News 10/5/22

Top News

Drummond Group, the certifying body for ONC’s Health IT Certification Program, launches a Pediatric Health IT Certification program to help health IT vendors advance pediatric EHR capabilities.

HIStalk Practice Musings

The Library of Congress’ recent tweet thread documenting Lizzo’s visit and tour of the library’s antique flute collection reminded me of Susan Orlean’s “The Library Book,” which I read several weeks ago. It’s a history of the Los Angeles Central Library, and pays special attention to the fire that nearly forced its closure back in the 80s. Orlean wove in the library’s history, from its founding in the early 20th century and the variety of eccentric head librarians who took it in several different directions, to its vast collections of all sorts of things you’d never think a library would have. It’s worth a read if, like me, you’ve been in and out of libraries since before you could read.

I had no idea October is National Book Month: UTHealth Houston clinical psychologist Jennifer Bahrman says that reading a book for just 10 minutes a day will lead to greater intelligence, longer memory, improved relaxation, higher scores, more empathy, and increased success. No wonder a book at the beach (not to mention a book at bedtime accompanied by a bit of chocolate) puts me in such a relaxed mood!

Webinars

October 12 (Wednesday) 1 ET. “In Praise of the Problem-Oriented Medical Record (POMR).” Sponsor: Intelligent Medical Objects. Presenters: Amanda Heidemann, MD, CMIO, KeyCare; Amber Sieja, MD, senior medical director of informatics, UCHealth and Ambulatory Services; Jim Thompson, MD, physician informaticist, IMO. The problem-oriented medical record – initially developed in the 1960s by Lawrence Weed, MD – brought important structure to paper charting, and in particular, the problem list. Yet, today, the tool that was once the gold standard for organizing and making sense of patient history is often cluttered and unmanageable. Fortunately, tools and strategies exist to help make the problem list more meaningful, helping to synthesize patient data, highlight insights, and support patient care. The expert panel will share their experiences with POMR, including documentation practices and tools to improve workflows and efficiency, the impact of POMR and charting on the overall health of a patient, and the challenges and obstacles clinicians face when practicing POMR and charting and how they can be overcome.

October 18 (Tuesday) 2 ET. “Patient Payment Trends 2022: Learn All The Secrets.” Sponsor: Mend. Presenter: Matt McBride, MBA, co-founder and CEO, Mend. Many industries offer frictionless payments, but healthcare still sends paper bills to patients who are demanding modern conveniences. This webinar will review consumer sentiment on healthcare payments, recent changes to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act that create opportunities for new patient financial engagement, and new tactics to collect more payments faster from patients.

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

Announcements and Implementations

CommuniCare implements EClinicalWorks across its 22 sites in Texas.

The New Mexico Behavioral Health Services Division will work with consulting firm Via Positiva to help local providers adopt the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic model, a federal program designed to ensure access to coordinated and comprehensive behavioral healthcare.

Research and Innovation

A healthcare satisfaction survey of 1,000 consumers finds that 41% will change providers because of poor patient engagement, while 38% would consider changing due to a lack of personalization. When it comes to non-traditional healthcare settings, just 10% of seniors feel comfortable with telemedicine, while 66% would feel comfortable visiting retail clinics.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 10/3/22

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Grow Therapy raises $75 million in a Series B funding round, bringing its total raised to $90 million. the company helps clinicians launch their own in-person and/or virtual private practice with tools that include EHR, practice management, and billing technology. It will use the investment to expand the capabilities of its EHR, add clinical resources, and hire more staff, among other goals.

Webinars

October 12 (Wednesday) 1 ET. “In Praise of the Problem-Oriented Medical Record (POMR).” Sponsor: Intelligent Medical Objects. Presenters: Amanda Heidemann, MD, CMIO, KeyCare; Amber Sieja, MD, senior medical director of informatics, UCHealth and Ambulatory Services; Jim Thompson, MD, physician informaticist, IMO. The problem-oriented medical record – initially developed in the 1960s by Lawrence Weed, MD – brought important structure to paper charting, and in particular, the problem list. Yet, today, the tool that was once the gold standard for organizing and making sense of patient history is often cluttered and unmanageable. Fortunately, tools and strategies exist to help make the problem list more meaningful, helping to synthesize patient data, highlight insights, and support patient care. The expert panel will share their experiences with POMR, including documentation practices and tools to improve workflows and efficiency, the impact of POMR and charting on the overall health of a patient, and the challenges and obstacles clinicians face when practicing POMR and charting and how they can be overcome.

October 18 (Tuesday) 2 ET. “Patient Payment Trends 2022: Learn All The Secrets.” Sponsor: Mend. Presenter: Matt McBride, MBA, co-founder and CEO, Mend. Many industries offer frictionless payments, but healthcare still sends paper bills to patients who are demanding modern conveniences. This webinar will review consumer sentiment on healthcare payments, recent changes to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act that create opportunities for new patient financial engagement, and new tactics to collect more payments faster from patients.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Patient access and transparency technology vendor Careviso raises $17 million in a Series B funding round. The company’s technology offers real-time cost estimates, administrative requirements, and approvals. The company plans to broaden its scope beyond its traditional market of Ob/Gyns to radiology and endoscopy.

People

John Trefethen (The Altitude Group) joins RadiusXR as chief marketing officer.

Announcements and Implementations

New York-based FQHC Oak Orchard Health selects NextGen’s EHR and practice management technology.

Chiropractic EHR vendor PayDC incorporates MeldRx health data management and exchange software from Darena Solutions.

CareCloud announces GA of remote patient monitoring, including devices, implementation, and supporting software and services.

Research and Innovation

RadiusXR launches with a wearable headset that enables patients to perform self-guided eye exams. Accompanying technology includes patient education content and practice management capabilities.

A telehealth satisfaction survey of 4,306 patients finds that 80% prefer telehealth for prescription refills, 72% prefer it for reviewing medication options, 71% prefer it for discussing test results, and 57% prefer it for regular mental health visits. LiveHealth Online, Doctor on Demand, and EVisit scored highest n telehealth satisfaction among direct-to-consumer brands.

Sponsor Updates

• PerfectServe customer Bon Secours Mercy Health leverages the company’s Clinical Collaboration solution as part of its new Care Mobility project for nurse communication.

Blog Posts

• Freezing the squeeze: The three A’s of efficiency (Nordic)
• How to Improve Patient Experiences and Reduce Healthcare Costs (PerfectServe)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 9/28/22

Top News

Kidney care company InterWell Health acquires Acumen Physician Solutions, which offers EHR and practice management software for nephrologists.

Acumen, which co-developed some of its technology with Epic, was part of Fresenius Medical Care North America. Fresenius’ value-based care division, Fresenius Health Partners, merged with Cricket Health and InterWell last month.

Webinars

October 18 (Tuesday) 2 ET. “Patient Payment Trends 2022: Learn All The Secrets.” Sponsor: Mend. Presenter: Matt McBride, MBA, co-founder and CEO, Mend. Many industries offer frictionless payments, but healthcare still sends paper bills to patients who are demanding modern conveniences. This webinar will review consumer sentiment on healthcare payments, recent changes to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act that create opportunities for new patient financial engagement, and new tactics to collect more payments faster from patients.

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

People

Quartet Health names Michael Lipp, MD (ArchWell Health) CMO and Sherry Dubester, MD (Beacon Health Options) chief clinical strategy and quality officer.

DataLink Software names Sandip Patel (Monterey Bio Acquisition) chief growth officer and Reddy Shivampet (Dun & Bradstreet) CTO.

Vytalize Health names Mark Long (Cambia Health Solutions) CTO; John Torontow, MD (Village Medical) EVP, national medical director; and Scott Segell (VillageMD) EVP, value-based performance.

Announcements and Implementations

Radiological Group, PA (MS) selects revenue cycle and practice management software and services from Healthcare Administrative Partners.

Healthcare Leaders Group migrates its data to the cloud using AWS. The company’s brands include Practice Builders, Alta Medical Management, and Clinical Quality Experts.

Other

Physician recruiters in Nova Scotia say EHRs are a must-have when it comes to attracting new, younger physicians to the province. Most don’t want to take on the task of converting a practice from paper to digital files. Ten percent of PCPs in the province have yet to switch to digital health records. Interestingly, Nell’s Harbour family physician Ken Murray says his EHR, implemented 23 years ago, hasn’t been a game-changer: “Overall, [it’s] for the good. But it doesn’t speed me up at all. I think I’m slower using electronic medical records than I was the old way, and others have told me the same.”

Cathy DeAngelis, MD adds fiction to her list of published works with the release of “Angel or Devil’s Advocate,” a hospital-based murder mystery. DeAngelis is a Johns Hopkins veteran, and is the first woman and first pediatrician to become editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Her 2016 memoir, “Pursuing Equity in Medicine: One Woman’s Journey,” also seems like a must-read.

Sponsor Updates

Blog Posts

• Virtual waiting rooms: How to create a five-star telehealth experience (AdvancedMD)
• That Hospital EHR System Costs Too Much (EClinicalWorks)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 9/26/22

Top News

Medical call management software vendor Clarus acquires Call Simplified, which specializes in after-hours call management. Call Simplified founder and CEO Scott Reynolds will join Clarus as head of product.

Webinars

October 18 (Tuesday) 2 ET. “Patient Payment Trends 2022: Learn All The Secrets.” Sponsor: Mend. Presenter: Matt McBride, MBA, co-founder and CEO, Mend. Many industries offer frictionless payments, but healthcare still sends paper bills to patients who are demanding modern conveniences. This webinar will review consumer sentiment on healthcare payments, recent changes to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act that create opportunities for new patient financial engagement, and new tactics to collect more payments faster from patients.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

PracticeTek, a retail healthcare practice management company, acquires practice marketing and patient relationship management firm GrowthPlug.

People

SimplePractice names Ian Knox (Compass) chief product officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Colorado-based health fair and screening nonprofit 9Health Fair rebrands to 365 Health and begins offering text-based primary care services using technology from CirrusMD.

Research and Innovation

UC Santa Cruz Magazine profiles Immergo Labs, a virtual reality-based telemedicine startup launched by three of its engineering alumni. Immergo’s platform enables patients to undergo physical therapy from the comfort of their homes while being remotely monitored in real time by a therapist, who can also record key metrics and progress. Development of the technology was born, in part, out of co-founder Aviv Elor’s rehabilitation from an injury sustained during a UC Santa Cruz judo team match.

Other

Physician’s Business Office notifies patients of an April 2022 data breach that may have impacted some PHI.  The West Virginia-based company offers practice management, EHR, consulting, and revenue cycle services.

Sponsor Updates

• TigerConnect releases a new episode of The Connected Care Team Podcast, “Coordinating Clinical Workflows at CommonSpirit.”
• EClinicalWorks and TigerConnect will exhibit at the at MGMA Medical Practice Excellence: Leaders Conference October 9-12 in Boston.

Blog Posts

• For physicians, less is often more (Nordic)
• Don’t Boil the Content Ocean: Tips for a Focused Content Strategy (Healthwise)
• Keeping an Eye on Patients in Transition (EClinicalWorks)
• Curing the post-implementation blues (Nordic)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 9/21/22

Top News

Zócalo Health will use $5 million in seed funding to launch its virtual primary care services for Latino patients in Washington, Texas, and California by the end of the year.

Co-founders Erik Cardenas and Mariza Hardin both hail from Amazon Care.

HIStalk Practice Musings

I’ve been on a bit of a history kick lately, having read “The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra” and “Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania” in recent weeks. Despite knowing the tragic ends of both books, I got swept up in the suspenseful narratives created by authors Helen Rappaport and Erik Larson, leaving me eager to learn more about the global stage of the first World War. (If you read “Dead Wake,” do yourself a favor and read Larson’s footnotes for even more anecdotal observations.) I’d also love to learn more about Russian history. Please contact me with any book suggestions you may have.

My opinion of Walmart Health continues to swing back and forth. Having experienced optometry, primary care, and dental services several times over, I’ve certainly experienced enough care through the retail clinic – mostly just fine and always affordable. My recent visit to their dental practice in the company of a family member was in keeping with past experiences: The clinic called several days ago to cancel an appointment in October due to staffing issues – something that has happened nearly every time I’ve had a dental appointment. Fortunately, they were able to fit us in several weeks earlier than the cancelled appointment. Upon arrival for a morning appointment, I noticed that the lobby was filled with patients who had yet to be checked in. Walmart Health staff seemed to be scrambling to power up Epic check-in tablets. Ours wasn’t the first appointment of the day, so I wondered if technology issues had plagued the clinic for awhile. Once in the dental chair, the hygienist insisted she couldn’t find any record of our past visits. The dentist, however, was able to locate them. The culprit was the practice’s recent transition from Zotec’s dental software to Epic, which the hygienist was not thrilled about. She told me that the software they were given to train on was markedly different from what they went live on. She also complained about the updates Epic apparently likes to make every so often. In a nutshell, she told she just wants software that she doesn’t have to think about, that just lets her do her job. Hopefully, they’ll get the kinks worked out soon. I wonder if they’ll transition primary care from Athenahealth to Epic in the near future so that medical records are in one place.

Webinars

September 22 (Thursday) 1 ET. “ICD-10-CM 2023 Updates and Regulatory Readiness.” Sponsor: Intelligent Medical Objects. Presenters: June Bronnert, MSHI, RHIA, marketing director, IMO; Julie Glasgow, MD, marketing manager, IMO. The yearly update to ICD-10-CM is almost here. Prepare your organization for a smooth transition, and avoid any negative impacts to your bottom line, with an in-depth look at the upcoming changes. Listen to IMO’s top coding professionals and thought leaders discuss the 2023 ICD-10-CM coding changes. This webinar will review additions, deletions, and other revisions to the ICD-10-CM code set and how to make sure you get properly reimbursed.

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

People

Athenahealth names Stacy Simpson (Genpact) chief marketing officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Transitions Care, which offers primary care, symptom management, and end-of-life care, implements virtual care management software and services from TimeDoc Health to support its chronic care management programs.

QHSLab announces GA of a digital screening tool for primary care patients who may be suffering long-COVID symptoms.

Research and Innovation

KLAS Research publishes an analysis of physician satisfaction with EHRs based on specialty, with pediatric and family medicine physicians expressing the second- and third-highest levels of satisfaction. Ophthalmologists are the least satisfied with their systems. Researchers hope the findings may shed light on physician burnout and retention in light of satisfaction with an organization’s technology.

The National Quality Forum publishes a report identifying five recommendations for how EHRs can enable effective care communication and coordination for patient care and quality measurement. They include: collect and share standardized data, optimize usability for patients and caregivers, optimize usability for clinicians, develop novel EHR data elements to improve measurement, and leverage EHR data to fill care measurement gaps. The report was put together by a 31-member committee that met virtually 10 times over the course of 24 months.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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