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Cybersecurity a Central Concern for Healthcare Providers, KLAS-CHIME Study Finds
Cybersecurity Programs More Advanced at Larger Hospitals and IDNs
SALT LAKE CITY, UT and ANN ARBOR, MI, February 19, 2017 – Cybersecurity has been elevated to a central concern for healthcare providers, with more attention at the board level and the C-suite, according to a new survey by KLAS Research and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME). The study found that 42 percent of organizations have a vice president or C-level official in charge of cybersecurity; 62 percent report that security is discussed quarterly at board meetings.
The study found that 16 percent of providers – mostly large hospitals or integrated delivery networks, reported having “fully functional” security programs. Another 41 percent reported that they’ve developed and are starting to implement a program. Smaller hospitals and physician practices lagged behind in their program development.
“Healthcare organizations take their responsibility for protecting patient information and their data networks very seriously,” said CHIME President and CEO Russell Branzell, FCHIME, CHCIO. “As healthcare continues to march toward greater integration and information sharing across the continuum, we must become more vigilant in protecting data networks. Security has to be seen as an organizational priority. It is encouraging to see more C-level executives and boards taking greater responsibility for the issue.”
“Providers are embracing cybersecurity and report that vendor solutions are becoming more robust and responsive to provider’s needs,” said Garrett Hall, Director of Cybersecurity for KLAS. “However, cybersecurity remains a significant challenge for many providers, and the healthcare industry as a whole.”
Other key findings of the study included:
- 55 percent of respondents reported that encryption is the most common way of securing connected
endpoints on their networks, followed by antivirus/malware systems at 42 percent. - 63 percent of respondents reported that security information and event management (SIEM) is the
most common method for detecting phishing and ransomware attacks. - 75 percent of respondents reported that they are following the National Institute of Standards and
Technology Cybersecurity Framework.
The study profiled provider adoption of and experiences regarding specific cybersecurity solutions, including data loss prevention (DLP), identity and access management (IAM), mobile device management (MDM), and security information and event management (SIEM).
KLAS conducted nearly 200 interviews of chief information security officers, chief information officers, chief technology officers and other security professionals. To cover the largest number of impacted providers and patients, the research targeted mainly larger multihospital organizations (IDNs) and hospitals, with some additional input from large physician practices (75+ physicians).
Providers may access a free copy of the report (registration required) at www.klasresearch.com.
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 2,300 CIO members and over 150 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 chimecentral.org.About KLAS
KLAS is a research and insights firm on a global mission to improve healthcare delivery. Working with thousands of healthcare professionals and clinicians, KLAS gathers data and insights on software, services and medical equipment to deliver timely, actionable reports and consulting services. KLAS represents the provider voice and acts as a catalyst for improving vendor performance, highlighting healthcare industry challenges and opportunities, and helping build understanding and consensus for best practices. More information at www.klasresearch.com.CHIME Contact
Matthew Weinstock
734.249.8917
[email protected]KLAS Contact
Joshua Schneck
612.709.8500
[email protected]Posted 2.19.2017 - 55 percent of respondents reported that encryption is the most common way of securing connected
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Vital Brings “Connect” Capabilities to Vitrea® VNA
Image Management Workflow Across Disparate PACS Systems
MINNEAPOLIS,MN – February 17, 2017 — Vital Images, Inc. (Vital), a Minneapolis-based advanced medical imaging and informatics company announces the introduction of Vitrea VNA connect deployment. The connect deployment allows a hospital based PACS system to recognize relevant comparisons in other non-affiliated image locations such as a regional repository or disparate PACS system. The technology allows for either ad-hoc or automated query retrieves of patient images, and localizes the metadata to the format used by the requesting PACS.
“Vitrea VNA connect deployment builds on our concept of providing a seamless, longitudinal patient image record through federation without requiring an expensive ‘big bang’ migration,” says Mike LaChance, VP of Enterprise Solutions at Vital Images.
About Vital Images, Inc.
Vital Images, Inc., a Toshiba Medical Systems Group company, is a leading provider of diagnostic imaging and enterprise informatics solutions to help healthcare organizations deliver exceptional care while optimizing resources across multi-facility organizations. The company’s solutions are scalable to meet the unique needs of hospitals and imaging centers and are accessible throughout the enterprise anytime, anywhere. For more information, visit vitalimages.com or join the conversation on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.Vitrea is a registered trademark of Vital Images, Inc. Vitrea VNA connect deployment is manufactured by Karos Health.
Contact
Paul Markham
[email protected]
vitalimages.comPosted 2.17.2017 -
CoverMyMeds Expands RxChangeRequest Service at No Cost to Network, Commits to Interoperate with Any Willing Trading Organization
CoverMyMeds to facilitate all RxChangeRequest transactions, eliminating new development requirements for pharmacy system & EHR suppliers
COLUMBUS, OH – February 17, 2017 — CoverMyMeds, a leading electronic prior authorization (ePA) platform, today announced increased support for all RxChangeRequest transactions between pharmacies and providers.
CoverMyMeds has long supported the prior authorization component of RxChangeRequest, the digitized transaction process that pharmacies use to alter patient prescriptions, and will now broaden functionality to include all use cases. Full RxChangeRequest functionality will be available at no cost through CoverMyMeds, which will eliminate the need for pharmacy and electronic health record (EHR) systems who already support the CoverMyMeds interface to develop new functionality to support the standard.
RxChangeRequest transactions streamline communication between the pharmacy and physician for tasks like prior authorization requests and change or cancellation of a prescription. RxChangeRequest is part of the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs SCRIPT Standard.
Integrations with most pharmacy management systems, 500 EHR systems, 700,000 provider users and payers that represent 80 percent of U.S. prescription volume, combined with the Company’s long-standing partnership with RelayHealth, make CoverMyMeds the ideal conduit for RxChangeRequest transactions.
Beyond supporting RxChangeRequest at no cost to network participants, CoverMyMeds further committed to routing RxChangeRequest transactions through other trading partners if they have a more actionable connection to the prescriber. Due to the breadth of its existing network, in most cases the connection will occur through a CoverMyMeds integrated EHR or web portal, but may also be facilitated through an alternate ePA provider should a better connection to the prescriber be available now or in the future. The company believes this commitment is a valuable way to futureproof system integrations on behalf of pharmacies and pharmacy management systems who count on CoverMyMeds to help fill prescriptions.
“We made the decision to expand our support of RxChange to increase the value of our service to the pharmacy, provider and payer groups that are aligned around streamlining the process of patients gaining appropriate access to prescribed medications,” indicated Matt Scantland, Co-Founder and CEO of CoverMyMeds. “We believe this expansion is particularly valuable to the industry because our partners will gain access to new functionality with little to no additional work, and at no additional cost. This expansion is a natural step forward as part of our mission of helping patients get the medication they need to live healthy lives.”
Cerner will be the first EHR supplier to leverage CoverMyMeds’ expanded RxChangeRequest functionality. CoverMyMeds will work with pharmacy and EHR partners this year to expand the reach of additional functionality.
Companies interested in leveraging CoverMyMeds’ RxChangeRequest functionality may visit CoverMyMeds at booth 1214 at HIMSS17 on Feb. 19-23.
About CoverMyMeds
CoverMyMeds is a leader in electronic prior authorization (ePA) solutions, and one of the fastest growing health care technology companies in the U.S. CoverMyMeds’ software suite automates the medication prior authorization process for more than 500 electronic health records (EHR) systems, 49,000 pharmacies, 700,000 providers and most health plans and PBMs. By ensuring appropriate access to medications, the company helps its customers avoid billions of dollars each year in administrative waste and avoidable medical spending caused by prescription abandonment. Visit covermymeds.com for more information.Media Inquiries
CoverMyMeds
Chrissy Hand
[email protected]
614.300.1588Posted 2.17.2017 -
Transcend Insights Announces Analytics-as-a-Service for Population Health Management Solutions
Cloud-based technology offers health systems a faster & more cost-effective option for deploying population health analytics; Transcend Insights to debut new offering & care management prototype at HIMSS17 within its HealthLogix platform
CAMPBELL, CA – February 16, 2017 — Transcend Insights®, a health care technology company offering population health management solutions via its HealthLogix® platform, today announced the launch of its next-generation enterprise Analytics-as-a-Service (AaaS) offering. This service is powered by the proven Anvita Engine™, which is optimized for the cloud and available to clients through a flexible, AaaS model. The AaaS offering provides health system executives and care teams a more flexible and cost-efficient way to deploy advanced analytics tools for managing risk and quality performance as part of a population health strategy.
In addition, the Anvita Engine features the use of a Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) application programming interface (API). The FHIR-based interface enables clients to rapidly deploy custom population health management solutions and measurement capabilities extending from the Anvita Engine and in accordance with their unique needs and quality objectives.
Industry studies have found that many care teams feel unprepared for the transition to value-based care. A recent survey of provider organizations conducted by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) showed that only three percent of respondents believe their organization is highly prepared to make the pay-for-value transition. In addition, research from the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) found that nearly 40 percent of survey respondents did not believe that their organizations currently possess capabilities rated as extremely important to succeed in risk-based value arrangements, such as interoperability, business intelligence and real-time data access.
“As more health care organizations move towards value-based care, having the technology solutions needed to execute is a common pain point, not to mention the time and cost required for implementation,” said Jeff Hawkins, Vice President of Strategic Alliances and Enterprise Solutions at Transcend Insights. “The Anvita Engine’s new flexible AaaS model speeds deployment while leveraging a cost-efficient cloud infrastructure to solve for these challenges and to help organizations accelerate their time to value when implementing a population health strategy.”
Transcend Insights’ Anvita Engine, in addition to its enterprise health information exchange (HIE), data warehouse and FHIR API, are at the core of its plug-and-play platform, HealthLogix. Living above the silos that keep people and information apart, the company’s technology platform connects care teams with the people they serve for better care and healthier lives. Transcend Insights will be showcasing its new AaaS model and care management prototype within its HealthLogix platform and unified solution suite at the HIMSS17 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Orlando, Florida (booth #5549).
CARE MANAGEMENT APPLICATION
Transcend Insights’ Care Management application will help health care organizations better coordinate and execute care plans for patients across an extended care team – including non-medical caregivers such as family members. The solution will also empower care managers to report on and address social factors that could influence a patient’s health outcome (such as access to transportation), all of which is captured in a single, common patient history to guide patient care coordination.
“With the acceleration of value-based care programs (including accountable care organizations), addressing breakdowns in information sharing and improving care plan adherence – particularly for patients with chronic conditions – is more critical than ever,” said Dr. Thomas J. Van Gilder, MD, JD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Informatics and Analytics at Transcend Insights. “Seventy percent of medical errors are due to communication failures between providers, and 68 percent of specialists receive no information from referring primary care providers. Our Care Management solution will help solve this by coordinating across care plans and various members of the care team.”
INTERSECTION OF INNOVATION
At HIMSS17, Transcend Insights will also highlight its partner and customer ecosystem, the “Intersection of Innovation,” to demonstrate how its HealthLogix platform and population health management solutions support the end-to-end spectrum of health care delivery:
- Pharmacy: Humana Pharmacy Solutions®
- Humana Pharmacy Solutions partnered with Transcend Insights to help build an analytics engine called IntelligentRx to provide real-time clinical decision support for prescription drug benefits. When Humana members fill their prescription at the pharmacy, IntelligentRx performs analytics in real-time, identifying possible drug safety issues, suggesting cost-effective alternatives based on plan benefits, or overriding unnecessary prior authorizations.
- Payor: Humana Inc.
- Humana has transformed how it manages its member population with the integration of advanced analytics powered by the Anvita Engine and Transcend Insights’ HealthLogix HIE into the core functionality of its CareHub clinical ecosystem. Transcend Insights’ technology gathers medical record data from connected physicians and provides Humana with daily, evidence-based and actionable insights for its 14.2 million members; allowing Humana to improve health outcomes by identifying gaps in care, increasing targeted outreach, improving drug safety and maximizing Medicare and Medicaid compliance.
- Management Services Organization (MSO): Transcend MSO
- By leveraging Transcend Insights’ HealthLogix platform, Transcend MSO will be able to coordinate their data and operations around a single platform, while supplying their clinician networks with powerful analytic insights and actionable steps to improve value-based care. Ultimately, Transcend MSO will have access to population-level views into critical clinician metrics around utilization, risk, quality and more.
- Health System: Hardin Memorial Health
- In just one year of partnership with Transcend Insights, Hardin Memorial has been able to realize the core elements of a robust population health program: the integration of data from numerous Electronic Health Records, Continuity of Care Documents and claims sources, and the realization of both patient- and population-level views into system-wide health outcomes.
“We are looking forward to showcasing our platform and population health management solutions at HIMSS17 in Orlando,” said Kristin Russel, Vice President of Marketing and Product Strategy at Transcend Insights. “We are delivering on our vision to empower lifelong well-being with The Platform Above through advanced analytics, interoperable technology and ongoing innovations that provide value to clients across the continuum of care. By providing a faster, more efficient solution for deploying health care analytics, a care management application that will help health care organizations better coordinate care and a platform that allows for growth and innovation, we will enable better care and healthier lives.”
For more information about Transcend Insights’ new offerings, its HealthLogix platform and unified solution suite, please visit Transcend Insights at HIMSS17 (booth #5549).
About Transcend Insights
Transcend Insights® is a population health management company that is empowering lifelong well-being with The Platform Above. Our HealthLogix® technology platform and unified solution suite lives above the silos that keep people and information apart. By connecting the health care ecosystem with a plug-and-play platform, data-inclusive health information exchange and advanced analytics, we are helping health system executives, care teams and individuals achieve a more coordinated and proactive approach to care. In 2015, our enterprise analytics helped our partners identify over 58.4 million opportunities for care improvement and close more than 5.4 million gaps in care. By providing solutions and insights that connect care teams with the people they serve, we are enabling successful population health management for better care and healthier lives.Transcend Insights is a wholly owned subsidiary of Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) and is located in San Diego and Campbell, Calif., in the heart of Silicon Valley. For more information, please visit www.transcendinsights.com, @Transcend_Care, and LinkedIn.
Contact
Transcend Insights (Public Relations)
Lena Mercer
858.401.8519
[email protected]Posted 2.16.2017 - Pharmacy: Humana Pharmacy Solutions®
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PerfectServe Offers Educational Webinars on MACRA & Mobile Device Optimization
Physicians, practice administrators & health system IT professionals are encouraged to attend
KNOXVILLE, TN – February 16, 2017 —
WHAT: PerfectServe™ is hosting two complimentary educational webinars for physicians, practice administrators and health system IT professionals. From making sense of MACRA to optimizing a mobile device strategy impacting patient care, the webinars help participants to prepare for new policies and technologies.
WEBINAR TIME / REGISTRATION:
Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017, 1:00-2:00 pm ET
Webinar: Making Sense of MACRAClick here to register.
MACRA is complex and confusing, thus understanding the regulatory details is vital to a medical group’s success. Co-hosted by PerfectServe and The Health Management Academy, physicians and practice administrators will learn:- Two definitive paths to ensure compliance with MACRA requirements
- Strategies and tactics to help practices keep pace and evolve
- Appropriate considerations for unique organizational challenges
Webinar presenter is Caitlin Greenbaum, director of Health Policy & Strategy at The Health Management Academy. As an analyst in the federal intelligence community, Greenbaum has written strategic papers and delivered briefings to senior policymakers on the implications and mitigation strategies around worldwide public health issues.
WEBINAR & TWEETCHAT TIME / REGISTRATION:
Thursday, March 2, 2017, 12:00-1:00 pm ET
Webinar: Optimizing a Mobile Device Strategy to Impact Patient Care (use the hashtag #HSCIOchat)Click here to register.
healthsystemCIO.com All Stars Panel’s Kevin Grady, M.D., chief medical officer, St. John Hospital and Medical Center; Ken Kleinberg, senior healthcare technology strategist; and Don Dally, chief technology officer, PerfectServe, explain how a health system can optimize its mobile device strategy within the context of its enterprise IT strategy. The experts discuss the importance of extending fragmented enterprise mobile communications to a more comprehensive integrated strategy. They also propose recommendations for advancing the mobility of care teams tomorrow.
PerfectServe Synchrony™ is healthcare’s most comprehensive and secure care team collaboration platform. The platform is unique in its ability to improve communication process accuracy and reliability via its proprietary Dynamic Intelligent Routing™ capability. Headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, with offices in Alpharetta, Georgia and Chicago, PerfectServe has helped clinicians provide better care since 2000.
Media Contact
Angela Jenkins
Agency Ten22
303.877.0115
[email protected]PerfectServe Contact
Heather Dorsett, MBA
Director, Content Strategy and Marketing
855.871.7299
[email protected]Posted 2.16.2017 -
HealthInfoNet Selects Orion Health’s Precision Medicine Platform
Maine’s Statewide Health Information Exchange to use platform to enable high-quality care coordination across the continuum & shift from systems of data to ‘systems of engagement.’
PORTLAND, MN & SCOTTSDALE, AZ – February 16, 2017 — HealthInfoNet (HIN), Maine’s Health Information Exchange (HIE), announced today it is partnering with Orion Health on the implementation of a precision medicine platform. HealthInfoNet’s HIE contains 98% of all Maine residents’ clinical information and is connected to all Maine hospitals and over 500 ambulatory care sites.
Pending final review by its Board of Directors, HealthInfoNet plans to deploy Orion Health’s Amadeus, a precision medicine platform that leverages an open and scalable database to capture, store and align patient information from multiple providers and payers. In addition, HealthInfoNet will incorporate Orion Health’s integrated population health applications (Coordinate and Amadeus Analytics) to ensure the timely delivery of insightful patient information to healthcare professionals.
HealthInfoNet COO Shaun Alfreds said HealthInfoNet chose Orion Health because of its single suite of open source, scalable products that enable in-depth analysis and interoperability at both a population and an individual patient level.
“Orion Health’s investments in incorporating secure, scalable and advanced technologies that are being used in healthcare organizations around the globe will enable HealthInfoNet to deliver enhanced value for providers, payers, and the residents of Maine,” said Alfreds. “The precision medicine tools will allow us to bring to fruition a new data exchange that expands beyond the delivery system to incorporate social services, genomics, and other unstructured data that will in turn empower Maine residents to be active participants in their health in a new ‘data-informed’ ecosystem.”
“HealthInfoNet will build upon its already robust IT infrastructure to scale across the many venues of care in which patients are seen,” said Suzanne Cogan, Vice President, Orion Health. “Orion Health’s solution will support HealthInfoNet’s shift from ‘systems of data’ to ‘systems of engagement.’
HealthInfoNet will be the seventh significant U.S. deployment since Amadeus was launched last year.
About HealthInfoNet
HealthInfoNet is an independent, nonprofit organization using information technology to improve patient care quality and safety. The organization manages Maine’s statewide health information exchange and offers services to encourage health information technology adoption and support new and emerging models of care and care management. The organization maintains administrative offices in Portland, Maine. For more information, please visit www.hinfonet.orgAbout Orion Health
Orion Health is a technology company that provides solutions which enable healthcare to over 100 million patients in more than 25 countries. Our end-to-end solution—featuring integration tools, our massively scalable Amadeus data platform with real-time analytics, and applications for care management and patient engagement—enables population and personalized healthcare around the world. Orion Health facilitates interoperability within and among payer, provider and pharma organizations, governments and health information exchanges, and helps physicians, patients and researchers improve healthcare outcomes. The company employs over 1,200 people globally and is committed to continual innovation. For more information, visit orionhealth.com.Media Contacts
HealthInfoNet
Allison Kenty
207.541.4102
[email protected]Amendola Communications for Orion Health
Marcia Rhodes
480.664.8412 ext. 15
[email protected]Posted 2.16.2017 -
Inside CHIME: When You Wish Upon….
2.16.17 by Matthew Weinstock
Director of Communications and Public Relations, CHIMEHIMSS is always a busy week, but CHIME will be there to help get you through it all.
Before packing for a lengthy trip, most of us go through that quick check list: tooth brush? Check. Matching socks? Check! Airline ticket? Check.
As you prepare for the CHIME-HIMSS CIO Forum and HIMSS17 in Orlando, we want to make sure that you’ve checked off some key boxes for the week:
- CIO Forum Golf Outing: Saturday, Feb. 18. Tee time is 1:00 pm at Shingle Creek Golf Club. Transportation
will depart from Tower #1 at the Hyatt Regency Orlando at 12:00 pm. Lunch will be available at
the course. - CIO Forum Welcome Reception:Saturday, Feb. 18, at 6:00 pm. This event will take place on the 4th level,
the pool deck, of the Hyatt Regency Orlando. - CIO Forum Registration:You will able to pick up your registration packet for both the CIO Forum as well as
the HIMSS17 Annual Conference at the Hyatt Regency Orlando, no need to head to the Convention Center! - CIO Forum:Sunday, Feb. 19, beginning with breakfast and registration at 7:30 am at the Hyatt Regency
Orlando on the Convention level in the Regency Ballroom TUV and the Windermere Ballroom foyer. - CHIME CIO Focus Groups: 20 – Feb. 22. The CIO Focus Groups will be held on level 1, rooms 102-108, of
the Orange County Convention Center. - CIO Forum Proceedings: Additional event information can be found on the CIO Forum proceedings
website. Please visit springcioforum.org for attendee lists, certification credits, agenda details and more!
And be sure to stop by the CHIME booth, West C Lobby, to recharge and see a friendly face. There are also some important sessions scheduled in the booth:
- Meet the CHIME Board: Monday, Feb. 20, 10:00 – 11:00 pm
- Understanding CHCIO: Monday, Feb. 20, 1:30 – 2:30 pm
- KLAS-CHIME Cybersecurity Report: Monday, Feb. 20, 2:30 – 3:45 pm
- Public Policy Power Hour: Tuesday, Feb. 21, 3:30 – 4:30 pm
We know that your time is valuable, especially during a busy HIMSS week. CHIME staff will be on hand to help get you through it!
More Inside CHIME Volume 2, No. 4:
- CHIME Lays out Advocacy Priorities – Matthew Weinstock
- Changing CMIOs from Champions to Leaders – Amy McDonald
- This Week’s Washington Debrief (2.13.17)
Posted 2.16.2017 - CIO Forum Golf Outing: Saturday, Feb. 18. Tee time is 1:00 pm at Shingle Creek Golf Club. Transportation
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Inside CHIME: CHIME Lays Out Advocacy Priorities
2.16.17 by Matthew Weinstock
Director of Communications and Public Relations, CHIMEAs the new administration gets to work on its healthcare agenda, CHIME suggests regulatory reforms to streamline health IT policies.
CHIME today sent Sec. Tom Price, M.D., a set of recommendations for addressing critical health IT policy issues. The Trump administration continues to build its team at HHS – the Senate Finance Committee held a confirmation hearing Feb. 16 for Seema Verma to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. CHIME will continue to work with Congress and the administration on these and other critical issues facing our members. You can find the full CHIME letter here; the highlights are listed below:
- Patient Identification: HHS should support private sector-led efforts to find a solution to patient
identification. This includes providing technical guidance to such efforts as CHIME’s National Patient
ID Challenge. - Meaningful Use: HHS should delay Stage 3 Meaningful Use requirements and use of Version 2015
CEHRT indefinitely while retaining a 90-day reporting period after 2017. - MIPS: HHS should treat 2018, in addition to 2017, as a transition year and remove the mandate to meet
Stage 3-like measures under the Advancing Care Information (ACI) performance category of the Merit-
Based Incentive Program (MIPS). - Interoperability: HHS should prioritize the adoption of a single set of standards to facilitate interoperability.
- Quality: HHS should institute a 90-day reporting period for 2017 and beyond and to postpone
reporting requirements of electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) until an appropriate
technical infrastructure is in place. - Telemedicine: HHS should expand its coverage of telemedicine services and expand its coverage policies
to support payment and delivery reform efforts. - Cybersecurity: HHS should encourage investment in good cyber hygiene through positive incentives
for providers.
More Inside CHIME Volume 2, No. 4:
- When You Wish Upon… – Matthew Weinstock
- Changing CMIOs from Champions to Leaders – Amy McDonald
- This Week’s Washington Debrief (2.13.17)
Posted 2.16.2017 - Patient Identification: HHS should support private sector-led efforts to find a solution to patient
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Inside CHIME: Changing CMIOs from Champions to Leaders
2.2.17 by Amy McDonald, CHIME Communications
Marc Chasin, MD, VP/CIO/CMIO – St. Luke’s Health System, ID
The CHIME CMIO Leadership Academy provides a career-turning point for seasoned executives and newly appointed CMIOs alike.
In the mid 2000’s, Marc Chasin, M.D., had the foresight to see technology and medical care converging. He also recognized that to successfully drive change in an organization, he needed to acquire some new leadership skills.
“I tried to learn from and connect with mentors whom I felt displayed the appropriate leadership competencies,” said Chasin, vice president, chief information officer and chief medical information officer, St. Luke’s Health System, Boise, Idaho. “I did a lot of listening, but also made a lot of mistakes, which I learned from.”
Clinical leaders have always been called upon to champion IT initiatives, whether it’s CPOE or clinical decision support. As healthcare organizations move from deploying health IT systems to optimizing them for improved patient outcomes and support of organizational goals, clinical leaders must evolve, too. But how do you go from being a champion to a change leader? Much like Chasin did – seek out mentors, listen and learn.
Chasin is proud to be part of the exceptional faculty teaching the 2017 CHIME CMIO Leadership Academy, April 8-10, in Chicago. The intensive two-day seminar will give clinical leaders insights to grow and refine their skills, as well as experience new ways of collaborating with the next generation of aspiring CMIOs.
“Physicians are leaders in their own right, leading a clinical team, but they lack the ability to politically navigate a complex organization that has its own ideas,” he said. “They need to learn a little bit between strategy, culture, as well as tactics.”
One of the greatest challenges for CMIOs is striking the precarious balance between the goals of other executives and the needs of the medical staff. Often the CMIO acts as the mediator in what can feel like a clash of interests, but there are ways to bring both parties to a satisfying agreement. Even if there is a proposed strategy, there is a great leap between an idea on paper and its successful execution.
Using real-world scenarios, the CHIME Leadership Academy explores ways in which CMIOs can navigate difficult situations and truly bring people together by capturing their hearts and minds. The academy also reinforces practical skills needed to improve job performance. Through the interactive exercises, CMIOs will work with fellow students to quickly assess a situation, confidently ask appropriate questions that are clear and concise, and deftly move toward a resolution that best meets the organization’s needs.
Equally as valuable, says Chasin, students will build a new cadre of trusted advisors. The academy allows like-minded physicians to build a tight-knit network of peers whom they can turn to in a moment of crisis or to seek advice. “In my experience, relationships and partnerships that I have built have lasted well past a conference,” Chasin said. “I still stay in contact with a mentor and others as colleagues (from the Leadership Academy).”
More Inside CHIME Volume 2, No. 4:
- CHIME Lays out Advocacy Priorities – Matthew Weinstock
- When You Wish Upon… – Matthew Weinstock
- This Week’s Washington Debrief (2.13.17)
Posted 2.16.2017 -
Transcend Insights & athenahealth Announce Interoperability Partnership
Partnership enables automated exchange of clinical documents between Humana a& athenahealth providers, helping to streamline quality reporting and business processes
CAMPBELL, CA & WATERTOWN,MA – February 15, 2017 — Transcend Insights®, a population health management company and athenahealth Inc. (NASDAQ:ATHN), a leading provider of networkenabled services and point-of-care mobile applications for hospitals and ambulatory clients nationwide, today announced a partnership to establish electronic data exchange between approximately 30,000 health care providers on the athenahealth network who provide care to Humana members.
Powered by Transcend Insights’ HealthLogix® health information exchange (HIE) enterprise solution and athenahealth’s health plan data exchange service, the connectivity between Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) and athenahealth will allow providers to take a more proactive and coordinated approach to care by electronically exchanging clinical data with Humana for quality management and performance management programs.
Compared to conducting manual chart audits, the clinical data exchange supports efficiency by reducing disruptive administrative burdens placed on providers and aims to improve the quality and completeness of data being conveyed to Humana.
“athenahealth’s partnership with Transcend Insights leverages the power of a cloud-based network to improve information sharing and reduce work at scale for providers and health plans,” said Jonathan Bush, Chief Executive Officer of athenahealth. “This partnership will not only improve data exchange, but will also help providers and health plan partners collaborate more effectively in the transition to feefor-value and pay-for-performance programs.”
“This announcement underscores Transcend Insights’ vision of empowering lifelong well-being by establishing greater connectivity across the health care ecosystem,” said Marc Willard, President of Transcend Insights. “Health care should be a more intuitive and rewarding experience for all involved. Connecting care teams with the people they serve is the first and most important step toward accomplishing this goal.”
The arrangement follows Humana and athenahealth’s long history of partnership to automate and improve the medical billing process for providers.
About Transcend Insights
Transcend Insights® is a population health management company that is empowering lifelong well-being with The Platform Above. Our HealthLogix® technology platform and unified solution suite lives above the silos that keep people and information apart. By connecting the health care ecosystem with a plug-and-play platform, datainclusive health information exchange and advanced analytics, we are helping health system executives, care teams and individuals achieve a more coordinated and proactive approach to care. Our partners leverage Transcend Insights’ enterprise solutions to analyze more than 7 billion clinical data points on 14.2 million patients every day. In 2015, our enterprise analytics helped our partners identify over 58.4 million opportunities for care improvement and close more than 5.4 million gaps in care. By providing solutions and insights that connect care teams with the people they serve, we are enabling successful population health management for better care and healthier lives.Transcend Insights is a wholly owned subsidiary of Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) and is located in San Diego and Campbell, Calif., in the heart of Silicon Valley. For more information, please visit transcendinsights.com, @Transcend_Care, and LinkedIn.
About athenahealth, Inc.
athenahealth partners with hospital and ambulatory clients to drive clinical and financial results. We offer medical record, revenue cycle, patient engagement, care coordination, and population health services. We combine insights from our network of 88,000 providers and 86 million patients with deep industry knowledge and perform administrative work at scale. For more information, please visit athenahealth.com.About Humana
Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is a leading health and well-being company focused on making it easy for people to achieve their best health with clinical excellence through coordinated care. The company’s strategy integrates care delivery, the member experience, and clinical and consumer insights to encourage engagement, behavior change, proactive clinical outreach and wellness for the millions of people we serve across the country.More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the company’s web site at humana.com, including copies of:
- Annual reports to stockholders
- Securities and Exchange Commission filings
- Most recent investor conference presentations
- Quarterly earnings news releases
- Calendar of events
- Corporate Governance information
Contact
Lena Mercer
Transcend Insights (Public Relations)
[email protected]
858.401.8519Holly Spring
athenahealth, Inc. (Media)
[email protected]
617.402.1631Dana Quattrochi
athenahealth, Inc. (Investors)
[email protected]
617.402.1329Posted 2.15.2017 -
PerfectServe is Named in Gartner’s Market Guide for Clinical Communication & Collaboration
KNOXVILLE, TN – February 15, 2017 — PerfectServe® is listed as a representative vendor in Gartner’s Market Guide for Clinical Communication and Collaboration. PerfectServe’s flagship solution, PerfectServe Synchrony™, is healthcare’s most comprehensive integrated system of secure, patient-centric communication services, featuring Dynamic Intelligent Routing™, which automatically identifies and provides immediate connection to the right care team member for any given clinical situation at every moment in time.
Gartner’s Market Guide clearly defines the clinical communication and collaboration (CC&C) market: “CC&C systems are used to coordinate activities with clinicians and staff, share patient information (such as text, documents, telemetry, images and video) to reduce response times, improve care transitions and patient throughput, and reduce discharge times. CC&C systems can contribute to improved patient safety, outcomes, satisfaction and retention.”
“The Gartner Market Guide helps health IT buyers keep up with the latest direction and developments in functional capabilities, compliance and multiple types of clinical communication and collaboration solutions that have matured over the years,” said Terry Edwards, President and CEO of PerfectServe. “PerfectServe will continue its trajectory of evolving product innovation of its enterprise, next-generation offering in acute care to transcend geographic and organizational barriers. Our goal is to drive collaboration among all stakeholders—including the patient—across all care settings.”
Gartner’s Market Guide states, “Clinical communication and collaboration platforms can improve care quality, care team effectiveness and the patient experience. Healthcare provider CIOs and clinical leadership should use this guide to see where this market is heading and identify vendor exemplars.”
Key findings in the report reveal:
- Clinical communication and collaboration (CC&C) systems have gained traction due to the increased use of mobile devices at the point of care and an industry focus on care quality, care coordination and the patient experience.
- Healthcare provider CIOs and clinical leadership have begun to deploy CC&C platforms more widely in an effort to better coordinate care, improve outcomes and avoid readmission penalties.
- CC&C will become a critical point-of-care system as the healthcare provider transforms into a real-time health system (RTHS).
- RTHS solutions such as CC&C, interactive patient care, alarms and notification platforms are increasingly assuming nurse call responsibilities.
Gartner, Market Guide for Clinical Communication and Collaboration, 15 November 2016
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.About PerfectServe
PerfectServe Synchrony™ is healthcare’s most comprehensive and secure care team collaboration platform. The platform is unique in its ability to improve communication process accuracy and reliability via its proprietary Dynamic Intelligent Routing™ capability, which automatically identifies and provides immediate connection to the right care team member for any given clinical situation at every moment in time. More than 400,000 clinician users, including more than 70,000 physicians, in forward-looking organizations across the U.S. rely on PerfectServe to help them speed time to treatment, expedite care transitions, enhance the patient experience and reduce HIPAA compliance risk. Headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, with offices in Alpharetta, Georgia, and Chicago, PerfectServe has helped clinicians provide better care since 2000. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook and subscribe to our blog.Media Contact
Angela Jenkins
Agency Ten22
303.877.0115
[email protected]PerfectServe Contact
Heather Dorsett, MBA
Director, Content Strategy and Marketing
855.871.7299
[email protected]Posted 2.15.2017 -
MACRA Measures & Insights from Health Catalyst Helps Healthcare Organizations Solve the MACRA Reporting Puzzle
Related Survey: Just One-Third of Health Systems Say Physicians are Ready for MACRA; Biggest Headache is Capturing Compliance Measures
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – February 15, 2017 — Physicians have long complained about the growing burden of government regulation, especially its effect of reducing time spent with patients. A 2016 study by Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College and the Medical Group Management Association found that physicians and their staff spend between 6 and 12 hours per week processing and reporting quality metrics to the government – at a cost of $15.4 billion a year.
As a recent Health Catalyst/Peer60 survey confirms, that burden is expected to significantly worsen in 2017 and beyond as physicians struggle to report quality metrics for the Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) – the federal law that changes the way Medicare pays doctors. Commercial health insurers are expected to follow the government’s lead with similar programs of their own. Passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress, MACRA requires physicians who participate in its financial incentives to report on a subset of 271 quality measures. In complex organizations, successfully achieving performance targets and submitting accurately for MACRA incentives will require integrating multiple measures across financial, regulatory and quality departments.
To help identify and align healthcare organizations’ selection of the MACRA quality measures, Health Catalyst® today announced the release of MACRA Measures & Insights™. Built on an industry-leading data and analytics platform integrating over 120 data sources including claims and all major EMRs, the new application helps healthcare organizations track and monitor all MACRA measures across multiple departments. Moreover, with MACRA Measures & Insights, organizations for the first time can quickly spot areas where their physicians are performing best, and therefor which quality measures to report to Medicare to maximize payment under MACRA.
To watch a video describing MACRA Measures & Insights, please click here: youtube.com/watch?v=Am0IoOVhZgE
“Healthcare organizations expend significant human resources to compile, interpret, keep up with and understand the impact of regulatory compliance measures, and this problem will only get worse under MACRA,” said Dale Sanders, Executive Vice President of Development for Health Catalyst. “MACRA Measures & Insights will significantly reduce that burden while making it easier to maximize Medicare reimbursement and to monitor performance against measures year over year.”
Dorian DiNardo, PMP, Health Catalyst Vice President and Product Line Manager for Operations and Performance Management, added, “The nice thing about the Health Catalyst platform is, it contains virtually all of the granular data in a healthcare system, including claims and other external data, so we can quickly combine that data to support effectively any reporting or analytics requirement, including MACRA and any changes that might come along in the future.”
Identify Measures to Optimize At-Risk Contracting
More than assisting with regulatory compliance, MACRA Measures & Insights also enables healthcare provider organizations to tactically and strategically identify the optimal measures to include within multi-year value-based care contracts with commercial payers. By aligning contractual success measures with an organization’s strongest areas of performance, the application helps to maximize payments in risk-based contracts. MACRA Measures & Insights also enables organizations to easily add measures from multiple payers’ contracts.Conversely, health plans can use the application to identify populations of patients that are appropriate for sharing risk with their provider partners.
Survey: compiling quality measures is health systems’ biggest MACRA worry
The heavy lifting required to track and compile MACRA measures for reporting to Medicare is top of mind for healthcare executives, according to a Health Catalyst/Peer60 survey conducted in late 2016. When asked which MACRA-related activities “pose the greatest difficulties for healthcare organizations,” 74 out of the 187 respondents (40%) ranked “compiling metrics for regulatory reporting” as the biggest challenge. The next biggest headache identified by survey respondents (18%) was “adjusting to greater coordination between providers and patients.”Only about a third of healthcare organizations were prepared to tackle MACRA’s reporting challenges as of late last year, according to the survey. Just 35 percent of respondents answered affirmatively when asked whether they “have a strategy and are well on [their] way to being ready” for upcoming MACRA reporting. Ready or not, most do expect to participate in the program, with only 5 percent of those surveyed planning to opt out of MACRA entirely.
The online survey reflects the opinions of 187 U.S. healthcare executives and senior leaders who work at organizations ranging from the nation’s largest urban academic medical centers and integrated delivery networks to critical access hospitals and large physician groups.
Deeper dive into MACRA Measures & Insights
Powered by the Health Catalyst Analytics Platform™, MACRA Measures & Insights enables organizations to gain deep insight into performance measures at virtually any degree of detail required for measurement and performance improvement.The application delivers a variety of filtering views to drill down quickly into multiple dimensions for quick decision making at the level of:
- Specialty
- Group
- Individual provider’
- Domain
- Individual measure
- Diagnosis group
- Data quality
- Several additional dimensions, such as payer or contract
MACRA Measures & Insights also reveals performance scores in three initial MIPS performance quadrants, with more to come:
- Quality
- Clinical practice improvement activities (if scores available)
- Advancing care information (if scores available)
The application includes measure calculations validated to be using the correct data (per CMS guidelines) to meet MACRA requirements. It also displays benchmarks for easy comparison. An alignment tab compares quality measures already at-risk with other payers to the MACRA measures, helping to prioritize those best suited for risk in the Quality Payment Program.
Explore MACRA Measures & Insights in Live Webinar, Feb. 16
For a detailed look at the new application, join the Health Catalyst product development team for a live MACRA Measures & Insights Product Webinar on Thursday, February 16, 2017, 1:00-2:30 pm EST. Attendees will be able to view a live demo of the application and participate in a live question and answer session. Register for the webinar here.MACRA Measures & Insights Data Sheet
Take a deeper dive into the solution by downloading the product data sheet here.Demo MACRA Measures & Insights at HIMSS17 in Orlando
Health Catalyst will demonstrate MACRA Measures & Insights at the 2017 HIMSS Conference & Exhibition in Orlando, Feb. 20-23. Visit booth #5173 or schedule a meeting to ensure the right people are available to meet with you.About Health Catalyst
Health Catalyst is a next-generation data, analytics, and decision support company committed to being a catalyst for massive, sustained improvements in healthcare outcomes. We are the leaders in a new era of advanced predictive analytics for population health and value-based care with a suite of machine learning-driven solutions, decades of outcomes-improvement expertise, and an unparalleled ability to integrate data from across the healthcare ecosystem. Our proven data warehousing and analytics platform helps improve quality, add efficiency and lower costs in support of more than 85 million patients for organizations ranging from the largest US health system to forward-thinking physician practices. Our technology and professional services can help you keep patients engaged and healthy in their homes and workplaces, and we can help you optimize care delivery to those patients when it becomes necessary. We are grateful to be recognized by Fortune, Gallup, Glassdoor, Modern Healthcare and a host of others as a Best Place to Work in technology and healthcare. Visit healthcatalyst.com, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.Contact
Todd Stein
Amendola Communications
916.346.4213
[email protected]Posted 2.15.2017