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 and Studies
- ONC announced the launch of the USCDI+ Platform, the single place where datasets for all USCDI+ domains will be located.
- Clinician shortages, virtual care partnerships, and weight loss medications are the major trends that will shape the healthcare landscape in 2024, according to a report from SteadyMD.
- Roughly 5 in 6 (84%) of ambulatory care physicians use manual processes to manage transitions of care, according to a survey from WellSky. Additionally, 75% of respondents don’t have established relationships with post-acute care providers.
- Nearly all (95%) of healthcare executives are interested in end-to-end managed services to solve RCM challenges, according to a survey from Ensemble Health Partners. More than 70% prefer managed services to in-house operations.
- Medical costs related to falls exceed $50 billion annually. An analysis from Brooks Rehabilitation found that Connecticut has the highest fall treatment costs, at nearly $13,000, due in part to a scarcity of physicians.
- Only 25% of healthcare professionals feel safe in their roles, according to a Stericycle survey.
- The Leapfrog Group announced its top hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers, with 132 hospitals making the list.
Partnerships
- Qualtrics and Epic are partnering to integrate patient experience data into the EHR.
- GE HealthCare announced a joint commercialization agreement with AirStrip, maker of clinical surveillance technology.
- Wellness platform SimplePractice is partnering with Lucet, which provides behavioral health services to insurers.
- Kroger Health and Soda Health are collaborating to launch a Smart Benefits Program.
Product and Company News
- athenahealth added AI and generative AI capabilities to athenaOne.
- InteliChart released Family Portal, which supports patients and caregivers in long-term care or skilled nursing facilities.
- Front-line clinical workflow vendor Laudio launched Laudio Insights to support evidence-based decision-making.
- Montreal-based Ora Medical launched Levity, a mobility device for children with cerebral palsy, in the United States through a partnership with OrthoPediatrics.
- Senior health technology company DUOS is doing away with swag at its conferences, instead making donations to local charities based in part on how many event attendees visit their booth.
Sales
- Texas Family Wellness Clinic is adopting Sunoh.ai, the EHR-agnostic clinical documentation tool developed by eClinicalWorks. In addition, Idaho-based Women’s Health Associates is implementing Sunoh.ai.
- Kentucky-based UofL Health is deploying Verato for healthcare master data management.
- Florida-based Complete Health selected Relatient for patient-facing self-scheduling tools and chat functionality.
- Virginia-based George Mason University is implementing StressPal Frontline to provide resources to clinicians affected by burnout in rural and underserved areas.
- Brokerage firm WTW chose Oshi Health as the gastrointestinal and digestive health partner for its clients.
Certifications and Recognitions
- FDB earned HITRUST Risk-based, 2-year (r2) Certified status for FDB Vela, its e-Prescribing network.
- Rimidi Achieves HITRUST Essentials 1-year (e1) Certification for its clinical management platform.
- Western New York HIE HEALTHeLINK earned the Validated Data Stream designation in the NCQA Data Aggregator Validation program.
- AdvancedMD received Electronic Prescribing for Controlled Substances Certification from the Drummond Group.
People
- Clinical data aggregator Carta Healthcare named Brent Dover as CEO. He was previously in the same role at Kalderos.
- Consumer experience and data platform b.well hired Sarah Jones as Chief Outcomes Officer.
- Patient acquisition and engagement vendor Amenities Health named Scott Heatherly as Vice President of Sales.
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. Note that submissions received after the close of business on Thursday may not be included in Bonus Features until the following week.