside Consult with Dr. Jayne 8/15/22

August 15, 2022 Dr. Jayne 3 Comments

As clinical informaticists, many of us wonder whether the technology that we are championing really hits the mark. I was excited to see this study that appeared recently in Applied Clinical Informatics. Titled “Health Information Technology Use among Chronic Disease Patients: An Analysis of the United States Health Information National Trends Survey,” it attempted to look at several important factors, including: perceptions of health between patients with disease and those without; usage of health information technology depending on which chronic diseases might be present; the evolution of health information technology over the last half decade; and whether patients with specific chronic diseases are more likely to use specific IT tools.

This is exactly the kind of thing that gets us out of bed in the morning – being able to better understand how people might use the tools we deploy, and whether we can shift what we’re working on to improve how we meet their needs. We all know that chronic diseases are a problem and that the sickest 5% or so of the population are using the majority of healthcare resources. Chronic diseases also kill people, and many of them steal away patients’ productive years and the time they have to spend with loved ones. Many organizations are spending a great deal of technology resources to try to better manage chronic diseases, so it’s important to know how patients are interacting with those offerings.

What did the authors define as chronic diseases? They used a straightforward definition, namely those diseases lasting longer than a year that require lifestyle change and ongoing medical attention. In the US, approximately 60% of us have chronic diseases, with 40% having two or more. In crafting the plan for the study, they also had to identify a consistent description of health information technology: “the electronic systems health care professions and patients use to store, share, and analyze health information.” This includes electronic health records, medication adherence solutions, virtual reality therapy applications, and more.

The authors used the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) with data from 2014 to 2020, comparing self-perceived health factors with health information technology usage and presence of chronic disease. The HINTS database is interesting because it is generated by the results of consumer-facing surveys that are obtained via mail. The survey instrument includes over 120 questions. Controls were put in place for demographics and comorbid conditions. Part of the survey involves questions on self-perception of health, including asking patients to score their health on a five-point scale from excellent to poor. They were also asked about their confidence in their ability to take good care of their healthcare needs.

The authors found that certain patient groups, such as those with lung disease, depression, and cancer, had an increased likelihood of technology use. Patients with other conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease, tended to use technology tools at rates similar to patients without chronic disease. As far as confidence levels, patients with chronic disease were less likely to be confident in their ability to take care of their own health. Patients without any diseases were more likely to be “completely confident” than those with comorbid conditions.

The authors also found that over the time period studied, patients generally increased their use of health information technology offerings. They found that age had an impact on technology usage, with a 3% decrease in odds of using a tool for every year increase in age, even when controls were in place for race / ethnicity, educational attainment, chronic disease, and smoking status. They noted that usability and availability could be motivating factors for technology use and pointed out mental health applications as an example: “Previous review studies have shown the sheer among of online CBT [cognitive behavioral therapy] tools, the wide range in styles of therapy, and the statistically significant improvement in outcomes for patient engaging with these tools. With such effective tools already available for depression patients, it makes sense that more patients with depression are engaging with HIT.”

They concluded that additional study is needed to gain better understand of the specific factors that may influence adoption of health technology and that the knowledge gained from those studies should be used to improve technology offerings and user experience in an effort to improve overall utilization. One summary sentence gave me a chuckle: “…studies have shown that when providers encourage online medical record use, patient usage goes up, but many providers are not encouraging use…” I just had a conversation the other day with an early-career clinical informaticist who was asking for tips on increasing patient portal adoption as a way to reduce the use of laboratory results letters. It didn’t sound like their practice had done any of the basics, such as providing information to patients during the office visit either as discussion, formal handouts, or exam room signs. They had yet to include information on the availability or functionality of the portal on billing statements or other existing communication streams. Given those factors, it wasn’t surprising that adoption was poor. I explained how one hospital I worked with used summer interns in facility lobbies to help register patients. My colleague was surprised that the approach was even a thing.

The authors also noted the need to look at the impact of COVID-19 on technology usage beginning in 2020. They also identified limitations in the HINTS data including its relatively low response rate, the fact that the survey has evolved over time, and that earlier versions of the questionnaire didn’t include questions that could have contributed to the study. HINTS also didn’t include adequate data on newer technologies, such as remote patient monitoring, or certain chronic conditions such as kidney disease or post-stroke complications.

I’ll definitely be reaching out to some of my informatics colleagues as we gather around the virtual water cooler. It will be interesting to see what they think and whether their institutions are doing anything formal to look at these factors. We’re always looking for a silver bullet that will really help us drive the needle and include clinical outcomes, although it’s never quite as simple as we would like it to be.

For the six in 10 of us with chronic conditions, are you doing anything personally to engage with health information technology with respect to your condition? Do you think it makes a difference, or is just another thing that takes up time or falls by the wayside? Leave a comment or email me.

Email Dr. Jayne.

Readers Write: AI in Imaging: Improving Outcomes Across the Care Continuum

August 15, 2022 Readers Write Comments Off on Readers Write: AI in Imaging: Improving Outcomes Across the Care Continuum

AI in Imaging: Improving Outcomes Across the Care Continuum
By Calum Cunningham

Calum Cunningham, MBA is SVP/GM of healthcare diagnostic imaging for Nuance Communications of Burlington, MA.

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The role of AI in medical imaging has been top-of-mind for a number of years, particularly as deep learning algorithms continue to improve to the point they can even identify findings that are not detectable by the human eye. As these solutions gain traction and adoption in clinical practice, more radiologists acknowledge the need for familiarity with the role AI plays in imaging and how to successfully integrate it into radiology workflows. In fact, RSNA recently launched its first-ever certificate program for imaging AI.

While the benefits to radiologists are significant and broad  — enhanced efficiency, greater satisfaction by automation for repetitive and mundane tasks, and freedom to focus on what matters most — AI in imaging, more specifically an integrated imaging network, adds value across the care continuum.

The radiology workflow is at the heart of a patient’s journey, informing healthcare decisions at the point of care, but also traveling both upstream and downstream. Once a patient’s images have been captured, radiologists depend on a range of technological platforms to integrate those images, relevant patient data, and AI services (such as automated 3D visualization solutions) from across the healthcare ecosystem.

When a radiologist reads a mammogram, for example, they need more than just the images from the patient’s most recent study. The patient’s previous images, information from the medical record (e.g., history, demographics, and symptoms), and increasingly, AI-powered diagnostic models are all essential to helping the radiologist accurately, comprehensively, and efficiently prepare the report.

The radiologist’s report likewise becomes part of the integrated imaging network, which breaks down the siloes that traditionally exist between care teams, administrators, payers, and other third parties. Sharing key imaging data with administrative, coding, and billing teams, for example, means supporting the organization’s financial resilience. These teams depend on accurate, comprehensive reports to protect the organization’s revenue cycle. When radiologists harness the power of AI to deliver more content-rich reports, insurance claims may be cleaner, which can result in appropriate reimbursements from payers. Similarly, sharing imaging data in this way can also streamline prior authorizations for treatments, surgeries, and prescriptions.

The downstream impacts don’t end there, however. Health plans and self-insured employers can take advantage of the integrated network to improve coordination and collaboration in ways that can address care quality and cost. Life science companies can make use of these insights to identify candidates for clinical trials.

An integrated imaging network also benefits healthcare provider organizations, which can apply AI-generated insights from diagnostic imaging to support earlier disease diagnosis as well as inform treatment options and planning. Perhaps one of the more exciting aspects of an integrated imaging network is the potential impact on patient follow-up adherence. When a radiologist includes an imaging follow-up recommendation in their report, only about half of those recommendations are adhered to. Not only does this represent a significant risk to the patient in terms of treatment and outcomes, but it can also create liability risks for the providers, not to mention the adverse impact on financial performance for the healthcare organization. The integrated imaging network can help close the loop on these follow-up recommendations, automating certain aspects of provider and patient communication to reduce the risk of delayed diagnosis.

In short, by seamlessly sharing clinical and imaging data and applying AI-generated insights and automation, organizations can maximize the value of existing healthcare IT infrastructure across the care continuum while improving patient outcomes.

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Readers Write: What’s Missing from Healthcare’s Consumerization Conversation is Physicians

August 15, 2022 Readers Write Comments Off on Readers Write: What’s Missing from Healthcare’s Consumerization Conversation is Physicians

What’s Missing from Healthcare’s Consumerization Conversation is Physicians
By Casey Jenkins

Casey Jenkins, MBA is VP of product management for Epocrates of Watertown, MA.

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The consumerization of healthcare is a trend that’s spreading like wildfire in the HIT industry. Healthcare organizations are increasingly turning to technology systems that create more consumer-friendly interactions for patients with the intention of ultimately improving access to care and boosting patient satisfaction.

Recent research supports this, finding that 74% of healthcare leaders are planning to invest in technologies that drive consumerization. This includes investing in technologies like telehealth, self-scheduling, text correspondence, online payment applications, and accessible patient portals. However, there’s one vital group that’s missing in healthcare’s consumerization conversation — physicians.

Due to the growing pressure to give patients the consumer-grade experience they are accustomed to in other areas of their lives, the physician experience has been deprioritized as a result. That needs to change, as rates of physician burnout are skyrocketing due to factors like information overload and administrative burden. It’s vital that the HIT industry also prioritizes the physician experience as the trend of healthcare consumerization continues to grow. Physicians are consumers, too – they’ve learned and adapted to everyday technology, and physician-facing technology needs to reflect this shift as well.

There are numerous ways that more consumer-friendly technology for physicians can alleviate their pain points in practice. One way is incorporating more personalization capabilities into the clinical information-seeking process. Today’s clinicians simply don’t have enough time in the day to stay abreast of the latest clinical information and can often feel overwhelmed. In fact, a recent study found that 64% of physicians reported not having time to stay up to date in their field.

Stronger personalization capabilities in clinical information tools can help by providing more curated information that’s updated and relevant to a specific physician’s practice and area of interest. This concept emulates the level of personalization that companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Netflix have created and that we’ve all come to expect across all our technology interactions. Personalization in clinical information tools can take the form of a data feed, much like a social media-style feed, that understands what information a specific physician is researching or seeing in the clinic and then presents relevant information in an organized and logical manner. This empowers physicians to sharpen their focus during the information-seeking process and ultimately make a more positive impact around patient care.

The push for more consumerization in physician-facing technology also includes a need for a stronger translation of science into technology applications to help curb information overload. In a recent survey, 89% of physicians reported that more clinical data isn’t always the answer. The right data at the right time is what is most important. When we can connect the right person and information at the right place and time within the clinician / physician workflow, that is when physicians will be able to provide the best-quality care.

Additionally, the HIT industry can help streamline workflows by putting the tools clinicians need in front of them for a more intuitive, easy-to navigate experience. This includes incorporating more thoughtfully designed interactions and experiences with the tools physician most frequently use.

Beyond that, the HIT industry can turn to familiar user experiences like a navigation bar. For example, navigation bars on social media apps include things like notifications, direct messages, or saved posts. In a HIT platform or technology system, a navigation bar could provide quick access to the key features a clinician needs at the point of care. like the patient’s medical chart or the medical news reel with the latest clinical developments. The HIT industry should lean into what people find familiar when determining how to put technology at a clinician’s fingertips.

As there continues to be a societal shift in what we expect from technology, the HIT industry needs to bring the physician experience into the fold of healthcare consumerization to truly improve healthcare outcomes. Stronger consumerization in physician-facing technology has the potential to reduce feelings of information overload, streamline workflows, and empower physicians to provide the best care possible to their patients.

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Readers Write: Project or Program: Why It’s Time to Rethink Your Approach to Cyber Risk Management

August 15, 2022 Readers Write 1 Comment

Project or Program: Why It’s Time to Rethink Your Approach to Cyber Risk Management
By Jon Moore

Jon Moore, MS, JD is chief risk officer and SVP of consulting services for Clearwater of Nashville, TN.

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The modern healthcare enterprise constantly expands with new technologies, services, and devices. Still, few have a reliable process to ensure that these new additions meet their cybersecurity standards or are added to their risk analysis. Most do a point-in-time risk analysis or conduct their risk analysis using only a sample of their information assets, or worse, both.

Point-in-time risk analysis in a complex healthcare organization will be outdated nearly as soon as it is completed. Sampling information assets is risky. Any number of assets outside the sample could threaten an organization.

A firewall is not enough to protect an asset, system, or network. Effective, compliant cyber risk management is not just about implementing and protecting the electronic health records (EHR) system.

Today’s cyber risk management should be comprehensive, including all aspects of daily operations and supporting systems, evaluating applications and systems both on-site and in the cloud. That can be challenging for even the best teams to manage and even more difficult for smaller organizations where access to skilled professionals, risk landscape intelligence, and financial re sources can be hard to come by. It’s further complicated in mid-size to larger healthcare organizations, where technologies, software, applications, and configurations can vary from location to location and sometimes from department to department.

Without accurate, up-to-date asset, software, and system inventories, a team can quickly fall into siloed risk management practices that focus on the known, leaving security gaps with the unknown.

Adding more challenges to the mix is the growing third-party risk that healthcare organizations face as their vendor and partner lists grow, especially in new applications or devices that streamline patient care. Owensboro Health CISO Jackie Mattingly recently spoke about the challenges in keeping up with vendors, systems, and programs that are brought into the organization by various departments. “Most of these major EHR systems have a pretty good grip on security for their systems. We use Epic, and they have things pretty well buckled up,” Mattingly said. “They’ll notify us if they detect an incident, but the many other ancillary systems we use pose a greater threat. You have to assess risk across the enterprise.”

A recently released Cyber Readiness Report found that some 74% of healthcare organizations haven’t yet implemented comprehensive software supply chain risk management policies. The report noted that more than 90% of respondents struggled to measure and implement software supply chain risk management policies in healthcare. That should be alarming considering the number of successful healthcare breaches recently resulting from vulnerabilities in third-party software solutions.

While forward-looking security teams are trying to keep pace with healthcare innovation and the adoption of new technologies, it’s important to remember that the data in legacy systems may also be at risk. Late last year, a healthcare organization in Canada discovered a breach that could have affected data dating back to 1996. Although its EHR appears unscathed, data was taken from legacy administrative systems like those used for reporting and patient satisfaction surveying. The breach affected 13 different but overlapping data categories, such as medical and other information, and impacted others, such as an affiliated non-profit that purchases IT services and file storage from the core agency.

If you’re still approaching cyber risk as an annual project or initiative, it’s time to rethink this approach. While nothing can guarantee that a cyberattack won’t become a breach, having a comprehensive ongoing program in place means that even in the worst-case scenario, you’ll be prepared to show that you did what was reasonable and appropriate to protect your systems and patient data. This goes a long way when the Office for Civil Rights investigates a breach or audits your organization. It can save you countless hours, resources, and money by resulting in a short investigation and more favorable determination.

Unsure of where to begin? Consider:

  • Adopting reasonable and appropriate security controls across all of your information assets. Be sure to account for the legacy data you may have in storage somewhere. It needs protection, too.
  • Employing identity and access management processes that limit access to patient data to only what is needed for an employee to perform their job.
  • Segmenting your network as appropriate to reduce the ability of threat actors to move laterally through networks and systems.
  • Using a risk management software solution to power an ongoing risk assessment and risk management program so you always know where your risks are and how to address them
  • Working with an expert to develop a comprehensive risk management program for your organization, including seeking out program weaknesses and making plans to mature it over time.

    Morning Headlines 8/15/22

    August 14, 2022 Headlines Comments Off on Morning Headlines 8/15/22

    Digital health unicorn Truepill conducts third round of layoffs in 2022

    Truepill, which offers white-labeled, API-connected virtual pharmacy and telehealth solutions as well as home diagnostic kits, reportedly conducts its third round of layoffs this year.

    Growth Report: Oracle Cerner continues to expand client relationships

    Oracle Cerner announces it executed 161 new, extended, or expanded contracts from April to June 2022, including 11 new clients.

    Signify Health to lay off 489 people, including 45 in Connecticut

    Signify Health, the value-based home health provider reportedly being pursued by CVS Health, notifies the State of Connecticut’s Department of Labor that it will lay off 489 people beginning October 1.

    Comments Off on Morning Headlines 8/15/22

    Monday Morning Update 8/15/22

    August 14, 2022 News Comments Off on Monday Morning Update 8/15/22

    Top News

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    Truepill reportedly conducts its third round of layoffs in 2022, this time involving 175 employees that represent about one-third of its workforce.

    The company, which offers white-labeled, API-connected virtual pharmacy and telehealth solutions as well as home diagnostic kits, claimed last year that it was bringing in $300 million in annual revenue. It was reported to have been valued at $1.6 billion after raising $255 million.

    CEO Sid Viswanathan says the company will focus on increasing revenue and cutting expenses.

    Truepill was the preferred pharmacy provider of virtual mental health provider Cerebral and had acquired competing virtual ADHD provider Ahead. It shut down Ahead in April 2022 as the Drug Enforcement Administration started investigating the prescribing practices of both of the online ADHD providers, leading Cerebral to stop issuing those prescriptions. 


    Reader Comments

    From Derek Smalls: “Re: new Oracle Cerner deals. Notice how small the new clients are?” The Cerner announcement lists six of the 11 new CommunityWorks hospital clients the company signed since April, ranging from 15 to 35 beds. I would say that it’s encouraging that these rural, community, and critical access hospitals can implement Cerner in a way that is affordable and technically feasible.


    HIStalk Announcements and Requests

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    Life’s lessons from poll respondents who have lived them: plan your financial future early, take more risks, stay healthy, and don’t ignore your family.

    New poll to your right or here: Has your employer conducted a layoff that you would consider significant in the past 12 months?


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    Epic’s UGM is coming up August 22-24. It never occurred to me that I could feature how HIStalk sponsors are participating in that and other events as I do with the HIMSS conference, but let’s give it a shot. Sponsors, complete an information form by Wednesday, August 17 and I’ll summarize the results later this week for those who are traveling to Verona. I’ll do this for other conferences if response is good.


    Webinars

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


    Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

    Shares in the Global X Telemedicine and Digital Health ETF health IT index were up 11% in the past 30 days versus the Nasdaq’s 13.5% rise. However, they are down 27% in the past year and 17% since their July 2020 inception, meaning that your money would have been better invested in Nasdaq index funds.

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    A business filing indicates that BD’s price to acquire hospital pharmacy software vendor MedKeeper was $93 million.

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    Medicare Advantage primary care chain ChenMed is considering selling its majority stake in JenCare, a joint venture with Humana that runs 30 clinics in five states, at a company valuation of $4 billion. Family-owned parent company ChenMed also owns Dedicated Senior Medical Center and Chen Senior Medical Center. ChenMed CIO Hernando Celada runs two other ChenMed businesses, Curity (AI-powered care management) and IntuneHealth (primary care centers and telehealth).

    Dental software vendor Planet DDS acquires the QSIDental cloud-based dental practice management software platform from NextGen Healthcare.


    Sales

    • Oracle Cerner executed 161 new, extended, or expanded contracts from April to June 2022, including 11 new clients.

    People

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    Julie Schubert, RN, MS joins Well Health as VP of professional services.

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    Intermountain Healthcare President and CEO Marc Harrison, MD, MMM resigns to run an unnamed healthcare platform business for venture capital firm General Catalyst. He earned $6 million in 2020, according to Intermountain’s most recent tax filings, and like other former big-system CEOs, further blurs the already faint line between being a highly compensated non-profit executive and taking leadership roles in the most capitalistic organizations in American society.


    Government and Politics

    A security researcher tells a Defcon security conference audience that the decades-old encryption system that the VA’s VistA system uses could be easily defeated, allowing a hacker to perform clinician functions.


    Privacy and Security

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    An Oregon hospital becomes the latest in a list of those that overpaid their employees during several weeks of ransomware-caused Kronos payroll system downtime that are trying to get employees to return the extra money. St. Charles Health System says the average employee amount owed is $780. The Oregon Nurses Association says it will issue a cease-and-desist letter to the hospital because its demand for repayment is illegal and the health system has provided no evidence that anyone was actually overpaid.


    Other

    A Commonwealth Fund blog post whose authors include former National Coordinator David Blumenthal, MD says that Amazon’s acquisition of primary care chain One Medical won’t resolve the “international embarrassment” of the US healthcare system. Snips:

    • While Amazon shouldn’t be underestimated, its previous healthcare forays have largely failed, such as its Haven partnership and its minimally disruptive Amazon Pharmacy.
    • One Medical has always lost money because third-party payers pay little for primary care, leading the authors to predict that Amazon will need to pursue value-based care contracts with commercial insurers instead of the usual Medicare and Medicaid market.
    • The authors expect that Amazon will uncharacteristically need to restrict customer choice by negotiating preferred rates with local PCPs, which may not be acceptable in the employer-funded insurance model where the employees complain about being excluded from the big-brand medical centers.
    • Amazon must complete with Optum and CVS Health / Aetna, which already have scaled up provider employment and bring unparalleled expertise in managing risk.
    • The article concludes that the real question is whether profit-driven entrepreneurship and innovation can bring the US healthcare system up to the level of most other developed countries that do a better job of keeping people healthy at an affordable cost. 

    Sponsor Updates

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    • Diameter Health CEO Eric Rosow and CTO Harvard Pan raise money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through their participation in the Pan-Mass Challenge.
    • The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation integrates Xealth’s digital therapeutic content distribution capabilities with its Oracle Cerner EHR, making it easier for patients to access educational content through their patient portals.
    • PerfectServe adds more than 400 physician practices across 37 states in the first half of 2022.
    • Sphere will exhibit at Epic UGM August 22-24 in Verona, WI.
    • Spok announces that 18 of the 20 adult hospitals and all 10 children’s hospitals named to US News & World Report’s 2022-23 Best Hospitals Honor Roll use Spok secure healthcare communication solutions.
    • Vocera will exhibit at the 2022 Defense Health Information Technology Symposium August 16-18 in Orlando.
    • West Monroe publishes a new report, “2022 Be Digital Research.”

    Blog Posts


    Contacts

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

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    Comments Off on Monday Morning Update 8/15/22

    Morning Headlines 8/12/22

    August 11, 2022 Headlines Comments Off on Morning Headlines 8/12/22

    GHX Launches Lumere Consulting Services to Accelerate the Clinically Integrated Supply Chain

    Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX) Lumere launches a consulting service to help hospitals with their cost-saving and clinical variation programs.

    Abridge Secures $12.5M in Funding and Launches Enterprise Solution to Combat Physician Burnout in Healthcare and Help Patients Stay on Top of Their Health

    AI-powered medical documentation vendor Abridge raises $12.5 million in Series A funding.

    Peraton to Serve as Defense Health Agency’s Enterprise Information Technology Services Integrator

    The Defense Health Agency’s Military Health System awards a subsidiary of government contractor Peraton a 10-year, $2 billion contract for digital transformation services.

    Comments Off on Morning Headlines 8/12/22

    News 8/12/22

    August 11, 2022 News Comments Off on News 8/12/22

    Top News

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    Cerner will pay $1.9 million in back pay and interest to 1,870 job applicants after the Department of Labor compliance evaluation found that the company had discriminated against Asian and black job seekers.

    The affected applicants were seeking employment as medical billing specialists, system engineers, software interns, and technical solution analysts at the company’s Kansas City, MO and Kansas City, KS offices.

    The review found that Cerner violated an executive order that prohibits federal contractors from discriminating in employment based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and national origin.


    Reader Comments

    From Outsider Trading: “Re: Change Healthcare’s ClaimsXten. The rumored acquisition by Availity this spring didn’t end up happening – TPG signed a definitive agreement to acquire it if UnitedHealth Group’s acquisition of Change Healthcare is approved by the federal government.” The initial media reports named Availity as the buyer of the payment integrity business, but TPG Capital signed a deal in April to buy it or $2.2 billion in cash, contingent on the UHG-Change merger being cleared by regulators. I removed that mention from Tuesday’s news post about Availity acquiring Diameter Health.


    HIStalk Announcements and Requests

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    Welcome to new HIStalk Gold Sponsor Direct Recruiters, Inc. The Solon, OH-based company has been recognized since 1983 as the relationship-focused search firm specializing in building customized employment solutions. Our Healthcare IT and Digital Health teams partner with clients to help them strategically build high-performing teams from the C-Suite through the contributor level across each area of the organization. DRI offers contingency search, contract staffing and retained “Direct Retention” search to source, identify, acquire, and retain top-performing professionals to elevate the success of our client organizations. Recognized for over 17 national awards, DRI has a proven record of success in recruiting top talent for leading companies. Thanks to Direct Recruiters, Inc. for supporting HIStalk.


    Webinars

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


    Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

    Virtual care and digital medicine vendor Biofourmis adds additional funding from Intel that increases its Series D round to $320 million.

    Bloomberg reports that CVS offered $18 per share to acquire One Medical months before Amazon bought the primary care chain for the same price. The detailed timeline laid out in SEC filings is fascinating  — CVS is reportedly Party A in the document.

    TikTok’s parent company, China-based ByteDance, buys women and children’s hospital chain Amcare Healthcare for a reported $1.5 billion.


    People

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    Tower Health (PA) promotes CIO Michelle Trupp, RN, MSN to SVP and COO of Reading Hospital.

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    Motient hires Brian Miller, MBA (Signify Health) as VP of business development.

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    Digital Diagnostics hires Chris Meenan (Philips) as CTO.


    Announcements and Implementations

    A study finds that patients who tested positive for COVID-19 and used Get Well’s remote patient monitoring technology to track their symptoms and vital signs had a 32% lower hospitalization rate, stays that were 2.7 days shorter, and fewer ICU days

    Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX) Lumere launches a consulting service to help hospitals with their cost-saving and clinical variation programs. GHX acquired Lumere, which helped health systems align their drug and device purchasing decisions with evidence, in January 2020.

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    UNC Health and partners Gozio Health and Well Health enhance the health systems mobile platform to include a map of closest urgent care centers and EDs, a link to download the UNC Health app directly from text-based appointment reminders, and the option to save appointments to the mobile device’s calendar with a link to way-finding instructions. I noticed that the app also allows visitors to save their parking location so the app can route them back to their cars.


    Government and Politics

    The VA publishes a Digital Healthcare Playbook that describes how it works with contractors to develop software and lays out the kinds of solutions it needs.

    VA OIG finds that the VA loaned IPads to 41,000 patients last year for use in virtual appointments, but only half of them completed an appointment. The VA also failed to collect 11,000 devices that had never been used for virtual appointments, which cost $6.3 million for devices and another $78,000 in cellular data fees.

    Connecticut spent $20 million of mostly federal money to fund a University of Connecticut project to build HIE software that was ultimately discarded in favor of buying a system from Maryland’s CRISP HIE for $1 million per year. The group that developed the system, UConn Analytics and Information Management Solutions, has shut down and dismissed its 20 employees.

    The Defense Health Agency’s Military Health System awards a subsidiary of government contractor Peraton a 10-year, $2 billion contract for digital transformation services.


    Sponsor Updates

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    • CoverMyMeds staff raise funds for cancer research organization Pelotonia during its annual live and silent auction, and by participating in Pelotonia’s ride weekend.
    • Biofourmis appoints former Trevor Fetter (The Hartford) and Sachin Jain, MD (Scan Group) to its board.
    • EClinicalWorks releases a new podcast, “How Payer Data in Healow Insights Can Help Improve Care.”
    • CloudWave reports that over 50 of its customers have been with the company for five years or more, and that 92 have been customers for three years or longer.
    • The Veterans Data Integration and Federation Enterprise Platform, which leverages technologies from InterSystems, receives the 2022 FedHealthIT Innovation Award.
    • Lyniate launches version 11.2 of its Lyniate EMPI by NextGate.
    • NTT Data announces the winners of the NTT Data AI Hackathon for innovations in healthcare.

    Blog Posts


    Contacts

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

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