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Vital Images Highlighting latest version of Vitrea® Advanced Visualization at SCCT Scientific Meeting
MINNETONKA, MN – June 29, 2017 — Vital Images is highlighting the benefits of its Vitrea solutions as it participates in the 12th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography, July 6-9, in Washington, D.C., at booth 401.
Vital is focusing on the many advantages of Vitrea Advanced Visualization, Version 7.
“We are excited about Vitrea Version 7 in terms of workflow, as well as in deployment and integration,” explains Mike LaChance, Vice President of Marketing. “These make for a much improved user experience.”
Regarding workflow and user experience, Version 7 is easier to use and offers more comprehensive and consistent workflows for CT, MR, XA, and PET/SPECT, and a more consistent interface across all Vitrea deployments.
But that is not all Vital is doing. The medical imaging solutions company is also sponsoring a ‘read-with-the-experts’ session, offering a unique opportunity for attendees to be better acquainted with recent post-processing tools and techniques. On Saturday, July 8th, 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., the following three speakers will focus on ischemic heart disease:
- Marcus Chen, MD, of National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
- Brian Ko, MD, of Monash Health, Australia
- Ravi Sharma, MD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA
About Vitrea Advanced Visualization
Vitrea software provides comprehensive multi-modality applications in a variety of IT environments. Advanced imaging applications provide physicians with patient information anywhere, anytime. Radiologists can share images throughout their enterprise and collaborate in real-time with other physicians to help to achieve better patient outcomes.About Vital Images, Inc.
Vital Images, Inc., a Toshiba Medical 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.Vitrea is a trademark of Vital Images, Inc.
Contact
Ric Ament
Manager, Marketing Communications
Vital Images Inc.
519.594.0940, ext. 241Posted 6.29.2017 -
GetWellNetwork’s Ellen Swartwout Selected as Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing
Bethesda, MD – June 28, 2017 — Dr. Ellen Swartwout, a nursing leader dedicated to healthcare best practices and quality initiatives, has been selected as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (AAN). Swartwout, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, is the Vice President for Research and Analytics at the O’Neil Center, the research arm of GetWellNetwork. She will be inducted with 173 other colleagues at a ceremony to be held during the AAN’s annual policy conference, October 5-7, 2017 in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Swartwout has 30 years of experience across the healthcare industry, spanning clinical, administrative, credentialing, research and patient engagement health IT roles. Within GetWellNetwork’s O’Neil Center she works with clinical partners to set the research agenda to discover data-driven insights that guide new patient engagement interventions.
“Ellen has contributed to a breakthrough new metric to guide assessments of patient engagement capacity and drive successful new engagement approaches, called the Person Engagement Index™,” said Michael O’Neil, CEO and founder of GetWellNetwork. “She has been highly instrumental in moving patient and family engagement from theory to the bedside. Thanks to Ellen and her research team, clinicians will be empowered to prescribe precise engagement interventions, leading to optimized patient outcomes.”
Dr. Swartwout has previously held leadership positions at American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), including senior director of Certification & Measurement Services. Earlier in her career she held a number of clinical and leadership positions at Inova Health System in Falls Church, Va., finishing her tenure there as the Senior Director of Professional Practice.
“It is truly an honor to be selected as a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing,” said Dr. Swartwout. “Our current research agenda at the O’Neil Center is an excellent opportunity to advance the science of patient and family engagement. I look forward to continuing to work with healthcare colleagues to contribute to the Academy’s mission to transform healthcare to benefit patients globally.”
Dr. Swartwout obtained both a Ph.D. in Nursing Administration and a Master of Science in Nursing from George Mason University. She holds a Bachelor of Science from the College of New Jersey (formerly Trenton State College). She is an adjunct faculty member for the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing and is board certified as Nurse Executive, Advanced.
Academy Fellows
The American Academy of Nursing’s approximately 2,400 fellows are nursing leaders in education, management, practice and research. Fellows represent association executives; university presidents, chancellors and deans; elected officials; state and federal political appointees; hospital chief executives and vice presidents for nursing; nurse consultants, and researchers and entrepreneurs.Invitation to fellowship is more than recognition of one’s accomplishments within the nursing profession. Academy fellows also have a responsibility to contribute their time and energies to the Academy, and to engage with other health leaders outside the Academy in transforming America’s health system by:
- Enhancing the quality of health and nursing;
- Promoting healthy aging and human development across the life continuum;
- Reducing health disparities and inequalities;
- Shaping healthy behaviors and environments;
- Integrating mental and physical health; and
- Strengthening the nursing and health delivery system, nationally, and internationally.
About the American Academy of Nursing
The American Academy of Nursing (AANnet.org) serves the public and the nursing profession by advancing health policy and practice through the generation, synthesis, and dissemination of nursing knowledge. The Academy’s more than 2,400 fellows are nursing’s most accomplished leaders in education, management, practice, and research. They have been recognized for their extraordinary contributions to nursing and health care.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]
602.793.1561GetWellNetwork, Inc.
7700 Old Georgetown Road, 4th Floor
Bethesda, MD 20814-2500
877.633.8496
[email protected]Posted 6.28.2017 -
Paul Kaiser Joins MedeAnalytics as Chief Executive Officer
New Leader Poised to Scale Growth of Pioneering Healthcare Analytics Company
EMERYVILLE, CA – June 26, 2017 — MedeAnalytics, a pioneer in healthcare analytics, today announced the appointment of Paul Kaiser as Chief Executive Officer.
Kaiser joins MedeAnalytics with more than a decade of experience working with payers and providers. His proven business acumen and extensive knowledge of the issues impacting the healthcare industry have enabled him to foster commendable organizational and team growth. Most recently as president of TriZetto Provider Solutions, Kaiser led teams to record setting sales and double digit revenue growth overseeing all aspects of the business including financial performance, business intelligence, sales and product management. Prior to joining TriZetto, Kaiser was the director of sales for Cerner Corporation’s managed services portfolio and directed the launch of Cerner’s global managed services solution. As an accomplished leader, Kaiser believes that creating a culture of integrity and trust through transparency and accountability leads to a productive, engaged workforce and more impactful customer outcomes.
“I am honored to join the team at MedeAnalytics,” said Paul Kaiser. “An understanding of cost, quality and operational insight is paramount during this transitional time in healthcare. MedeAnalytics’ sole focus has been and will continue to be to strengthen the business of healthcare in order to improve care. I look forward to working with our clients and teams to forward our mission.”
Kaiser replaces Andrew Hurd, who served the company as CEO for more than four years. Under Hurd’s leadership, MedeAnalytics experienced impressive and steady growth in annual bookings and now provides solutions to over 1,500 health plans and providers. Additionally, Hurd oversaw Thoma Bravo’s acquisition of a majority stake in MedeAnalytics in 2015, leveraging the private equity firm’s resources as a strategic partner to accelerate the company’s growth.
“Paul’s impressive knowledge of the healthcare marketplace and deep understanding of the problems our clients are trying to solve uniquely positions him to lead MedeAnalytics,” said David Weiss, Chairman, MedeAnalytics Board of Directors. “His expertise will allow him to bring the company to the next stage of growth in terms of scale and operational execution. He highly values teamwork and will continue MedeAnalytics’ stewardship with its customers and community.”
About MedeAnalytics®
MedeAnalytics provides evidence-based insights to solve a real problem that plagues healthcare – how to use the immense amount of patient data collected along the care continuum to deliver cost-effective care and promote a healthier population. Its analytics platform delivers intelligence that helps healthcare organizations detect their greatest areas of risk and identify opportunities to improve their financial health. It empowers providers and health plans to collaborate and use data to strengthen their operations and improve the quality of care. MedeAnalytics’ cloud-based tools have been used to uncover business insights for over 1,500 healthcare organizations across the United States and United Kingdom. The company has also been named one of Modern Healthcare’s top 100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare for 2014, 2015 and 2016. For more information, visit medeanalytics.com.Contacts
Anne Perez, Senior Director, Marketing
MedeAnalytics
[email protected]
703.403.0496Jennifer Toole
SHIFT Communications
[email protected]
617.779.1828Posted 6.26.2017 -
CHIME Unveils Certification Program for Industry Representatives
ANN ARBOR, MI, June 23, 2017 – The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) has launched the CHIME Foundation Certified Healthcare Executive (CFCHE) program for employees of CHIME Foundation firms. The certification is designed to assess the knowledge of an experienced healthcare IT industry employee and ensure that a recipient shares the same commitment to quality as a chief information officer (CIO).
The CFCHE program mirrors the CHIME Certified Healthcare CIO (CHCIO) program, which was created in 2009 for CIOs and IT executives to demonstrate their mastery of the profession. Today more than 350 CHIME members hold the CHCIO title.
“CFCHE certification will assure CIOs and other senior healthcare executives that the recipient has a strong grasp on the health IT environment and will be a partner with the healthcare system in its efforts to improve patient care, safety and efficiencies,” said Jennifer Ramstrom, chair of the CFCHE Committee and vice president of vertical strategy and business development at Connection.
The CFCHE certification is available to employees of CHIME Foundation firms who meet the following requirements:
- Possess a baccalaureate degree, or be enrolled in a baccalaureate program
- and three years of professional experience at a CHIME Foundation member organization or other qualified healthcare provider organization
- or one year of professional experience at a CHIME Foundation firm and currently maintain CHCIO status.
Committee co-chair Cyndi Cahill, managing partner at Pursuit Healthcare Advisors in Philadelphia, said the CFCHE initiative incorporates the perspective of both industry and CIOs. “CHIME CHCIO members and CHIME Foundation member representatives worked together on the writing and development of the exam,” she said. “It reflects the mutual values of vendors and their customers.”
The exam consists of 100 multiple choice questions, including scenario-based and independent questions. It will be offered at CHIME in-person events, and will make its debut Sept. 15 at the second annual CHIME Partner Education Summit (CPES) in Chicago. It also will be available at local testing centers across the country, beginning Aug. 1.
More information is available at chimecentral.org/cfche.
About CHIME
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers (CIOs) 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
Candace Stuart
Director of Communications and Public Relations, CHIME
734.665.0000
[email protected]Posted 6.26.2017 -
CHIME Survey Finds 3 Out of 4 Hospital Executives are Concerned that Medication History Data is Incomplete and/or Innacurate
Hospital leaders view process, buy-in & ownership as key medication reconciliation challenges &look to technology partners to help improve processes
ROCKVILLE, MD – June 22, 2017 — DrFirst, the market leader in e-prescribing and delivering intelligent medication management solutions that improve patient safety, today released survey findings identifying key medication reconciliation challenges faced by hospitals today.
The survey[1] of hospital CIOs, CMIOs, Directors of Informatics and other hospital administrators, conducted by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) Foundation on behalf of DrFirst, points to a new trend: Technology alone isn’t enough; hospitals need true partnerships with their technology providers to effectively implement new processes and close any existing gaps around driving improved medication reconciliation and patient safety.
Infographic displaying survey results on medication reconciliation challenges
The survey results mirrored the macro trend that most hospital executives prioritize comprehensive medication reconciliation programs. However, despite the fact that nearly 83 percent of respondents report that medication reconciliation is a multidisciplinary effort across the organization, three out of four hospital executives (74.8 percent) say their top concern is still incomplete and inaccurate medication data. Hospital leaders are also concerned about:
- Inconsistent practices across departments, disciplines and shifts (59.7 percent)
- Patients being discharged with an incorrect medication list (47.9 percent)
- Difficulty importing external medication history, including home medications (46.2 percent)
- Lengthy patient interviews that required calls to families, pharmacies and providers (42.9 percent)
- Outdated workflows that drive bad medication reconciliation practices (30.3 percent)
Just under 60 percent of the leaders completing the survey cite “inconsistent practices across departments, disciplines and shifts” as a major medication reconciliation challenge. Survey respondents took the time to expound, pointing out specific process problems such as “inconsistent practices,” “operational ownership challenges” and “complex workflows.”
Adverse drug events (ADEs) cost up to $5.6 million each year per hospital, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The same agency estimates that anywhere from 28 percent to 95 percent of ADEs can be prevented by reducing medication errors through computerized monitoring systems.
“Simply put, improving medication reconciliation helps save lives,” said G. Cameron Deemer, president of DrFirst. “The CHIME survey results showcase something we’ve learned while working alongside our hospital customers: medication reconciliation efforts are only as good as the data available, the processes in place and the technology to seamlessly connect it all.”
With inpatient medication errors costing hospitals $16.4 billion each year, hospital leaders have turned their attention to identifying proven technologies and processes to help reduce the risk of ADEs, including medication reconciliation. When asked about the most important aspects of a medication reconciliation program, the top three answers all centered on technology. More than half of all respondents named each of these components among the top three:
- Technology to enhance drug data stewardship
- Technology for patient engagement and accountability
- Additional data feeds to mitigate medication history gaps
Overwhelmingly, hospitals see a significant role for technology in medication reconciliation efforts. Most hospital leaders surveyed said that their IT teams were highly involved with medication reconciliation efforts, whether strategically with a seat at the leadership table (36.7 percent), or technically as subject matter experts deploying solutions (24.2 percent) or both (28.3 percent).
Readers can access the accompanying infographic, which outlines the survey results, here: go.drfirst.com/hubfs/CHIME/DrFirst_Bridging_Med_Rec_Gap_Infographic_6_16_17.pdf.
About DrFirst
DrFirst, the nation’s leading provider of e-prescribing and 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][1] This survey was conducted online within the United States by the CHIME Foundation on behalf of DrFirst in February 2017. Results include input from 120 hospital executives.
Posted 6.22.2017 -
Inside CHIME: Progress Seen on CMS Policy Tied to Certified EHRs
6.22.17 by Mari Savickis
VP of Federal Affairs, CHIME
On Tuesday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the proposed rule on updates to the Quality Payment Program (QPP), which encapsulates the Medicare Incentive-based Payment Program (MIPS) and Advanced Payment Models established under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA).
CMS largely heeded our advice and has proposed an extended transition period under the MACRA programs, building on the progress made by providers 2017. This includes a proposal to allow physicians to use 2014 Edition CEHRT in 2018. It does not address the 2015 CEHRT timelines for hospitals.
The release came a week after the CHIME Board of Trustees submitted a letter to CMS that strongly urged the agency to delay use of 2015 edition certified electronic heath records (CEHRT). We were concerned that requiring providers to use 2015 Edition CEHRT and to begin meeting Meaningful Use Stage 3 measures starting Jan. 1, 2018, would put providers at risk of substantial financial penalties.
In the letter, we challenged CMS on the use of estimates based on earlier years’ data. CMS estimated more than 85 percent of hospitals and 74 percent of eligible professionals would be ready for 2015 Edition CEHRT by the end of 2017. CMS relied on the Office of the National Coordinator’s (ONC) retrospective data on the move from the 2011 Edition to the 2014 Edition; 90 percent of products were certified by the end of 2014 and CMS expects a similar level of readiness for the 2015 Edition.
The 2015 Edition CEHRT contains a greater level of development and complexity for vendors, though. At last review, ONC’s Certified Health IT Product List found only 71 products are certified for the 2015 Edition. This still represents less than 1 percent of the overall products certified for 2014. Looking back to July 2016, 4,250 of 4,474 hospitals participating in the EHR Incentive Program were using 2014 CEHRT. Ten EHR vendors supplied 2014 CEHRT to 98 percent of hospitals. Of these ten vendors, two make up just under 50 percent of all hospital-certified products and both vendors still have not received certification from ONC.
Comprehensive Primary Care Plus, the Medicare Shared Savings Program and MIPS had required the use of 2015 Edition CEHRT beginning in 2018. This interlocking set of requirements meant that providers were in jeopardy of failing not only Meaningful Use but several other programs that required this new version of CEHRT. We made these recommendations to CMS:
- Permit both the use of 2014 and 2015 CEHRT in 2018;
- Allow providers to continue meeting Meaningful Use Stage 3 and Stage 3-like measures at least another year through 2018;
- Provide adequate vendor development lead time and provider implementation time before requiring a new version of CEHRT;
- Align reporting requirements around the current version (2014 Edition CEHRT) rather than continuing to mandate use of 2015 Edition CEHRT in 2018 for other CMS programs tied to the use of the CEHRT; and
- Conduct a systematic review in conjunction with ONC on how to capitalize on the provisions in the 21st Century Cures Act to improve interoperability of CEHRT before mandating the use of 2015 Edition CEHRT.
The board’s letter also cautioned CMS that the quest for interoperability will not be solved by use of 2015 CEHRT or requiring use of Stage 3 and Stage 3-like measures, and provided recommendations along with feedback on ways to reduce the regulatory burden on the provider community.
We will continue to work with CMS to articulate our members’ concerns and provide guidance on possible solutions, and our review of the MACRA QPP/MIPS proposed rule is underway. Stay tuned for additional resources concerning the MACRA Program in coming weeks. We will also be forming a workgroup to aid in the drafting of CHIME’s comments, please email [email protected] if you are interested in participating.
More Inside CHIME Volume 2, No. 13:
- Certification Lets Foundation Members Stand Out Among Peers – Barb Sivek & Michelle Patterson
- This Week’s Washington Debrief (6.19.17)
Posted 6.22.2017 -
Inside CHIME: Certification Lets Foundation Members Stand Out Among Peers
6.22.17 by Barb Sivek – VP of Business Services, CHIME/Interim VP, CHIME Foundation & Michelle Patterson, Director of Membership & Professional Development, CHIME
In 2009, CHIME launched the first certification program specifically designed for CIOs and IT executives to demonstrate their mastery of the profession. Today more than 350 CHIME members hold the Certified Healthcare CIO (CHCIO) title, a mark of their commitment to quality healthcare.
This Friday, employees of CHIME Foundation firms will have the opportunity to follow suit with the unveiling of the CHIME Foundation Certified Healthcare Executive (CFCHE) program. Modeled after the successful CHIME CHCIO initiative, the CFCHE certification is available to employees of CHIME Foundation firms who meet the following requirements:- Possess a baccalaureate degree, or be enrolled in a baccalaureate program
- And three years of professional experience at a CHIME Foundation member organization or other qualified healthcare provider organization
- Or one year of professional experience at a CHIME Foundation firm and currently maintain CHCIO status
CHIME CHCIO members, along with CHIME Foundation member representatives, wrote and developed the exam to test for the kind of deep healthcare IT knowledge that CIOs want from industry partners. They recognized the value of having a designation that would allow CIOs to distinguish among healthcare IT representatives those who truly understand the challenges and concerns they wrestle with daily.
Here’s what Randy McCleese, CIO of Methodist Hospital in Morehead, Ky., says about the program:
“The CFCHE credential is very important to me as a health CIO because it lets me know very quickly that the Foundation rep has knowledge of healthcare and HIT issues. This credential helps to limit the educational requirements that normally precede the development of a working relationship between the vendor and CIO.”
The CFCHE exam follows the CHCIO template but is specifically geared to assess the knowledge of an experienced healthcare IT industry employee. It was developed using the same standards, item writing protocols, validation and reviewing processes as the CHCIO exam. It consists of 100 multiple choice questions, including scenario-based and independent questions. Enrollees will get access to study materials and an exam blueprint with an overview of the six domains and knowledge and skill statements.
The exam will be offered at CHIME in-person events, and will make its debut Sept. 15 at the second annual CHIME Partner Education Summit (CPES) in Chicago. It also will be available at local Kryterion testing centers across the country, beginning Aug. 1.
Like the CHCIO designation, the CFCHE credential will instill confidence: for healthcare IT representatives, confidence of knowing they demonstrated superior knowledge of the industry that they serve. For the CIOs, confidence that they can build a relationship with an industry partner who shares their commitment for excellence. At CHIME, we emphasize exceptional leadership. We see the addition of the CFCHE as another way to achieve that goal.
Information about the CFCHE program is available here. If you have questions, please email us at [email protected].
More Inside CHIME Volume 2, No. 13:
- Progress Seen on CMS Policy Tied to Certified EHRs – Mari Savickis
- This Week’s Washington Debrief (6.19.17)
Posted 6.22.2017 -
Glassdoor Ranks Health Catalyst CEO Dan Burton a Top 10 US CEO for 2017
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – June 21, 2017 — Health Catalyst®, a leader in healthcare data analytics, decision support and outcomes improvement, announced today that CEO Dan Burton has won a Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award recognizing the Highest Rated CEOs for 2017 in the US among companies with fewer than 1,000 employees.
Glassdoor, one of the world’s largest and fastest growing job sites, released the annual report today honoring the top leaders employees love working for at small & medium (SMB) companies in the U.S.
Burton ranked No. 9 among the CEOs of 445,000 SMB companies surveyed by Glassdoor, earning a 98% percent approval rating from Health Catalyst employees. Winners are determined based entirely on anonymous employee feedback shared on Glassdoor.com over the past year.
“CEOs tell us the Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award is one of the highest honors they can receive because it truly reflects employee opinion about the job they do every day. I congratulate all of the winners on this significant honor,” said Robert Hohman, Glassdoor co-founder and CEO. “We know that CEO approval ratings correlate to overall employee satisfaction and trust in senior leadership, which contributes to long-term employee engagement, ultimately helping an employer’s recruiting and retention efforts.”
When employees submit reviews about their company on Glassdoor, they are asked to rate various factors about their employment experience, including their overall satisfaction and other workplace attributes like senior management. As part of these ratings, employees are also asked to rate whether they approve, disapprove or are neutral about the job their CEO is doing.
Among the 700,000 companies reviewed on Glassdoor, the average CEO approval rating is 67 percent.
See the complete list of all Highest Rated CEOs in 2017 in the U.S. SMB category: glassdoor.com/Award/Highest-Rated-CEOs-at-SMBs-LST_KQ0,26.htm
In addition to Burton’s CEO ranking, Health Catalyst has also earned the Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award recognizing the “Best Places to Work” in the nation, in each of the last two years. Health Catalyst was the only company to place among the list’s top 25 companies for both 2016 and 2017.
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. Health Catalyst’s technology and professional services help to keep patients engaged and healthy in their homes and workplaces, and to optimize their care 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.
About Glassdoor
Glassdoor is one of the largest and fastest growing job sites in the world today. Set apart by the tens of millions of reviews and insights provided by employees and candidates, Glassdoor combines all the jobs with this valuable data to make it easy for people to find a job that is uniquely right for them. As a result, Glassdoor helps employers hire truly informed candidates at scale through effective recruiting solutions like job advertising and employer branding products. Launched in 2008, Glassdoor now has reviews and insights for approximately 700,000 companies in more than 190 countries. For labor market trends and analysis, visit Glassdoor Economic Research. For company news and career advice and tips, visit the Glassdoor Blog and for employer-related news and insights to help employers hire, visit the Glassdoor for Employers Blog. Visit Glassdoor.com or download our apps on iOS and Android platforms.Contact
Lisa Holden
[email protected]Contact
Todd Stein
Amendola Communications
916.346.4213
[email protected]Posted 6.21.2017 -
GetWellNetwork& Nucleus Medical Media Announce Patient Education Content Partnership
ATLANTA, GA & BETHESDA, MD – June 21, 2017 — Nucleus Medical Media, Inc. has partnered with GetWellNetwork to distribute its medical animations to hospitals and healthcare providers throughout the United States and the Middle East. GetWellNetwork will offer these educational videos through its Interactive Patient Care (IPC) platform, offered via tablet or patient room television.
Nucleus’ highly specialized animations depict human anatomy, physiology, surgical procedures, and disease progressions. Animations include topics such as Knee Arthroscopy, Type 1 Diabetes, sexually transmitted diseases (including HIV and AIDS), and many more specialty topics. GetWellNetwork will distribute these animations to healthcare providers and their patients through its its cross-continuum engagement platform, which educates and empowers patients across all care settings.
“Leveraging the clinically proficient and engaging library of educational materials that Nucleus offers will allow our clients to prescribe personalized content to patients, in turn resulting in greater outcomes and an unparalleled patient experience,” said Carrie Ivers, Chief Strategy Officer of GetWellNetwork.
“We are very excited about this new partnership,” said Ron Collins, CEO and co-founder of Nucleus Medical Media. “GetWellNetwork puts educational information in front of patients every day. Research shows that information presented visually is more likely to be understood and remembered. Our hope is that better educated patients will lead to better doctor-patient communication and reduced readmissions.”
GetWellNetwork plans to begin distributing Nucleus animation videos in July 2017.
About Nucleus Medical Media
Founded in 1997, Nucleus Medical Media, Inc. is an award-winning creator and licensor of medical illustrations, medical animations, and interactive multimedia for the publishing, legal, healthcare, entertainment, pharmaceutical, medical device, and academic markets. Additional information about the company can be found at nucleushealth.com.Contacts
Ron Collins, CEO
Nucleus Medical Media, Inc.
[email protected]Marcia Rhodes
Amendola Communications for GetWellNetwork
[email protected]
602.793.1561Posted 6.21.2017 -
DrFirst to Showcase Intelligent Medication Management Product Suite at 2017 Annual Physician-Computer Connection Symposium
DrFirst’s MedHx and SmartSuite solutions seamlessly integrate with Epic & other major health information systems, enhancing patient safety & outcomes
ROCKVILLE, MD – June 21, 2017 — DrFirst, the market leader in e-prescribing and delivering intelligent medication management solutions that improve patient safety, today announced that attendees of the 2017 Annual Physician-Computer Connection Symposium can learn about real-world results of intelligent medication management at DrFirst’s table. The 26th annual medical informatics event, hosted by the Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems (AMDIS), will take place on June 20-23, 2017, at the Ojai Valley Inn in Ojai, California.
Many healthcare organizations have realized that technologies designed to address patient safety challenges have not yet resulted in satisfactorily reduced adverse drug events (ADEs), medication history omission errors, hospital lengths of stay and avoidable hospital readmissions. Simultaneously, cost pressures on these facilities have risen due to inexperienced staff, incomplete or inconsistent workflow processes and efficiency-based reimbursements from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
To resolve those issues, DrFirst’s intelligent medication management platform focuses on the entire medication management process, aligning medication reconciliation and care transition cycles while seamlessly integrating with legacy health information systems, including Epic. DrFirst’s solutions decrease the risk of medication errors occurring during subsequent care transition cycles by compressing medication reconciliation intervals. Maximizing the efficiency of all medication and clinical processes yields cost savings and expanded throughput, allowing healthcare systems to care for more patients. When advanced processes are combined with better quality data, all stakeholders win. Physicians, care teams and patients avoid the repercussions of transcription and omission errors that harm patient safety, negatively affect reimbursements and create process inefficiencies.
Fully integrated with the intelligent medication management platform, DrFirst’s MedHx and SmartSuite solutions enable hospitals and health systems to simplify clinical workflows, elevate data quality and increase care team productivity. With the market’s most complete source of medication history, MedHx ensures the highest level of accuracy of patient medication history data through multiple data feeds, adding community data sources and driving patient participation, thereby supplying clinicians with the information they need for enhanced decision-making at the point of encounter.
By leveraging DrFirst’s SmartSuite products, provider organizations can lessen the data validation and entry burden on medical staff, conditioning data in an intelligent manner and automating data population. These advancements in data completeness and accuracy, as well as process automation, produce even greater efficiencies in medication reconciliation, minimizing patient treatment delays and contributing to positive patient outcomes.
“It’s time for the industry to move from Meaningful Use to ‘Intelligent Use’ and we’re pleased to lead that charge with our comprehensive intelligent medication management platform,” said G. Cameron Deemer, president of DrFirst. “Built on our foundation of data-driven technology, this patient-centered platform supplies the tools, technology and innovation required to finally achieve the goal of consistently delivered high-quality care. It is clear that process efficiencies yield improved patient safety while reducing physician burnout, allowing doctors to spend more time with patients versus data entry.”
About DrFirst
DrFirst, the nation’s leading provider of e-prescribing and 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 6.21.2017 -
Health Catalyst Introduces Next-Generation Cost Management Suite to Help Hospitals Thrive Amid Unprecedented Market Disruption
The next step in the evolution of cost management, the CORUS Suite leverages unparalleled access to patient-level EHR data &costing best practices from world-renowned healthcare leaders
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – June 20, 2017 — Chief financial officers (CFOs) of hospitals and health systems today are struggling to navigate a perfect storm of financial challenges. Fewer patients are being hospitalized, which reduces fee-for-service revenue. More patients are defaulting on their bills thanks to the increased prevalence of high-deductible health plans. Meanwhile, government and commercial insurers keep launching new and confusing payment models, while the momentum behind full and partial capitation of reimbursement contracts is growing.
The health systems that succeed amid this turmoil will be those that understand their costs, their clinical outcomes, and how to maximize the healthcare value equation. Unfortunately, healthcare CFOs today lack insight into the true cost of the services they provide and their impact on health outcomes. Outdated processes and technologies for managing cost end up leaving them in the dark when it comes to lowering expenses, reducing variation, or negotiating favorable at-risk contracts with payers.
To help, Health Catalyst®, a leader in data analytics, decision support and outcomes improvement, today announced the release of the CORUS™ Suite a breakthrough in cost management technology. The CORUS (Clinical Operations Resource Utilization System) Suite enables CFOs, physician and service line leaders, and clinical and financial analysts, for the first time, to deeply understand the true cost of providing care across the continuum, and to relate those costs to patient outcomes.
“Never in the history of US healthcare has accurate cost accounting been more important than it is right now, and that importance will only grow in the coming months and years, as operating margins continue to be squeezed,” said Dale Sanders, executive vice president of product development for Health Catalyst. “Our CORUS Suite changes that equation by giving health systems the first complete picture of what it costs to provide care, down to the granular level of how many minutes a nurse spent in the operating room during a surgery, or the financial and clinical outcomes of one surgeon’s procedures compared against all others.”
The CORUS Suite is a next-generation cost management system whose significant improvements over current systems include:
- Integration of EHR data, including patient-level clinical and operational data, as well as departmental and equipment resource-utilization data, delivering the first truly comprehensive view of the cost of patient care
- Manufacturing-style activity-based costing—with automated and robust data quality and cost validation algorithms—that is scalable and maintainable, freeing analysts to focus on identifying variation and cost-saving opportunities
- Embedded costing knowledge including best practices, rules, and algorithms from world-renowned academic healthcare institutions, accelerating cost management transformation
- Dramatically more timely and actionable cost data based on healthcare’s most advanced analytics platform, which supports over 160 source systems including EHR, claims, General Ledger, payroll, supply chain, and patient satisfaction systems
Deep experience in costing and analytics
More than a new market entrant, the CORUS Suite incorporates costing best practices developed over many years by recognized leaders in healthcare cost management, including UPMC, a $14 billion integrated healthcare delivery and insurance system that includes more than 25 hospitals and 600 doctors’ offices and outpatient sites.The CORUS Suite also benefits from Health Catalyst’s market-leading technology and services, recognized in 2017 as “Best in KLAS for healthcare business intelligence and analytics,” and proven to advance clinical and financial outcomes for more than 400 hospitals and 4,000 clinics nationwide.
“The only way to be successful in the new world of value-based healthcare and population health is to understand your true costs and manage them,” said Robert A. DeMichiei, executive vice president and chief financial officer of UPMC, which is also an investor in Health Catalyst. “To get there, we need access to massive amounts of data from across the care continuum to identify all of the resources used in delivering patient care. The CORUS Suite’s ability to integrate patient-level activity data from the EHR and virtually every other source of clinical, operational and financial data, and to deliver near real-time insights based on that data, makes it a true game-changer.”
Activity-based costing plus real-time insights
The CORUS Suite is composed of two integrated products:- Activity-Based Costing—automatically identifies activities and assigns the cost of each activity according to their actual consumption of resources and materials. Activity-Based Costing enables true patient-level activity data versus the approximations used by standard cost management systems. Visibility into the number of assessments performed, medications administered, labs ordered, duration of imaging studies, minutes in OR, supplies used, and virtually all other costs, contributes to an exceptionally detailed and actionable view of cost on a patient-by-patient basis. Flexibility to support multiple cost accounting methodologies (e.g. RCC, RVU, activity-based accounting, etc.) allows organizations to quickly get started and evolve based on their business and available data. The application also includes automated data quality and cost validation algorithms, which makes activity-based costing a reality in complex health systems.
- Cost Insights – analyzes and delivers early and actionable insights via dashboards that are customizable to the end-user’s role and purpose. Powered by embedded logic and access to the most granular level of activity and costing data for all patients, Cost Insights exponentially reduces the time to compile performance reports, to develop insights into profitability and variation, and to identify cost reduction opportunities.
Health Catalyst supports the CORUS Suite with professional services from veteran healthcare consultants who have financial, clinical, and operational experience, and have worked with community, academic, and large, integrated healthcare systems to drive outcomes improvements.
Old approaches to cost management miss the mark
Unlike the CORUS Suite, many of today’s cost management systems rely on both outdated technology and antiquated costing methodologies. Their use of charge codes, RVUs (relative value units), and other limited measures of cost produce an incomplete financial picture, leaving gaping holes in knowledge that threaten an organization’s financial sustainability. Those systems that claim to support activity-based costing mostly lack access to the rich patient-level activity data, costing best practices, and automated data quality and cost validation algorithms that are needed to truly implement activity-based costing.The CORUS Suite’s unparalleled integration of data solves both of these problems and incorporates all three of the key elements required for true insight into costs: data from multiple enterprise systems, deep services, and robust technology.
Common headaches relieved
The exceptional cost management capabilities of the CORUS Suite have the power to solve extremely common problems for healthcare leaders across the C-Suite and at the department level. Some commonplace scenarios include:- Manufacturing-style activity-based costing that is scalable and maintainable, freeing analysts to focus on identifying variation and cost-saving opportunities. A large, integrated healthcare system decided five years ago to build its own activity-based costing system. Unfortunately, the platform wasn’t scalable and could not be cost-effectively maintained. End users could not easily add or maintain new cost drivers, add newly acquired hospitals, or add upgraded data sources such as their new inventory system, or ambulatory EHR. Every month, it took six FTE business days to close out the books, eating into time that the analysts could have devoted to identifying and participating in driving outcomes improvements. After implementing the CORUS Suite, the majority of the health system’s activity-based cost processes have been automated and now run overnight. Clinicians and physician-financial/operational dyad service line leaders have greater transparency into the cost driver definitions and algorithms, making data validation and modifications easy to perform. The health system has saved millions of dollars through improvements identified by the CORUS Suite, and has freed their analysts to focus on identifying variation and cost-saving opportunities.
- Integration of clinical and operational EHR patient resource-utilization data, delivering the most complete picture of any procedure’s true cost. A large academic health system had been using charges as the basis of costing for the operating room. Knowing the organization now had the CORUS Suite, the operating room (OR) director wanted to find out what her true costs were. She asked finance to look at the EHR clinical and operational source data to find the specific times and all personnel resources used in the OR during surgeries. Finance was able to use the CORUS Suite to quickly identify precise patient times, resources, and true labor costs. They were also able to leverage updated costs for supplies with the link to their supply chain data sources in the CORUS Suite. Upon comparing the cost for each surgeon with data on labor and supplies, they discovered that the physician with the shortest time was using additional staff. The physician-finance dyad lead worked with the surgeons to determine best practices and reduce clinical variation based on a review of time, resource costs, and clinical outcomes.
Explore CORUS Cost Management Suite in Live Webinar, June 21
Join the Health Catalyst product development team for a live CORUS Suite webinar on Wednesday, June 21 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Attendees will view a live demo and participate in a live question and answer session. Register for the webinar here.Case Studies and Product Information Available for Download
Data sheets detailing the CORUS Suite’s features and benefits are available:Case studies of the CORUS Suite’s impact at UPMC are also available for downloading:
- A Service Line Approach Improves Women’s Health at UPMC – detailing how the CORUS Suite contributed to a) 20 percent reduction in inpatient LOS for hysterectomies (over a 3 year time period), b) 34 percent reduction in open hysterectomies, c) 28.3 percent reduction in 30 day readmissions for hysterectomies, d) a 25 percent improvement in their contribution margin.
- Service Lines and Activity-Based Costing Reveal True Cost of Care for UPMC – detailing how the CORUS Suite contributed to a) $42 million of cost reduction opportunities (approximately 2 percent of targeted service line cost), b) $5 million in supplies savings, c) Transparency toward identification of contribution margin variation for specific procedures, d) up to 97 percent improvement in time to access information.
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 6.20.2017 -
Health Catalyst Appoints Visionary Healthcare CFO Duncan Gallagher to Board of Directors
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – June 15, 2017 — Health Catalyst®, a leader in healthcare data analytics, decision support and outcomes improvement, announced today that Duncan Gallagher has accepted an appointment to the company’s Board of Directors, and officially joined the Board of Directors on May 12.
Gallagher brings over 30 years of experience as a healthcare CFO and finance leader, including his most recent role as Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and CFO of Allina Health, a $4 billion not-for-profit health system based in Minneapolis. Allina Health’s more than 90 clinics, 12 hospitals and related healthcare services provide care for nearly 1 million people across Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
In his seven years as CFO at Allina Health, Gallagher was instrumental in establishing the health system as a national leader in shifting the healthcare payment model from fee-for-service to one based on value and care quality. In the process, Allina demonstrated that the shift not only is better for patients, but can be financially viable for health care systems.
“I am thrilled to be joining the board of Health Catalyst, a company that I regard as a trendsetter in enabling the shift to a more sustainable, effective and affordable healthcare system,” said Gallagher. “In my time at Allina, we made significant progress with care outcomes improvement and cost savings thanks in part to our unique relationship with Health Catalyst. I look forward to working with the company’s leaders to share that experience and help other health systems execute on the historic opportunity to transform healthcare.”
Allina Health signed a landmark $108 million 10-year shared-risk agreement with Health Catalyst in 2015, creating a national model for the use of data in improving quality and lowering the cost of patient care. Gallagher played a central role in pioneering the outsourcing of Allina’s entire analytics department to Health Catalyst while tying the company’s profit from the agreement to its delivery of measureable cost savings.
“We are thrilled that Duncan accepted our invitation to join the board,” said Dan Burton, Chief Executive Officer of Health Catalyst. “He is one of the most capable, forward thinking CFOs in healthcare today, and he shares our view that values—trustworthiness, integrity, fairness, reliability, predictability and stewardship—are more critical than technical knowledge. We are honored that he has agreed to share his experience and insights by participating on our Board of Directors.”
Before Allina Health, Gallagher spent 10 years as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating/Financial Officer with Des Moines-based UnityPoint Health, a $4.1 billion not-for-profit healthcare system which owns 21 hospitals and manages several others under contract. Before that, Gallagher was a partner at Big Four accounting firm KPMG. His educational background includes an undergraduate degree from the University of South Dakota, and Master of Business Administration from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.
The Health Catalyst Board of Directors now includes the following members in addition to Gallagher and Burton: Board Chairman Fraser Bullock, Co-Founder and Senior Advisor at Sorenson Capital; Michael Dixon, a partner in Sequoia Capital; Promod Haque, Senior Managing Partner of Norwest Venture Partners; Todd Cozzens, Managing Director of Leerink Capital; John A. Kane, former Chief Financial Officer of IDX Systems (now GE Healthcare); Anita Pramoda, CEO and founder of Owned Outcomes; and Dr. Penny Wheeler, President and CEO of Allina Health.
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. Health Catalyst’s technology and professional services help to keep patients engaged and healthy in their homes and workplaces, and to optimize their care 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 6.15.2017