News 11/22/23
Top News
Medical imaging technology company Medmo, which matches patients with partner imaging centers, raises $9 million.
HIStalk Practice Musings
I finally received an email about Amazon Health’s One Medical deal for Prime members, which, similarly to when I first read about it in the trade papers, left me underwhelmed. It’s basically a price cut for services that I likely wouldn’t take enough advantage of to justify the (granted) low price of $9 per month. There is a One Medical office within an hour or so drive of my home, so that would be a benefit, provided I could find a timely appointment – something that many patients are finding it hard to come by, as evidenced by another email that appeared in my inbox around the same time.
This Nextdoor thread, started by a neighbor’s frustration at being unable to find a timely PCP appointment, prompted 32 comments on the state of timely ambulatory care. Folks chimed in with several mentions of their PCPs moving to concierge medicine so as to avoid administrative burdens, others with similar laments on how the healthcare system in general is failing patients, and still more with suggestions of PCPs that do see patients in a timely manner. After having read the Amazon Health email, and then the Nextdoor comments, it became glaringly apparent to me that sick people want to be seen by a real person (preferably someone they have an established relationship with) at a brick-and-mortar location in real time. They do not want to see someone on a screen, chat with a bot, or sit in some sort of pod. As one commenter said, “The unfortunate situation is that the business of healthcare has completely corrupted the service aspect of it. As a primary care doctor you are often times double booked, with 15 min to see very complex patients. You might see doctors charting in the room to save time or spend 2 hrs a day after clinic or on weekends doing the charting mandated. The system is for the most part not made for doctors or patients but for administrators and insurance companies. Patients have no idea how much time their PCPs spend on the phone getting necessary tests approved, reading hospital records, trying to ensure meds prescribed are on their insurance plan. There is minimal support for primary/preventative care with limited healthcare dollars spent.”
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Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock
Maia Oncology launches with $4.25 million in seed funding. The virtual primary care clinic for cancer patients will use the investment to help launch a pilot project with a cancer center. Takeda Digital Ventures, one of the round’s leading investors, also negotiated for Maia to acquire the assets of Maia founder Liya Shuster-Bier’s previous startup, cancer companion company Alula.
E-consult and referral management software vendor AristaMD acquires specialist care video consult and provider network company Sitka and announces a $16.5 million Series C round of funding. Founder and former Sitka CEO Kelsey Mellard will become president of AristaMD.
People
Duly Health promotes Ryan West to president of Chicagoland operations, and names Dana Rye (US Renal Care) chief value-based care officer.
Announcements and Implementations
Whole Health Rheumatology in Cape Cod will implement CareCloud’s Complete EHR and practice management software.
OrthoConnecticut selects practice management software and services from Healthcare Outcomes Performance Company.
Cora Physical Therapy adopts Medsender AI to streamline its data entry and fax routing processes across 250 clinics.
Government and Politics
The Texas HHS Office of the Inspector General identifies several telemedicine billing errors providers should be careful to avoid:
- Billing for multiple telemedicine services for the same client in a short period of time.
- Billing for more than 24 hours in a day.
- Billing for telephone-only services that should be lumped in with a previous in-person or virtual visit.
- Billing for excess time.
Research and Innovation
Boston-based clinical researchers determine that orders for diagnostic tests and referrals are more likely to be completed in a timely manner when given at in-person appointments versus virtual visits.
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