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Cumberland Consulting Group Named One of the Top Healthcare Employers for Fifth Straight Year
Since 2012, Cumberland’s employee base has more than doubled, and the firm has completed three acquisitions to expand its services in the healthcare payer, provider and life sciences markets. Currently, Cumberland employs more than 425 professionals nationwide.
“At Cumberland, we value our team members’ feedback and continually strive to offer opportunities for employee engagement,” said Brian Cahill, CEO of Cumberland. “Modern Healthcare’s annual survey has a strong reputation for providing a comprehensive view of the top healthcare employers, and we are proud to be among the 2017 honorees.”
Modern Healthcare partnered with Best Companies Group for its assessment process. The ranked order will be revealed Sept. 28 during Modern Healthcare’s awards gala, and the list will be featured in a special supplement to be published along with the magazine’s Oct. 2 issue.
About Cumberland Consulting Group
Founded in 2004, Cumberland Consulting Group is a leading healthcare consulting firm that helps some of the nation’s largest payer, provider and life sciences organizations implement and optimize technologies to maximize operational efficiency. We offer our clients comprehensive consulting services with a focus on strategic advisory, implementation, optimization and outsourcing. For more information, visit cumberlandcg.com or follow us on Twitter at @CumberlandCG.
Contact
Cumberland Consulting Group
Jennifer Montlary
615.373.4470
[email protected]Posted 5.31.2017 -
Impact Advisors Named to the Healthcare Informatics 100 List
CHICAGO, IL – May 30, 2017 — Impact Advisors, LLC, a leading provider of healthcare information services, today announced that it has been ranked on the annual Healthcare Informatics 100 list of the highest revenue-earning healthcare IT companies.
The Healthcare Informatics 100 list ranks the leading 100 vendors with the highest revenues derived from healthcare IT products and services earned in the U.S. The list is a compilation of the top health IT companies based on HIT revenues from the most recent fiscal year. To view the list, click here.
“We are honored to be ranked among the Healthcare Informatics 100 list,” said Maria Smith, Chief Financial Officer at Impact Advisors. “We attribute our continued growth to the hard work and integrity of our associates and their unwavering dedication to providing dynamic solutions for our clients.”
Impact Advisors adds this latest honor to a growing list of prestigious awards that includes being named Best in KLAS for eight consecutive years, Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work in Healthcare and Inc. 5000’s Fastest Growing Companies. In addition, Vice President, Lydon Neumann recently received honors as one of Consulting Magazine’s Top 25 Consultants of 2017.
For more information on Impact Advisors, visit impact-advisors.com or visit the company on Facebook facebook.com/impactadvisors.
About Impact Advisors, LLC
Impact Advisors is a nationally recognized healthcare information technology consulting firm that is solving some of the toughest challenges in the industry by delivering strategic advisory, implementation and optimization services. Our comprehensive suite of patient access, clinical and revenue cycle services span the lifecycle of our clients’ needs. Our experienced team has a powerful combination of clinical, revenue, operations, consulting, and IT experience. The firm has earned a number of prestigious industry and workplace awards including Best in KLAS® for eight consecutive years, Healthcare Informatics HCI 100, Crain’s Chicago Business Fast Fifty, as well as “best place to work” awards from: Modern Healthcare, Consulting Magazine, Becker’s Hospital Review and Achievers. For more information about Impact Advisors, visit impact-advisors.com.Contact
RoseAnn Haedt
Chartwell Agency
815.742.0573
[email protected]Posted 5.30.2017 -
Vital to Address Specialized Workflow & Efficiency Challenges at SIIM 2017
Collaborating to improve interoperability & enable evidence-based decisions
MINNEAPOLIS,MN – May 30, 2017 — An industry expert from Vital Images, Inc. (Vital) is participating in a discussion with the healthcare community on specialized workflow and efficiency challenges at SIIM 2017, June 1-3, Pittsburgh, PA.
Tim Dawson, Vice President of Engineering at Vital, a Minneapolis-based advanced medical imaging and informatics company, will participate in the educational program, #AskIndustry Sessions, where vendors and SIIM attendees interact to gain valuable insights and find ways to collaboratively solve challenges frequently faced by organizations. Dawson is representing Vital on Friday, June 1 in Exhibit Hall Theater B as part of the annual meeting of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine where Vital is hosting an exhibit (booth 323).
Entitled Challenges and Solutions: Enterprise-wide Access of Diagnostic and Clinical Images, the session will address how to provide access to enterprise imaging and effectively integrate it within the EMR, other portals and imaging informatics solutions. The session will also explore interoperability, diagnostic interpretation, and clinical and mobile use cases.
“We’re looking forward to teaming up with the community of experts at SIIM to continue developing strategic partnerships and work together to solve today’s complex healthcare challenges,” says Tim Dawson.
Along with showcasing its modular, enterprise-wide imaging portfolio, Vital is presenting two new solutions to expand its enterprise suite including a specialized image management workflow solution and a predictive analytics solution. The specialized image management workflow is a fully aware monitoring and retrieval technology allowing for centralized access to images that are in disparate PACS. Engineered to support multi-site and unaffiliated entities, a wide range of capabilities are available including patient matching, DICOM data alignment, pre-fetch and distribution. Vital will also demonstrate a work-in-progress predictive financial analytics application that helps healthcare leaders see the future financial success of their imaging businesses and receive recommendations for achieving revenue and cost saving opportunities.
For more information about the #AskIndustry Session and Vital’s presence at SIIM visit vitalimages.com/events/siim-2017/.
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, Facebook and YouTube.Contact:
Ric Ament
Marketing Communications Manager
[email protected]
vitalimages.comPosted 5.30.2017 -
Vocera Honored as a Top Healthcare IT Provider on Two Prestigious Industry Lists
Revenue & growth of company are key drivers for national rankings
SAN JOSE, CA – May 26, 2017 — Vocera Communications, Inc. (NYSE:VCRA), a recognized leader in clinical communication and workflow solutions, has earned coveted spots on two national healthcare IT lists because of its financial performance and growing market share. Vocera was named to the 2017 IDC Health Insights HealthTech Rankings Top 50, which spotlights leading global IT suppliers to healthcare payers and providers. The company also made The Healthcare Informatics 100 list, which marks the seventh year in a row Vocera has made this list.
For more than 20 years, Healthcare Informatics has ranked the 100 top vendors with the highest revenues derived from healthcare IT products and services. The list provides a financial overview of vendors active in the healthcare IT market.
To help technology end users and IT suppliers make strategic decisions, IDC Health Insights composes its Top 50 list by systematically collecting global healthcare IT revenue information and tracking growth of the largest industry IT vendors. The data is analyzed by IDC Health Insights analysts that use their understanding of global trends and industry activities to create meaningful rankings.
“This notable recognition by IDC Health Insights and Healthcare Informatics is a testament to our strength and growth in the healthcare technology market,” said Brent Lang, president and CEO of Vocera. “It’s rewarding to receive accolades for a strategy that is driven by our mission to improve the well-being of patients, families and care teams in hospitals across the country.”
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. More than 1,400 hospitals and health systems around the world have selected our solutions for care teams to text securely using smartphones or make calls with our hands-free, wearable Vocera Badge. Interoperability between Vocera 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.Contact
Tara Stultz
Amendola Communications
440.225.9595
[email protected]Posted 5.26.2017 -
DrFirst Presents An Intelligent Medication Management Showcase At MEDITECH’s 2017 International MUSE Conference
ROCKVILLE, MD – May 25, 2017 — DrFirst, the market leader in delivering intelligent medication management solutions that improve patient safety, announced its sponsorship of MEDITECH’s 2017 International MUSE Conference supported by a series of showcase events. DrFirst executives will present at a total of seven educational sessions and product showcases during the weeklong conference of the electronic health record (EHR) vendor’s largest user group meeting. The conference takes place May 30 through June 2 at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas.
In addition to the speaking sessions, DrFirst will be offering pre-scheduled medication reconciliation data quality improvement analysis reviews where MEDITECH users can identify their specific opportunity for medication history quality improvement. DrFirst will review the users’ actual data to identify the percentage data quality gain that can be achieved, driving fewer mistakes, lower adverse drug events (ADEs) and readmissions. MEDITECH users must respond prior to the conference to secure one of the limited timeslots available.
These presentations will explore key aspects of intelligent medication management, addressing best practices that will bring e-prescribing to the next level and enable organizations to optimize the use of data to gain clinical efficiencies and enhance patient safety.
Educational Sessions:
Title: Medication Reconciliation Stages of Excellence
Education Track: CEU Pharmacy
Presenters: Brad Block, president of DrFirst’s The IN Group
Theresa Palasota, program manager
Date and time: Friday, June 2, at 9:30 am CTTitle: Taming Your Dose Alerts
Education Track: CEU Pharmacy
Presenter: Chuck Bedel, PharmD, RPh, senior consultant
Date and time: Friday, June 2, at 10:30 am CTProduct Showcases:
Title: In-Workflow PDMP Access for Controlled Substance E-Prescribing
Presenter: George Pappas, chief operating officer
Date and time: Wednesday, May 31, at 1:00 pm CTTitle: Pharmacy Best Practices
Presenters: Brad Block, president of DrFirst’s The IN Group
Chuck Bedel, PharmD, RPh, senior consultant
Date and time: Wednesday, May 31, at 3:00 pm CTTitle: Medication Reconciliation Best Practices
Presenters: Brad Block, president of DrFirst’s The IN Group
Theresa Palasota, program manager
Date and time: Thursday, June 1, at 9:00 am CTTitle: The Bright Future of Smart Healthcare Data
Presenters: Don Carpenter, informatics analyst, St. Clair St. Claire Regional Medical Center
David Sellers, senior product solution expert
Date and time: Thursday, June 1, at 1:00 pm CTTitle: Connecting the Dots on Patient Care
Presenter: Linda Fischer, senior director of product solutions
Date and time: Thursday, June 1, at 3:00 pm CTDrFirst will also showcase its medication management solutions and highlight customer successes at booth number 528. For more information visit drfirst.com/muse2017.
To secure a Medication History Data Quality Analysis Review, conference attendees should visit drfirst.com/muse2017 to pre-schedule a timeslot.
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.Contact
Jenna Warner
Amendola Communications
480.664.8412 x 19
[email protected]Posted 5.25.2017 -
Inside CHIME: National Patient ID Challenge Finalists Enter Prototype Testing Round
5.25.17 by Barb Sivek
Vice President, Business Services, CHIME
Interim Vice President, CHIME Foundation
Last Monday marked an important milestone in the CHIME Healthcare Innovation Trust National Patient ID Challenge, as we announced the four finalists that will be advancing on to the prototype testing round of the competition. We received submissions from around the world, showcasing cutting-edge solutions. The dedication to addressing the lack of a national patient identification solution demonstrated by the submissions proves that there are many worthwhile ideas and the potential solution for error-proof patient identification becomes closer to a reality every day. Our judging panel was impressed by the quality of the solutions developed to solve an issue that has plagued healthcare for decades.
The finalists are:
- Michael Braithwaite’s proposal achieves patient identification through the use of multiple biometric technologies.
- Bon Sy’s proposed solution identifies patients by analyzing a combination of behavioral and biometric information.
- Team HarmonIQ Health System’s proposed solution uses blockchain, public ledger, FHIR and encryption/hashing technologies to identify patients.
- Team RightPatient’s innovation uses photos, biometric third-party and other data, to enable patient identification.
The ingenuity and originality of all the proposed solutions for the CHIME Healthcare Innovation Trust National Patient ID Challenge were impressive. The top four finalists, however, exhibited an extraordinary level of innovation, adoptability and implementation in creating a viable solution to solve this critical patient safety issue.
The finalists will now enter the Prototype Testing Round of the competition which is expected to last for several months. The goal is to announce a final winner in November of 2017.
We also congratulate FactNexus Health and GPII Spiral Nebula as semi-finalists in the Challenge. These semi-finalists submitted well-developed submissions, but were not selected to advance to the next phase of the competition.
Again, we’d like to congratulate the finalists who are advancing into the next round! We would also like to thank the semi-finalists and all of those who submitted proposals.
We hope you will continue to monitor the outcome of the Challenge as we continue on the path toward awarding the $1 million prize to the solution that best meets the CHIME Healthcare Innovation Trust National Patient ID Challenge criteria.
- Read the official press release
- Follow the Challenge at herox.com/nationalpatientidchallenge
More Inside CHIME Volume 2, No. 11:
- It’s All in the Details – Amy MacDonald
- This Week’s Washington Debrief (3.22.17)
Posted 5.25.2017 -
Inside CHIME: It’s All in the Details
5.25.17
By Amy McDonald, CHIME Communications
CHIME member using analytics, electronic documents and a passion for leadership to streamline and improve the largest medical transport fleet in the US.
David Kleinman, VP of IT, American Medical Response
What started out as a job building computers to help pay for college expenses has evolved into a career that places David Kleinman on the forefront of healthcare information technology. As the Vice President of Information Technology at American Medical Response (AMR), Kleinman is responsible for connecting a company that is over 25,000 employees strong. Keeping a fleet of more than 6,000 air and land vehicles equipped with the latest medical technology and moving where they are needed most is no easy task, but David Kleinman lives by the phrase, “love what you do, and you’ll never work a day in your life,” so he rarely goes to “work”. He leaves every morning to be around people he cares about and uses his skills as a technology leader to improve the care for hundreds of thousands of Americans. In fact, AMR has more than 2.1 million patient interactions a year.
“AMR is one of the largest and most diverse mobile medical response organizations. All of our clinicians are mobile, which creates an enormous challenge in delivering quality technology,” he said. “We use computer dispatch systems, electronic health records and a whole suite of different systems to get important technology out in the field to raise the efficiency level of our clinicians and care for our patients.”
One of the biggest ways Kleinman is leading AMR to greater efficiency is through data analytics. As emergency vehicles are now equipped with real-time tracking technology, implemented algorithms can sift through the data to predict where their services might be needed. “Our system can look at traffic flow in any given service area or city, and using analytics, look at places we get the most calls, and then strategically position ambulances to arrive on site in a timely manner.” Kleinman explains. What may seem like a small adjustment is actually saving precious moments in the delivery of healthcare that could mean the difference between life and death for some patients.
When he stepped into healthcare after college, technology was just something for back offices, or used as a basic tool in direct patient care. The healthcare tech boom of the early 2000’s drastically changed the landscape of how care is handled and seen, and with improvements of wireless and instant connection, emergency services are getting smarter in multiple facets of providing services. “We moved to fully electronic patient care records a few years ago, and CADS (computer-aided dispatch system) has been able to efficiently dispatch our resources and assets on a national scale.”
However, the immediate response personnel are not the only ones who have benefited from the improvements, as Kleinman notes. “We have over 50 911 call centers, from secondary PSAPs to assisting local municipalities, which dispatch both fire services and emergency medical response.” Technology improvements have allowed this kind of outside contract work to take place, whichintegrates local governments with the private sector working together. AMR has also implemented newly developed software throughout the organization “from training, back office, credentialing, patient care records, and mobile records,” Kleinman said. And a partnership with AMR and companies such as Microsoft have allowed a wider use of standard hardware such as tablets and mobile devices.
It has always been important to Kleinman to provide the best for AMR staff as they stretch across 42 states and boast an international presence. “It’s important to stay on the cutting edge of technology, to bring solutions back to our medical base, understand how we can help our clinicans become more efficient, and ensure we have a thorough understanding of the people involved in that process. My job is to stay in the know in technological improvements and apply those improvements to improve patient care”.
When a first responder can look down at their tablet and see the records of a patient, they are able to administer proper drugs with confidence, knowing they are not risking inadvertent allergic reactions, and they gain overall peace of mind that there is every measure being taken to ensure patients are receiving the best care possible. Quality patient care is at the heart of AMR and at the forefront of David Kleinman’s goals for his IT team.
“I’m passionate about my team, passionate about helping people love what they do,” Kleinman said. “The quote ‘Love what you do and you’ll never work a day in your life’ sums it up well, I want them to get to that point, I want all my team members to love what they do every day.” Truly a leader at AMR, he is also passionate about helping employees find a healthy work-life balance. Setting the example himself, he enjoys all kinds of outdoor activities, including hiking in the beautiful Colorado Rockies, and spending time with his family.
A lifelong learner and avid reader, Kleinman fit right in at CHIME’s Healthcare CIO Boot Camp, where CIOs from all sectors of healthcare converge for a conference to address the unique challenges of a niche and rapidly evolving job–the event that was Kleinman’s final prompt for joining CHIME. In a friendly and collaborative environment, he found people who shared his goals, understood obstacles, and pushed conventional ideas forward to find innovative solutions.
“When it’s all said and done, I like to talk and communicate and work with CIOs, and together become better at what we do, and find solutions across the industry instead of competing. We are better together than we are separated, and CHIME brings us all together.”
More Inside CHIME Volume 2, No. 11:
Posted 5.25.2017 -
Study: Real-Time Analytics, Continuous Monitoring Mitigates Threat of Respiratory Depression
Peer-reviewed results of patented surveillance application reveals promise of real-time patient safety initiatives in hospitals and health systems
MILFORD, CT – May 24, 2017 — Bernoulli, the leader in real-time solutions for patient safety, announced the publication of a peer-reviewed study demonstrating the use of patented analytics, medical device connectivity and combinatorial alarms to provide remote centralized continuous monitoring of post-surgical patients at risk for opioid-induced respiratory depression (OIRD).
Continuous Surveillance of Sleep Apnea Patients in a Medical-Surgical Unit1 in the May/June 2017 issue of the Journal of Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology consists of two separate studies on the use of continuous capnography monitoring at a medical-surgical unit at Virtua Health System in New Jersey.
The study’s results suggest that combinatorial alarm signals based on multi-parameter assessment reduced overall load better than individual-parameter sustained alarm signals and appeared to be more effective at identifying at-risk patients.
Using only sustained alarms as the filter for notifications reduced alerts from 22,812 to 13,000. However, passing multiple series of data through a multi-variable rules engine that monitored the values of pulse (HR), oxygen saturation (SpO2), respiratory rate (RR), and end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2) in order to determine which alarms to send to the nurse-call phone system further reduced alerts to just 209—a 99% reduction.
“More importantly, clinical staff was alerted for every patient that experienced an actual respiratory depression episode,” said the study’s co-author, John Zaleski, PhD, CAP, CPHIMS, Chief Analytics Officer of Bernoulli. “The successful implementation of real-time patient safety initiatives have long been a goal of health system CIOs, but recognizing and responding to signs of patient deterioration requires medical devices connectivity as well as clinician’s access to real-time data.”
A Growing Patient Safety Threat
The use of opioids, such as hydromorphone and morphine sulfate, are known to increase risk of respiratory depression in patients who have been diagnosed with or are at risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).More than half of medication-related deaths and 20,000 incidences of respiratory depression-related interventions annually are attributed to the delivery of opioids in a care setting, at a cost of approximately $2 billion per year to the US healthcare system.
“Data from multiple sources may be required to achieve improvements in patient safety, including the EHR and real-time data from medical devices,” said Zaleski. “Moment-to-moment changes in patient vitals are not usually available in the long-term clinical record, so a hybrid approach involving both real-time and aperiodic and discrete data is required to improve the overall surveillance of these patients.”
Respiratory Depression Safety Surveillance
The solution leveraged in the study, Bernoulli’s Respiratory Depression Safety Surveillance (RDSS), includes patented analytics with multi-variable thresholds—adjustable by the care facility—to identify clinically actionable events while significantly reducing the overall number of alarms communicated to remote and mobile clinicians, mitigating the risk of alarm fatigue.RDSS is flexible, adaptable and scalable from individual departments to enterprise-wide deployments. Its vendor-neutral architecture leverages the hospital’s existing investments in IT, network, wireless and mobile infrastructure, while its FDA class II clearance includes indications for use to provide remote monitoring and alarm surveillance.
Implications for Real-Time Healthcare
“Combining analysis with real-time data at the point of collection creates a powerful tool for prediction and clinical decision support,” said Zaleski. “The ability to track patients throughout the hospital, continuously add new devices, and distribute real-time patient monitoring to centralized dashboards and mobile devices should be a major consideration for CIOs tasked with achieving real-time healthcare capabilities.”Beyond high-acuity areas, healthcare systems are creating a foundation for other real-time healthcare innovations, including clinical surveillance modules, medical device integration in an EHR and virtual ICUs.
“This study demonstrates the promise of using real-time data for myriad patient safety initiatives,” said Janet Dillione, CEO of Bernoulli. “In addition, Bernoulli’s RDSS solution sets the stage for a wide range of applications, including medical device integration, precision alarm notifications, and clinical surveillance modules in various care settings.”
Reference
- Supe D, Baron L, Decker T, Parker K, Venella J, Williams S, Beaton K, Zaleski J. A pilot study in middleware-filtered capnography alarms of continuously monitored obstructive sleep apnea patient in a medical-surgical unit. BI&T. May/June 2017.
About Bernoulli
Bernoulli is the leader in real-time solutions for patient safety, with more than 1,200 installed, operational systems. Bernoulli One™ is the market’s only real-time, connected healthcare platform that combines comprehensive and vendor-neutral medical device integration with powerful middleware, clinical surveillance, telemedicine/virtual ICU, advanced alarm management, predictive analytics and robust distribution capabilities into ONE solution that empowers clinicians with tools to drive better patient safety, clinical outcomes, patient experience, and provider workflow. For more information about Bernoulli One™, visit bernoullihealth.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Visit our Resource Center to download case studies, white papers and articles.Contact
Matt Schlossberg
Amendola Communications for Bernoulli
630.935.9136
[email protected]Posted 5.24.2017 -
Cumberland Consulting Group Named One of the Nation’s Top 100 Healthcare IT Companies
“Cumberland has experienced another year of significant growth, and we’re proud to be included on The Healthcare Informatics 100 again,” said Brian Cahill, CEO of Cumberland. “As we continue to grow and expand our footprint in the healthcare market, our focus will remain on meeting our clients’ needs and helping them to improve their business performance in today’s ever-changing environment.”
Healthcare Informatics, one of the industry’s most respected publications, has compiled The Healthcare Informatics 100 for more than 20 years. This year’s summary will also include: revenue breakdowns per product segment; year-over-year revenue comparison charts; key thought leader executives; brief descriptions of the companies; and more.
“We believe that The Healthcare Informatics 100 offers a unique service to our industry, and is uniquely referenced by professionals throughout the field every year,” said Mark Hagland, Editor-in-Chief of Healthcare Informatics.
Most corporate revenues are self-reported. However, to ensure accuracy and compile as comprehensive a list as possible, Healthcare Informatics editors collaborated with Atlanta-based Porter Research and San Francisco-based ST Advisors for essential research and analysis.
About Cumberland Consulting Group
Founded in 2004, Cumberland Consulting Group is a leading healthcare consulting firm that helps some of the nation’s largest payer, provider and life sciences organizations implement and optimize technologies to maximize operational efficiency. We offer our clients comprehensive consulting services with a focus on strategic advisory, implementation, optimization and outsourcing. For more information, visit cumberlandcg.com or follow us on Twitter at @CumberlandCG.Contacts
Cumberland Consulting Group
Jennifer Montlary, 615.373.4470
[email protected]Posted 5.23.2017 -
DrFirst and GoodRx Partner to Identify Prescription Savings, Benefiting Doctors and Patients
ROCKVILLE, MD & SANTA MONICA, CA – May 23, 2017– DrFirst, the market leader in delivering intelligent medication management solutions that improve patient safety, announces its partnership with GoodRx, a leading drug price transparency platform, to help patients save money on their prescription drugs.
Prescription drug prices can vary widely between pharmacies. GoodRx’s proprietary technology compares prices and provides access to discounts for nearly all prescription drugs, at more than 70,000 retail pharmacies in the United States.
As co-pays rise and the number of drugs included on health plans’ “preferred” lists continues to shrink, consumers face a growing prescription drug burden. Twenty six percent of Americans taking prescription drugs report difficulty affording them, (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2016), leading to adherence issues and poor patient outcomes such as avoidable emergency room visits and hospital admissions. Medication non-adherence costs the United States approximately $300 billion per year, according to the Network for Excellence in Healthcare Innovation (NEHI).
“Providers are very concerned that their patients receive the best care,” said G. Cameron Deemer, president of DrFirst. “Our partnership with GoodRx gives doctors and patients access to prescription price transparency and discounts – reducing the impact of cost on medication adherence.”
“Most Americans assume that drug prices are regulated or fixed,” said Doug Hirsch, co-founder and co-CEO of GoodRx. “That’s simply not true. Prices vary wildly in drugstores that are literally across the street from each other. The skyrocketing cost of drugs is a primary reason why patients don’t fill their prescriptions. Our goal is to serve as a consumer’s advocate, providing them with the knowledge they need to make better choices when filling their prescriptions.”
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 GoodRx
Every day, GoodRx brings millions of Americans the lowest possible prices for prescription drugs. The company’s proprietary market-intelligence technology evaluates available pricing at more than 70,000 pharmacies to bring customers up to 80% savings on their prescriptions; since 2011, Americans have saved more than $2 billion using GoodRx services. With GoodRx, Americans can finally compare prices and locations to find the best place to fill their prescriptions. The company’s products, including the #1 medical app in the App Store, are free and available to all Americans, insured or not. For more information, visit GoodRx.com.DrFirst Media Contact:
Jenna Warner
Amendola Communications
480.664.8412 x 19
[email protected]Posted 5.23.2017 -
Clearwater Compliance Earns Exclusive Endorsement of Georgia Hospital Health Services
New Strategic Partnership to Help Advance the Cybersecurity of Georgia’s 170 Hospitals
“Given its broad implications on both patient privacy and patient safety, cybersecurity has become a top priority for all Georgia hospitals,” said Georgia Hospital Association President Earl Rogers. “With that said, we are pleased to have Clearwater, through its partnership with GHHS, offer its expertise and educational offerings to help Georgia hospitals take a proactive, comprehensive approach to addressing this critical issue.”
“Clearwater is honored to have received this special validation of our solutions by Georgia Hospital Health Services,” said Bob Chaput, CEO of Clearwater Compliance. “We understand the challenges hospitals and health systems face. We will offer to Georgia’s healthcare leaders a new, strategic approach to address today’s continuously evolving threat.”
“Having worked with GHA in a similar capacity in the past, I am excited to work again in partnership with GHA to provide value to its members by addressing such a critical issue,” said Barry Mathis, Chief Business Development Officer of Clearwater Compliance. “We are having solution-oriented conversations with the entire C-suite and board, in many cases, as leaders are now recognizing this is not an IT issue but an overall business risk issue that must be addressed as a priority.”
While Georgia hospitals provide life-saving healthcare services, they also represented $47.8 billion of the state’s economy in 2015 and supplied more than 143,000 full-time and part-time jobs in the state.
About Clearwater Compliance
Clearwater Compliance, LLC is a leading provider of hospital and health system compliance and cybersecurity management solutions. Its mission is to empower hospitals and health systems to successfully manage healthcare’s evolving cybersecurity risks and ensure patient safety. Exclusively endorsed by the American Hospital Association, Clearwater solutions have been deployed within hundreds of hospitals and health systems, Fortune 100 organizations and federal government institutions. More information about Clearwater Compliance is at Clearwatercompliance.com.About GHA/GHHS
Founded in 1929, GHA serves more than 170 hospitals in Georgia and promotes the health and welfare of the public through the development of better hospital care for all Georgia’s citizens. Founded in 1989, GHHS, Inc., a wholly owned, for-profit subsidiary of the GHA, serves GHA member hospitals by offering voluntary products and services to improve hospital operations. GHHS subjects each potential program to a rigorous due diligence process. Visit gha.org.Contact
Clearwater Compliance, LLC
Kelly Motley
615.483.0365
[email protected]Posted 5.23.2017 -
GetWellNetwork Grant Benefits WWII Veteran Who Was Awarded Purple Heart
BETHESDA, MD – May 22, 2017 — Dr. Eric Farber, a World War II veteran and Purple Heart awardee, will gain a bit of privacy and independence while a resident of Gainesville Community Living Center. Farber is the first to receive a new set of headphones as part of a grant from Get Involved Now Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to meet the personal and emotional needs of patients and their families during life-defining health care moments. Get Involved Now, founded by employees of GetWellNetwork, has awarded 195 grants totaling nearly $70,000 since 2013. These grants fall into two categories: “Get Well Soon Grants” to fund projects in the hospital setting and “Get Involved Now Grants” to fund community-based projects.
The grants enable employees at GetWellNetwork to put their passion for patients into action. In this case, Carla Carmody, Interactive Patient Care Manager at GetWellNetwork, applied for the GetWellSoon grant on behalf of Veterans served by the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center in Gainesville, Florida, to fund the purchase of headphones for Gainesville Community Living Center (CLC). A busy health care environment can be very noisy for Veterans, and many of the Veterans of the CLC do not have a private room. With personal headphones, quality of life improves for Veterans who have the ability to listen to their own television programs or music without the disruption of their roommates and other outside noises. Susan Scarlet, the CLC Nursing Manager, facilitated the initiative by selecting the headphones and presenting them to Farber and other CLC Veterans.
“Get Involved Now is delighted to fund this project, which brings a bit of added comfort to those who have served our country and have sacrificed so much,” said Wendy O’Neil, president, Get Involved Now. “As we prepare to commemorate, on Memorial Day, those servicemen and women we have lost, we hope to honor Veterans, in a small way, with this initiative.”
The goal of the Get Well Soon and Get Involved Now grants is to improve the quality of life for patients, their families and the health care community. Examples of grants include sponsoring events such as arts and crafts play dates, movie nights for pediatric patients and their families, or purchasing flowers and care packages for mothers in a hospital’s High-Risk Pregnancy Unit on Mother’s Day. The program relies on volunteer support from GetWellNetwork employees and its client community to organize and administer events, and continues to expand its work and scope.
Get Involved Now Grants and Get Well Soon Grants are supported through donations and an annual fundraising event. The first GetWellNetwork Olympics, held on May 7, generated funds through ticket sales, a raffle giveaway and event sponsorships. All proceeds benefit patients and their families during life-defining moments. Individuals who would like to give a helping hand to patients in need may also donate at getinvolvednow.org/donate.html.
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.ContactS
Marcia Rhodes
Amendola Communications
602.793.1561
[email protected]
GetWellNetwork, Inc.
7700 Old Georgetown Road, 4th Floor
Bethesda, MD 20814-2500
877.633.8496
[email protected]Posted 5.22.2017