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Futura Mobility Continues to Expand their Healthcare Services & Solutions Portfolio
PHILADELPHIA, PA – March 30, 2015 – Futura Mobility announces that Continuum Health Alliance, a physician enablement company providing an integrated health platform for practice management, population health management and community care services, has agreed to have Futura provide hardware support to Continuum clients. Futura is a technology strategy and solutions company serving enterprise and healthcare industries. This announcement follows several strategic moves by Futura Mobility, making them a “2020-ready” company that is able to deliver solutions including secure communications platforms, and healthcare analytics solutions in addition to their mobile technology and support expertise.
As the healthcare industry continues to evolve, physician groups are challenged with becoming more effective. “By allowing the physicians to focus on their clinical expertise while leveraging the technology services and support from our team, the patient returns as the central focus,” says David Gulian, CEO at Futura Mobility. “We will be providing on-site hardware support and implementation expertise for more than 600 providers in 200 locations. “
Continuum enables physicians, nurses and other caregivers to move from volume to value-based healthcare by optimizing business and clinical processes through its managed platform of technology-enabled services. “We are focused on helping our clients thrive in today’s complex healthcare environment and Futura will help provide technology hardware implementation and support to our clients,” said Continuum’s CIO, Joe Coyne.
Futura Mobility in collaboration with partners Pursuit Healthcare Advisors, Practice Unite, and Real Time Learning Solutions, agree that today, healthcare is about data becoming usable information – and having secure access to that information in a dynamic and mobile delivery. Together, they help health enterprises, clinicians, and patients achieve success in this environment thereby improving care delivery, business and health performance, as well as health outcomes.
About Futura Mobility
Based in Philadelphia, Futura Mobility is a privately-held IT services organization specializing in technology solutions for the healthcare industry. Through collaborations with some of the most forward-thinking technology companies, Futura offers healthcare providers an innovative, cohesive solution to address health IT challenges. Futura Mobility has been recognized nationally for year-over-year growth on the INC 5000 and Deloitte Fast 500 lists. For more information, please visit www.futuramobility.com.About Continuum Health Alliance
Continuum Health Alliance, LLC (“Continuum”) is a physician enablement company providing an integrated health platform for population health, practice management and community care services. The company offers proven, strategic business and clinical solutions empowering medical providers within physician groups, private practices, health systems, hospitals, and self-funded settings to enhance patient access and experience, improve health and lower overall costs. Continuum serves 1,000+ primary care physicians, specialists and nurse practitioners in private practice and hospital-affiliated settings. Clients benefit from the expertise of more than 350 highly experienced Continuum medical and business professionals who have demonstrated success in assisting clients located in nearly 400 locations. Learn more at www.challc.net.For media inquiries, please contact:
Daria Cuda
Healthcare Marketing Manager
Futura Mobility
215.642.3363 x 1516Posted 3.30.2015 -
Payment Reform Reveals Unmet Demands Across the Care Continuum
Providers turn to long-term care & homecare vendors to complete the continuum of care
OREM, UT – March 26, 2015 — Payment reform is causing providers to rethink their care-delivery models across the continuum, including homecare and long-term care services. Best-of-breed homecare and long-term care vendors outperform their enterprise counterparts due to better overall functionality and strong customer relationships. However, interoperability continues to be a huge strain with little progress being made by provider organizations. These are two of the findings in the latest KLAS report, entitled The Care Continuum: Payment Reform Creates Unmet Demands.
In the study, providers assert that energy from accountable care and population health management is forcing them to take a closer look at the entire post-acute care continuum. In the light of this closer examination, some vendors are proving to be more effective care-delivery partners and others are falling behind.
“It’s very telling that acute care organizations are turning to enterprise vendors despite the weaker functionality in the homecare and long-term care segments,” said report author, Erik Bermudez. “This just highlights how important interoperability and true data exchange are to providers as they attempt to better manage their patient populations throughout the care continuum.”
For access to the report, you can download the myKLAS app at www.klasresearch.com/lp/downloadklasapp or visit KLAS online at www.KLASresearch.com/reports. The report is available to healthcare providers and vendors. Providers receive a significant discount off the standard retail price or can receive a complimentary summary report in exchange for a survey about one of their current suppliers.
About KLAS
KLAS is a research firm on a global mission to improve healthcare delivery by enabling providers to be heard and counted. Working with thousands of healthcare professionals and clinicians, KLAS gathers data on software, services, medical equipment and infrastructure systems to deliver timely reports, trends and statistical overviews. The research directly represents the provider voice and acts as a catalyst for improving vendor performance. Follow KLAS on Twitter at www.twitter.com/KLASresearch.Posted 3.26.2015 -
ZynxCarebook Helps Meritage ACO Achieve Successful Reduction of At-Risk Patient Readmissions
Bay Area-wide ACO named finalist in Dorland Health’s Case In Point Platinum Awards for sustainable continuum of care coordination
LOS ANGELES,CA – March 24, 2015 — Meritage Accountable Care Organization (ACO) in northern California today announced the results of a two-year care management program designed to help lower preventable hospital readmissions among its highest-risk patients. The Bay Area-wide patient readmission rate dropped to 10.2 percent, placing it considerably below the 17.5 percent national average in 2013 for Medicare patients.
The program combines an internally developed, evidence-based hybrid model of care with a ZynxCarebook™-driven mobile care navigation network that supports secure, patient-centered collaboration among providers in different care settings. The cloud network brings all participants onto a single electronic information-sharing platform, allowing them to collaborate on evidence-based transition plans and follow-up with patients post-discharge.
The program’s dramatic readmission process improvement placed Meritage ACO just below the coveted 90th percentile for chronic heart failure, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and all-cause 30-day readmission avoidance. For this achievement, Meritage ACO was named a finalist in the prestigious 6th Annual Dorland Health Case in Point Platinum Awards for demonstrating sustained success setting the standard in improving safe, quality continuum of care coordination.
“As an ACO, we have extra incentive to lower readmissions by managing the quality of the care we deliver throughout the entire continuum,” said Andrea Kmetz, R.N., director of care management and quality assurance at Meritage ACO.
“Our providers are spread across 2,600 square miles. The ZynxCarebook platform makes it easy for clinicians and nurse care managers situated at all of our participating facilities to communicate securely about the patients they treat while keeping all care team members informed and updated on new developments. It would be impossible to share such critical clinical information in a timely and efficient manner using traditional phone calls, pages, faxes, or e-mail.”
Meritage ACO is the first healthcare organization in the North Bay Area of California to be designated a Medical Shared Savings ACO by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). It encompasses 250 primary care physicians and specialists from its own network and 21,000 beneficiaries across Marin, Sonoma and Napa counties. Other current participants include the 235-bed Marin General Hospital; the 163-bed Novato Health Center and 54-bed San Rafael Healthcare & Wellness Center skilled nursing facilities (SNFs); and Hospice by the Bay, which operates throughout the North Bay region.
In developing the program, Meritage ACO targeted older adults who are at a high risk for readmission as identified through evidence-based tools such as Project RED and Project BOOST®. Most of these older adults have complex chronic conditions requiring close management, and some have complex psychosocial needs that impact their ability to manage their own healthcare.
Using the evidence-based Coleman Model as the basis of their program, Meritage ACO nurse care managers visit patients at the bedside before discharge to provide care transitions coaching. The care managers explain the process, provide education, answer questions, assess the patient’s willingness to engage in their own care needs, and plan for their transition. The next phase of the care management model involves using techniques such as Patient Activation Management Tool and Motivational Interviewing techniques. Lastly, a review of recent care is conducted to eliminate service duplications often occurring between patient care setting transitions.
ZynxCarebook allows organizations to create a HIPAA-compliant mobile care navigation network using iOS and Android-compatible tablets and smartphones. The platform is integral throughout the care transition process, providing checklists to ensure that all proper actions are taken at the right time by the right team member–making it easy to collaborate across a variety of settings.
“Meritage ACO proves that seamless transitional care supported by the use of sophisticated mobile network technology–especially for persons with complex care needs–is essential,” said Siva Subramanian, Ph.D., senior vice president of mobile products at Zynx Health. “We are proud of the role ZynxCarebook played in helping Meritage ACO lower its readmissions dramatically while creating a sustainable model of patient-centered, evidence-based care that other organizations can emulate.”
A preview of Zynx Health’s newest innovations including ZynxCarebook will be showcased at booth #2260 at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2015 Conference and Exhibition, April 13-16 in Chicago.
Tweet This: ZynxCarebook helps Meritage ACO lower #readmissions. | @zynxhealth @MeritageMed #carecoordination #caretransitions http://bit.ly/1xszGCG
About Meritage ACO
Meritage Accountable Care Organization (ACO), an outgrowth of the Meritage Medical Network, was the first healthcare organization in the North Bay Area of California to be designated a Medical Shared Savings ACO by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Unlike most organizations of its type, which are hospital-driven or a partnership between a physician group and a hospital, Meritage ACO is physician-owned and physician-governed. It encompasses 250 physicians and 21,000 beneficiaries, and covers a 2,600 square mile service area spanning Marin, Sonoma and Napa counties. The ACO includes hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and hospice providers. To learn more, visit www.meritagemed.com/meritage-accountable-care-organization-aco.About Zynx Health
Zynx Health, part of the Hearst Health network, is the pioneer and market leader in evidence- and experience-based clinical improvement and mobile care solutions that provide the care guidance to enhance quality, improve care coordination, and decrease variation across an individual’s health journey. With Zynx Health, healthcare organizations exceed industry demands for delivering high-quality care at lower costs under value-based reimbursement models. Zynx Health partners with healthcare organizations to continuously and measurably improve care every day, for every patient, every time. To learn more, visit www.zynxhealth.com or call 855.367.ZYNX.Posted 3.24.2015 -
Huntzinger Management Group Announces Robert LaPorte as Client Executive
PLAINS, PA – March 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — The Huntzinger Management Group, Inc. (HMG), a leader in healthcare advisory, managed services, implementation and supplemental staffing services consulting, announced Robert LaPorte as Client Executive. Founding Partner Bob Kitts, Chief Executive Officer of HMG, made the announcement.
As Client Executive, LaPorte will be responsible for providing commensurate value and high-quality deliverables to clients, on time and within budget. He will also be responsible for developing and delivering high quality presentations for his clients, ensuring smooth and seamless onboarding of Huntzinger staff at client sites, identifying client needs and ensuring profitable solution based selling to increase revenue and create value added client relationships.
LaPorte is a member of HIMSS and the South Carolina HIMSS chapter, has served on the SC HIMSS Board of Directors for the past four years, and is currently the Chapter’s President-Elect. LaPorte is also a member of ACHE.
“Robert has a robust background, including experience as a CIO, Director of Implementation Services, Consultant, and Owner of his own HIT Consulting firm,” said Bob Kitts, CEO of HMG. “This background is an incredible asset not only for our team, but for our clients. Robert has been in their shoes, and has proved himself to be an expert in this field. We welcome Robert to our team as we continue to work on being a preeminent force in helping clients leverage their IT investment and gain maximum value from their IT spend.”
LaPorte earned both a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgia State University.
About The Huntzinger Management Group, Inc.
HMG provides advisory and managed services consulting to the healthcare industry. We focus on clinical and operational business performance optimization by ensuring alignment between IT, clinical, and ambulatory areas to position our healthcare clients for the future. For more information, visit www.huntzingergroup.com.About Huntzinger Staffing Solutions, LLC
HSS provides experienced IT resources to healthcare organizations across the country, allowing their clients to address both short-term and long-term IT implementation staffing needs. Working collaboratively with organizations, HSS identifies the required skill sets to meet business objectives. For more information, visit www.huntzingerstaffing.com.Posted 3.24.2015 -
CHIME Statement on Meaningful Use Stage 3 NPRM
ANN AROBOR, MI, March 20, 2015 – CHIME is closely evaluating both the CMS Meaningful Use rule and the ONC certification rule. Based on our initial review, we are pleased to see flexibility built into the Stage 3 proposed objectives. We are still trying to understand the implications of moving all Medicare providers to a single definition of MU by 2018, but are encouraged by the potential for this policy to simplify and streamline the long-term viability of Meaningful Use. While we and other stakeholders have been critical of the program over the last two years, we have always underscored how vital Meaningful Use is to modernizing our nation’s healthcare system. We look forward to digging further into the rule, looking for elements that will allow providers to build on their IT investments, specifically in the areas of care coordination, patient engagement and interoperability.
We do, however, urge CMS to quickly publish the proposed rule alluded to in Dr. Conway’s January 29, announcement. We were encouraged by the signals to shorten the 2015 EHR reporting period from 365 to 90 days and make other program improvements through a follow-on rule. We call on CMS to propose policy changes to the “all-or-nothing” construct, lengthen timing between required Stage upgrades, and consider much-needed revisions to the hardship exception categories. These changes will enable far better participation among providers, which will in turn, keep them on a path towards improved care through health IT.
Contact
Stephanie Fraser
Director of Communications and Corporate Relations
734.665.0000
[email protected]Posted 3.20.2015 -
Few Vendors Stand Out in Turbulent Small-Practice EMR Market
Some vendors excelling in challenging ambulatory (1-10 physician) market
OREM, UT – March 19, 2015 — Cerner and PCC have been rated as the top performers for small physician practices, with Cerner being top rated for broad-use EMRs and PCC for specialty-specific EMRs. This at a time when just more than one-quarter of providers at small practices feel stuck with or plan to leave their current EMR vendor. These findings and more were published in the latest KLAS report, “New Leaders in the Small-Practice Market: Ambulatory EMR Performance 2015 (1-10 Physicians).”
As part of this study, KLAS learned that nine out of 20 small-practice EMR vendors have one-third of their customers wanting or planning to leave. The primary frustrations cited by providers are poor usability, missing functionality, and unreliable vendor support. PCC, Cerner, GE Healthcare, Greenway PrimeSUITE and athenahealth are the only vendors with less than 20% of their customers wanting or planning to leave.
“Small physician practices are really feeling the pressure of keeping up with regulations such as meaningful use. These and other pressures are causing a huge number of providers to report dissatisfaction with their current solutions,” said report author Erik Bermudez. “In these challenging circumstances, it is all the more refreshing to see some of the vendors really step up to meet providers’ demands and needs.”
For this report, KLAS spoke with more than 750 small practices (1-10 physicians) to understand what determines success in this space. More than 20 vendors are included in the report and are rated on more than 25 metrics, including ease of use, customer support and which vendors are the most at risk for losing customers.
For access to the report, you can download the myKLAS app at www.klasresearch.com/lp/downloadklasapp or visit KLAS online at www.KLASresearch.com/reports. The report is available to healthcare providers and vendors. Providers receive a significant discount off the standard retail price or can receive a complimentary summary report in exchange for a survey about one of their current suppliers.
About KLAS
KLAS is a research firm on a global mission to improve healthcare delivery by enabling providers to be heard and counted. Working with thousands of healthcare professionals and clinicians, KLAS gathers data on software, services, medical equipment and infrastructure systems to deliver timely reports, trends and statistical overviews. The research directly represents the provider voice and acts as a catalyst for improving vendor performance. Follow KLAS on Twitter at www.twitter.com/KLASresearch.Posted 3.19.2015 -
CTG Names Cliff Bleustein President & CEO
BUFFALO, NY — March 13, 2015 — CTG (NASDAQ: CTG), an information technology (IT) solutions and services company, today announced that its Board of Directors has elected Cliff Bleustein to serve as the Company’s next President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors with an effective date of April 6, 2015.
Concurrent with this appointment, Brendan M. Harrington, Interim CEO, will return to his position as Chief Financial Officer, Filip J.L. Gydé, Interim Executive Vice President of Operations, will return to his position as Senior Vice President and General Manager, CTG Europe, and John M. Laubacker, Interim CFO, will return to his position as Treasurer. Messrs. Harrington, Gydé and Laubacker were appointed to their respective interim positions following the death of CEO James R. Boldt in October 2014.
Bleustein, 45, joins CTG from Dell Services, where he has served as Chief Medical Officer and Global Provider Solutions Leader since October 2014. He joined Dell Services in March 2013 as Managing Director & Global Head of Healthcare Consulting and was named Chief Medical Officer and Global Head of Healthcare Consulting in July 2014. Prior to his career at Dell Services, Bleustein was a director in the health industries advisory practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers where between 2009 and 2013 he focused on sales and delivery of PwC’s consulting services to healthcare providers.
“After an extensive search, conducted with the guidance of a nationally recognized executive search firm, I am pleased to announce Cliff’s appointment as CTG’s next President and CEO,” said Daniel J. Sullivan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of CTG. “Cliff is a renowned thought leader on health information technology with a keen interest in revolutionizing the way healthcare is managed. During his impressive career, he has provided direct patient care, served as a healthcare mentor, conducted medical research, and advised healthcare organizations on business strategies, operational improvements and resource optimization. Cliff has managed consulting services in ICD-10, revenue cycle management, and accountable care, among many other areas, and has been instrumental in growing EHR implementation and optimization practices involving a variety of software solutions, including the Epic, Cerner and Meditech systems. Cliff’s passionate vision of a more efficient, results-oriented healthcare system along with his breadth of experience will serve CTG well as we continue to position the Company to take advantage of the information technology transformation occurring in healthcare and lead CTG towards profitable growth.”
“I am honored and excited to lead a company with CTG’s reputation for quality and innovation,” said Cliff Bleustein. “I believe CTG’s strategic, long-term focus on the changing healthcare landscape has created a strong framework on which we will build our future success. CTG’s managed IT staffing business maintains strong relationships in the United States and Europe and I look forward to continuing to serve all of our clients’ extensive IT needs. We’ll continue to focus on expanding our revenue and profit contribution through managed services by targeting high volume corporate users of external IT talent where CTG is a preferred supplier. Also, in addition to building our European healthcare business, we’ll continue to focus on expanding our business in the government and financial services markets in our European geographies. With a strong management team, proven offerings targeted to the healthcare and other vertical markets, and an enduring IT staffing model that has proven successful over the years, I am confident we will meet our challenges, grow our revenue and improve profitability thereby creating value for our shareholders.”
Bleustein began his professional career in 1996 as a general surgery resident at New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens. He served as a urology resident at Montefiore Medical Center from 2000 to 2004, when he joined Urology Specialty Care from 2004 to 2007 and earned his board certification as a urologist. Bleustein also served as a visiting research fellow at Weill Medical College of Cornell University from 1998 to 2000 and an assistant clinical professor of urology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University from 2004 to 2007. He has been an adjunct professor of economics at New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business since 2008. He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, a doctor of medicine degree at the Medical College of Wisconsin and a master’s degree in business administration from the Stern School of Business.
About CTG
CTG develops innovative IT solutions to address the business needs and challenges of companies in several higher-growth industries including healthcare, technology services, energy, and financial services. As a leading provider of IT and business consulting services to the healthcare market, CTG offers healthcare institutions, physician practices, payers, and related organizations a full range of offerings to help them achieve clinical, operational, and financial goals. CTG has developed for the healthcare provider and payer markets unique, proprietary analytics solutions that support better and lower cost healthcare. CTG also provides managed services IT staffing for major technology companies and large corporations. Backed by nearly 50 years’ experience, proprietary methodologies, and an ISO 9001-certified management system, CTG has a proven track record of delivering high-value, industry-specific solutions. CTG operates in North America and Western Europe. CTG posts news and other important information on the Web at www.ctg.com.Posted 3.18.2015 -
CHIME Statement on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Hearing
Statement from CHIME Vice President of Public Policy, Jeffery Smith, M.P.P.
ANN ARBOR, MI, March 18, 2015 – Tuesday’s hearing underlined a number of important challenges facing our industry, including costs, compliance burdens and a lack of data exchange. These challenges are real and they are undermining a tremendous amount of progress made since passage of HITECH. But without common, enforceable standards in health IT there is little wonder that Congress is asking where the $35 billion has gone.
By leveraging national standards, every health IT developer can build towards a common foundation, and every provider can obtain the information they need at the point of care. Without standards for patient identity matching, record locators and continued refinement of content, vocabulary and transmission standards we will be having a replay of this hearing in another five years.
CHIME has long-called for a course correction to Meaningful Use and we hope that forthcoming rules from CMS and ONC heed those calls. Absent much needed reforms to the program, Congress should support legislative solutions that will put MU back on a sustainable track, which will then encourage widespread use of health IT and interoperability.
CHIME is encouraged that such discussion are being held at the highest levels of the legislative branch and we are heartened to know that Senators on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will continue their focus through additional hearings.
Contact
Stephanie Fraser
Director of Communications and Corporate Relations
734.665.0000
[email protected]Posted 3.18.2015 -
Zynx Health Joins NPSF Patient Safety Coalition
Growing Membership Program Welcomes Clinical Improvement Solutions Provider
Boston, MA – March 17, 2015—The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF), a central voice for patient safety since 1997, recently welcomed Zynx Health as the newest member of the NPSF Patient Safety Coalition.
Zynx Health specializes in providing evidence-based clinical improvement solutions, such as clinical decision support (CDS) content, collaboration tools, and a secure mobile care coordination platform, designed to leverage best practices at the point of care with the goal of reducing readmissions, minimizing medical errors, and improving safe and effective care transitions.
“Our mission is to provide vital care guidance to help health care organizations and health care professionals improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of patient care,” said Bertina Yen, MD, MPH, executive vice president, Zynx Health. “As a member of the NPSF Patient Safety Coalition, we look forward to working with the Foundation and our Coalition partners to further our shared goals of achieving better, safer care for all patients.”
Created to align diverse stakeholders from across the continuum of care in a unifying mission of making health care safer for patients and the workforce, the NPSF Patient Safety Coalition counts myriad organizations among its members, including solutions providers working to address patient safety challenges, professional associations, advocacy organizations, and other similarly committed organizations. Coalition members gain valuable opportunities for networking, learning, and knowledge sharing through quarterly webinars, an annual member meeting, special projects and events, and other high-value activities.
“We are very pleased to welcome Zynx Health to the NPSF Patient Safety Coalition,” said Tejal K. Gandhi, MD, MPH, CPPS, president and CEO of NPSF. “I know the other member organizations join me in looking forward to working with them to share knowledge and promote advances in the field.”
For more information about the NPSF Patient Safety Coalition and how to join, contact David Coletta, senior vice president, at [email protected].
About the National Patient Safety Foundation
The National Patient Safety Foundation’s vision is to create a world where patients and those who care for them are free from harm. A central voice for patient safety since 1997, NPSF partners with patients and families, the health care community, and key stakeholders to advance patient safety and health care workforce safety and disseminate strategies to prevent harm. NPSF is an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. To learn more about the Foundation’s work, visit www.npsf.org.About Zynx Health
Zynx Health, part of the Hearst Health network, is the pioneer and market leader in evidence- and experience-based clinical improvement and mobile care solutions that provide the care guidance to enhance quality, improve care coordination, and decrease variation across an individual’s health journey. With Zynx Health, healthcare organizations exceed industry demands for delivering high-quality care at lower costs under value-based reimbursement models. Zynx Health partners with healthcare organizations to continuously and measurably improve care every day, for every patient, every time. To learn more, visit www.zynxhealth.com or call 855.367.ZYNX.About Hearst Health
Zynx Health is part of the Hearst Health network, which also includes FDB (First Databank), MCG and Homecare Homebase. The mission of the Hearst Health network is to help guide the most important care moments by delivering vital information into the hands of everyone who touches a person’s health journey. Each year in the US, care guidance from the Hearst Health network reaches 76% of discharged patients, 133 million insured individuals, 30 million home health visits, 1.88 billion retail pharmacy prescriptions and 3.26 billion prescription claims. Extensions of the Hearst Health network include Hearst Health Ventures and the Hearst Health Innovation Lab. www.hearsthealth.comPosted 3.17.2015 -
Health Catalyst Raises $70 Million to Fuel Product Development
Funding round led by Norwest Venture Partners, with new strategic investor Sands Capital Ventures
Salt Lake City, UT – March 17, 2014 — Health Catalyst, a leader in healthcare data warehousing, analytics and outcomes improvement, announced it has raised $70 million. The funding round, led by existing investor Norwest Venture Partners, included contributions from other existing investors Sequoia Capital, Kaiser Permanente Ventures, Sorenson Capital, CHV Capital (an Indiana University Health Company) and Partners HealthCare.
Also participating in the round were new investors Sands Capital Ventures, Tenaya Capital, Epic Ventures, and Leavitt Equity Partners.
The capital will be used to fund significant continued product development investments, particularly in areas of advanced clinical and workflow applications designed to measurably improve clinical and financial outcomes. As hospitals and health systems adjust to recent cuts in Medicare and Medicaid rates, and the rise of new value-based care models, Health Catalyst’s solutions drive permanent improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of care delivery and population health.
“We are thrilled both that our existing investors chose to continue their relationship with us, and that significant new investors are joining our effort to advance major innovations for US healthcare,” said Health Catalyst CEO Dan Burton. “We were honored to be significantly oversubscribed for this latest round of financing, and are grateful for the market validation of the effectiveness of Health Catalyst’s platform and solutions.”
Burton continued, “As more healthcare organizations are coming to understand, data warehousing and analytics are foundational to their success under new payment and risk models. This additional capital will enable Health Catalyst to develop the solutions necessary to offer every health system in the US a roadmap to systematically reduce waste and improve care delivery, across every major clinical and workflow area.”
About Health Catalyst
Health Catalyst is a mission-driven data warehousing, analytics and outcomes improvement company that helps healthcare organizations of all sizes perform the clinical, financial, and operational reporting and analysis needed for population health and accountable care. Our proven enterprise data warehouse (EDW) and analytics platform helps improve quality, add efficiency and lower costs in support of approximately 50 million patients for organizations ranging from the largest US health system to forward-thinking physician practices. For more information, visit www.healthcatalyst.com, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.Posted 3.17.2015 -
CHIME Issues National Patient ID Challenge
Leading healthcare IT association to launch $1 million challenge for innovative solution to patient matching, rallies industry-wide support
ANN ARBOR, MI, March 17, 2015 – The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), the healthcare industry’s leading professional organization for chief information officers and senior IT executives, is calling on innovators throughout the U.S. and around the world to participate in the CHIME National Patient ID Challenge.
In an effort to find a universal solution for accurately matching patients with their healthcare information, CHIME will launch a $1 million challenge early this summer on the HeroX platform, co-founded by XPRIZE CEO Dr. Peter Diamandis.
The digitization of the U.S. healthcare system maintains that electronic health records must be able to seamlessly share and exchange information. Interoperability, however, is not enough. To realize their full potential, patient data contained in the EHR must be accurate in order to support the requirements of coordinated, accountable, patient-centered care.
“There is a growing consensus among payers and providers that a unique patient ID would radically reduce medical errors and save lives,” said CHIME CEO and President Russell P. Branzell, FCHIME, CHCIO. “Incomplete or duplicate health records present significant issues in terms of patient safety, and there is a pressing need for preventing, detecting and removing inaccurate records so hospitals can positively match the right data with the right patient in order to provide the best possible care.”
Duplicate or inaccurate patient records can occur from manual data entry errors, or when two or more individuals share the same name. This presents considerable concern for different individuals being identified as the same patient, potentially resulting in inadequate treatment or unintended injury.
Consider data collected by the Harris County Hospital District in Houston where there are 2,488 actual patients named Maria Garcia – in which 231 of those share the same birth date. Further, a patient’s name may evolve throughout a lifetime, resulting in multiple records for the same individual (i.e. Jonathan L. Smith, Jr.) Additionally, one incorrectly typed key in a middle name, address or social security number can lead to a duplicate medical record.
According to a 2012 CHIME survey of healthcare CIOs, error rates due to patient mismatching averaged eight percent and ranged up to 20 percent. Moreover, 19 percent of the 128 respondents indicated that their hospital had experienced an adverse event during the course of the previous year due to a patient information mismatch.
“This needs to be the year of positive patient identification,” said CHIME Board Chair Charles E. Christian, FCHIME, LCHIME, CHCIO, Vice President and CIO of St. Francis Hospital in Georgia. “Healthcare CIOs have long struggled with a lack of national standards for eradicating the burdens of matching patient data when engaging in health information exchange. As those charged with leading health information technology, we have a responsibility to ensuring the technology we’re implementing leads to better, safer, more efficient patient care.”
Costly patient matching inaccuracies are far-reaching; impacting clinical, financial and operational hospital performance. According to the 2012 CHIME survey, more than three full-time employees are needed to reconcile disparate or duplicate information from patient health records.
A coalition of industry partners from the vendor and association communities lent their support for CHIME’s National Patient ID Challenge.
“Accurately matching patients with their health records, no matter where they have been collected or stored, remains a pressing challenge for our entire industry,” said Howard Messing, President and CEO of MEDITECH. “We look forward to learning about any ideas that can meet this need, while still maintaining the highest levels of security and confidentiality possible.”
“As health information exchange becomes more prevalent, patient matching is a perennial issue,” said Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, CAE, FACHE, FAHIMA, CEO of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). “A solution would be a significant step toward ensuring the integrity of health information and, as a result, better patient care. AHIMA is proud to support this challenge.”
“Accurate patient identification is essential to true interoperability, and maximizes the ability for health IT to ensure the best possible outcome for the patient. We are excited to see CHIME joining existing efforts such as the CommonWell Health Alliance in leveraging private market resources to remove this unnecessary barrier,” said Zane Burke, President of Cerner Corporation.
“This announcement by CHIME is so exciting because the need is so great and we know the ideas and solutions are out there,” said Joel White, Executive Director of the Health IT Now (HITN) Coalition. “As technology and data play ever greater roles in improving health and safety and lowering health costs, patient identification in care delivery is increasingly complex, but increasingly necessary. HITN is confident the creative and capable souls will step up and solve the problem.”
“Accurate identification of each and every patient is a fundamental precept to patient safety,” said Tejal Gandhi, MD, MPH, CPPS, President and CEO of the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF). “NPSF applauds the work that CHIME is doing to bring the intricacies of this issue to the attention of the public and policy makers, and we support the efforts of innovators seeking workable solutions.”
“Lack of interoperability is a significant barrier to overcoming health care’s cost, quality, and safety challenges,” said Joseph J. Fifer, FHFMA, CPA, President and CEO of the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA). “A common patient identifier would be a great start to break down this barrier. Congratulations to CHIME for leading the charge on this important issue.”
As CHIME works to raise the $1 million prize money, it has put a task force of healthcare IT leaders in place charged with assigning challenge guidelines and winning criteria.
“Unintended injury attributable to patient data-matching error is a considerable, and growing problem in this era of health information exchange,” said Branzell. “Despite years of development, no clear strategy on patient matching has emerged. Our hope is that this challenge will reach a diverse audience and inspire the kinds of ideas needed to implement change and improve patient outcomes.”
For more details on CHIME’s National Patient ID Challenge, visit https://herox.com/PatientIDChallenge.
About CHIME
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 1,400 CIO members and over 140 healthcare IT vendors and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve.To serve the education and professional development needs of healthcare executives in senior information security, technology and applications roles, CHIME launched the Association for Executives in Healthcare Information Security (AEHIS) for chief security officers, the Association for Executives in Healthcare Information Technology (AEHIT) serving chief technology officers, and the Association for Executives in Healthcare Information Applications (AEHIA) representing chief application officers (CAOs).
About HeroX
HeroX is a platform where anyone can spur innovation and solve problems by launching a challenge. A spinoff of XPRIZE, the leading organization solving the world’s Grand Challenges by creating and managing large-scale, high profile, incentivized prize challenges, and a joint venture with City Light Capital, HeroX harnesses the power and momentum of challenge-based innovation to solve both philanthropic and commercial challenges. We provide the tools to make it easy for anyone to frame a problem and to inspire teams to compete to solve it. Everyone wants a chance to be a hero and we’ll show you how. For more information, go to www.HeroX.com.Contact
Stephanie Fraser
Director of Communications and Corporate Relations
734.665.0000
[email protected]Posted 3.17.2015 -
Health Catalyst Raises $70 Million to Fuel Product Development
Funding round led by Norwest Venture Partners, with new strategic investor Sands Capital Ventures
Salt Lake City – March 17, 2014 — Health Catalyst, a leader in healthcare data warehousing, analytics and outcomes improvement, announced it has raised $70 million. The funding round, led by existing investor Norwest Venture Partners, included contributions from other existing investors Sequoia Capital, Kaiser Permanente Ventures, Sorenson Capital, CHV Capital (an Indiana University Health Company) and Partners HealthCare.
Also participating in the round were new investors Sands Capital Ventures, Tenaya Capital, Epic Ventures, and Leavitt Equity Partners.
The capital will be used to fund significant continued product development investments, particularly in areas of advanced clinical and workflow applications designed to measurably improve clinical and financial outcomes. As hospitals and health systems adjust to recent cuts in Medicare and Medicaid rates, and the rise of new value-based care models, Health Catalyst’s solutions drive permanent improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of care delivery and population health.
“We are thrilled both that our existing investors chose to continue their relationship with us, and that significant new investors are joining our effort to advance major innovations for US healthcare,” said Health Catalyst CEO Dan Burton. “We were honored to be significantly oversubscribed for this latest round of financing, and are grateful for the market validation of the effectiveness of Health Catalyst’s platform and solutions.”
Burton continued, “As more healthcare organizations are coming to understand, data warehousing and analytics are foundational to their success under new payment and risk models. This additional capital will enable Health Catalyst to develop the solutions necessary to offer every health system in the US a roadmap to systematically reduce waste and improve care delivery, across every major clinical and workflow area.”
About Health Catalyst
Health Catalyst is a mission-driven data warehousing, analytics and outcomes improvement company that helps healthcare organizations of all sizes perform the clinical, financial, and operational reporting and analysis needed for population health and accountable care. Our proven enterprise data warehouse (EDW) and analytics platform helps improve quality, add efficiency and lower costs in support of approximately 50 million patients for organizations ranging from the largest US health system to forward-thinking physician practices. For more information, visit www.healthcatalyst.com, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.Posted 3.17.2015