News 8/31/22

Top News

Kidney care companies Cricket Health, InterWell Health, and Fresenius Health Partners finalize their $2.4 billion merger, first announced in March, and begin operating under the InterWell Health brand. InterWell Health CEO Robert Sepucha says the company’s analytics, patient engagement, and virtual care capabilities will help it to reduce hospital admissions and readmissions, and better coordinate care.

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.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Pithy as always, health IT veteran Jonathan Bush shares his thoughts on Amazon’s acquisition of One Medical: “The problem they will face is consumer alignment. While Amazon has been able to keep its true North Star ever ‘closer to the customer,’ One Medical has needed to seek payment from one hospital provider over another. This channel conflict with consumer interest will be very tough to iron out as the market heats up.”

Telepsychiatry company MindCare Solutions Group acquires hybrid mental healthcare business Psych360 for an undisclosed sum.

People

John Showalter, MD (Jvion) joins Linus Health as chief product officer.

Announcements and Implementations

The Tennessee Primary Care Association will deploy I2I Population Health’s Prizim network population health management technology to give its 22 community health center members greater data visualization capabilities. The technology will be implemented through TPCA’s Center for Quality in Community Health.

Other

Dr. Glaucomflecken shines another funny spotlight on rural healthcare.

Sponsor Updates

• Nordic releases a new video highlighting its metadata-driven pipeline.

Blog Posts

• Back to school: Top scholarly tools for 2022 (AdvancedMD)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 8/29/22

Top News

Alma raises $130 million, bringing its total raised to $220.5 million since launching in 2018. The company has evolved from a company specializing in mental healthcare practice management technology and services to a tech-enabled developer of mental health provider networks.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Independent orthopedic practice -focused RCM company PRL rebrands to Koha Health and adds strategic advisory services that include technology systems integration consulting.

The local paper profiles Remission Medical, a telemedicine company specializing in rheumatology that launched in March. Based in Richmond, VA, the company serves patients in Virginia, Ohio, Alabama, Florida, and North Carolina. The company’s clinicians have equity stakes in the startup, and get paid through a revenue-split agreement. CEO Blake Wehman founded the company after a four-year stint with Siemens Healthineers.

People

Kidney care company Somatus names Joe Kimura, MD (Atrius Health) chief medical officer.

Alma hires Elisabeth Morray (LifeStance Health) as VP of clinical operations and Erik Lumer (Alan) as chief product officer.

Sponsor Updates

• Nordic joins KLAS’s Arch Collaborative that looks at EHR best practices and clinician burnout.

Blog Posts

• Can OpenNotes be too open? (Nordic)
• How Better Clinical Communication Can Reduce Sentinel Events (PerfectServe)
• How Medical Systems Solve Clinical Workflow Challenges with TigerConnect Roles and Teams (TigerConnect)
• The role of EHR extensions in enhancing patient care (Nordic)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 8/24/22

Top News

Healthcare finance and supply chain software and services startup Nitra raises $62 million and launches its first product, a rewards-based Visa Business card for practice owners.

The company’s partners include PatientPop, Zocdoc, and Amazon; while its advisory board boasts CityMD co-founder Richard Park and Practice Fusion founder Ryan Howard.

Webinars

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

Announcements and Implementations

HASA, an HIE that serves 3,000 physicians and 70 hospitals in Texas, rebrands to C3HIE to better reflect its focus on connection, collaboration, and community. The nonprofit also serves healthcare organizations in California, Delaware, and Florida.

Cipher Skin integrates Kno2’s health data exchange capabilities with its musculoskeletal care/recovery-monitoring system for physical therapy patients, enabling data to be transmitted from the system’s sensors to a physical therapist’s EHR.

Research and Innovation

Researchers determine that a primary care physician needs 26.7 hours to see an average daily number of patients and complete related administrative tasks. Documentation and inbox management took up 3.2 hours, according to the simulation study. Researchers suggest team-based care models, such as the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus model, could reduce daily care delivery to just 9.3 hours.

Other

The local paper profiles clean-up efforts in Neon, KY, which suffered devastating floods last month. The practice of Brenda Baker, MD was destroyed when nine-foot-high waters broke through the broken Yonts Fork flood gate. Baker, who is now seeing patients at the local middle school, lost $60,000 in medical equipment.

Sponsor Updates

Blog Posts

• How this simple cybersecurity practice could save you from a data breach (AdvancedMD)

• Addressing the Acute Need for Chronic Care Services (EClinicalWorks)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 8/22/22

Top News

RCM software vendor Alpha II acquires Health EFilings, which offers analytics and automated MIPS reporting.

Webinars

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Motivo Health, which has developed an online marketplace to help aspiring mental health therapists obtain licensure, raises $14 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Cox Enterprises, which has also invested in Enlace Health (value-based care software), Rimidi (chronic care management), and Rock Health (digital health fund and accelerator).

Thirty Madison reportedly lays off 10% of its corporate staff. The company offers consumers online prescriptions for hair loss, women’s sexual healthcare, migraines, GI conditions, allergies, and skin conditions. The New York City-based company, which has raised $210 million since launching five years ago, laid off 24 employees in May after acquiring women’s online sexual healthcare provider Nurx earlier this year.

Government and Politics

An audit finds that Florida Parishes Human Services Authority failed to adhere to public bid law requirements for a $1.2 million contract for a new EHR purchased last year. Specifically, FPHSA, which provides mental health services for five parishes in Louisiana, failed to advertise project bids in the requisite publications. FPHSA’s executive director attributed the error to a lack of experience with software purchasing processes. It began implementing the unnamed system earlier this summer.

Research and Innovation

A study out of the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute finds that Medicare claims submitted by non-practicing providers within radiology practices increased 16.3% between 2017 and 2019. Study author Richard Duszak, Jr., MD says further analysis is needed to determine the impact of the increase, though he does note that radiologists have increasingly been handing off certain types of examinations to NPPs.

Sponsor Updates

• Medicomp Systems releases a new Tell Me Where It Hurts Podcast featuring MedAllies CEO John Blair, MD.
• Nordic posts a new episode in its “DocTalk” video series.

Blog Posts

• Hospital Call Center Software: How to Solve the Top 3 Issues (PerfectServe)
• Understanding the financial impacts of clinical communication and collaboration (TigerConnect)

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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News 8/17/22

Top News

Online prescription startup Dr. B raises $8 million. Founded by Zocdoc founder Cyrus Massoumi, the company offers diagnosis and prescriptions for the treatment of COVID-19. Head of Technology Misha Kaletsky joined the company after stints at Haven and Zocdoc.

Webinars

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

Announcements and Implementations

Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute implements NCODA’s new Rxchange virtual learning program, which offers clinicians real-time updates on new cancer treatment therapies, technologies, and innovations.

Mann Eye Institute selects EHR, billing, practice management, patient engagement, and analytics software from ModMed.

The Good Clinic will implement Athenahealth’s AthenaOne suite of ambulatory health technologies at its six facilities in Minnesota.

Other

DataBreaches.net reports that Practice Resources has notified state and federal officials that it was the victim of an April ransomware attack that affected 942,138 patients of 28 customers.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

More news: HIStalk.

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