Re: Walmart Health: Just had a great dental visit this morning, which was preceded by helpful reminders from Epic, and…
News 10/31/18
Top News
The retail healthcare wars heat up: CVS pilots a delivery service for prescriptions and online purchases at 350 stores in Boston. The CarePass program offers free deliveries with an annual membership fee of $48. It also includes discounts on CVS products, access to a pharmacist helpline, and monthly coupons. The move, which CVS Pharmacy President Kevin Hourican attributes to customer demand, takes Amazon’s Prime membership model one step further by bundling prescriptions with retail goods. Though Amazon acquired prescription delivery service PillPack several months ago, it has yet to offer a similar bundling arrangement.
Should the pilot go well, CVS may include MinuteClinic services in an expanded version of the program.
Amazon, meanwhile, has launched a line of medical devices called Choice that includes blood pressure cuffs and glucose monitors. The new line was developed with help from consulting firm Arcadia Group, which has developed similar product lines for Walmart. Arcadia hopes to incorporate the devices into Alexa’s repertoire in the coming months.
Webinars
November 7 (Wednesday) 3:00 ET. “Opioid Crisis: What One Health Plan is Doing About It.” Presenter: Samuel DiCapua, DO, chief medical director, New Hampshire Health Families; and chief medical officer, Casenet. Sponsor: Casenet. This webinar will describe how managed care organization NH Health Families is using innovative programs to manage patients who are struggling with addiction and to help prevent opioid abuse.
Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre for information.
Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock
Practice and revenue cycle management company Clinicspectrum relocates to expanded headquarters in Union, NJ.
Bloomberg reports that Elliott Management and Veritas Capital have teamed up to bid on Athenahealth. Veritas acquired GE’s revenue-cycle, ambulatory care, and workforce management software business for $1 billion in April.
New York-based HIE HealtheLink expands with new office space in Depew.
Patient engagement and practice marketing company PatientPop raises new capital, increasing its total funding to $75 million.
People
Less than two months after announcing a $24 million Series A funding round, Cricket Health brings on Sam Mankiewicz (Healthvana) CTO, Robert Sepucha (Fresenius Medical Care) chief administrative officer, and Dianna Budgeon, RN (Sound Physicians) head of clinical operations.
Announcements and Implementations
The Michigan Institute of Urology and The Urology Group (OH) go live on Integra Connect’s specialty-focused EHR at a combined 34 locations.
New York-based urgent and primary care provider WestMed Medical Group implements online appointment booking and virtual visit software from Solv Health.
Telemedicine
The American Psychiatric Association and American Telemedicine Association publish "Best Practices in Videoconferencing-Based Telemental Health," offering guidance on technology, settings, privacy and security, and clinical considerations for patients of different ages and backgrounds.
Philadelphia Eyeglass Labs selects 20/20Now’s telemedicine tools for eye care professionals. The five-location practice had been a beta tester of similar technology from DigitalOptometrics.
Other
A Swedish man credits his Apple Watch 4’s fall-detection feature with helping him contact emergency services (and quite possibly avoiding a kitchen fire) after suffering crippling back pain that caused him to collapse in the kitchen. The watch sensed the fall and offered to call an ambulance. The fall-alert feature is set to call an ambulance if a user is unresponsive one minute after a fall is detected.
Sponsor Updates
- EClinicalWorks posts a podcast titled “Tools and Training to Target Physician Burnout.”
- AdvancedMD will exhibit at APTA PPS November 7-10 in Colorado Springs.
- Aprima will exhibit at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition November 3-5 in Orlando.
Blog Posts
- The Opioid Crisis: How to Increase Patient Safety (EClinicalWorks)
- 7 Key steps for outsourcing RCM for VBC (AdvancedMD)
Contacts
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