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
CMS has opened the Hardship Exception application period for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) that participated in the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program in 2022. Hospitals may be exempt from Medicare penalties and downward payment adjustments if they can show that compliance with the requirement for using certified electronic health record technology would result in a significant hardship. The application deadline is July 31 for eligible hospitals and September 30 for CAHs.
After receiving more than 38,000 public comments, the Drug Enforcement Administration is extending the telemedicine flexibilities for prescribing controlled medications beyond the end of the public health emergency on May 11.
Studies
- Less than 1% of all medical claims include an ICD-10 Z code that documents a social determinant health, according to a data brief from LexisNexis Risk Solutions. The analysis also found that Z-codes are most frequently used in behavioral health and acute care settings.
- A report from the Alexander Group found that 45% of healthcare companies exceeded their revenue growth expectations in 2022, and 80% are experiencing growth in general.
- TytoCare found that 78% of consumers consider virtual healthcare offerings to be an important factor when selecting a health plan. In addition, recommendations to use virtual care from providers are more influential than recommendations from family or friends.
- Nearly 60% of today’s college students received mental health care from kindergarten through 12th grade, according to survey data from TimelyCare, which provides virtual health services to higher education.
- Seven in 10 women wish they had known more about postpartum mental health before giving birth, according to survey data from New York insurer MetroPlusHealth. The figure is highest among Black women (81%) and Hispanic women (76%).
- Global venture capital funding was just $21 billion in April 2023, a 56% drop from April 2022, according to Crunchbase. Funding has consistently been under $30 billion per month since July 2022. The silver lining: Healthcare is the leading sector, though most funds are going to biotech.
Partnerships
- Patient education and engagement vendor Mytonomy has connected Mytonomy Cloud for Healthcare with Oracle Health EHR.
- Fax technology company Consensus Cloud Solutions joined the Amazon Web Services Independent Software Vendor Accelerate Program.
- Patient engagement vendor Carenet Health is launching internship programs at three campuses of Far Eastern University in the Philippines.
- Gastroenterology precision medicine company Iterative Health is teaming with Provation, a clinical workflow automation company, to release SKOUT, a real-time analytics tool for polyp detection, later this year.
- Pathology software provider Visiopharm is now integrated with Paige, which makes software to improve cancer diagnostics.
Product and Company News
- Community care technology company WellSky announced new predictive analytics capabilities in CarePort Connect aimed at preventing SNF readmissions.
- Communication and engagement platform Weave released Response Assistant, which helps providers draft responses to online patient reviews.
- EHR and RCM vendor for therapy and rehab practices Raintree released Raintree Payments.
- CharmHealth integrated large language models into its EHR offerings.
- Lab data insights company hc1 announced the pilot of Workforce Optimization; the lab scheduling software will be released this fall.
- Know Labs validated the feasibility of its non-invasive glucose monitor as compared to existing products.
- Homecare management provider HHAeXchange has processed more than 1 billion Electronic Visit Verification confirmations.
- IT management software maker SolarWinds announced a new healthcare team.
- Consulting firm CGI has joined Health Level Seven International (HL7) as a Benefactor Member.
Sales
- National in-home medical group Emcara Health chose Innovaccer to support its model of integrated care management.
- Cancer Support Community San Francisco (SF) Bay Area chose Equiva Health to support its program to improve access to digital resources for cancer support and education.
- Virginia Hospital Center selected Unite Us to implement electronic referrals to community-based services.
- New York FQHC Urban Health Plan implemented eClinicalWorks EHR and healow.
Awards
- The 2023 MedTech Breakthrough Awards have been announced, with more than 140 overall winners in 20 categories.
- RCM vendor RSi was named a Top Workplace in South Carolina.
People
- DAS Health promoted Michelle Jaeger to President and Chief Executive Officer; she previously served as the consultancy’s President and Chief Operating Officer.
- Prescription savings navigation company Scripta Insights made two executive appointments: Ferrin Williams as Chief Pharmacy Officer and Ashley Moyer as Senior Vice President of Growth.
- Remote monitoring vendor Health Recovery Solutions welcomed Alan Bugos as Chief Technology Officer.
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.
