News 12/16/19

Top News

Australian healthcare company GenesisCare acquires Fort Meyers, FL-based 21st Century Oncology for nearly $1 billion. GenesisCare will invest $300 million in the cancer care company, which operates 294 clinics in 15 states.

21st Century Oncology emerged from bankruptcy nearly two years ago after a string of settlements and fines related to a data breach, alleged fraudulent billing, and fraudulently attesting to Meaningful Use.

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HIStalk Practice Musings

Folks are publishing their “best of” reading lists like there’s no tomorrow. If you’re looking for reading suggestions over the holiday break, check out lists from Literary Hub and The What. What books would make your top of 2019 list? Email me and let me know.

Bibliophiles sometimes have to clean out old books to make way for new tomes. If you’re in that boat this holiday season, perhaps this article will inspire you to put your books to a practical use.

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Webinars

None scheduled in the coming weeks. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present your own.

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Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Fertility clinic and technology company Kindbody secures an undisclosed amount of financing from the former Google Ventures, bringing its total funding to $32 million. The company has opened three brick-and-mortar clinics, and offers mobile clinics and telemedicine for mental health and nutritional counseling. Kindbody will use its latest investment to further scale its services for self-insured employers, which launched in April.

Virtual care management and clinical trial company VirTrial acquires telehealth vendor SnapMD.

VerityStream, a credentialing subsidiary of workforce development company HealthStream, acquires ambulatory-focused credentialing software vendor CredentialMyDoc.

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Telemedicine

PursueCare announces GA of addiction treatment programs through its telemedicine software for providers in Kentucky and West Virginia. The app-based program includes counseling, medication treatment, and access to PursueCare’s mail-order pharmacy. The Middletown, CT-based company is also opening a clinic in Somerset, KY to help patients who need in-person assessments.

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Other

I had no idea this was a thing: There are companies, like Aroma360, that specialize in scents for commercial spaces including physician practices. In fact, according to the company, calming patient distress through careful “fragrancing” is a key solution to helping people overcome their fear of the doctor (and here I thought folks were putting off care because of a fear of high bills). Bespoke scents can also be crafted to embody a practice’s philosophies.

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Sponsor Updates

• Healthwise receives a Gold Digital Health Award for a patient education video in the Health Information Resource Center’s 2019 fall competition.
• Nordic releases a new podcast, “Avoiding common pitfalls of an affiliate extension program.”

Blog Posts

• The Role of Patient Engagement in Remote Patient Monitoring (PerfectServe)
• Key Benchmarks for Process Improvement & Success (EClinicalWorks)
• This Groundbreaking Program Proves the Value of Health Literacy (Healthwise)

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Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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