News 5/22/19

Top News

A state-of-industry survey of 800 independent practices finds that:

• Top challenges to growth include declining reimbursements, the increasing financial responsibility of patients, and physician burnout – 75% say care delivery is being negatively impacted by the pull of administrative tasks.
• 70% of respondents believe integrated technology is essential to improving efficiency and profitability.
• 60% expect their businesses to grow, while nearly 30% predict their operations will remain static.
• Tracking regulatory compliance is a challenge for practices of any age, though newer, possibly tech-savvier, businesses have reported slightly higher levels of confidence in their ability to do so.
• 17% will implement an EHR for the first time over the next year, while 25% are looking to switch vendors. The numbers are similar for purchasing or replacing practice management and billing software within the next 12 months.
• Slightly higher percentages were recorded for implementing or switching patient engagement technologies.

HIStalk Practice Musings

Congrats to Nancy, winner of a copy of “The Cunning Man” thanks to her quick recommendation of “The House of God,” a favorite healthcare-related read. Nancy says the book features “classic, true tales from the ED.” Fun fact: Samuel Shem is actually the pseudonym of psychiatrist Stephen Berman, MD who based the novel on his internship experience at BIDMC.

I’m still looking for graduation-related book recommendations. Email me with your favorite titles – given or received – that have helped you mark educational milestones.

Webinars

May 30 (Thursday) 2:00 ET. “ONC Data Blocking Proposed Rule: What Health Systems Need to Know.” Sponsor: Philips PHM. Presenter: Greg Fulton, industry and public policy lead, Philips. Proposed data-blocking regulations could specify fines, disincentives, and de-certification of providers who don’t provide an API for patients to extract all of their data. This webinar will describe who is deploying APIs, the scope of data and third-party apps that can be used, the seven costs that do not count as a data-blocking exception, and the health system protections that don’t involve using a vendor. It will also provide examples of data blocking and further exceptions.

Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre for information.

People

Erin Page (WellCare Health Plans) joins VillageMD as president of its Texas market.

Announcements and Implementations

Central Ohio Primary Care will implement document management and communications software and services from Updox at 70 sites.

The Orthopaedic Surgery Center in Baltimore selects practice management and e-charting software from HSTpathways.

Government and Politics

The Georgia Dept. of Public Health will use Appriss Health’s PMP Gateway software to help prescribers connect to the state’s PDMP via their EHRs. The department is using an opioid abuse-prevention grant from the CDC to fund adoption of the technology.

Other

While space flight physicals aren’t about about to overtake sports physicals in popularity anytime soon, this article looks at the thus-far brief history of commercial space flight and the evolving medical requisites of passengers who, more often than not, won’t have NASA-approved physiques. Poor vision and lung trouble have ailed some of the seven passengers that have indulged in space tourism thus far. Researchers believe the majority of space tourists will experience suborbital flights, and will thus potentially face health issues related to anxiety, space motion sickness, loud noises, small spaces, and g-forces.

The local paper profiles the efforts of Community Health and Wellness Partners to bring fresh produce to its diabetic patients. The Ohio-based practice has partnered with nonprofit Wholesome Wave and the Ohio Dept. of Health to offer 130 patients vouchers for fruit and vegetables that can be used at local markets. The pilot program, which runs through November, is part of the FQHC’s efforts to encourage lifestyle changes over medication.

Sponsor Updates

Blog Posts

• Why your practice needs positive online doctor reviews (AdvancedMD)
• Epic Security Optimization: Collaboration is Key (Culbert Healthcare Solutions)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 5/20/19

Top News

Cerner launches Anuva Health, a chain of healthcare centers shared between several employers that offers in-person and virtual care to employees. Several Anuva Health facilities have opened in Chester County, PA to serve Cerner and other local employees. Each will use Cerner’s Millenium EHR and HealtheIntent analytics. Anuva, by the way, seems to have several origins, including a Hindu version meaning “knowledge” and a Russian one meaning “new beginnings.”

HIStalk Practice Musings

My request last week for medically-inspired book recommendations prompted Chip of pediatric EHR vendor PCC to share his affinity for “The Cunning Man” by Robertson Davies. He describes it as a “nice, tight mystery that serves as a treatise on primary care.” Chip has offered to gift a paper or digital copy to another HIStalk Practice reader. I’ll arrange to have the book sent to the first reader who shares their favorite healthcare-related book with me  – novel, nonfiction, or even biography.

Given that graduation season is upon us, I’d also love to hear about books received or given as graduation gifts. What title had the biggest impact as you were making your way into the real world? Is there a go-to title that you give to every new graduate? Email me with your anecdotes, and I’ll promise to hum “Pomp and Circumstance” as I read them.

Webinars

May 21 (Tuesday) 2:00 ET. “Cloud-Based Data Management: Solving Healthcare’s Provider Data Challenge.” Sponsor: Information Builders. Presenters: Jeremy Kahle, manager of planning and business development, St. Luke’s University Health Network; Shawn Sutherland, patient and member outcomes, Information Builders; Bill Kotraba, VP of healthcare solutions and strategies, Information Builders. Inaccurate provider data negatively impacts revenue cycle, care coordination, customer experience, and keeping information synchronized across systems and functions. SLUHN will describe how it created a single version of provider data from 17 sources, followed by a demonstration of how that data can be used in reports and geospatial analysis. Learn how Omni-HealthData Provider Master Edition provides rapid ROI in overcoming healthcare organization provider data issues.

May 30 (Thursday) 2:00 ET. “ONC Data Blocking Proposed Rule: What Health Systems Need to Know.” Sponsor: Philips PHM. Presenter: Greg Fulton, industry and public policy lead, Philips. Proposed data-blocking regulations could specify fines, disincentives, and de-certification of providers who don’t provide an API for patients to extract all of their data. This webinar will describe who is deploying APIs, the scope of data and third-party apps that can be used, the seven costs that do not count as a data-blocking exception, and the health system protections that don’t involve using a vendor. It will also provide examples of data blocking and further exceptions.

Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre for information.

Announcements and Implementations

Modernizing Medicine adds Change Healthcare’s exchange orders and results technology to its EHR for gastroenterologists, giving providers the ability to electronically submit lab orders and receive results.

DrChrono adds speech-to-text charting capabilities to its tablet EHR.

HealthHIE Nevada will use RosettaHealth’s HealthBus software to help participating providers more easily register patients and share their medical records.

Government and Politics

The State of Nebraska will implement NIC’s RxGov PDMP per a five-year contract that will be overseen by the Nebraska Health Information Initiative and the Dept. of Health and Human Services.

Telemedicine

Tele-physical therapy company EWellness Healthcare will launch a digital occupational physical therapy solution by the end of the year.

Research and Innovation

Researchers at Cooper University Health Care and Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in New Jersey develop a tool to help providers measure patient assessment of caregiver compassion. They believe the tool may be used in conjunction with other patient satisfaction surveys. The “five-item compassion measure” assesses how well physicians take an interest in the patient as a whole person, care about a patient’s emotional and psychological well being, care about their personal needs, are able to gain their trust, and show them care and compassion. Book-lovers will be interested to know that lead researcher Stephen Trzeciak, MD is the author of “Compassionomics: The Revolutionary Scientific Evidence that Caring Makes a Difference.”

Other

To help prevent provider burnout (and perhaps attract new hires), PriMed Physicians in Ohio enlists concierge company Best Upon Request to offer errand-running services to employees at its 13 locations.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks will exhibit at DDW 2019 through May 21 in San Diego.
• Healthwise will exhibit at Cerner NARUG May 20-22 in Richmond, VA.

Blog Posts

• Artificial Intelligence and Magical Thinking (NVoq)
• The Infinity Gauntlet of Healthcare Interoperability (EClinicalWorks)
• Introducing revenue flow: A more efficient way of thinking about your revenue cycle (Nordic)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 5/15/19

Top News

DocuTap founder and former CEO Eric McDonald tells the local news in Sioux Falls, SD that the company’s merger with Practice Velocity and subsequent name change to Experity is bittersweet for him, personally, but a boon for employees and the 4,000 urgent care centers the new company will now serve. “We’ve had our best financial quarters two quarters back to back,” he says. “Our employee retention rates, our client retention rates in sales numbers have all been the best the company has ever seen. So I’m leaving on a high” McDonald will become an Experity board member, while Practice Velocity CEO David Stern will lead Experity.

Webinars

May 21 (Tuesday) 2:00 ET. “Cloud-Based Data Management: Solving Healthcare’s Provider Data Challenge.” Sponsor: Information Builders. Presenters: Jeremy Kahle, manager of planning and business development, St. Luke’s University Health Network; Shawn Sutherland, patient and member outcomes, Information Builders; Bill Kotraba, VP of healthcare solutions and strategies, Information Builders. Inaccurate provider data negatively impacts revenue cycle, care coordination, customer experience, and keeping information synchronized across systems and functions. SLUHN will describe how it created a single version of provider data from 17 sources, followed by a demonstration of how that data can be used in reports and geospatial analysis. Learn how Omni-HealthData Provider Master Edition provides rapid ROI in overcoming healthcare organization provider data issues.

May 30 (Thursday) 2:00 ET. “ONC Data Blocking Proposed Rule: What Health Systems Need to Know.” Sponsor: Philips PHM. Presenter: Greg Fulton, industry and public policy lead, Philips. Proposed data-blocking regulations could specify fines, disincentives, and de-certification of providers who don’t provide an API for patients to extract all of their data. This webinar will describe who is deploying APIs, the scope of data and third-party apps that can be used, the seven costs that do not count as a data-blocking exception, and the health system protections that don’t involve using a vendor. It will also provide examples of data blocking and further exceptions.

Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre for information.

People

Zack Klint (EviCore) joins I2I Population Health as VP of client success.

Announcements and Implementations

Great Lakes Medical Imaging will implement NextGate’s enterprise master patient index software across its five locations in Western New York.

With help from six state-based medical societies, The Physician’s Foundation establishes a $500,000 interoperability fund to help practices connect to their local HIEs.

Government and Politics

Delaware’s public health division launches a community health portal that includes reports on substance abuse and chronic disease using data on drug overdoses, air quality, asthma rates, and drinking water. Officials plan to add data on maternal and child health, infectious diseases, healthy lifestyles, education, health services utilization, among others, in the coming months.

Telemedicine

AristaMD adds wound and ostomy specialists from virtual wound care management company Corstrata to its panel of experts available for e-consults.

Other

Researchers find that people who are exposed to coffee “cues” exhibit more alertness and are better able to focus on the task at hand, all without taking a sip. Seems like a coffee-scented candle or even just staring at your favorite mug might be the perfect antidote to those suffering from the 16-minute sleep deprivation I mentioned in my last post, or those who indulge in more than six caffeinated cups, the imbibing of which can lead to heart damage.

Sponsor Updates

• AdvancedMD will exhibit at the America Psychiatric Association event May 18-22 in San Francisco.

Blog Posts

• Maintaining a healthy revenue cycle means tapping into the consumer mentality (AdvancedMD)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 5/13/19

Top News

Private investment firm Littlejohn acquires a majority stake in point-of-care digital advertising company Outcome Health. The financial news marks a turning point for the Chicago-based vendor, which has kept a low profile since experiencing a wave of bad press related to shady sales tactics, investor lawsuits, voluntary employee buyouts, and layoffs.

Company co-founders CEO Rishi Shah and President Shradha Agarwal stepped down from their management roles in January 2018 as part of a settlement with investors. Advertising executive Matt McNally joined the company as CEO six months later.

HIStalk Practice Musings

I’m not the only one thinking about what to read over the long, hazy days of summer. Forbes contributing author Robert Pearl, MD has gotten a head start on his summer reading with the seemingly contrasting works of nonfiction pictured above. “Reading them back to back,” he explains, “ … reveals a shocking truth: Today’s medical practice bears a striking resemblance to the world of medicine two centuries ago.” Despite AI’s shiny promises of a doctor-less healthcare system with improved outcomes, Pearl believes today’s providers share at least three traits with their Victorian predecessors – clinicians still make needless mistakes; they still don’t wash their hands; and they still ignore how social factors impact health.

Given my love of history, I may add Lindsey Fitzharris’ account of Victorian medicine to my reading list. I doubt I’ll get around to Eric Topol’s third book, which Mr. H found to be a chore to read. (You can read his full review here.) When it comes to summer reading, I’m more likely to lean towards light, fluffy, and fun a la Mary Kay Andrews.

Reader comments: Hope offers up “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” by Richard Bach as a great read if you’re looking to connect with nature. Published in 1970, she considers it to be “one of the most precious books I have ever read. It uses nature as an approach to encourage us to strive to soar higher and go farther. I highly recommend it!”

Do you have medically-focused works to recommend? Beach bag-worthy books? Please email me.

Webinars

May 21 (Tuesday) 2:00 ET. “Cloud-Based Data Management: Solving Healthcare’s Provider Data Challenge.” Sponsor: Information Builders. Presenters: Jeremy Kahle, manager of planning and business development, St. Luke’s University Health Network; Shawn Sutherland, patient and member outcomes, Information Builders; Bill Kotraba, VP of healthcare solutions and strategies, Information Builders. Inaccurate provider data negatively impacts revenue cycle, care coordination, customer experience, and keeping information synchronized across systems and functions. SLUHN will describe how it created a single version of provider data from 17 sources, followed by a demonstration of how that data can be used in reports and geospatial analysis. Learn how Omni-HealthData Provider Master Edition provides rapid ROI in overcoming healthcare organization provider data issues.

May 30 (Thursday) 2:00 ET. “ONC Data Blocking Proposed Rule: What Health Systems Need to Know.” Sponsor: Philips PHM. Presenter: Greg Fulton, industry and public policy lead, Philips. Proposed data-blocking regulations could specify fines, disincentives, and de-certification of providers who don’t provide an API for patients to extract all of their data. This webinar will describe who is deploying APIs, the scope of data and third-party apps that can be used, the seven costs that do not count as a data-blocking exception, and the health system protections that don’t involve using a vendor. It will also provide examples of data blocking and further exceptions.

Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre for information.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Business process outsourcing company MiraMed merges its Anesthesia Business Consultants subsidiary with anesthesia practice management and billing vendor Medac.

People

Bill Conway (American Well) returns to Athenahealth as chief sales officer.

Greenway Health names Geeta Nayyar, MD (Femwell Group Health) CMO.

Announcements and Implementations

American Autism and Rehabilitation Center (AL) selects RCM software and services from Allscripts.

In Pennsylvania’s Delaware Valley, HealthShare Exchange becomes the data aggregator and portal provider for physicians participating in the Greater Philadelphia Comprehensive Primary Care Plus program.

DrChrono adds educational content from HealthFeed to the patient engagement capabilities of its EHR.

Government and Politics

ONC will host a Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) Q&A webinar on May 15. Comments on ONC’s second TEFCA draft are due June 17.

Research and Innovation

Heads up IT staffers: New data shows that sleeping just 16 minutes less disrupts cognitive skills the next work day, resulting in impaired decision making, intrusive thoughts, and higher-than-usual work-to-family conflict.

Other

Arizona State University students work with the US Office of Naval Research to turn a shipping container into a solar-powered mobile medical practices. The mobile clinic is expected to serve 12,000 refugees in Uganda this summer.

Sponsor Updates

• Nordic launches a video series titled “Consultants in Conference Rooms Getting Coffee.”
• EClinicalWorks will exhibit at ASCA 2019 May 15-17 in Nashville.
• Intelligent Medical Objects will exhibit at the Netsmart Connections 2019 User Group Meeting May 12-15 in Washington, DC.

Blog Posts

• Your Beaker go-live checklist: 6 critical steps to take after an Epic Beaker install (Nordic)
• Four Medicare Advantage Trends to Watch (Healthwise)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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Contact us online.
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News 5/8/19

Top News

Emocha Mobile Health relocates from its Johns Hopkins innovation hub offices in Baltimore to its own 5,000 square-foot space nearby. The company, which offers app-based technology to help patients adhere to treatment regimens, got its start in 2014 using software developed by Johns Hopkins University clinicians.

HIStalk Practice Musings

The healing effects of nature have been well documented, and now, according to this article, some organizations are working with physicians to encourage them to prescribe outdoor activities to their patients as a preventative measure. Park Rx America, for example, is a nonprofit that connects physicians with 8,500 outdoor spaces in 34 states via their prescribing software. The idea, according to founder and pediatrician Robert Zarr, MD (a former National Park Service advisor) is to “think about nature not just as a place to recreate, but also as a social determinant of health.” Zarr was inspired to create the nonprofit after reading Richard Louv’s 2008 book, “Last Child in the Woods.”

Immersing ourselves in nature for the benefit of mind, body, and soul seems a timely idea as spring gives way to summer in the coming months. Several readers have shared their beach read recommendations – easy-to-read (and sometimes light and frothy) books that fit nicely into a beach bag or picnic basket. Caroline recommends Maeve Haran’s “An Italian Holiday” (which puts me in mind of Peter Mayle’s “Provence” series), while a little birdie tweeted praises for “Dark of Night” by Alice Arenz, calling it a great must-read mystery for those looking for a quick read this summer.

How has a good book helped you connect with nature? Email me with your recommendations and/or forest bathing anecdotes.

Webinars

May 21 (Tuesday) 2:00 ET. “Cloud-Based Data Management: Solving Healthcare’s Provider Data Challenge.” Sponsor: Information Builders. Presenters: Jeremy Kahle, manager of planning and business development, St. Luke’s University Health Network; Shawn Sutherland, patient and member outcomes, Information Builders; Bill Kotraba, VP of healthcare solutions and strategies, Information Builders. Inaccurate provider data negatively impacts revenue cycle, care coordination, customer experience, and keeping information synchronized across systems and functions. SLUHN will describe how it created a single version of provider data from 17 sources, followed by a demonstration of how that data can be used in reports and geospatial analysis. Learn how Omni-HealthData Provider Master Edition provides rapid ROI in overcoming healthcare organization provider data issues.

People

Blockchain-based health record app vendor Patientory hires Vince McGee (Ingenious Med) as CTO.

Announcements and Implementations

MedEvolve develops an RCM Scorecard to help practices uncover and implement revenue cycle process improvements.

The Connecticut Dept. of Social Services selects analytics software from HBI Solutions to help it better care for Medicaid patients.

Patient engagement company PatientPoint develops digital educational content for neurologists.

Ambulatory surgery center OrthoIllinois selects ASC management software from HSTpathways.

The Murfreesboro Medical Clinic and SurgiCenter in Tennessee selects precision medicine and pharmacogenomics software from 2bPrecise.

Telemedicine

Care Compass Network in New York selects telepsychiatry and teletherapy services from Mynd Analytics subsidiary Arcadian Telepsychiatry Services.

Research and Innovation

New AMA data finds that there are now fewer physician practice owners than employees, and that physicians are shifting away from solo practices to larger medical group settings of 50-plus providers.

Other

Comedians Stephen Colbert and Rachel Dratch reminisce on The Late Show about their “meet cute” moment at a pediatrician’s office in the mid-90s. Dratch, who was employed as a seasonal receptionist, didn’t remember Colbert, despite the fact that both were working at Second City during that time. Dratch joked that, “I guess I was too involved in my job to even notice that you came in. [L]ives [were] on the line, with me answering phones there.”

Sponsor Updates

Blog Posts

• How a Unified Practice Software Suite Can Boost Your Dermatology Business (AdvancedMD)
• Aprima is Named 2019 Best in KLAS as the #1 Rated Small Practice Ambulatory EMR/PM Category for the 2nd Consecutive Year (Aprima)
• The Changing Role of the CIO – Telehealth (Culbert Healthcare Solutions)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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Become a sponsor.