• Health Catalyst Eliminates Client Restrictions on Solicitation and Hiring in its Contracts

    SALT LAKE CITY, UT – June 21, 2016 — Health Catalyst, a leader in healthcare data warehousing, analytics and outcomes improvement, today announced it is eliminating the provision in its standard client service contracts that prohibits its clients from soliciting for hire or hiring Health Catalyst team members. Health Catalyst will continue to honor restrictions preventing solicitation of client employees by Health Catalyst.

    “We are committed to working with our clients as long-term partners, and focusing on long-term customer success is our first operating principle,” said Dan Burton, CEO of Health Catalyst. “Our contractual restriction to prevent clients from soliciting or hiring our team members puts up a wall between us and our clients that could inhibit our work together. We want to eliminate any barriers that might prevent our clients from achieving and sustaining clinical and financial outcomes improvements.”

    This is Health Catalyst’s second move in recent months to cement a culture of open collaboration and partnership among its clients and its team members. In May, the company officially removed the non-compete provision from its standard employment agreements that prohibited its team members from being employed by organizations that compete with Health Catalyst following employment with Health Catalyst, and announced that it would not seek to enforce such non-compete provisions in existing employment agreements.

    “Our company’s purpose is to enable outcomes improvement at scale,” Burton continued. “If in some instances that purpose can be furthered by our clients hiring one of our team members, and this is of interest to our team members then we don’t want to prevent that. In fact, we view it as a sincere compliment when our clients value our team members’ contributions so highly that they express interest in hiring our team members. Ultimately, we hope each of our team members remains committed to enabling outcomes improvements at scale, whether as a team member or as an alumni of Health Catalyst. We seek to enable our team members’ long-term career success whether inside or outside the company.”

    The decision to eliminate client obligations in non-solicitation clauses supports a client-focused culture that has been acknowledged by Health Catalyst clients and by third-party industry analysts. In its latest report on healthcare business intelligence, “Enterprise Healthcare BI: The Search for Outcomes,” KLAS Research revealed that Health Catalyst’s “strategy of prioritizing client relationships and outcomes result[ed] in the highest client reviews of any vendor for insights and outcomes.”

    The decision also supports a work culture that has received recognition as one of the nation’s best from organizations including Gallup, Glassdoor, Modern Healthcare, Becker’s Healthcare and Rock Health.

    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. Their proven enterprise data warehouse (EDW) and analytics platform helps improve quality, add efficiency and lower costs in support of more than 70 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 them on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

    Media Contact
    Todd Stein
    Amendola Communications
    916.346.4213
    [email protected]

    Posted 6.21.2016

  • New Health Information Organization to Deploy Orion Health’s Precision Medicine Platform throughout Minnesota

    SCOTTSDALE, AZ – June 21, 2016 — Orion Health™ has signed an agreement with Minnesota state-certified health information organization (HIO) Koble-MN to deploy its Amadeus precision medicine platform.

    Koble-MN enables patient health records in communities to be shared among a range of sector participants such as hospitals, medical practices, government agencies and insurers. The recently established HIO will look to achieve critical mass as it expands and aims to be the leading HIO provider in the state of Minnesota which has a population of over 5.4 million.

    Orion Health CEO Ian McCrae said Koble-MN has adopted a collaborative model, working with stakeholders to provide the oversight required to ensure better healthcare outcomes for the State’s citizens through the sharing of healthcare information.

    “By offering the Orion Health Amadeus platform, Koble-MN can ensure more comprehensive care coordination in Minnesota as it will provide multiple participants in the healthcare sector with state-wide access to accurate and real-time data,” said McCrae.

    “Today that data is primarily the patient’s medical record; soon it will include information on an individual’s genetic, environmental and social background, which will be necessary for the practice of personalized care known as precision medicine,” added McCrae.

    Koble-MN president and CEO Chad Peterson said that together the Orion Health Amadeus precision medicine platform and Koble-MN services are a winning combination that will best serve the citizens of Minnesota’s health information exchange (HIE).

    “Orion Health technology is a proven leader in the US healthcare sector and Koble-MN provides the hands-on service that is required to ensure implementation success and trusted ongoing support,” said Peterson.

    Orion Health president for North America Wayne Oxenham said the Amadeus platform is gaining favorable attention throughout the US healthcare sector, with Koble-MN being the fifth significant agreement to deploy Amadeus in the US.

    “The Amadeus precision medicine platform assists HIEs such as Koble-MN to achieve greater sustainability for the important services they provide,” said Oxenham. “By utilizing shared core services and standards, Orion Health technology can greatly improve the collaboration among participating States and HIE organizations.”

     

    About Orion Health
    Orion Health is a health technology company that provides solutions which enable healthcare to over 100 million patients in more than 25 countries. Its open technology platform Orion Health Amadeus seamlessly integrates all forms of relevant data to enable population and personalized healthcare around the world. The company employs over 1,200 people globally and is committed to continual innovation, investing substantially in research and development to cement its position at the forefront of precision medicine. For more information visit www.orionhealth.com 

    About Koble-MN
    Koble-MN is a Minnesota state-certified Health Information Organization offering a robust health information exchange (HIE) to its participants. The Koble-MN HIE allows health care information to be shared between health care providers within a community or larger region. It allows clinical information to quickly move electronically between the different health care information systems that may be used by a patient’s different providers (e.g., specialists, labs) while maintaining the privacy, security and accuracy of the information being exchanged.

    Media Contacts
    Joy DiNaro
    Amendola Communications for Orion Health
    847.809.0406
    [email protected]

    Marcia Rhodes
    Amendola Communications for Orion Health
    480.664.8412 ext. 15
    [email protected]

    Posted 6.21.2016

  • McKesson Specialty Health Launches Optimization Toolkit for Oncology In-Office Dispensing Program

    Toolkit adds analytics, pharmacist support & legal guidance, features unavailable with other IOD programs

    THE WOODLANDS, TX – June 20, 2016 — McKesson Specialty Health announced today the enhancement of its widely acclaimed In-Office Dispensing program for oncology practices by launching an Optimization Toolkit to drive improved financial performance and patient care excellence. The McKesson In-Office Dispensing program for oral oncolytics was first launched in 2010 to help oncology practices deliver local, high-quality oral chemotherapy to their patients and increase their revenue. The new Optimization Toolkit adds unique components to the McKesson In-Office Dispensing program, including data analytics and dedicated oncology pharmacy expertise, as well as high touch operational support across marketing, workflow training and legal guidance. These Toolkit products and services help practices take their in-office dispensing business to the next level, maximizing revenue and ensuring therapy adherence and continuity of care in today’s challenging healthcare landscape.

    “More than half of the current phase III oncology pipeline is comprised of oral therapies, and the future will bring even more of these innovative treatments to the forefront,” said Randy Hyun, senior vice president and general manager of Provider Solutions for McKesson Specialty Health. “McKesson’s In-Office Dispensing program, along with the Optimization Toolkit, can help practices take advantage of this dramatic increase in oral oncolytics and identify revenue growth opportunities while supporting the delivery of safe, efficient high-quality care for patients.”

    The Optimization Toolkit is the first of its kind in the marketplace, providing several invaluable components to drive financial performance and exceptional care, including:

    Data Analytics

    • Diagnostic data analytics that deliver useful, actionable intelligence by analyzing key metrics to uncover opportunities
      for business optimization
    • Benchmarking, goal setting and post optimization engagement analytics to measure success

    Pharmacy Optimization Team

    • Strategic engagement opportunities with pharmacy experts designed to help practices diagnose opportunities and
      affect positive change

    Operational Support

    • Suite of customizable tools and templates and expert guidance for practices looking to market their services to patients
      and prescribers
    • Advanced workflow and pharmacy training courses to enable practices to increase efficiency
    • Exclusive legal platform with guidance on state regulations for physician dispensing and retail pharmacy models

    “Supporting practices in optimizing and growing their dispensing programs is an important investment area for McKesson Specialty Health,” said Brandon Tom, senior director of Oral Oncolytic Services for McKesson Specialty Health. “We have helped more than 1,000 physicians implement dispensing capabilities over the last four years, so it’s important that we also focus on ensuring that they continue to evolve their programs to thrive in a rapidly changing environment. Establishing a network of practices as a best-in-class site of care for oral oncolytics is not only critical in providing the best patient care possible, but also in creating collaborative relationships with the payer and manufacturer community.”

    In-office dispensing of oral medications delivers key benefits to both cancer patients and practices by empowering seamless, uninterrupted quality care, enhancing practice revenue while providing a better patient experience, and supporting optimal outcomes. Comprehensive, in-house medication management enables improved medication compliance and continuity of care through better control of patient IV and oral therapy. Additionally, it is more convenient for patients, as it reduces the need to send them to an outside pharmacy or hospital for prescribed medications.

    “In the face of rising drug costs and decreasing reimbursements, community oncology practices need to consider innovative solutions to ensure practice growth and survival. Our in-office dispensing solution can help practices to not only expand their services and grow revenue, but also prepare for the many changes that will impact oncology – and most importantly, patient care – in the future,” Hyun concluded.

    About McKesson Specialty Health
    McKesson Specialty Health, a division of McKesson Corporation, empowers the community patient care delivery system by helping community practices advance the science, technology and quality of care. Through innovative clinical, research, business and operational solutions, facilitated by integrated technology systems, they focus on improving the financial health of our customers so they may provide the best care to their patients. For more information, visit www.mckessonspecialtyhealth.com.

    PR Contact
    Claire Crye
    PR Manager
    281.825.9927
    [email protected]

    Posted 6.20.2016

  • Health Catalyst Client Base Grows to Cover 70 Million Patients as Customers Improve Quality, Lower Costs

    At the mid-year mark, outcomes-improvement company releases new customer signings & customer results

    SALT LAKE CITY, UT – June 14, 2016 — New customer wins, heightened industry recognition and noteworthy customer successes have strategically positioned Health Catalyst for significant market expansion in the second half of 2016.

    A leader in healthcare data warehousing, analytics and outcomes improvement, Health Catalyst today announced the addition of several new health system clients, some of the seven new clients signed in the last six months. The additional customers increased the size of Health Catalyst’s client base to over 250 hospitals and more than 3,000 clinics that collectively care for over 70 million Americans each year.

    New clients include:

    • Alberta Health Services (AHS), Canada’s first and largest province-wide, fully-integrated health system, responsible for delivering health services to the over 4 million people in Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories.  AHS consists of 106 hospitals, 5 psychiatric facilities, and equity partnership in 42 primary care physician networks.
    • Health Share, Oregon’s largest Medicaid coordinated care organization, serves over 230,000 Oregonians in the Portland Metro area. Health Share coordinates health plans and services at the local level with a mission of achieving ongoing health system transformation, health equity, and the best possible health for each member. Health Share was founded and is governed by eleven organizations serving Medicaid members in our region.
    • King’s Daughters Medical Center, a locally controlled, not-for-profit 465-bed hospital that offers cardiac, medical, surgical, pediatric, rehabilitative, psychiatric, cancer, neurological, pain care, wound care and home care services. The hospital ranks fourth in the state of Kentucky in admissions and with number of employees at 3,200.
    • MemorialCare Health System, a nonprofit integrated delivery system throughout Los Angeles and Orange Counties, Calif. that includes six top hospitals, two medical groups, a health plan, and numerous outpatient health centers, imaging centers and surgery centers.
    • Texas Children’s Health Plan, the nation’s first health maintenance organization (HMO) created just for children, founded in 1996 by Texas Children’s Hospital. The plan covers kids, teens, pregnant women, and adults who are eligible for the Texas Managed Care Medicaid program called STAR Kids, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). It includes more than 1,100 doctors, 3,200 specialists, 60 hospitals, and other health resources.

    “Health Catalyst is proud that many of our nation’s most prestigious and forward-looking health systems have selected us as their partner to help deliver the improved quality and lower costs required to thrive in our evolving healthcare environment,” said Dan Burton, CEO of Health Catalyst. “We look forward to welcoming more provider organizations into the Health Catalyst fold in 2016, and we’re eager to help them deliver the kinds of significant outcome improvements that many of our current clients have achieved.”

    Lives and Dollars Saved Through Outcomes Improvement
    Contributing both to the company’s sense of mission and its strong sales performance, existing Health Catalyst customers have substantiated hundreds of millions of dollars in cost savings, as well as life-saving quality improvements through their use of the company’s Late Binding™ Data Warehousing and Analytics platform. The platform incorporates data from disparate sources across the care continuum – electronic health records (EHR), clinical and financial systems, payer systems, and other external systems – and supports multi-disciplinary teams in evaluating, comparing and improving clinical, financial and operational performance across their networks.

    In recent months, noteworthy outcome improvements that added to the company’s 73 documented customer success stories included:

    • $125 million saved in one year. Allina Health is a $3.7 billion not-for-profit organization whose more than 90 clinics, 12 hospitals and related healthcare services provide care for nearly 1 million people across Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Allina’s data-driven performance improvement effort in 2015 yielded a strong bottom line including $43 million in productivity improvements and $30 million saved by reducing clinical variation.
    • Sepsis deaths cut to half the national average. Thibodaux Regional Medical Center, an award-winning 177-bed community hospital near New Orleans, leveraged best-practice care protocols and advanced analytics and a new approach to engage clinicians to reduce sepsis mortality by 18 percent in just six months, to less than half the national average. Thibodaux also reduced average variable cost per sepsis patient by 7.3 percent, lowered their length of stay by 1 day, and increased sepsis patient satisfaction by 7 percent to reach the 93rd percentile, nationally.
    • Better care delivery for the riskiest pediatric diabetes patients. Houston-based Texas Children’s Hospital, the nation’s largest pediatric facility, used analytics and education to drive better care for children with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a complex and serious complication of diabetes. Changes included assigning 81 percent of DKA patients to a diabetic care unit and core diabetic nurse (CDN); a 17 percent relative increase in DKA patients receiving an evidence-based evaluation and order sets; a 19 percent relative increase in DKA patients receiving IV insulin within one hour of order; and a 33 percent relative decrease in length of stay for DKA patients.
    • 16 percent fewer pneumonia deaths. MultiCare Health System,  one of Washington state’s largest not-for-profit health systems with five hospitals and 130 locations, used Health Catalyst’s pneumonia application combined with a team of clinical and analytics experts to drive a 16 percent reduction in the pneumonia mortality (compared to a 1.7% improvement in pneumonia mortality within the National Top Quartile of U.S. hospitals during the same period); a 24 percent reduction in pneumonia readmissions (compared to a 2 percent reduction in pneumonia readmissions for the National Top Quartile); and a 2 percent decrease in length-of-stay for pneumonia patients.

    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 more than 70 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 them on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.       

    Media Contact
    Todd Stein
    Amendola Communications
    916.346.4213
    [email protected]

    Posted 6.16.2016

  • Sunquest to Commercialize Electronic Patient Flow Management Technology Developed by The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust

    Application for Sunquest Integrated Clinical Environment (ICE™) optimizes bed usage, reduces discharge delays & automates patient tracking

    TUCSON, AZ – June 14, 2016 — Sunquest Information Systems today announced the acquisition of innovative electronic patient flow management technology developed by The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust (the Royal). This software application is used with Sunquest Integrated Clinical Environment (ICETM) and allows hospital staff to effectively and efficiently manage bed usage, reduce discharge delays and assist clinical staff with tracking clinical results by patient.

    As part of the agreement, Sunquest will market the solution as a value-add module for the ICE platform, which currently provides electronic ordering and results reporting for 50% of NHS Acute Trusts and 75% of General Practitioners in England. The application was developed by members of the Royal’s information management and technology group, with input from the Royal clinicians.

    “This acquisition represents a fantastic opportunity for Sunquest and our clients,” said Matt Hawkins, president of Sunquest Information Systems. “Sunquest works with many of the finest healthcare institutions in the world. Occasionally, we see our clients create and implement novel solutions that improve care for patients. The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen Trust team of technologists and clinicians collaborated to create this innovative and easy-to-use technology, which will benefit our clients and their patients. We are grateful to acquire this technology and share it broadly with our clients.”

    The newly acquired technology is touch-screen-based and enables real-time tracking of patient admissions, discharges and transfers. Rather than rely on traditional whiteboards, staff can quickly and easily locate and track a patient’s location anywhere in the hospital and see the real-time status of relevant key clinical indicators, including bedside observations and an early warning system. The digital dashboard provides overall bed information and a holistic organizational view of wards, specialties and patients. When integrated with Sunquest ICE, staff has expanded access to critical clinical information.

    The electronic patient flow management functionality is designed to improve bed efficiencies and reduce length of stays. This is a critical benefit, especially in light of the recent King’s Fund finding that discharge delays were up 15% over the year.

    The extended ICE functionality has been well-received by the Royal clinicians and staff since its deployment last year. “Since its implementation the management of the medical intake has significantly improved,” said Dr. Holly Metcalf, a Royal consultant in acute medicine. “The application provides us with a list of medically referred patients – with important information such as their current location, diagnosis, NEWS (National Early Warning Score), and time of referral. This allows us to prioritize sicker patients, and ensure all of our referrals are seen and treated in a timely manner, ultimately optimizing the safety of our patients.”

    Sunquest will be feature its new Sunquest ICE value-add module at the International Sunquest User Group Conference Oct. 19-20 in London.

    About The Royal Liverpool & Broadgreen University hospitals NHS Trust
    The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the largest and busiest hospital trusts in the North of England, with an annual budget exceeding £470 million. It delivers services across two sites and three hospitals, the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital and Liverpool University Dental Hospital, and employs more than 5,500 people.

    In the past year the Trust cared for over 90,000 people in their emergency department, around 95,000 day case and inpatients and over 587,000 outpatient appointments.. It is one of the top teaching trusts in the UK with well-established links to the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and international institutions. The Trust is building a brand-new Royal Liverpool University Hospital, which is due to open in 2017. To find out more about the Trust, visit www.rlbuht.nhs.uk or follow them on Twitter: @RoyalLpoolHosps or Facebook: www.facebook.com/royalliverpoolhospitals

    About Sunquest Information Systems
    Sunquest Information Systems Inc. provides laboratory information systems to more than 1,700 laboratories. Since 1979, Sunquest has helped laboratories across the world optimize financial results, enhance efficiency and improve the quality of patient care. The company’s singular focus on diagnostic innovation has delivered solutions that offer unique support for complex testing, enable community-wide connectivity and can be used at the point-of-care. Headquartered in Tucson, AZ, with offices in the United Kingdom and India, Sunquest is a global leader in healthcare information technology. For more information, visit www.sunquestinfo.com.

    Media Contact
    Michelle Noteboom
    Amendola Communications
    512.426.2870
    [email protected]

    Posted 6.16.2016

  • Optimum Healthcare IT Joins CHIME as Foundation Partner

    JACKSONVILLE, FL – June 13, 2016 — Optimum Healthcare IT, a leading healthcare IT staffing, and consulting services company, announced that it joined the College of Healthcare Information Management Executive (CHIME) as a foundation partner for 2016. The CHIME Foundation’s mission is to collaborate with other thought leaders in the advancement of strategic and innovative applications within healthcare information technology – joining the CHIME Foundation affirms Optimum’s position as an industry leader.

    “Joining the CHIME Foundation is a significant step towards Optimum achieving our goals of providing excellence in service and improving patient care through technology, “said Jason Mabry, President of Optimum Healthcare IT. “At Optimum, we have a passion for ensuring the success of our clients – joining the CHIME Foundation will help us with these goals”

    CHIME is an executive organization dedicated to serving CIOs and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 1,900 CIO members and 150 healthcare IT vendors and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professionals 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.

    “We look forward to collaborating with CHIME’s CIO members to work with them to explore the right solutions to fit their organization’s goals. Through our years of healthcare industry experience, we can provide small-business flexibility with large-business stability, but without the extraordinary costs,” added Mabry.

    About Optimum Healthcare IT
    Optimum Healthcare IT offers best-in-market training and support solutions to assist its customers in bringing their systems live and ensuring users are fully and adequately trained and supported throughout their strategic initiatives. Training and Support solutions are fully managed and are designed to align with training and support needs throughout the customer application ownership lifecycle. Optimum’s excellence in service is driven by a Leadership team with more than 50 years of experience in providing expert healthcare staffing and consulting solutions to all types of organizations. For more information, please visit www.Optimumhit.com.

    Posted 6.14.2016

  • Value-Based Payment Hits the Tipping Point

    New research finds healthcare closing in on full VBR, bundled payment growing fastest, network strategies changing, but many payers & hospitals struggling to scale

    LAS VEGAS, NV – June 13, 2016 — (AHIP Institute & Expo) The rapid pace of change in healthcare payment continues unabated, with payers reporting they are 58% along the continuum towards full value-based reimbursement, a 10% leap since 2014. Hospitals aren’t far behind, reporting they’re now 50% along the value continuum, up 4% in the past two years.

    These insights and more are revealed in Journey to Value: The State of Value-Based Reimbursement in 2016, a new national study of 465 payers and hospitals conducted by ORC International and commissioned by McKesson. The research follows up on McKesson’s inaugural 2014 study, which established a baseline for healthcare’s transition to value and made it possible for this new research to look at trends over the past two years.

    Among the findings: Payers estimate that nearly 60% of payment will be a mix of capitation/global payment, pay for performance (P4P), and episode of care/bundled payment in five years, with bundled payment growing fastest. Health plans project bundled payment will grow 6% over five years, edging ahead of capitation/global payment and shared risk growth. And both hospitals and payers project bundled payment will top 17% of medical payment in five years. But just half of payers and only 40% of providers say they’re ready to implement bundles, and only a quarter have the tools in place to automate these complex models.

    Network management, a key component of VBR, is also changing dramatically. Over 60% of payers have changed network strategy since 2014, with 53% using tiered and 42% using narrow networks now. And over 80% say they’re more selective about who are in their networks, with care quality the top criteria at 75% of payers. But hospitals say these network strategies are driving up patient confusion, denials, directory inaccuracies, referral management problems, and network leakage.

    VBR’s fast rise is also intensifying system complexity, as evidenced by the finding that the majority of providers are not meeting their goals. Of the metrics in place for measuring VBR success, a mere 22% of hospitals are meeting their goal to reduce administrative cost of care, only 26% are meeting goals to lower healthcare costs, just 30% are meeting care coordination goals, and 40% are meeting goals for improving patient outcomes.

    “Payers and providers are clearly beginning to scale VBR,” said Rod O’Reilly, president of McKesson Health Solutions. “The swift pace of change, coupled with the daunting complexity of these payment models, is putting extreme pressure on the healthcare system. As we move beyond pilots, the ability for payers and providers to automate the complexity inherent in these models will be a deciding factor to success.”

    Journey to Value: The State of Value-Based Reimbursement in 2016 will help healthcare stakeholders see how their colleagues are reacting to industry change and demands, what reimbursement models and technology they’re using, how they’re managing, what’s working, what’s challenging, and where they expect to be in the next few years.

    The distribution of health plans, providers, and screening criteria mirrored that of McKesson’s 2014 study. Respondents were comprised of senior executives, director level and above, across medical management, finance, technology, and strategy who were familiar with value-based reimbursement activities at their organization.

    The study included 115 payers across a range of organization sizes and included Managed Medicare, Managed Medicaid and commercially focused; with 38% covering 100,000 to 500,000 lives, 35% covering 500,000 to two million lives, and 27% covering two million lives or more. Payers encompassed multiple regions, with 24% payer-centric, 24% provider-centric, 34% collaborative (where one or two payers and hospitals lead the region), and 17% fragmented (where there are no clear leaders among payers or hospitals).

    The study also included 350 hospitals representing a similar range of sizes and locations. From the sample of hospitals, 19% have less than 100 beds, 40% have between 101 and 250 beds, and 41% have more than 250 beds. As for regions, 20% of hospitals are in payer-centric, 29% are in provider-centric, 27% are in collaborative, and 20% are in fragmented regions.

    The complete research paper, Journey to Value: The State of Value-Based Reimbursement in 2016, is available at no charge at http://MHSvbrstudy.com. McKesson executives will also present the first exclusive look at the full research results at AHIP’s Institute 2016 session, Market Update: New Research Insights on Reimbursement Models, at the Wynn/Encore Las Vegas, Thursday, June 16th at 2:15 p.m. PDT in room Mouton #1.

    For more information on McKesson Health Solutions, please visit website, hear from experts at MHSdialogue, follow on Twitter, like onFacebook, or network on LinkedIn.

    Related McKesson Health Solutions News

    About McKesson
    McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 5th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to making the business of healthcare run better. McKesson partners with payers, hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies and others across the spectrum of care to build healthier organizations that deliver better care to patients in every setting. McKesson helps its customers improve their financial, operational, and clinical performance with solutions that include pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management, healthcare information technology, and business and clinical services. For more information, visit www.mckesson.com.

    PR Contact
    General and Business Press
    McKesson Health Solutions
    Amy Valli, Public Relations
    610.205.5581
    [email protected]

    Posted 6.13.2016

  • Survey: Hospitals Progressing Slowly toward Medicare’s Goal of 50 Percent Value-Based Reimbursement by 2018

    Respondents to Health Catalyst survey cite analytics as most important success factor for value-based reimbursement

    SALT LAKE CITY, UT – June 9, 2016 (PRNewswire) — Fewer than a quarter of US hospitals are on track to hit the Obama Administration’s 2018 goal of providing at least half their patient care through so-called “value-based” arrangements – structures that tie reimbursement from Medicare to the quality of care patients receive.

    That is one finding of a new online survey of healthcare executives representing 190 US hospitals with a total of more than 20,000 licensed beds. The survey by Health Catalyst revealed that just 3 percent of health systems today meet the target set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Only 23 percent expect to meet it by 2019, a year after CMS had hoped that half of all Medicare reimbursements would be value-based.

    According to the survey, the majority of health systems—a full 62 percent—have either zero or less than 10 percent of their care tied to the type of risk-based contracts identified by CMS as “value-based,” including Medicare accountable care organizations (ACOs) and bundled payments. Not surprisingly, small hospitals with fewer than 200 beds comprised the majority of those reporting no at-risk contracts. A contributing factor may be that smaller hospitals are five times less likely than larger organizations to have access to sufficient capital to make risk-based contracting work, according to the survey.

    Despite lagging behind the federal government’s goal, healthcare executives across the board intend to steadily increase value-based care and at-risk contracts. In the next three years, all but 1 percent of respondents expect their organizations to be engaged in at-risk contracts. Sixty-eight percent said they expect risk-based contracts to account for less than half their total care in that time frame. Only 23 percent expect value-based care to account for more than half of their care in the next three years. Eight percent of respondents said they could not predict the answer.

    Analytics tops the list of must-haves
    The most important organizational element needed for success with risk-based contracting is analytics, said responding executives at both small and large hospitals. In fact, 52 percent of respondents cited the prime importance of analytics, more than double the second most-selected answer: a culture of quality improvement. Twenty-four percent of respondents cited cultural alignment on quality as having the most impact on value-based care success.

    “Transitioning from fee-for-service reimbursement to value-based payments is a goal that many healthcare organizations embrace but are having difficulty implementing as they juggle a number of other high priorities,” said Bobbi Brown, Health Catalyst vice president of financial engagement. “This survey reveals that they’re making progress but they could use a little help – some of it financial and some of it technical in the way of better analytics to help identify at-risk populations and better manage their risk. The bottom line seems to be that while progress is slow, healthcare leaders are committed to making value-based care work.”

    Survey results reflect the opinions of 78 healthcare professionals who responded to an online survey by Health Catalyst in May 2016. Over half of the respondents (51 percent) were CEOs or CFOs of large hospital-owned physician groups and hospitals ranging in size from 15 acute care beds to over 1,000 beds. The remaining respondents all held executive roles, including several Chief Medical Information Officers, Chief Medical Officers and Chief Nursing Officers.

    The organizations represented include many well-known multi-hospital and multi-state health systems with a cumulative 756 inpatient and outpatient facilities and 20,416 acute care beds.

    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 andaccountable care. Our proven enterprise data warehouse (EDW) and analytics platform helps improve quality, add efficiency and lower costs in support of more than 70 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 them on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

    Media Contact
    Todd Stein
    Amendola Communications
    916.346.4213
    [email protected]

    Posted 6.9.2016

  • Impact Advisors Named to CRN 2016 SP500 List

    Firm ranked among North America’s largest 500 technology integrators

    CHICAGO, IL – June 9, 2016 — Impact Advisors, LLC, a leading provider of healthcare information technology services, announced today that it was named to The Channel Company’s CRN® 2016 Solution Provider 500 (SP500) list. Impact Advisors will be recognized at the SP500 VIP Club to be held at CRN’s XChange 2016 event in San Antonio in August.

    The annual ranking, spanning eight categories from hardware and software sales to managed IT services, recognizes the largest technology integrators, solution providers and IT consultants in North America by revenue. Solution providers are ranked based on revenue, determined by product and services sales during 2015.

    “We are pleased to be included on the CRN® Solution Provider 500 list,” said Maria Smith, CFO, Impact Advisors. “Our firm’s success is a direct result of our commitment to quality results for our clients and our dedication to creating a culture of caring for our associates.”

    “The 2016 Solution Provider 500 represent a total, combined revenue of over $334 billion—a testament to their success in keeping pace with the rapidly changing demands of today’s IT market,” said Robert Faletra, CEO, The Channel Company. “This prestigious list recognizes those companies with the highest revenue and serves as a valuable industry resource for vendors seeking out top solution providers in which to partner. We congratulate each of the Solution Provider 500 companies and look forward to their continued success.”

    A sampling from the 2016 Solution Provider 500 list will be featured in the June issue of CRN Magazine and at www.CRN.com/sp500.

    Impact Advisors adds this latest honor to a growing list of industry and workplace awards that includes being named Best in KLAS for eight consecutive years, Healthcare Informatics HCI 100, Crain’s Chicago Business Fast Fifty, Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work in Healthcare and Becker’s Hospital Review’s 150 Great Places to Work in Healthcare. In addition, Chief Executive Officer, Peter Smith received honors as one of Consulting Magazine’s Top 25 Consultants of 2016.

    About Impact Advisors, LLC
    Impact Advisors is a nationally recognized healthcare information technology consulting firm that is solving some of the toughest challenges in the industry by delivering strategic advisory, implementation and optimization services. Their comprehensive suite of patient access, clinical and revenue cycle services span the lifecycle of their clients’ needs. Their experienced team has a powerful combination of clinical, revenue, operations, consulting, and IT experience. The firm has earned a number of prestigious industry and workplace awards including Best in KLAS® for eight consecutive years, Healthcare Informatics HCI 100, Crain’s Chicago Business Fast Fifty, as well as “best place to work” awards from: Modern Healthcare, Consulting Magazine, Becker’s Hospital Review and Achievers. For more information about Impact Advisors, visit www.impact-advisors.com.

    Media Contact
    Karli Smith
    Chartwell Agency
    815.977.5343
    [email protected]

    Posted 6.9.2016

  • Inside CHIME: CHIME Healthcare CIO Boot Camp – Taking Your Career to the Next Level

    Inside CHIME - header

    Weinstock 70x70 6.9.16 by Matthew Weinstock
    Director of Communications and Public Relations, CHIME

     In this video, Boot Camp faculty members talk about how the program has impacted them personally and professionally.

    Have you ever wondered why CHIME members get so fired up when talking about the Healthcare CIO Boot Camp? Having had the pleasure of attending a couple of times, I think it’s because the program offers unparalleled insights into what it takes to become an effective leader. It forces students to get out of their comfort zone and venture into new territory. Yes, the content, for lack of a better word, is centered on healthcare, but the class offers much more; it is a powerful experience that gives attendees a new outlook on both their professional and personal lives.

    In this short video, three Boot Camp faculty members talk passionately about their Boot Camp experiences:

    The next Healthcare CIO Boot Camp is scheduled for October 28-31 in Phoenix, AZ, preceding the CHIME16 Fall CIO Forum. Boot Camp is open to CHIME members and their direct reports. Click here for more information.

    More Inside CHIME Volume 1, No. 19:

    Posted 6.9.2016

  • Inside CHIME: National Patient ID Challenge Moves into the Final Round

    Inside CHIME - header

    Weinstock 70x70 6.9.16 by Matthew Weinstock
    Director of Communications and Public Relations, CHIME

    The CHIME Healthcare Innovation Trust last week named winners for the Concept Blitz Round of the National Patient ID Challenge. The initiative now moves into the critical Final Innovation Round.

    After closing out the Concept Blitz Round of the CHIME Healthcare Innovation Trust’s National Patient ID Challenge, there’s a feeling that a viable solution for achieving accurate patient identification is within reach.

    Last week, CHIME named two winners — out of 113 entries — of the Concept Blitz Round for submitting ideas that are well positioned to meet criteria for a national patient ID solution. Both will receive a $30,000 prize.

    “One of the most encouraging aspects of the Concept Blitz Round is the fact that so many ideas seem to leverage technology that already exists and won’t require wholesale disruption of our information technology systems. This reinforces CHIME’s position that we can find a solution that can be deployed regardless of provider type, size or location,” CHIME Board Chair Marc Probst, vice president and chief information officer, Intermountain Healthcare, said in a press statement.

    The challenge now moves into the Final Innovation Round; competitors have until July 12 to register and November 10 to submit their solutions in order to be eligible for the $1 million prize. It is important to note that the Concept Blitz and Final Innovation rounds are completely independent of each other. The Concept Blitz Round was an opportunity for people to submit their early ideas for judging. Innovators were not required to participate in that round in order to enter the final round. In fact, for the final round, everyone starts on equal footing.

    Follow the challenge on the HeroX website, and on Twitter at #NPIDChallenge.

    More Inside CHIME Volume 1, No. 19:

    Posted 6.9.2016

  • The Chartis Group Named as a Top Five Comprehensive Healthcare IT Advisory Firm

    Firm recognized by KLAS as a go-to partner helping providers reshape the industry

    CHCIAGO, IL – June 7, 2016 — Today, KLAS released its report, “Healthcare IT Advisory 2016: The Experience Factor,” naming The Chartis Group, a national advisory services firm dedicated to healthcare, as one of the top five comprehensive firms offering a proven breadth of services and depth of experience.
    The report is used to assess and identify the top consulting firms in healthcare IT. KLAS categorizes firms into an IT Advisory Services Experience Quadrant. The Chartis Group was categorized in the upper right quadrant for comprehensive firms – market experience leaders with both breadth of capabilities and depth of validated experience that are shaping the market with their ability to lead large-scale, complex engagements and serve as go-to partners for a large number of services.

    “When trying to identify potential healthcare IT consulting firms, providers encounter an overwhelming number of choices, making it difficult to sort through the options and identify a good fit,” according to the report. “In this report, KLAS presents a deep dive into which services firms offer, how much experience they have with those services, and the many differentiators that can be useful in determining how well a firm performs.”

    Among the Chartis differentiators noted in the report was its strategic competency defined as bringing a big-picture understanding of the healthcare landscape, customizing strategy through client collaboration, and having the experience and perspective to share best practices in healthcare and gleaned from other organizations’ experiences. The Chartis Group had the highest percentage of providers mention strategic competency as its sweet spot. According to the report, “The Chartis Group not only delivers strategic planning to their clients but also ensures clients are supported in executing that plan.”

    “We are very proud of our team for continuously delivering crucial insights through actionable plans and recommendations that help our clients improve operations and prepare for the future,” said Daniel S. Herman, Director and Informatics and Technology Practice Leader for The Chartis Group.

    Ken Graboys, Co-Founder and CEO adds, “It is a privilege to work side-by-side with our clients each day, doing what we love to do – helping providers leverage technology in innovative, strategic ways that will further advance their journey as an evolved healthcare ecosystem. We thank our clients for this recognition.”

    About The Chartis Group
    The Chartis Group (Chartis) is a national advisory services firm dedicated to the healthcare industry. Chartis provides strategic and economic planning, accountable care, clinical transformation, and informatics and technology consulting services and decision support tools to the country’s leading healthcare providers. Chartis has been privileged to work with over two-thirds of the academic medical centers on the US News and World Report “Honor Roll of Best Hospitals,” seven of the 10 largest integrated health systems, four of the five largest not-for-profit health systems, nine of the top 10 children’s hospitals, emerging and leading accountable care organizations, hundreds of community-based health systems, and leading organizations in healthcare services. The firm is comprised of uniquely experienced senior healthcare professionals and consultants who apply a distinctive knowledge of healthcare economics, markets, clinical models and technology to help clients achieve unequaled results. Chartis has offices in Boston, Chicago, Needham, New York, Portland and San Francisco. For more information, visit chartis.com.

    Contacts

    Amy O’Brien
    Principal and Vice President of Strategy and Business Development
    The Chartis Group
    [email protected]
    312.932.3060    		 Terri Sanders
    Director of National Marketing
    The Chartis Group
    [email protected]
    312.932.3051
    Posted 6.7.2016
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