• CHIME International Members Recognised in CIO 100 List

    ANN ARBOR, MI, April 27, 2017 – Recognized for their central role in modernising and driving business change in their organisations, several international members of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) were recently named to the prestigious “CIO 100” list by CIO UK.

    CIO UK honours 100 CIOs representing every industry from healthcare to construction in both private and public sectors. These 100 prominent leaders are recognized for their role as a CIO and the transformation, change leadership and strategies they bring to their organisations. CHIME International Ambassador to Ireland Richard Corbridge CIO and CO of eHealth Ireland was placed in the number one spot on the list. This is a significant achievement for Richard, the Health Service Executive in Ireland, as he is the first winner from outside of the UK. Also named to the list is CHIME International Ambassador to the UK Rachel Dunscomb, CHCIO, CIO, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust; along with CHIME international members Zafar Chaudry, CIO Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Joanna Smith, CIO Royal Brompton; and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust.

    “We are proud to see so many International CHIME members represented as part of ‘The CIO 100.’ As CHIME continues to pursue its global mission to bring exceptional leaders who are transforming healthcare together, we are honoured to support and partner with the top CIOs in the industry and offer our congratulations to these tremendous leaders,” said CHIME President and CEO Russell Branzell.

    Speaking about his nomination and the development of the CIO role in health in Ireland, Richard said:

    The Irish digital health journey is now moving forward at a rapid pace, I want to ensure that all staff are given the tools they need to perform, I would love to see more Irish CIOs recognised in these types of rewards. One of the ways we are doing this is through the links we have created with CHIME. Being able to offer continuous development and access to a senior, expert network through CHIME puts our CIOs and clinical IT professionals at a significant advantage. We are excited by this relatively new partnership and see it truly giving us access to skills we could not get any other way.

     

    About CHIME
    The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organisation 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.

    Contact
    Michelle Patterson
    Director of Membership and Professional Development, CHIME
    734.665.0000
    [email protected]

     

    Posted 4.28.2017

  • Eye Care Leaders Selects Market Leading DrFirst for Medication Management & E-prescribing

    DrFirst technology to be integrated into ophthalmology electronic health record platforms, providing industry-leading clinical solutions

    ROCKVILLE, MD – April 27, 2017 — DrFirst, the market and innovative leader in delivering medication management solutions that improve clinical workflows, enable secure care collaboration and enhance patient safety, announces today that it has been selected by Eye Care Leaders (ECL), the leading provider of practice performance solutions for ophthalmologists and optometrists, to integrate its medication management and e-prescribing technology with ECL’s electronic health record (EHR) platforms. With the addition of Eye Care Leaders, 70% of the ophthalmologist market now participates on the DrFirst E-Medication Management platform.

    “Eye Care Leaders is at the forefront of ophthalmology, representing nearly half of all eye care physicians in the United States,” said G. Cameron Deemer, president of DrFirst. “EHR vendors, including Eye Care Leaders, need a forward-thinking partner. As an industry pioneer, DrFirst has proven its commitment to delivering ongoing innovation and world-class, 24×7 customer service that enables physicians to provide high-quality care instead of spending time with time-consuming, administrative tasks.”

    The average American fills 12 prescriptions per year, making medication management and e-prescribing a critical component of care delivery. Through DrFirst, ECL physicians gain access to a comprehensive platform that combines medication reconciliation and e-prescribing functionalities, including e-prescribing for controlled substances. Also included is DrFirst’s Patient Advisor, which allows physicians to better identify “at-risk” patients who have a history of non-adherence or clinical care gaps. Additionally, the solution empowers physicians to support patients between office visits with financial, behavioral and clinical resources that address patients’ specific conditions, treatments and self-management of disease.

    “We require partners that offer our customers enhanced clinical and operational efficiencies, around-the-clock, ‘always there’ physician support and a strategic view towards future market and regulatory requirements,” said Brent Michael, chief commercial officer of Eye Care Leaders. “Our decision to utilize DrFirst reflects our trust in the market leader for e-prescribing, which has demonstrated proven success in driving enhanced patient safety and outcomes.”

    As more physicians offer care in multiple settings, those using ECL’s EHR platforms will realize tangible outcomes through the mobile prescribing capabilities inherent in DrFirst’s solution. Furthermore, ECL will gain a collaborative relationship that drives more payer and manufacturer programs to its clinicians through prescription coupons and co-pay savings programs, reducing patient out-of-pocket costs and improving medication adherence.

    Integration with DrFirst will be available to Eye Care Leaders’ customers beginning late Summer 2017.

    About DrFirst
    DrFirst, the nation’s leading provider of medication management solutions, enables stakeholders across the healthcare industry to intelligently utilize comprehensive real-time data and connectivity to increase their patient safety ratings, efficiency and profitability. Today, over 170,000 healthcare professionals and over 60% of Electronic Health Record vendors, depend on DrFirst’s innovative software solutions to improve clinical workflows, expedite secure collaboration across a patient’s care team and drive better health outcomes. The company’s integrated technologies include its award-winning electronic prescribing platform, the most comprehensive medication history available, clinically specialized secure messaging, as well as patient medication adherence monitoring and benefits checking. In addition, DrFirst was the first to offer e-prescribing for controlled substances (EPCS), and is considered the industry standard for providers nationwide. For more information, please visit drfirst.com or connect with us @DrFirst.

    About Eye Care Leaders
    Eye Care Leaders (ECL) is a family of companies that serves more than 6,000 ophthalmologists and optometrists, with the common goal of improving the efficiency, profitability and competitiveness of eye care practices. ECL brings together the most trusted names in electronic health records including Medflow, Integrity EMR, MDoffice, ManagementPlus, IO Practiceware and EyeDoc, in addition to a comprehensive suite of business solutions including revenue cycle solutions, analytics and benchmarking, patient retention and acquisition and capital financing. With a sole focus on eye care, ECL understands the problems physicians face, and brings solutions to complex challenges to help practices reach their goals and succeed. For more information, please visit eyecareleaders.com or join us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

    Contact
    Stephanie Fraser
    Amendola Communications for DrFirst
    734.233.1483
    [email protected]

     

    Posted 4.27.2017

  • Inside CHIME: Healthcare CIO Boot Camp™ – Leadership Lessons and Beyond

    Inside CHIME - header

    4.27.17 by Summer O’Neill
    Director of Education, CHIME

    As a CHIME staff member, preparing for the Healthcare CIO Boot Camp™ often involves a lot of checklists. Making sure the supplies are packed. Checking handouts. Reviewing the agenda and coordinating with the onsite team. The faculty, even the most seasoned veterans, check their slides over and over, making sure they’ve used the right balance of theory and practice. They’ve sought feedback from trusted colleagues and they’ve carefully prepared a list of articles and books that will provide the right complement to their presentation materials. As the Boot Camp participants prepare to arrive, they are thinking about what they’ve signed up for, how this will help their career, and how they can possibly unplug from work for over three days.

    Despite all the rigorous preparation from faculty, staff and participants, something changes after that first night at Boot Camp. Suddenly, a group of travel-weary strangers begin to share stories and quickly realize that what they signed up for is not just another leadership program. Struggling with your EMR implementation and facing criticism from the CEO? Having trouble connecting with the CMIO? Challenged with instilling a shared vision within your team? All of the sudden stories become a way to find a common thread, and trusted relationships are formed. Faculty and staff listen intently and are reminded about the unique privilege we have. For us, this is one of the highlights of our year and makes the meticulous planning more than worth it. This is my seventh Boot Camp, and each is a special and unique experience.

    Earlier this month, over 65 healthcare IT leaders from across the country convened in the Windy City at the University of Chicago Gleacher Center. Representing small and large providers, and even the U.S. Army. Boot Campers left their daily lives behind to participate in compelling lectures, hands-on master case exercises and valuable one-on-one mentoring with Boot Camp faculty. Most importantly, they shared stories with each other, imparted advice and built a network of confidants and trusted peers that will last for years to come.

    The topics and themes shared by faculty were as diverse as the backgrounds and experiences they bring to Boot Camp. Faculty utilized impactful teachings from the world’s most trusted voices on strategy, change leadership, the customer experience, team engagement and building networks. But they also opened up to participants by sharing real-life stories of success and failure, taken from their experiences as early careerists to the different and more complex set of challenges as seasoned CIOs. Boot Campers also heard presentations on governance done right and the evolving role of the CIO. There was a call to action that encouraged everyone to get more involved with HIT policy and lead change. Above all, participants were reminded that serving patients and families is at the core of their work.

    Participants had the opportunity to grapple with real-life scenarios that defied previous assumptions and encouraged creative problem-solving. Moving from table to table, I observed small groups asking questions, debating answers and furiously writing notes while faculty leaders challenged the discussion and encouraged groups to “think like a CIO.”

    At the end of each day, Boot Campers did their best to “stump the faculty” by asking a myriad of questions about anything from embarking on a career change, to tackling a dysfunctional relationship, to the best books to read. The evenings were spent sharing stories and connecting with faculty. Groups huddled around cocktail tables smiled and laughed. Many made plans to grab dinner or explore the city.

    On the last day participants arrived after a family-style dinner the evening before, spinning with all the new information they had gained. Notebooks were filled with action items and book titles. Many made plans to meet with their CEO first thing after returning. Before saying good-bye, Boot Campers did some personal planning that will set the stage for their first days back home. While this special part of the program needs to be experienced first-hand, it never fails to be one of the most impactful and powerful aspects of the program.​

    Just a few of the sentiments shared before Boot Campers bid farewell:

    “This program has changed my life and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.”

    “Be ready for deep self-reflection to polish yourself into the diamond of a CIO you can be.”

    “Thank you for this visionary experience.”

    Faculty and staff gather one last time before parting ways, and year after year, faculty say the same thing: “We learned as much from them as they learned from us.”

    The next Healthcare CIO Boot Camp™ will be held directly preceding the CHIME17 Fall CIO Forum in San Antonio, TX, October 27-30. Learn more and register here.

    More Inside CHIME Volume 2, No. 9:

    Posted 4.27.2017

  • Inside CHIME: CMIO Leadership Academy Wrap Up

    Inside CHIME - header

    GeorgeReynolds B&W 4.27.17 by George Reynolds, MD, MMM, FAAP, CPHIMS, CHCIO
    Retired CIO & CMIO, Children’s Hospital & Medical Center, Omaha, NE

    The CMIO Leadership Academy (formerly known as the CMIO Boot Camp) was held at the University of Chicago’s Gleacher Center April 8-10. Built around six fundamental pillars, the jammed agenda seemed to fly by: strategic planning, change leadership, demonstrating value, creating effective teams, customer service as a core value and building networks and community.

    The faculty represented a diverse range of professional experiences and healthcare organizations. Marc Chasin, MD is the CIO and CMIO at St. Luke’s Health System in Boise, ID. Shawn Griffin, MD is the Chief Quality and Informatics Officer for The Memorial Hermann Physician Network in Houston, Texas. Natalie Pageler, MD is the CMIO at Stanford Children’s Health. Shafiq Rab, MD is the CIO at Rush University Health System. George Reynolds, MD was the CIO and CMIO at Children’s Hospital in Omaha, NE and now serves an adviser to provider organizations, Rick Skinner is the CIO at the University of Virgina Health System.

    Congrats to the CHIME CMIO Leadership Academy class of 2017 – a great group of physician HIT leaders growing their skills!

    The Academy participants were equally diverse representing organizations ranging from rural critical access facilities to large urban academic medical centers. Some had been in the CMIO role for many years, while others were brand new to the role or looking to step up to the role.

    The core of the course is a series of case studies all based on real-world situations CMIOs and other healthcare IT executives face every day. The Academy participants work in small groups with the faculty to solve problems. Inevitably, the participants share personal experiences that are directly related to the challenges presented in the case studies. While a leadership course could tilt toward the theoretical, the case studies assure the focus is entirely practical. The course participants said it best:

    “The real world examples are very helpful. Continue to be personal, vulnerable, and allow us to benefit from your experiences.”

    “This course exceeded my expectations; it was practical and hands on.”

    “Beyond my expectations – case studies are very valuable”.

    More Inside CHIME Volume 2, No. 9:

    Posted 4.27.2017

  • Doc Halo Raises $11 Million to Transform Real-Time Clinical Communication

    Series A funding led by Bain Capital Ventures

    CINCINNATI, OH – April 25, 2017 — Doc Halo, a pioneer in real-time clinical communication, today announced that it has raised $11 million in Series A funding, led by Bain Capital Ventures with additional investment from Refinery Ventures. This marks the first time Doc Halo has partnered with outside investors in its seven-year history. The funds will allow the company to accelerate growth and expand functionality of its award-winning healthcare communication technology.

    Doc Halo’s clinical communication platform is changing the way large health systems communicate and coordinate care by providing secure, HIPAA-compliant technology for physicians, nurses and staff. In addition to secure texting and VoIP calling, the platform also includes a full suite of tools to improve clinical workflow, such as schedule management, pager replacement, and critical lab integration. The technology addresses a vital challenge in healthcare: Nearly 80 percent of serious medical errors involve miscommunication during patient transfers, according to the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare.

    “Advances in real-time clinical communication are already demonstrating a tremendous impact on healthcare by reducing medical errors, increasing care efficiency and improving patient outcomes,” says Jose Barreau, MD, CEO and co-founder of Doc Halo. “A strong partnership with Bain Capital Ventures, a leading healthcare and technology investor, will enable us to continue to drive the industry forward.”

    Doc Halo recently earned a coveted KLAS Category Leader designation in the 2017 Best in KLAS: Software & Services report, ranking No. 1 among competitors in its category. With large health system clients that include University of Maryland Medical System, Trinity Health, Covenant Health, Hospital Sisters Health System and Asante, Doc Halo leads the industry in enterprise-wide implementations that connect the acute and ambulatory care environments.

    “Health systems have complex communication and care coordination requirements. Jose and team have created a tailor-made platform built by clinicians – making it easy to adopt within the clinical environment,” says Mike Krupka, managing director of Bain Capital Ventures. “We’re very impressed with the business and customer traction Doc Halo has established over the last seven years with limited capital. The early adoption by large clients speaks to the tremendous market opportunity as Doc Halo replaces antiquated systems with smart communication and care coordination technology. We expect this will grow into a multibillion-dollar market opportunity over the next 10 years.”

    Bain Capital Ventures has a long history of success in healthcare technology and services. Active portfolio companies include ABILITY Network (healthcare applications and data analytics), Apixio (healthcare data science), Quanterix (high-definition diagnostics), Remedy Partners (bundled payment SaaS and services), and Sansoro Health (data integration). Prior exits include Accelecare (Healogics); Boston Heart Diagnostics (Eurofins); Enclarity (LexisNexis); Humedica (UnitedHealth); Liazon (Towers Watson); Liberty Dialysis (Fresenius); MedeAnalytics (Thoma Bravo); MedHOK (Hearst); MinuteClinic (CVS); and National Cardiovascular Partners (Fresenius).

    About Bain Capital Ventures
    Bain Capital Ventures partners with disruptive B2B founders to accelerate their ideas to market. The firm invests from seed to growth in enterprise software, infrastructure software and industries being transformed by data. BCV has helped launch and commercialize 200-plus companies since 1984, including investments in DocuSign, Kiva Systems, LinkedIn, Rapid7, SurveyMonkey, Taleo and TellApart. BCV has approximately $3.7 billion of assets under management with offices in San Francisco, New York and Boston. Follow BCV via LinkedIn or Twitter.

    About Doc Halo
    Doc Halo’s clinical communication platform is transforming patient care by streamlining real-time communication among physicians, nurses and staff. The mobile app and online console provide secure, HIPAA-compliant texting. Robust care coordination tools integrate with hospital systems to allow instant access to EHRs, critical and clinical teams, on-call schedules, call centers, labs and directories. Exclusively designed for healthcare, the Doc Halo clinical communication platform is used by several of the most prestigious organizations in the country. For more information, visit dochalo.com.

    Contact
    Marnie Hayutin
    Director of Marketing, Doc Halo
    513.929.1922
    513.310.5858
    [email protected]

    Posted 4.25.2017

  • Vocera to Release Research Results from HIMSS17

    Findings show 51 percent of IT leaders collaborate with clinical peers before selecting new tech

    SAN JOSE, CA – April 24, 2017 — Vocera Communications, Inc. (NYSE:VCRA), a recognized leader in clinical communication and workflow solutions, conducted research with HIMSS Analytics during the 2017 HIMSS Conference and Exhibition, exploring how clinical and IT leaders collaborate to identify and deploy future healthcare technologies. Vocera worked closely with HIMSS Analytics to design and conduct the survey. Approximately 125 clinical and IT leaders from U.S. health systems, hospitals and outpatient facilities participated. Findings from the research will be released during a free virtual briefing on Tuesday, April 25, at 12 p.m. ET.

    “As healthcare technology evolves to play deeper roles in communication, workflow support, data capture and decision support, it is essential for clinical and IT leaders to collaborate and engage all stakeholders in the selection, design and deployment of these solutions,” said Liz Boehm, research director at Vocera.

    About 51 percent of IT leaders who participated in the survey reported collaborating with clinical peers to define requirements for selecting clinical technology systems, but only 14 percent said they consult with frontline team members to understand real-world workflows before beginning the selection process. Clinical leaders show a slightly higher likelihood to involve frontline teams (20 percent). Clinical and IT leaders agree that the most important value of healthcare technology is to help safeguard against clinical errors and ensure patient safety. However, clinical leaders are far more attuned to the impact clinical IT can have on streamlining workflows for frontline team members than are their IT peers.

    The survey also addressed burnout among clinicians as well as IT team members. While much of the healthcare industry focuses on care team burnout, IT professionals are not immune. Only 9 percent of IT respondents reported that they and their teams are burned out at all, with the rest being moderately or extremely burned out by the demands of supporting clinical IT selection, implementation and management. The survey also revealed that greater collaboration between these two groups can help foster solutions for reducing burnout for both.

    Additional research findings will be shared by Boehm and Bryn Fiekers, senior director of research services at HIMSS Analytics, during the virtual briefing hosted by Vocera and HIMSS Analytics on April 25.

    About Vocera
    The mission of Vocera Communications, Inc. is to simplify and improve the lives of healthcare professionals and patients, while enabling hospitals to enhance quality of care and operational efficiency. In 2000, when the company was founded, we began to forever change the way care teams communicate. Today, Vocera continues to offer the leading platform for clinical communication and workflow. In more than 1,400 hospitals and health systems around the world, care teams use our solutions to text securely using smartphones or make calls with our hands-free, wearable Vocera Badge. Interoperability between our platform and more than 120 clinical systems helps reduce alarm fatigue, speed up staff response times, and improve patient care, safety and experience. In addition to healthcare, Vocera is at home in luxury hotels, nuclear facilities, libraries, retail stores and more. Vocera makes a difference in any industry where workers are on the move and need to connect instantly with team members and access resources or information quickly. Learn more at vocera.com, and follow @VoceraComm on Twitter.

    The Vocera logo is a trademark of Vocera Communications, Inc. Vocera® is a trademark of Vocera Communications, Inc. registered in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other trademarks appearing in this release are the property of their respective owners.

    About HIMSS Analytics
    HIMSS Analytics is a global healthcare advisor, providing guidance and market intelligence solutions that move the industry forward with insight to enable better health through the use of IT. As a trusted healthcare research and advisory firm, the industry depends on HIMSS Analytics’ resources, benchmarks, predictive models and assessment tools to improve decision making regarding their IT strategic roadmap and market strategy.

    HIMSS Analytics is uniquely positioned and differentiated through its industry focused offerings which include its Healthcare IT market intelligence tool, Healthcare IT insights and Healthcare IT benchmarks and services. The LOGIC market intelligence tool has the largest technology data set with unmatched breadth and depth needed for guiding healthcare IT strategies. HIMSS Analytics research and advisory consultants uncover unique insights on how to optimally use IT to tackle today’s healthcare challenges faced by both healthcare delivery organizations and IT companies. Its EMR Adoption Model (EMRAM) provides a strategic roadmap and guidance along an 8-stage model with comparisons to healthcare organizations in the same country and around the world.

    HIMSS Analytics, a wholly owned subsidiary of HIMSS, is the healthcare research and advisory firm for healthcare delivery organizations, IT companies, governmental entities, and financial, pharmaceutical, consulting and emerging technology solution partners worldwide.

    Contact
    Amendola Communications for Vocera
    Tara Stultz
    440.225.9595
    [email protected]

     

    Posted 4.24.2017

  • Health Catalyst Wins Gallup Great Workplace Award for Second Year in a Row

    Award winners’ ratio of engaged employees to actively disengaged employees is more than 15 times higher than the international average

    SALT LAKE CITY, UT – April 24, 2017 — Health Catalyst, a leader in data analytics, decision support and outcomes improvement, is one of 37 global companies to receive the 2017 Gallup Great Workplace Award. The award was created to recognize organizations for their extraordinary ability to create engaged workplace cultures that drive business outcomes.

    Health Catalyst joins a prestigious group of organizations that average a ratio of 14 engaged employees to one actively disengaged employee, which is more than seven times the rate in the U.S. and more than 15 times the rate for workforces globally. Gallup research shows that worldwide, just 16% of employees are engaged in their jobs—meaning they are highly involved in and enthusiastic about their work and are psychological “owners” who drive performance and innovation to move the organization forward.

    First named to the list in 2016, Health Catalyst remains the only healthcare technology company and one of the few technology companies of any kind to win the award, which premiered in 2007. Other previous and current Great Workplace Award winners include CarMax, Charles Schwab, Cleveland Clinic, Hyatt Hotels, Intermountain HealthCare, Nationwide Insurance, Wells Fargo and other international brands.

    “We are honored to be recognized again as one of the world’s most engaging workplaces by Gallup,” said Health Catalyst CEO Dan Burton. “Our mission of enabling massive healthcare improvements through the use of data and analytics is one that attracts smart, hardworking and humble people. There’s nothing more engaging than seeing firsthand how your work is helping more people get better medical care, while improving the efficiency of great teams of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals.”

    Gallup’s rigorous scientific research links employee engagement to nine integral performance outcomes: customer metrics, profitability, productivity, turnover, employee and patient safety incidents, shrinkage, absenteeism, and quality. Companies with this winning combination have a competitive edge — organizations with highly engaged workforces can grow at a rate that is 4.3 times greater than that of their competitors.

    “The world’s top-performing organizations help lead the global economy by engaging their workforces,” said Jim Harter, Ph.D., Gallup’s chief scientist of workplace management and well-being. “Gallup’s Great Workplace Award winners understand and acknowledge the importance of employee engagement by making it a vital part of their organization while using it as a driving force to create real business outcomes.”

    The Gallup honor is one of 26 regional and national “best workplace” awards earned by Health Catalyst, including awards from Glassdoor, Fortune, Forbes, Inc., Entrepreneur, Modern Healthcare, and the Salt Lake Tribune.

    Health Catalyst has multiple job openings across all locations. Interested candidates can see available positions and submit applications at healthcatalyst.com/job-openings.

    About Gallup
    Gallup delivers analytics and advice to help leaders and organizations solve their most pressing problems. Combining more than 80 years of experience with its global reach, Gallup knows more about the attitudes and behaviors of employees, customers, students and citizens than any other organization in the world. Gallup works with leaders and organizations to achieve breakthroughs in customer engagement, employee engagement, organizational culture and identity, leadership development, talent-based assessments, entrepreneurship and well-being.

    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 4.24.2017

  • King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center Goes Live With GetWellNetwork for Interactive Patient Care

    Renowned tertiary referral center becomes first in Middle East to leverage GetWellNetwork for patient & family engagement in the hospital

    BETHESDA, MD – April 20, 2017 — GetWellNetwork®, Inc., the leader in Interactive Patient Care™ (IPC) solutions, today announced that King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSH&RC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, successfully completed IPC implementation at its new King Abdullah Centre for Oncology & Liver Diseases – a 300-bed, state-of-the-art specialty hospital designed to care for patients with complex cancer and liver disease from all over the world.

    The King Abdullah Centre for Oncology & Liver Diseases provides a highly innovative and specialized care environment with the latest advances in patient care technology. KFSH&RC is the first in the region to implement IPC with GetWellNetwork as a centerpiece to care delivery.

    “The use of GetWellNetwork at KFSH&RC showcases the full capabilities and benefits of our IPC system,” said David Wright, senior vice president, Government & International Services, GetWellNetwork. “KFSH&RC represents a best-in-class example of the planning, implementation and management of an IPC strategy in the Middle East. We are pleased and honored to partner with KFSH&RC to transform the quality of care and the patient experience, ultimately resulting in improved patient satisfaction and outcomes.”

    In keeping with its commitment to innovation, KFSH&RC is utilizing a comprehensive array of GetWellNetwork capabilities and resources to bring a state-of-the-art IPC experience to its patients and staff. KFSH&RC is leveraging multiple IPC Pathways and numerous HIT interfaces, including education orders and results, medication teaching, pain reassessment, meal ordering, staff identification through RTLS and staff notifications. KFSH&RC designed the Pathways to meet the special needs and cultural nuances of the hospital. In addition, content on the GetWellNetwork system is fully translated into Arabic, and patients are able to navigate with a unique wireless keyboard that has both English and Arabic keys.

    “At KFSH&RC we seize every opportunity to complement our high-quality health care services with tools and means to enhance our patient’s experience when they need it most, and I’m sure the GetWellNetwork product will be a centerpiece in this journey,” said Dr. Al-Swailem, CIO, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, in remarks given during the opening ceremony of the new hospital.

    About GetWellNetwork
    GetWellNetwork®, Inc. powers patient experience. Our solution, The Patient’s Platform, helps leading health care systems create connections with patients in any setting, deliver insights to clinicians in real time, and transform care through an evidence-based model for patient engagement. Our open technology integrates with electronic health record and IT applications to extend the value of existing investments and expand the possibilities of care. With more than 50 million patient interactions per year, we drive performance improvement, positive outcomes and patient loyalty. Learn more at getwellnetwork.com.

    Contact
    Marcia Rhodes
    Amendola Communications
    [email protected] / 480.664.8412 ext. 15

    GetWellNetwork, Inc.
    7700 Old Georgetown Road, 4th Floor
    Bethesda, MD 20814-2500
    877.633.8496
    [email protected]

    Posted 4.20.2017

  • Siemens Healthineers Supports Population Health Management with Planned Acquisition of Medicalis

    MALVERN, PA – April 19, 2017 —

    • Siemens Healthineers has signed an agreement to acquire Medicalis Corporation to expand Population Health Management portfolio
    • Medicalis’ expertise and solutions provide workflow orchestration and clinical decision support to health systems
    • Offerings expected to deliver desired service levels at lower costs while improving quality and productivity for healthcare providers

    Siemens Healthineers plans to expand its Population Health Management (PHM) portfolio with the acquisition of Medicalis Corporation based in San Francisco and Kitchener, Ontario.  Medicalis is a leading provider of Clinical Decision Support (CDS) Solutions at the point of order entry, Imaging Workflow (IW) management, and Referral Management (RM). By incorporating these offerings into its PHM portfolio, Siemens Healthineers will enable healthcare providers to effectively bridge between PHM at the health system level and at the departmental level.  With an expanded focus on PHM, as well as a new name that underlines the company’s pioneering spirit and engineering expertise, Siemens Healthineers—the separately managed healthcare business of Siemens AG—is helping healthcare providers worldwide meet current challenges and excel in their respective environments.

    “The mission of Siemens Healthineers is to be the trusted partner enabling health systems and healthcare providers worldwide to improve medical outcomes and reduce costs,” says Matthias Platsch, Head of Services, Siemens Healthineers. “The addition of Medicalis’ technology solutions to the Siemens Healthineers portfolio complements and supports our offerings in Population Health Management and Value-Based Healthcare, a key priority for our ongoing expansion through our Services business.”

    The newly-acquired Population Health Management portfolio will extend the Siemens Healthineers strategy for Value-Based Healthcare across the health system enterprise and hospital departmental levels:

    • Clinical Decision Support provides the mechanism, as defined under the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (PAMA), to check appropriateness of imaging orders and enables healthcare providers to define and evolve their standard of care, according to their appropriate use criteria (AUC), based on evidence and best practice. Today, 20%–30% of high-tech imaging procedures fail to provide information that improves patient welfare and, therefore, may represent, at least in part, unnecessary imaging services.
    • Imaging Workflow orchestrates the interpreting physician desktop, streamlining workflow, and standardization of diagnostic pathways for high-impact disease states. It ensures the right specialist, the right tools, a timely read, and prevention of care gaps.
    • Referral Management helps to avoid breaks in care by providing simple appointment scheduling tools, which help a patient schedule examinations in their network. This avoids leakage of patient information to another health system, which breaks communication and causes lost revenue.

    In the short term, the solutions developed by Medicalis are expected to address the immediate need for consolidating providers to orchestrate and standardize their imaging workflow and to achieve compliance with the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, expected to become effective on January 1, 2018, which mandates consultation of appropriateness CDS at the point of order for certain advanced imaging tests. Siemens Healthineers believes these solutions will enable providers to achieve PAMA compliance while retaining control over the content, allowing them to move beyond simple compliance towards truly establishing an evolving standard of care based on evidence and direct health system experience.

    “The acquisition of Medicalis will allow us to offer healthcare providers a powerful solution to define, implement, monitor, and evolve their own standard of care for their diagnostic service line,” says Robert Taylor, Head of Digital Services Population Health Management, Digital Health Services, Siemens Healthineers.  “We are excited to support our customers with these innovative tools to remove the variability from key high-impact disease states, to create standardized diagnostic pathways which enhance outcomes, control costs, and when combined with intelligent referral management, improve the patient experience overall.”

    The solutions developed by Medicalis allow networks of hospitals (Health Systems/Integrated Delivery Networks) to improve physician productivity, manage patient referrals, and scheduling to enhance the relationship with the patient and ensure clinically appropriate imaging and tests to reduce inappropriate utilization.  Currently, seven of the top 25 Health Systems from Massachusetts to California use solutions developed by Medicalis to increase the quality of care they offer to patients.

    “We are eager to be joining Siemens Healthineers and believe that this is a strong fit for our company because of our shared values and pioneering heritage,” says Oran Muduroglu, CEO of Medicalis Corporation. “With Siemens Healthineers, we will be able to broaden the context of our decision support, workflow, and referral management to utilize the full spectrum of diagnostic and therapeutic areas in which Siemens Healthineers operates, to address care gaps, streamline workflow, and help improve the overall experience of healthcare.”

    The agreement to acquire the San Francisco, CA, USA and Kitchener, ON, Canada-based company by Siemens Healthineers was signed in April 2017.  Terms of the transaction are not disclosed.  The closing of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions.

     

    Siemens Healthineers is the separately managed healthcare business of Siemens AG enabling healthcare providers worldwide to meet their current challenges and to excel in their respective environments. A leader in medical technology, Siemens Healthineers is constantly innovating its portfolio of products and services in its core areas of diagnostic and therapeutic imaging and in laboratory diagnostics and molecular medicine. Siemens Healthineers is also actively developing its digital health services and enterprise services. To help customers succeed in today’s dynamic healthcare marketplace, Siemens Healthineers is championing new business models that maximize opportunity and minimize risk for healthcare providers.

    In fiscal 2016, which ended on September 30, 2016, Siemens Healthineers generated revenue of €13.5 billion and net income of over €2.3 billion and has about 46,000 employees worldwide. Further information is available at siemens.com/healthineers.

    Contact
    Lance Longwell
    610.448.6341
    [email protected]

    Posted 4.19.2017

  • Pursuit Healthcare Advisors Announces Partnership with Industry’s Only Provider of Subscription-Based, Enterprise Wide, Integrated Reporting

    PHILADELPHIA, PA – April 18, 2017 — Pursuit Healthcare Advisors, LLC (Pursuit) is pleased to announce a new partnership with Polaris Strategic Solutions, Inc. (Polaris) whose services and toolkit will complement Pursuit’s own solutions.

    Polaris was founded with the goal of eliminating obstacles which prevent many hospitals and health systems from implementing a true enterprise-wide reporting and analytics system. Their innovative approach combines accessing an organization’s data across multiple vendor software platforms with aggregating that data into custom reports which are flexible, dynamic, and responsive on-demand.

    “We believe the combination of Polaris’ expertise and tools make data actionable” says Robin Shine, Managing Partner for Pursuit. “When coupled with Pursuit’s solutions, hospitals can better address business issues and recognize new opportunities. The growing challenges of changing regulation, mergers and acquisitions, and better clinical outcomes are more manageable with reliable enterprise information.”

    This partnership is part of Pursuit’s mission to provide 360 degrees of Enterprise Health Information, otherwise known as EHi360˚. EHi360˚ is making it easier for providers to approach their patient care goals in a holistic manner by offering comprehensive services and solutions that scale based on a healthcare system’s unique needs.

    Polaris’ President John Orefice says, “Our affordable, subscription-based model of providing access to disparate data with flexible, interactive reports and daily updates, breaks the traditional model of high-cost, static data-analytics. We are excited to partner with Pursuit because their program is a perfect accompaniment to our unique service.”

    About Polaris Strategic Services
    Polaris is a Healthcare Analytics service specializing in custom reports and dashboards for Quality & Value, Clinical Productivity, Financial Optimization, Physician Performance, Population Health, and much more. Polaris makes business analytics meaningful, driving clients to more informed decisions against a backdrop of unprecedented industry change. From identifying key metrics and in-depth analysis vital to healthcare organizations, to designing and building custom dashboards and healthcare management reports that provide clients with the information they need in the way they want to see it, Polaris is there every step of the way. For more information, visit PolarisStrategic.com.

    About Pursuit Healthcare Advisors, LLC
    Pursuit Healthcare Advisors, LLC (Pursuit) is focused on fostering a supportive and educational environment as well as creating opportunities for their employees to make a difference where they work. Pursuit is pleased to work with some of the most forward thinking organizations to help data become usable information – and have secure access to that information in a dynamic and mobile delivery. Together Pursuit helps health enterprises, clinicians, and patients achieve success in this environment thereby improving care delivery, business performance, and health outcomes. It’s simple, at Pursuit, it’s all about Ü. For more information, visit pursuithealthcare.com.

    Posted 4.18.2017

  • Inside CHIME: CHIME-KLAS Report Highlights Trends in Cybersecurity Protocols

    Inside CHIME - header

    Although C-suites and boards are paying more attention to cybersecurity, a new CHIME-KLAS report shows that there is room to grow.

    CHIME and KLAS earlier this year released an important study benchmarking how provider organizations are responding to increased cybersecurity risks. The report, “Cybersecurity 2017: Healthcare Provider Security Assessment,” not only assessed what technologies providers are using to shore up their defenses, but also highlighted how boards and executive teams are confronting the issue.

    According the report, 42 percent of surveyed 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 in their program development.

    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).

    CHIME members can download a PDF of the report by logging into the CHIME site.

    More Inside CHIME Volume 2, No. 8:

    Posted 4.13.2017

  • Inside CHIME: Looking to Get Engaged in Advocacy? Check Out CHIME’s Policy Playbook

    Inside CHIME - header

    Your voices matter in Washington, D.C. Lawmakers and policymakers want to know how their decisions impact people on the frontline. CHIME Policy Playbook offers a 101 on how you can get engaged. 

    Read the CHIME Policy Playbook

    Although efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act have stalled, there’s no shortage of attention to critical healthcare issues in Washington, D.C. From interoperability and standards to cybersecurity to implementation of MACRA and the 21st Century Cures Act, policy- and lawmakers have their hands full. Importantly, President Trump recently assembled his health IT policy team. Donald Rucker, M.D., has reportedly been tapped to head the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). Meanwhile, John Fleming, M.D, a former U.S. representative, will serve as deputy assistant secretary for health technology. Fleming purportedly will report to Rucker.

    As action on health IT picks up in Washington, it’s important that CHIME members get engaged. Members of Congress and regulators want – and need to – hear from people on the frontline. Given the immense challenges facing the industry, CHIME’s public policy team developed the CHIME Policy Playbook. This document not only outlines CHIME’s policy priorities, but, importantly details how members can engage with Congress and key federal agencies. CHIME’s D.C. team – Leslie Krigstein and Mari Savickis – are ready to assist if you want to become more active in public policy and advocacy.

    More Inside CHIME Volume 2, No. 8:

    Posted 4.13.2017
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