Welcome to the weekly edition of Healthcare IT Today Bonus Features. This article will be a weekly roundup of interesting stories, product announcements, new hires, partnerships, research studies, awards, sales, and more. Because there’s so much happening out there in healthcare IT we aren’t able to cover in our full articles, we still want to make sure you’re informed of all the latest news, announcements, and stories happening to help you better do your job.
This edition is a special dispatch from HIMSS 2023, which returns to Chicago for the first time in eight years. As always, there have been a lot of new products and partnerships announced at the event, with a heavy emphasis on generative AI, and we wanted to try and cover as much as we could for the Healthcare IT Today community. You can also visit our HIMSS23 page to see all our coverage of health IT’s biggest event.
Announcements from HIMSS
Lack of staff is the top barrier to robust cybersecurity for 61% of healthcare organizations, according to the HIMSS 2022 Healthcare Cybersecurity Survey Report. The biggest challenge related to staffing, for nearly 84% of organizations, is recruiting qualified talent, while two-thirds of organizations struggled to retain the talent they have. Another 55% of organizations said they don’t have enough budget to hire qualified staff.
On a broader scale, 74% of organizations cite IT staffing challenges as the main barrier to deploying modern software, according to Emerging
from the COVID Pandemic by HIMSS and Extreme Networks. Two-thirds of organizations say routine IT tasks take longer to complete due to staffing shortages, and 55% said taking longer to resolve issues has had negative impacts on staff productivity.
HIMSS also released a new Community Care Outcomes Maturity Model (C-COMM), which is designed to highlight the use of digital communication, population-level data, health information exchange, decision support, and predictive analytics to provide personalized care in non-acute settings.
The organization also launched the HIMSS Center for Professional Excellence to provide continuing education for IT professionals and clinicians. The first program, a 9-month program for aspiring CIOs, is slated to begin this summer.
Other News and Research Findings
- CMS made two announcements. The first is a standard special enrollment period for those who lose Medicaid or CHIP coverage, and the second is guidance for states to apply for Medicaid Section 1115 Demonstration to provide coverage to those being released from incarceration, with a key role for care coordination technology that leverages FHIR.
- Surescripts released research noting that half of U.S. counties face a shortage of primary care providers – but 61% of those counties have a high volume of retail pharmacy locations that could fill the primary care gap. In addition, Surescripts announced its intention to apply to be a QHIN.
- A survey from post-acute care software maker Brightree found that 99% of hospitals are more likely to send PAC referrals to providers that support their interoperability needs, but only 39% of PAC providers have moved their interop strategies forward in the last 12 months.
Partnerships
- Epic and Microsoft expanded their partnership, with generative AI powered by Azure OpenAI Service now available in the Epic EHR. (We first noted Epic’s embrace of ChatGPT in the March 26 Bonus Features.) Early adopters include UC San Diego Health, Stanford Health Care, and UW Health in Madison, Wisconsin.
- Similarly, eClinicalWorks and Microsoft are continuing their collaboration, with ChatGPT integrated into eCW EHR and practice management software and Azure OpenAI Service enhancing Scribe, the company’s AI-based dictation service.
- Philips HealthSuite Imaging is now available on Amazon Web Services; in addition, Philips is using Amazon Bedrock to build generative AI capabilities.
- 3M Health Information Systems is collaborating with AWS to incorporate generative AI into M*Modal clinical documentation.
- Real-world evidence company Atropos Health has joined the AWS Partner Network, and its services are available on AWS Marketplace.
- AWS selected Infor as an Amazon HealthLake Partner with its Infor FHIR Onramp on AWS.
- Oracle and Zoom are partnering to integrate telehealth with Oracle Cerner Millennium. In addition, Oracle and Deloitte announced a partnership for implementation and advisory services.
- Clinical workflow optimization tool Rimidi is now integrated with MEDITECH Greenfield.
- Population health technology vendor Lightbeam Health Solutions migrated to Microsoft Azure SQL Database.
- Healthy.io chose Secure Exchange Solutions‘ clinical notification platform to support its FDA-cleared, at-home kidney test.
- SaaS vendor integrate.ai partnered with DNAstack, a genomic data company, to develop the Canadian Platform for Genomics and Precision Health.
Product and Company News
- Microsoft announced new capabilities in Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare specifically for payers and updated Azure AI Services for Health with text analytics. In addition, Microsoft introduced Windows 365 Frontline for workers in healthcare and other industries who log in from multiple locations.
- Amazon announced new Alexa Smart Properties for Healthcare that support WebRTC, WPA2 Enterprise Wi-Fi networks, and Private Branch Exchange.
- Salesforce announced new Customer 360 for Health capabilities, with an emphasis on home health and contact centers. Early adopters include Bon Secours, Barwon Health, and the Veterans Health Administration.
- Orion Health launched Orchestral, an end-to-end platform for cleansing, de-identifying, managing, integrating, and analyzing data.
- Population health management company Innovaccer unveiled an AI assistant named Sara and released additional products addressing health equity, network optimization, and more.
- Healthcare operations software vendor symplr launched four product suites as part of its Connected Enterprise initiative.
- WebMD launched WebMD Ignite, which provides tools to improve patient and provider engagement.
- RevSpring launched Engage IQ, which is designed to coordinate patient interactions from preservice to post-service to payment.
- West Technology Group affiliate TeleVox launched Iris, a virtual agent for its digital patient engagement platform known as HouseCalls Pro; the agent is powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service.
- NuraLogix released AI models that can predict a person’s risk of fatty liver disease using facial blood flow patterns, as detected in a video selfie.
- Medical imaging workflow vendor RamSoft unveiled its patient education app, Blume, which is powered by ChatGPT.
- Withings released Body Smart, the latest addition to its line of smart scales.
- LG announced an 8MP diagnostic display that has received FDA 510(k) clearance.
- KLAS, the American Hospital Association, and risk management vendor Censinet recognized 10 vendors that recertified their Cybersecurity Transparent designation.
- Interoperability vendor ELLKAY appointed Ajay Kapare as President and Chief Strategy Officer. He succeeds Lior Hod, company co-founder, who will remain with ELLKAY serving as Chief Culture Officer.
Sales
- Allina Health chose KeyCare for virtual visits integrated directly with Epic MyChart.
- Wellstar Health System chose CLEAR for identity verification to provide patients with access to their personal health information.
- Cleveland Clinic chose Verizon Business to build a 5G network at its hew hospital in Mentor, Ohio.
- Powerback Rehabilitation chose Luna to deliver in-home, in-person outpatient physical therapy.
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