Re: Walmart Health: Just had a great dental visit this morning, which was preceded by helpful reminders from Epic, and…
News 4/6/20
Top News
AI-powered telemedicine company 98point6 will use a $43 million Series D funding round to launch its new patient wait-time dashboard and triple its physician staff by the end of April.
The company, which uses chatbot software to initiate virtual visits, has seen its visit volume increase 200% since the beginning of the year, with COVID-19 concerns accounting for 40% of those encounters. It has raised $129 million since launching in 2015.
HIStalk Practice Announcements and Requests
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Webinars
April 15 (Wednesday) 1 ET: “Scaling front-line COVID-19 response: virtual education, screening, triage, and patient navigation.” Sponsor: Orbita. Presenters: Lawrence “Rusty” Hofman, MD, medical director of digital health, Stanford Health Care; Kristi Ebong, MPH, MBA, SVP of corporate strategy, Orbita. The presenters will describe how chatbots can be quickly deployed to streamline individual navigation to the appropriate resources, administer automated virtual health checks for monitoring and managing specific populations, increase access to screening and triage for high-risk populations across multiple channels (web, voice, SMS, and analog phone), and reach individuals in multiple languages.
Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present your own.
Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock
Release-of-information companies ScanSTAT and DataFile merge. ScanSTAT President Matt Rohs will become CEO of the newly combined business.
Government and Politics
MGMA comments on ONC’s “Federal Health IT Strategic Plan,” stressing that it needs “to do more than offer vague promises” when it comes to reducing administrative burdens on physician practices. It also calls on the ONC to focus on the privacy and security of patient data, leverage health IT to help practices participate in value-based care programs, and avoid mandating the adoption and utilization of health IT.
Telemedicine
One Medical begins offering virtual visits; COVID-19 screening, assessment, and testing services; and tele-behavioral health services. It has also re-purposed clinics in select cities to care only for patients with respiratory problems.
Membership-based telemedicine company SteadyMD raises $6 million in a Series A round. It has developed an algorithm that matches patients with best-fit providers they can see on a continual basis.
The American Telemedicine Association and the Consumer Technology Association develop an online directory of telemedicine and remote monitoring technologies and services.
In Iowa, Family Health Care of Siouxland rolls out telemedicine services from Doxy.me.
Research and Innovation
A late-March Kareo survey of 600 practices finds that, as headlines attest, most are struggling with the effects of COVID-19:
- Seventy-five percent have either already launched virtual services or are actively planning to.
- Nearly 30% have switched all of their visits to telemedicine.
- Patient volumes have dropped by 35%.
- Nine percent have closed their doors for good.
Other
Ben Callister, founder and CEO of Tennessee-based EHR vendor Dr. Know, taps the expertise of his son and his scouting friends to start 3-D printing face shields for area medical workers. They’ve so far donated 150 shields to local hospitals, and have received requests from providers in California, Kentucky, and Washington, DC.
Sponsor Updates
- PerfectServe offers free software and services for Patient & Family Communication and free services to implement best practices for COVID-19 purposes.
Blog Posts
- Managing change on a burning platform (Nordic)
- How SG Pediatrics is Using TeleVisits to Help Patients (EClinicalWorks)
- Forgiveness and Grace: Surprising Advice for Working from Home (Healthwise)
Contacts
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