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Impact Advisors Named to Becker’s Hospital Review’s “150 Great Places to Work in Healthcare” List
Recognition marks first time honor from prestigious publication
Chicago, IL – March 16, 2015 — Impact Advisors, LLC, a leading provider of healthcare information technology services, is pleased to announce that it has been selected as one of Becker’s Hospital Review’s “150 Great Places to Work in Healthcare.”
“We are honored to be named to Becker’s Hospital Review’s ‘150 Great Places to Work in Healthcare’ list for the first time,” said Andy Smith, President and Co-Founder of Impact Advisors. “Our firm is committed to attracting and retaining the most talented people in the field, and we remain focused on creating an engaging workplace where our Associates are able to achieve their professional goals.”
The organizations featured on the list were selected by the Becker’s Hospital Review editorial team based on workplace awards received, benefits offerings, wellness initiatives, and efforts to improve professional development, diversity and inclusion, work-life balance and a sense of community and unity among employees. The 2015 edition of the list includes both healthcare providers as well as healthcare consulting firms, vendors, medical societies and more. A version of this list has been published every year since 2011. To view the complete list of 2015 honorees, click here.
“Being recognized as one of Becker’s Hospital Review’s ‘150 Great Places to Work in Healthcare’ is an exciting achievement,” said Michael Nutter, Director of Firm Culture and Associate Satisfaction. “This recognition underscores our Associates’ commitment to Impact Advisors’ values and guiding principles as well as our mission to create a positive impact.”
Impact Advisors adds this latest honor to a growing list of awards that includes being named Best in KLAS® for seven consecutive years, Crain’s Chicago Business Fast Fifty, Inc. 5000 list of America’s Fastest Growing Companies and named as a top 100 healthcare IT vendor by Healthcare Informatics. In addition, Andy Smith received honors as one of Consulting Magazine’s Top 25 Consultants of 2014.
For more information on Impact Advisors, visit www.impact-advisors.com or find the company on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
About Impact Advisors, LLC
Impact Advisors, a distinguished healthcare information technology consulting firm, improves its clients’ healthcare delivery through technology. As a trusted healthcare leader, the firm helps hospitals and health systems maximize clinical and operational performance with its Best in KLAS® strategic advisory, implementation and optimization services. Since its inception, Impact Advisors has consulted to more than 140 hospitals and health systems nationally and internationally. The firm has earned a number of industry and workplace quality awards including Best in KLAS® for seven consecutive years, Healthcare Informatics HCI 100, Crain’s Chicago Business Fast Fifty and Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work.Posted 3.16.2015 -
Inspira Health Network Selects Futura Mobility & Practice Unite® to Provide an Integrated Suite of Mobile Apps for both Clinicians & Patients
Combined Expertise of Futura Mobility, Pursuit Healthcare Advisors & Practice Unite Creates Strategic Communications Technology Deployment to support Inspira Health Network’s Population Health Initiatives
Philadelphia, PA – March 16, 2015 -– Futura Mobility, a specialist IT and clinical services company, and Practice Unite, a leading mobile health solutions company, recently announced that Inspira Health Network has selected Practice Unite as its single, secure mobile communications platform provider for population health across its three acute care hospitals and 60+ rural health facilities across New Jersey.
In partnership with Futura Mobility and Pursuit Healthcare Advisors, a family of companies with deep expertise in mobility, analytics, and electronic health records (EHR), Practice Unite will deploy both a patient application and a clinician application on a single platform at Inspira Health Network and integrate the communications tool with the hospital’s existing clinical systems.
“Inspira Health Network selected Practice Unite to deploy two mobile apps that address the needs of two different user groups – our clinicians and our patients,” said Tom Pacek, chief information officer, Inspira Health Network. “The simple and easy to use apps are designed to improve communications across our physicians, nursing staff and our patients. What sets Practice Unite apart is that both solutions are delivered through a single platform.”
Using the single platform, Practice Unite’s mobile solutions will allow Inspira’s staff to address communication issues such as secure texting, patient-centric communications, voice communications and the delivery of critical data from the EHRs. It will also allow care coordinators and care team members to communicate securely with their patients.
Practice Unite delivers a unique approach to population health. We provide users with a single platform to create multiple, interconnected secure mobile applications for all the stakeholders in the continuum of care,” said Dr. Stuart Hochron, chief medical officer and co-founder, Practice Unite. “In addition, Practice Unite understands the challenges that today’s hospital facilities face in delivering best-in-class patient-centered care – especially across numerous care facilities. The patient application will provide new benefits that today’s patient population has been asking for and new ways to connect with them.”
Futura, Practice Unite and Pursuit will team up to solve several other issues for the rural hospital, which include the following:
High-Risk Patient Care: Inspira provides healthcare services to many elderly and high-risk patients. The interconnectivity between Practice Unite’s patient app and clinical app will help manage post-discharge care and long-term home care for this patient population, a critical step to the future of better overall healthcare.
EHR Integration: Inspira has invested heavily in EHR technologies, and by integrating with Inspira’s existing EHR system, Practice Unite is able to deliver critical clinical data to the right person at the right time so that clinicians can respond to changes in a patient’s condition more immediately.
Noise-Reduction Support: Inspira is working diligently to reduce the ambient noise level at its hospitals and facilities. As part of its “Quiet Hospital Initiative” and efforts to increase customer satisfaction, the hospital will utilize Practice Unite’s secure communications app for communications between its clinicians, making it easier for staff to reach each other and reducing the need for overhead paging.
Rural Support: With hundreds of clinicians, physicians and staff working at various locations – hospitals, medical centers, surgery centers and more – Inspira sought a customizable and unified communications platform to improve communication and care coordination among staff. Because the majority of Inspira’s physicians and staff work at various sites throughout the state, the hospital needed a single, secure communication tool that would help them quickly reach each other and expedite response times.
“Practice Unite and Futura are excited to be working with Inspira to help support not only efforts such as the Quiet Hospital Initiative, but also to help meet the hospital’s need for integrating a secure, customizable mobile communication platform that can quickly connect the hospital’s entire workforce and its patients, no matter where they are located,” said David Gulian, chief executive officer at Futura Mobility and chief strategy officer at Pursuit.
About Inspira Health Network
Inspira Health Network is a charitable nonprofit healthcare organization formed in November 2012 by the merger of South Jersey Healthcare and Underwood-Memorial Hospital. The network, which traces its roots to 1899, now comprises three hospitals, four multi-specialty health centers and a total of more than 60 locations. These include outpatient imaging and rehabilitation centers; urgent care; numerous specialty centers, including sleep medicine, cardiac testing and wound care; home care and hospice; and more than two dozen primary and specialty physician practices in Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties.Together with its medical staff of more than 1,100 physicians and other care providers, as well as more than 5,500 employees, Inspira Health Network provides evidence-based care to help each patient achieve the best possible outcome. Clinical and support staffs are focused on providing quality care in a safe environment.
About Practice Unite®
Practice Unite is designed to be a healthcare organization’s platform for HIPAA-compliant mobile communication and collaboration applications. Solutions achieve high physician adoption, are easily tailored to a healthcare organization’s unique needs, and interface with the EHR and other clinical systems. Practice Unite backs solutions with unmatched customer support.Practice Unite helps customers leverage Smartphone technology to improve their performance, reduce their costs and risk, and improve patient satisfaction. Practice Unite’s solutions include patient-centric in-patient, post-discharge, and long-term care clinical applications for care teams and patients, as well as operational applications that automate bed management, service recovery, and other processes.
Clinical care teams and support staff can easily find each other and communicate using secure text and photos, voice over Wi-Fi, and secure video teleconferencing. Patient-centric collaboration tools include rounding lists, care team texting, and shared patient notes that all synchronize with EHR and ADT systems. Patients can also communicate securely with select members of their care team.
Solutions are tailored to streamline existing clinical workflows, and include delivering critical labs, diagnostic imaging and pathology reports, and consults to clinicians’ mobile devices. This is implemented through HL7 interfaces with the organization’s EHR and other clinical systems.
About Futura Mobility & Pursuit Healthcare Advisors
Based in Philadelphia, Futura Mobility is a privately held IT services organization specializing in mobile technology solutions for the healthcare industry. Founded in 1992, the company has evolved from a technology reseller and service organization to a strategic partner by combining mobility and clinical expertise. Pursuit Healthcare Advisors, a partner of Futura and Practice Unite, brings EHR vendor expertise, project management methodology and the talent required to help meet project goals. Through collaborations with some of the most forward-thinking technology companies, we offer healthcare providers innovative, cohesive solutions to address health IT challenges. Futura Mobility has been recognized nationally, year after year, for its growth by the INC 5000 and Deloitte Fast 500 listings. For more information, please visit www.futuramobility.com and Pursuit at www.pursuithealthcare.com.Posted 3.16.2015 -
Divurgent Welcomes Industry Leader Dana Alexander as Vice President of Clinical Transformation
Virginia Beach, VA – March 12, 2015—Divurgent proudly welcomes Dana Alexander, RN, MSN, MBA, FAAN, FHIMSS as Vice President of Clinical Transformation. In her role, Ms. Alexander will lead Divurgent’s Clinical Transformation Consulting Practice in implementing strategies and technologies that will improve delivery of care across Divurgent’s client base. Dana offers a strong clinical background as a nurse practitioner and provider health system executive paired with an exceptional track record of strong, effective leadership across various executive roles within the healthcare industry, including firms such as Caradigm, GE Healthcare, and Cerner Corporation.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled for Dana to join our Team; her expertise in population health and accountable care are key initiatives Divurgent is focused on providing our clients as they move forward in their evolution of healthcare delivery. Dana’s insight and expertise into leading-edge clinical transformation strategies will be invaluable to our clients and their communities,” says CEO and Managing Partner, Colin Konschak.
As HIMSS’ Board of Directors, Chair-Elect, Dana has collaborated with the industry’s most-authoritative leaders. Widely-recognized as a clinical transformation thought-leader, Dana’s work with HIMSS and influence within the industry will offer Divurgent’s clients an opportunity to further enhance their organization’s clinical programs and initiatives.
“Innovative approaches to solving today’s healthcare delivery and business challenges are what defines Divurgent’s business model—having Dana join the team will add value not only to Divurgent’s Clinical Transformation practice line, but also our other aligned practice lines: Advisory Services, Revenue Cycle Management, and Activation Management,” says Philip Felt, Divurgent Managing Partner and Vice President of Activation Management.
Vice President of Revenue Cycle Management, Bill Ayres, states “I’m excited to start working with Dana! Her reputation as a Clinical Transformation pioneer will bring immense value to the Revenue Cycle Management practice, as the lines between Clinical Transformation and RCM initiatives continue to blur for today’s healthcare organizations.”
Working alongside Bill and Vice President of Advisory Services, David Shiple, Dana will align Clinical Transformation with Divurgent’s other service offerings and with the current and future needs of today’s healthcare organizations. “Divurgent’s Advisory Services practice line focuses on providing solutions to today’s technology challenges facing the industry, and pairing Dana’s work and expertise will help fill in the gaps between technology and patient experience, giving our Advisory Services client’s more holistic solutions,” says David.
Divurgent expects Dana’s leadership and industry knowledge to greatly impact Divurgent’s service capabilities, positively affecting the delivery of care and patient experience across client communities nationwide.
Posted 3.12.2015 -
Are HIM purchasing plans already decided?
CAC & CDI markets grows as ICD-10 approaches
OREM, UT – March 12, 2015 — Health Information Management efficiency is at the forefront of providers’ minds as many are consolidating processes and using fewer vendors. As automation drives some technology purchases, providers are evaluating the functions, existing relationships, and vendor promises of each system to determine their vendor of choice. Research published today in KLAS’ “HIM Purchasing Plans 2015: Increasing Efficiency through Technology” report indicates that approximately 65% of healthcare providers surveyed by KLAS have chosen their CAC solution, with some even purchasing additional systems from the vendor for interoperability.
The report also says that the CAC and CDI markets are expanding as more providers desire to streamline processes using one solution. 3M has a substantial percentage of the market share, and 3M has the most providers considering their CDI solution-as well as the largest percentage of customers currently using their CDI solution that are considering replacement. Optum maintains a significant portion of the CAC clients. Research shows many of these clients are now choosing Optum as their newer CDI solution as opposed to a more mature alternative. Even with the various system options, no vendor has demonstrated broad customer success with both CAC and CDI solutions.
“With ICD-10 being delayed as many times as it has, providers are worried about the rug being pulled again. As we quickly approach October 1, this is an interesting time for the industry,” said report author Boyd Stewart. “After last year’s delay, we saw many providers pause and wait. A lot of providers see the end of March as the point of no more delay and are anxiously awaiting the end of this month to start ramping up again. It will be interesting to see what activity takes place in HIM through the rest of the year.”
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.
Posted 3.12.2015 -
Zynx Health Unveils Consensus Builder Tool to Promote Best Evidenced-based Care Decisions
Web-based tool helps clinicians reach agreement to drive optimal care, promotes harmony through clinical content updates
Los Angeles,CA – March 10, 2015 — Zynx Health™, the market leader in providing evidence- and experience-based clinical improvement and mobile care coordination solutions, announced today a new Web-based tool that helps physicians and other clinicians quickly reach an agreement on the best evidence-based practices to use for optimal patient care. Consensus Builder streamlines collaboration and communication, enabling clinicians to rapidly develop a consensus on which practices to implement.
The healthcare industry has undergone explosive growth focused on scientific research trials and information technologies that promote the use of evidence in clinical decision making to minimize practice variations and to apply the best treatment. But with so many options available, clinicians face difficult and time-consuming debates over which expert opinions to use and which protocols to follow.
Consensus Builder solves these challenges by giving clinicians an online tool that aggregates all opinions and discussion related to the clinical content analysis in one location, making it easier for colleagues in different departments or geographic locations to view the entire conversation, make suggestions and ultimately vote on their preference. The solution is part of Zynx Health’s Knowledge Analyzer™, a Web-based tool designed to help organizations quickly realize the full value of their EHR by analyzing vast amounts of clinical content against the most current evidence—bringing added transparency to clinical practice.
Consensus Builder supports organizations in reducing care variability by enabling them to take the following actions:
- Leverage Knowledge Analyzer to assess clinical content and identify opportunities for care improvement.
- Recommend specific changes to clinical content and share those recommendations via e-mail with a broader group of clinician reviewers.
- Facilitate communication and collaboration across the organization by leveling the playing field for clinicians to equally vote and comment on each evidence recommendation.
- Increase consistency and effectiveness of clinical decision support (CDS) content by ensuring clinical practices have the latest core measures, guidelines, and evidence-based interventions to achieve better financial and quality care outcomes and safety.
“Updating and maintaining order set and other clinical content in addition to achieving clinician collaboration on content are universal challenges of healthcare organizations nationwide,” said Steven Arendt, M.D., senior director of clinical leadership at Zynx Health. “We recognized we had to streamline the review process to increase clinicians’ collaboration to incorporate more input and feedback while, at same time, create efficiency and reduce variation in care delivery.
“Consensus Builder ensures that providers have access to the latest and best evidence-based content built into their order sets continually via their EHR,” he added. “Our goals are simple: Help physicians and clinicians gain quick consensus to drive system-wide clinical evidence adherence to the point of care.”
Zynx Health clients using Knowledge Analyzer can register for a Consensus Builder product demonstration at www.zynxhealth.com/Solutions/Zynx-Analytics. A preview of Zynx Health’s newest innovations including this solution will be showcased at booth #2260 at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2015 Conference and Exhibition April 13-16 in Chicago.
Posted 3.10.2015 -
CHIME and AMDIS Sign Management Services Agreement, Appoint New Executive Vice President of Medical Informatics and Patient Safety for CHIME
ANN ARBOR, MI, March 9, 2015 – Today, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) the healthcare industry’s leading professional organization for CIOs and senior IT executives, announced it has a new agreement to provide management services to the Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems (AMDIS), the nation’s largest professional association for physicians dedicated to and responsible for health information technology.
Under the terms of the management services agreement, CHIME will provide operational, administrative, and staff support to AMDIS in the areas of educational programming, event management, public policy, marketing/communications and industry relations. The new agreement will also provide the CMIO and senior informatics executive members of AMDIS access to CHIME affiliate-level membership and professional development opportunities.
As part of the agreement, CHIME has appointed William F. Bria, MD as its new Executive Vice President of Medical Informatics and Patient Safety, who will serve as the liaison between both organizations and assist in providing strategic direction to AMDIS. Dr. Bria will retain his role as Chair of the AMDIS Board of Advisors.
The agreement, approved by both boards, follows the formation of a strategic alliance announced in July of last year, intended to enhance collaboration between the two industry associations and provide cross-lateral support to their respective members in the progression of healthcare IT adoption and implementation.
“We have tremendous admiration for AMDIS and its members, and view this as a way to bring the industry’s physician IT leaders the added support to thrive in this momentous era of transformation,” said Russell P. Branzell, FCHIME, CHCIO, CEO and President of CHIME. “Physician leadership is a critical success factor for health information technology initiatives, and both boards are dedicated to providing the resources to help them facilitate collaboration between IT and the medical community and achieve the clinical objectives of their organizations.”
“CHIME plays a significant role in the advancement of digitized healthcare and has been extremely successful in generating quality education programs, communicating with lawmakers, and working with industry vendors and service providers,” said AMDIS CEO Richard L. Rydell, FACHE, LFHIMSS. “By fusing the exceptional leadership teams already in place, and utilizing CHIME’s professional and operational support, AMDIS will be better positioned to further its role in the industry and help physician IT professionals meet the challenges ahead. We remain committed to our members and want them to have confidence that we have the vision, scale and resources to best serve them.”
CHIME and AMDIS will remain separate non-profit organizations, while continuing to work collaboratively. AMDIS will continue to serve as the primary physician informatics advisor to and for CHIME, while CHIME will continue to serve as the primary health IT advisor to and for AMDIS.
“This is a mutually beneficial opportunity to bring a vast amount of talent and thought leadership together from both sides,” said Dr. Bria. “I am honored to serve in this new and rewarding role and look forward to contributing to the exciting development opportunities this arrangement provides. I truly believe AMDIS’ best years are ahead of us.”
“Bill is an exceptional individual known throughout our industry for his straightforward and innovative leadership, as well as his unwavering commitment to AMDIS and the members it serves,” said CHIME Board Chair Charles E. Christian, FCHIME, LCHIME, CHCIO. “We feel extremely fortunate to have him on board and are confident Bill’s outstanding success and deep industry knowledge will help drive our vision, growth and value-creation initiatives moving forward.”
About AMDIS
Founded in 1997, the Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems is the premier professional organization for physicians interested in and responsible for healthcare information technology. AMDIS has over 2,800 physician members worldwide, 250 associate members and 40 provider organization members. AMDIS members are the thought leaders, decision makers and opinion influencers dedicated to advancing the field of Applied Medical Informatics and thereby improving the practice of medicine. For more information, visit www.AMDIS.org.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 recently 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).
Contact
Stephanie Fraser
Director of Communications and Corporate Relations, CHIME
734.665.0000
[email protected]Posted 3.9.2015 -
CHIME and Health Forum/AHA Formalize Agreement on HealthCare’s Most Wired™
ANN ARBOR, MI, March 5, 2015 – Today, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) announced it has formalized an agreement with Health Forum, a subsidiary of American Hospital Association (AHA), to utilize HealthCare’s Most Wired™ survey and benchmarking study of hospital and health system information technology practices.
HealthCare’s Most Wired™ survey and benchmarking study provides unique insights into how healthcare organizations are leveraging IT to improve performance and offers an opportunity for hospitals to gain a competitive advantage in the tactical planning of digital transformation. This agreement increases CHIME participation in shaping the methodology of the survey instrument to help meet the growing demand for useful data on health IT integration.
“CHIME is continually looking for ways to better service our members and the industry with actionable data to help them succeed in delivering value-based care,” said CHIME CEO and President Russell P. Branzell, FCHIME, CHCIO.
“Health Forum wants to help hospitals and health systems leverage technology to achieve the Triple Aim of better health, better healthcare at lower cost”, adds Neil Jesuele, Executive Vice President for AHA, and President of Health Forum.
CHIME, which has been a long-time sponsor of the HealthCare’s Most Wired™ survey, will also work to build an industry-wide benchmarking program to recognize IT use in hospitals and encourage health IT adoption and performance improvements based on research findings from the survey.
The latest HealthCare’s Most Wired™ survey and benchmarking study went into the field on January 15, and includes the addition of a stricter verification process, new questions on security, and greater focus on patient engagement, telemedicine and integrated networks. Hospital participation is critical, and both industry groups are advocating for more hospital CEOs and chief information officers to take part before the close of the survey on March 15.
“Healthcare reform and Meaningful Use of electronic health records require organizations to place significant focus on digitally connected, information-driven care,” said CHIME Board Chair Charles E. Christian, FCHIME, LCHIME, CHCIO, Senior Vice President and CIO at St. Francis Hospital – Columbus, Ga. “HealthCare’s Most Wired™ survey provides the most accurate view of the industry and collects critical information about how hospitals can define best practices to improve their IT performance and achieve the highest ROI from their implementations.”
“As the industry continues to evolve, maintaining constructive data on how IT integration has impacted operational, financial and clinical performance serves as an invaluable resource for hospitals nationwide,” said Branzell. “Participation is crucial to discovering how organizations measure up and underscores health IT’s role as a differentiator in improving care coordination, quality and outcomes.”
Results of the Most Wired Survey will be released in July, and all participating organizations will receive comprehensive feedback on their IT processes as well as a copy of the full benchmarking report. Participating hospitals and health systems may also be recognized as Most Wired, Most Improved and/or Most Wired—Small and Rural. Hospitals that have unique IT projects are eligible to compete for the Innovator Award. All organizations being recognized will be notified on May 15.
HealthCare’s Most Wired™ survey is now in its 17th year and the study’s results will be featured in the July issue of Hospitals & Health Networks and at the Health Forum and AHA Leadership Summit. The survey link and Innovator Award application can be found at www.hhnmostwired.com.
User ID codes and passwords have been emailed to all hospital CEOs and chief information officers. Hospitals in search of their ID and password or that experience problems accessing the survey can send an email to [email protected] with the hospital’s name, city and state.
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. For more information, please visit www.chimecentral.org.
About Health Forum
Health Forum is a strategic business enterprise of the American Hospital Association, creatively partnering to develop and deliver essential information and innovative services to help health care leaders achieve organizational performance excellence and sustainability. For more information, please visit www.healthforum.com
About the American Hospital Association The American Hospital Association (AHA) is the national organization that represents and serves all types of hospitals, health care networks, and their patients and communities. Nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 43,000 individual members come together to form the AHA. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information, please visit www.aha.org.
Contact
Stephanie Fraser
Director of Communications and Corporate Relations, CHIME
734.665.0000
[email protected]Posted 3.5.2015