News 6/12/23

Top News

Pomelo Care, a virtual clinic specializing in pregnancy and newborn care, announces $33 million in funding. Founder and CEO Marta Kerns launched the company in 2021 after spending seven years at Flatiron Health.

Webinars

June 22 (Thursday) 2 ET. “The End of COVID Public Health Emergency is Here. Is Your Rev Cycle Ready?” Sponsor: Waystar. Presenter: Vanessa L. Moldovan, commercial enablement + insights program manager, Waystar. This webinar will describe the proactive steps that are needed to avoid increased rejections and denials. It will cover regulatory waivers and flexibilities, major shifts in telehealth, changes to reimbursement, and the impact of the end of the PHE on Medicaid coverage.

July 12 (Wednesday) 2 ET. “101: National Network Data Exchanges.” Sponsor: Particle Health. Presenter: Troy Bannister, founder and CEO, Particle Health. It’s highly likely that your most recent medical records were indexed by a national Health Information Network (HIN). Network participants can submit basic demographic information into an API and receive full, longitudinal medical records sourced from HINs. Records come in a parsed, standardized format, on demand, with a success rate above 90%. There’s so much more to learn and discover, which is why Troy Bannister is going to provide a 101 on all things HIN. You will learn what HINs are, see how the major HINS compare, and learn how networks will evolve due to TEFCA.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Cityblock Health, a tech-enabled primary and behavioral healthcare provider serving Medicaid and Medicare patients, will lay off 155 employees as part of an organizational restructuring plan. The company launched six years ago, and operates 12 clinics in five states and Washington, DC. It also offers home-based urgent care and virtual appointments.

People

Daymon Smith (Verily) joins Interwell Health as chief product and technology officer.

PracticeNow names Bethany Little (Community Brands) CEO.

Announcements and Implementations

Chicago Stem Cell Therapy & Pain Management Institute transitions from paper-based documentation to EClinicalWorks.

Government and Politics

CMS will launch a new primary care model – Making Care Primary – across eight states beginning July 1, 2024. The model will offer participating providers resources to:

• provide patients with primary care that is coordinated, integrated, and accountable;
• enter into value-based care arrangements; and
• improve care quality and outcomes while decreasing costs.

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services announces $1.5 million in grant funding for providers interested in participating in its Centers for Excellence model. Qualifying providers, particularly those serving rural populations, can use the funding to attract specialty care providers, invest in new technology, and remodel physical spaces.

Sponsor Updates

• EClinicalWorks releases a new podcast, “Prisma: Enhancements & Benefits for Clinicians.”
• AdvancedMD publishes a new e-book, “The Private Equity M&A Playbook: A Guide for Private Practices.”

Blog Posts

• Nurses of Note 2023: The Interim Director and Nurse Development Leader (PerfectServe)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 6/7/23

Top News

New York City-based Yuvo Health raises $20 million in a Series A round of financing. The company offers FQHCs technology-based operational and administrative expertise for value-based care.

Webinars

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present or promote your own.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Eye care-focused health IT firm Codex IT acquires EyeDeal Consulting, marking its third acquisition of 2023. EyeDeal Consulting owner Chris Dean has become Codex’s VP of professional services.

Employer-focused virtual musculoskeletal care company MD Ortho secures funding from Virginia Venture Partners.

Karoo Health raises $3 million in seed funding. The company, set to officially launch later this month, offers holistic, value-based cardiology care that includes remote patient monitoring, nutrition counseling, and personal coaching.

People

Eli Wahesh (CareMetx) joins Healthmap Solutions as COO.

Announcements and Implementations

Providence Anesthesiology Associates (NC) selects Gemini coding workflow software from Aidéo Technologies.

CarePoint Clinic (WA) implements C3S.ai’s health and social care management solution.

Research and Innovation

Fair Health’s Monthly Regional Telehealth Tracker finds that telehealth visits increased by nearly two percent from February to March, particularly in the Midwest and West. Mental health conditions and acute respiratory diseases and infections accounted for the top two diagnoses.

Sponsor Updates

• Horizon Health Care (SD) expands its use of EClinicalWorks to include the company’s behavioral health module.
• Nordic publishes an episode of its Designing for Health podcast that features an interview with Allison McCoy, PhD.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 6/5/23

Top News

Medical and dental billing company Medusind acquires behavioral healthcare software vendor Lightning Step’s Ava Billing & Consulting subsidiary.

Lightning Step acquired Ava Billing & Consulting in 2019. It also owns ZenCharts, which it acquired in March 2022.

Webinars

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present or promote your own.

People

On Belay Health Solutions names Megan Sufka (Unite Us) chief people officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Hybrid healthcare provider Carbon Health adds an AI-enabled notes assistant to its EHR for hands-free charting.

Government and Politics

New Jersey-based Manasa Health Center will pay $30,000 to settle potential HIPAA violations stemming from a response it posted to a patient’s negative online review. Prompted by a patient complaint, an HHS OCR investigation found that the psychiatry practice may have disclosed patient diagnoses and treatment details in its response to four separate negative online reviews.

Other

Albany ENT & Allergy Services notifies patients of a data breach that occurred within its network in late March.

In Australia, the local paper profiles 81 year-old rural physician and aerial stunt pilot David Cooke, who still regularly flies to remote areas to treat patients. In addition to his practice, he performs with a group of pilots called the Bobcats. He served with the Royal Flying Doctor Service in the 60s and 70s and isn’t likely to slow down anytime soon: “People say, ‘Why, at 81, don’t you retire?’ and I say, ‘Because I love work’. I love sitting in my surgery and talking to people and being up in the air.”

Sponsor Updates

• Be Well Primary Care (TX) transitions to EClinicalWorks V12.

Blog Posts

• Optimizing the Transfer and Call Centers – Methodist Le Bonheur + Call Center (PerfectServe)

• 4 Business Insights to Help Your Healthcare Practice Grow in 2023 (AdvancedMD)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 5/31/23

Top News

Tech-enabled kidney care company Strive Health raises $166 million in a Series C funding round led by NEA. Strive has raised $386 million since launching five years ago.

Webinars

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present or promote your own.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Digital care coordination software vendor ThoroughCare will move into new office space in Pittsburgh, doubling its footprint. The company raised $3 million in Series A funding one year ago.

Walgreens will lay off 504 mostly corporate employees as the retail pharmacy shifts its focus to more patient care. It has invested heavily in care delivery over the last several years, having spent $5.2 billion in 2021 to acquire a majority stake in VillageMD, which in turn acquired Summit Health for $9 billion in 2022. Walgreens acquired care coordination and benefit management platform vendor CareCentrix for $392 million around the same time. The company announced in January that it would pause near-term merger and acquisition activities.

People

Practice Better hires Kim Walsh (Apollo.io) as CEO. She takes over from co-founder Nathalie Garcia, who transitions to chief growth officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Montana Pediatrics will use a $1 million donation to expand its after-hours pediatric telemedicine program. Launched in 2020, Montana Pediatrics is a network of pediatricians who share on-call responsibilities to ensure care is available every evening, weekend and holiday.

New Life Health & Concierge, a primary care concierge practice in Forth Worth, TX, selects EClinicalWorks.

Concierge physician network PartnerMD (VA) and Central Virginia Family Physicians Medical Group implement Suki’s AI voice assistant.

Premier Health Associates uses TimeDoc Health’s virtual care management technology as part of its remote patient monitoring programs for patients at its facilities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Ohio-based FQHC Third Street Family Health Services will offer AndHealth’s virtual specialty care for select chronic conditions at eight of its 11 clinics.

Sponsor Updates

• Nordic Consulting names Samara Lattimer (Akkodis) a new client partner in the UK and Ireland.
• Indiana Health Centers reduces onboarding errors by using the EClinicalWorks Business Optimizer.
• Nordic releases a new episode of its In Network podcast, “Designing for Health: Dr. John Whalen.”

Blog Posts

• A Different Point of View: The Age of TEFCA and QHINs Mandate Point-of-Care Diagnostic Filtering and Interoperability (Medicomp Systems)
• An inch deep and a mile wide (Nordic)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 5/24/23

Top News

Professional Business Systems, doing business as Practicefirst Medical Management Solutions, will pay $550,000 in penalties for its failure to update its firewall software in a timely manner. That failure resulted in a November 2020 ransomware attack in which hackers stole nearly 80,000 files containing information on 1.2 million patients.

Webinars

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present or promote your own.

People

Judy Carpenter (Riverside Medical Clinic) joins Akido as head of medical network operations.

On Belay Health Solutions names Chad Turner (Ventra Health) chief growth officer and Olga Eskinazi (Kaia Health) VP of marketing.

Announcements and Implementations

Southern California-based community health center TrueCare implements Rimidi’s remote blood pressure monitoring and management platform with help from a HRSA Hypertension grant.

Research and Innovation

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Family Medicine and Community Health call for EHR vendors to standardize measures related to “after-hours” workload metrics so that health systems can better analyze and adjust workflows to prevent burnout.

Sponsor Updates

• AdvancedMD sponsors the Gratitude Gala in Chicago, benefiting The Bette D. Harris Family & Child Clinic.
• Princeton Brain, Spine & Sports Medicine transitions to EClinicalWorks Cloud.
• Nordic publishes a technical paper titled “A New Horizon for IT Strategy: Prioritizing the Patient Experience Through Digital Transformation.”

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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