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.
News
The Sequoia Project has released additional documentation support the implementation of TEFCA, the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement for health IT interoperability. The documentation is a draft version of standard operating procedures that individual access services providers will be required to follow for individual identity verification; the document also covers when entities are required to respond to an IAS request. The Sequoia Project will be accepting feedback on the draft version of the rules through July 29.
The Association for Community Health Plans, which represents 74 safety net health plans that cover more than 22 million members, has launched the ACAP Center for Social Determinants of Health Innovation. The center will focus on research, policies, and funding opportunities that strengthen SDOH initiatives and reduce disparities around housing and food insecurity and insufficient access to transportation.
At the HFMA conference, revenue cycle management vendor R1 shared data from a survey of more than 200 healthcare CFOs and finance VPs. More than 90% of respondents said providing routine healthcare post-COVID is putting a strain on their departments, with 90% of RCM departments experiencing a labor shortage. And all respondents said labor shortages are causing an operational strain that’s adversely impacting the patient experience.
Francisco Partners has completed its acquisition of IBM Watson Health’s assets, following the January announcement of a definitive agreement between the two companies. The new, standalone company will be called Merative and be based in Ann Arbor, Mich. Former TransUnion Healthcare and McKesson executive Gerry McCarthy will lead Merative.
Products
Bayer has released a suite of hosted, AI-enabled radiology products known as Calantic. The products intend to help radiology departments meet increasing workload demands at the same time that the industry faces a shortage of qualified radiologists. Apps will focus on three areas: Triage of findings that require urgent review, improved lesion detection, and process automation.
Greenway Health has launched a service called Greenway Medical Coding for its EHR clients to help relieve the administrative burden of coding and receive payments faster.
Patient and equipment location tracking provider CenTrak has launched a consulting and training service to help healthcare organizations improve asset management, staff workflow optimization, and patient throughput.
Maternity health and analytics company Lucina has released predictive analytics tools to identify at-risk mothers and create treatment plans that can prevent adverse outcomes, especially for women of color.
Partnerships
- Venture collaborative Chicago ARC named its two founding healthcare partners: University of Chicago Medicine and Sinai Chicago. The organization also named Kate Merton, Ph.D., as executive director.
- Patient scheduling, communication, and payment platform Yosi Health is now integrated with MicroMD, the practice management, EMR, and ePrescribing platform developed by Henry Schein Medical Systems.
Sales
- Wisconsin’s Marshfield Clinic Health System selected Force Therapeutics as the care management platform for its orthopedics practice.
- Illinois-based Midwest Orthopaedic Center went with eClinicalWorks for its patient engagement, cloud-based EHR, and RCM products.
- Central Florida’s Langley Health Services reports an increase in patient volume and a 50% reduction in charting time by working with remote EHR charting and coding company ScribeEMR.
Grants and Funding
- The Nevada Department of Health and Human Services received a $3.8 million grant to equip law enforcement agencies in rural areas with technology to provide 24/7 access to behavioral health professionals via telehealth. Nevada’s program is modeled after a pilot in South Dakota that aims to help responding officers de-escalate mental health crises.
- Enara Health received $6 million in seed funding; the company’s platform focuses on healthy non-surgical alternatives to weight loss.
Awards
- RCM vendor AGS Health was recognized by Everest Group in the consultant’s latest assessment of the RCM market.
- Facilities management vendor Sodexo was recognized at AAMI eXchange for the dashboard it built to track repair and maintenance timelines at Health First Health System in Melbourne, Fla.
If you have news that you’d like us to consider for a future edition of Healthcare IT Today Bonus Features, please submit them on this page. Please include any relevant links and let us know if news is under embargo.
