Archive: August 2017

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• Evariant Included in Gartner’s Hype Cycle for Healthcare Providers, 2017

  FARMINGTON, CT – August 31, 2017 — Evariant, a healthcare CRM data analytics platform, today announced that it was identified as a sample vendor in the Gartner “Hype Cycle for Healthcare Providers, 2017¹” report. This report can help health system CIOs identify, understand, and prioritize significant investments in applications, analytics, and “medical IT” advances. Evariant was named in the Healthcare CRM/Contact Center Systems category.

  “Many health systems are still figuring out how to engage consumers in personalized and scalable ways throughout the care continuum—our solutions help them identify opportunities, engage, measure results, and achieve profitable growth.”

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  As the Gartner report states, “Healthcare integrated delivery systems (IDSs) are now multichannel enterprises with an increasing array of on-site and online services. However, they are behind in their thinking about patient access and administration as key touchpoints for engagement and population health management. Multichannel customers already expect the retailer to sustain basic interactions with them that are connected, continuous, convenient, contiguous, and consistent. For the coming decade, customers additionally and increasingly expect collaborative and personalized interactions with the retailer’s brand. Healthcare consumers are already multichannel customers.”

  “We believe end-to-end visibility of the patient’s journey with the health system is a critical component to their growth,” said Clay Ritchey, CEO of Evariant. “Many health systems are still figuring out how to engage consumers in personalized and scalable ways throughout the care continuum—our solutions help them identify opportunities, engage, measure results, and achieve profitable growth.”

  Because consumers have more choices and more resources available to better understand their health, it’s important that health systems invest in the activities that matter most to the overall healthcare experience and the bottom line. These activities happen across multiple channels and touchpoints, as Gartner suggests. Evariant has taken a unique approach to helping systems answer questions around where the biggest opportunities are in their market and how to accelerate growth through smarter personalized engagement by creating a solution that provides a 360-degree view of the consumer.

  Ritchey explains, “Our clients have seen real business impact from using our platform. Gartner’s position that ‘smart use of CRM systems interwoven with patient access and EHR systems will be a financial differentiator for about 10% of HDOs through 2020’ supports what our clients are experiencing.”

  ¹ “Hype Cycle for Healthcare Providers, 2017,” Gartner Inc., July 14, 2017, Laura Craft, Vi Shaffer.

  About the Gartner Hype Cycle

  The Gartner Hype Cycle provides an evaluation tool for clients to educate themselves on emerging technologies. Divided into five phases — innovation trigger, peak of inflated expectations, trough of disillusionment, slope of enlightenment, and plateau of productivity — the Hype Cycle provides clients with a guideline for making industry technology investment decisions by providing key insights on technology maturation processes and their associated risks. Visit the Gartner Hype Cycle page to learn more.

  Gartner Disclaimer

  Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

  About Evariant

  Evariant provides a leading healthcare CRM solution suite designed to help health systems transform the healthcare experience for their consumers, patients, and physicians. Built on the Salesforce Platform, our solutions foster richer consumer/patient engagement and tighter physician alignment. Powered by cutting-edge data and analytics, Evariant enables health systems to effectively communicate care options that increase revenue and market share, while optimizing network utilization. Many of the top health systems have selected Evariant to thrive in today’s hyper-competitive and rapidly changing environment. Learn more at evariant.com.

  Contacts
  Evariant
  Sherrie Mersdorf, 774-377-9476
  [email protected]

  Posted 8.31.2017

• Orion Health Taps Allscripts Alumnus Terry Macaleer to Lead U.S. Market

  SCOTTSDALE, AZ – Aug. 31, 2017 — Orion Health today announced the appointment of Terry Macaleer as president of Orion Health in the U.S.  A health IT veteran, Macaleer helped build two successful health IT enterprise software companies from the ground up and achieved multimillion dollar sales. He was a co-founder of Eclipsys, a publicly traded electronic health records company that later merged with Allscripts. After retiring from Eclipsys Macaleer went on to found Carefx, a software company that streamlines and simplifies clinical and business workflow and connects care providers to the information they need. From 2008 to 2014, Macaleer had a stellar career at Allscripts where, as SVP of sales, he spearheaded a new strategic initiative to sell the Ambulatory EHR system to hospitals, generating over $35 million in sales.  He then spearheaded a new effort to revitalize the Acute Care EHR business and generated over $70 million is sales in just 24 months. Seeking a new challenge, he left Allscripts to join Anthelio Healthcare Solutions. As SVP of client engagement and sales, he helped turn the organization around and positioned it for a successful acquisition.

  Macaleer will join Orion Health’s executive leadership team mid-September and will report to CEO Ian McCrae.

  To download Macaleer’s headshot, click here.

  “Terry’s diverse technical and IT background makes him uniquely qualified at seeing the big picture and proactively resolving challenges,” said McCrae. “His outstanding leadership skills, management abilities and keen understanding of the complexity of the U.S. market—as evidenced by successfully building two health IT companies—make him a great choice to lead Orion Health’s U.S. team and serve our U.S. customers.”

  “It is no secret the U.S. healthcare system is going through monumental changes, particularly the shift from fee-for-service care to value-based care,” said Macaleer. “Value-based care leads directly to population health management and to precision medicine with a huge requirement for data analytics. That is precisely the strategic direction of Orion Health, with many of the pieces already in place. Being a global company that can bring health systems insights from across the globe—where value-based care already exists—positions Orion Health extremely well in the U.S. market.” ­­­­

  Macaleer takes over the reins from Wayne Oxenham, the current president of Orion Health U.S., who held the role for 18 months on a fixed-term basis. Oxenham will be relocating back to Orion Health’s corporate headquarters in Auckland.

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  About Orion Health
  Orion Health is a technology company that provides solutions which enable healthcare to over 110 million patients in more than 25 countries. Our end-to-end solution—featuring integration tools, our massively scalable Amadeus data platform with real-time analytics, and applications for care management and patient engagement—enables population and personalized healthcare around the world. Orion Health facilitates interoperability within and among payer, provider and pharma organizations, governments and health information exchanges, and helps physicians, patients and researchers improve healthcare outcomes. The company employs over 1,200 people globally and is committed to continual innovation. For more information, visit orionhealth.com.

  Media Contact: Marcia Rhodes; [email protected]; 480-664-8412 x 15

   

   

   

  Posted 8.31.2017

• Three Tips for Reducing Sepsis Risk

  Make Alerts Accurate, Reliable and Actionable, says Jennifer Knapp, Director of Strategic Partnerships and Solutions, Vocera

  SAN JOSE, CA – August 31, 2017 – By Jennifer Knapp – Nurse Christine Chan regularly receives clinical advisories from the EHR. They are designed to notify her about steps she needs to take for patients with specific conditions and to highlight potential risks like drug interactions. In addition to the numerous advisories the EHR already delivers, her hospital recently added new notifications to identify patients at risk for sepsis.

  • Related links: Rapid Sepsis Response at Halifax Health (http://videos.vocera.com/watch/rfYSzGycntdisBzy5wL6PX)

  Nurse Chan likes the idea of the sepsis risk notifications, but there are two problems: First, nearly half of them are false-positives. Second, they get mixed in with the routine pop-ups she’s become accustomed to briefly skimming and clicking through, and that she only sees when she is using the EHR. Before long, she starts to ignore the sepsis notifications altogether. This puts patients at risk.

  Sepsis Risk Intervention Can Reduce Mortality Rates
  Sepsis, according to The Sepsis Alliance, is “the body’s overwhelming and life-threatening response to infection that can lead to tissue damage, organ failure, and death.” It is a leading cause of death in the U.S., where 750,000 people die each year from it.¹ With $24B spent annually, it is the costliest medical condition to treat in this country.² But strong evidence shows that early, tailored intervention can significantly reduce the likelihood of sepsis-related complications and death. A recent study has shown that deploying a comprehensive sepsis program can reduce mortality rates by more than 50 percent and 30-day readmissions by 30 percent.³ And a growing body of research indicates the most statistically significant variable in sepsis treatment is time.

  Provide Actionable Information through Sensitive, Specific Systems
  Many hospitals deploy automated systems as part of a sepsis program to identify patient risk so the appropriate therapies can be initiated quickly. These systems typically use an algorithm that combines patient data from the EHR such as demographics, vital signs, medications, and lab values.

  As Nurse Chan experienced, many systems are highly sensitive, but they’re not specific enough. That is, they may detect common risk factors but don’t account for the complex comorbidities that can alter a patient’s condition, thereby triggering false positives. For example, factors related to liver disease, heart failure, and chemotherapy treatment can commonly trigger false-positive alerts for sepsis.

  Even if a system is sensitive and specific, it might not provide actionable information to the right person, in the right way, quickly enough to initiate the right response. This can lead to ineffective care and preventable patient complications.

  The Three-Part Solution: Make Alerts Accurate, Reliable, and Actionable
  An effective sepsis surveillance and clinical decision support system needs to be accurate (highly sensitive and specific). It needs to be reliable, reaching the appropriate caregiver with the right information, at the right time, in the right way. And it needs to be actionable, providing clear instructions about what to do next.

  1. Make Alerts Accurate: To improve accuracy, the system needs to be highly specific. The algorithm used to detect sepsis, in addition to including the core stats from the EHR, should be designed to include nursing and provider documentation. If the documents are free-texted, natural language processing (NLP) should be used to extract medical conditions. The documentation provides information necessary to understand the unique combination of conditions and other treatments that apply to each patient. Some systems also include a much broader library of physician-authored rules that have been proven to more accurately detect sepsis risk. Administrators can finely tune these algorithms to reflect common attributes for a particular patient population, such as patients in the respiratory unit. Perhaps more importantly, systems should not send alerts when the care team is already aware of the diagnosis and is already following treatment advice. Alerts should only be delivered when they provide new information to the staff, or when appropriate treatment steps have not been completed. Sending only actionable alerts will significantly reduce alarm fatigue.
  2. Make Alerts Reliable: Move sepsis alerts out of the routine flow of EHR notifications where they are likely to get lost in the shuffle. Instead, deliver them to caregivers on their mobile devices at the point of care, in the same way you deliver other critical alerts and alarms. Using a common method for presenting and delivering sepsis risk alerts enables caregivers to trust alert accuracy. If you don’t use an alerting solution, you are leaving sepsis detection to chance because caregivers may not check the EHR for long periods of time. Proactive alerts can accelerate the time to respond and initiate therapies, which is of critical importance for deteriorating patients. Build in escalation rules so that if the first recipient of an alert is not available, it is sent to another caregiver who can act upon it. Require the final recipient to acknowledge the alert. This allows certainty that the message was received and creates an audit trail.
  3. Make Alerts Actionable: Don’t just tell the nurse there’s a septic patient in room 101. Provide more detailed information about the level of his or her condition (such as severe sepsis), why the alert was triggered (for example, hypotension), and what to do next. The protocol at many hospitals is for the alert recipient to contact the patient’s physician to review the factors leading to the sepsis alert and confirm the appropriate order sets. With some systems, once the recipient has accepted the initial alert, a second alert can automatically be sent to another group, such as the rapid response team. This further reduces the time it takes to mobilize the resources needed for patient intervention. If possible, you should also send reminders to notify the care team of any missing steps in the order set.

  Vocera partners with providers of sepsis and other clinical surveillance solutions to deliver accurate, reliable and actionable alerts. Deploying the right workflows and technology, driving care team engagement, and managing performance improvement against a defined set of goals are keys to a successful sepsis program. Do it right, and you can significantly improve patient outcomes.

  References:

  1. Benchmarking the incidence and mortality of severe sepsis in the United States, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23442987.
  2. National Inpatient Hospital Costs: The Most Expensive Conditions by Payer, 2013, https://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb204-Most-Expensive-Hospital-Conditions.jsp?utm_source=AHRQ&utm_medium=AHRQSTAT&utm_content=Content&utm_term=HCUP&utm_campaign=AHRQ_SB_204_2016.
  3. Evaluating the impact of a computerized surveillance algorithm and decision support system on sepsis mortality, https://academic.oup.com/jamia/article/24/1/88/2631454/Evaluating-the-impact-of-a-computerized.

  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 www.vocera.com and follow @VoceraComm on Twitter.

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

  MEDIA CONTACT:
  Shanna Hearon
  Vocera Communications, Inc.
  865-769-2028
  [email protected]

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  Posted 8.31.2017

• Inside CHIME: News of Note

  

  8.31 By Candace Stuart, Director of Communications & Public Relations, CHIME

  Here is a roundup from CHIME of recent news and upcoming events.

  Barb Sivek takes the helm at CHIME Foundation: Barb Sivek assumed the position of vice president of the CHIME Foundation on Aug. 17. She had served as the Foundation’s interim vice president since late April in addition to leading CHIME’s operations and business management group. More information is available here.

  CHIME’s Mari Savickis to give policy update in Arizona: Mari Savickis, CHIME’s vice president of federal affairs, will join the HIMSS Arizona chapter on Sept. 14 to offer a policy update from Washington on CMS reporting programs, regulatory reform efforts, the status of the 21st Century Cures Health IT provision, activity on the Hill, and where things are heading for 2018. More event information and the registration link is available here.

  CHIME accepting applications for two awards: CHIME has opened up the application process for the CHIME-HIMSS John E. Gall Jr. CIO of the Year Award and the Federal Public Policy Award for CIO Leadership. Both honors recognize the outstanding leadership of CHIME members and their contributions to healthcare IT. To learn more about CHIME-HIMSS John E. Gall Jr. CIO of the Year Award and get an application form, go here. More information and submission instructions for the public policy award are available here.

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  More Inside CHIME Volume 2, No. 18:

  • Inside CHIME: 2 CHIME Members Join Federal HIT Advisory Panel – Mari Savickis
  • Inside CHIME: Digital Leader Don Tapscott on Internet’s ‘Second Era’ and HIT – Candace Stuart
  • This Week’s Washington Debrief (8.28.17)

  Posted 8.31.2017

• Inside CHIME: 2 CHIME Members Join Federal HIT Advisory Panel

  

  8.31 By Mari Savickis, VP of Federal Affairs, CHIME

  The U.S. Government Accountability Office selected CHIME members Denni McColm and Denise Webb to serve two-year appointments on the new Health Information Technology Advisory Committee.

  

  Denni McColm, CIO of Citizens Memorial Healthcare

  Their participation on the new committee, which was born out of the 21st Century Cures Act, will be instrumental in helping shape health IT policy in the post-Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) era. They will provide recommendations to the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology on health IT-related policies, standards, implementation specifics and certification.

  McColm, CIO of Citizens Memorial Healthcare, said she sees her appointment as an opportunity to represent a community hospital. Citizens Memorial Healthcare is an integrated healthcare system that serves eight counties in Missouri and includes a Level III Trauma Center, 32 primary and specialty physician clinics, a senior health center, six long-term care facilities and other services.

  “Everybody brings a different set of circumstances to the table,” McColm said. Her CIO role may be more hands-on than in other types of health systems, for instance, a perspective she can share to help operationalize provisions such as interoperability. She also hopes to clarify misunderstandings about information blocking and ensure that exchanged information is “meaningful instead of checking off a box.”

  

  Denise Webb, CIO of Marshfield Clinic Health System & CEO of Marshfield Clinic Information Services in Wisconsin

  Webb, CIO of Marshfield Clinic Health System and CEO of Marshfield Clinic Information Services in Wisconsin, is also interested in advancing interoperability. “I have had a passion for driving interoperability nationwide for patients so that a patient’s information follows them wherever and whenever they need care,” said Webb in an email. “This should be seamless and frictionless for consumers.”

  She currently represents Marshfield Clinic Health System, an integrated healthcare delivery network with a health plan in North Central and Northwestern Wisconsin, on the Creating Access to Real-time Information Now (CARIN) through Consumer-Directed Exchange Alliance Board. The CARIN Alliance is developing a trust framework and promoting technology standards for consumer-directed exchange. Marshfield Clinic Information Services has been continuously developing an EHR for providers for more than three decades.

  McColm said she plans to interact with fellow CHIME members to share their insights with the committee. “The more I can network, the broader input I can offer,” she said.

  The two CIOs join 13 other heath IT professionals named on Aug. 3 as committee members. The appointments range from one- to three-year terms, with the possibility of reappointments for three years. The 25-member Health Information Technology Advisory Committee also calls for appointments from the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, the majority and minority leaders of the Senate, and the speaker and minority leader of the House of Representatives.

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  More Inside CHIME Volume 2, No. 18:

  • Inside CHIME: Digital Leader Don Tapscott on Internet’s ‘Second Era’ and HIT – Candace Stuart
  • Inside CHIME: News of Note – Candace Stuart
  • This Week’s Washington Debrief (8.28.17)

  Posted 8.31.2017

• Inside CHIME: Digital Leader Don Tapscott on Internet’s ‘Second Era’ and HIT

  

  8.31 By Candace Stuart, Director of Communications & Public Relations, CHIME

  

  Don Tapscott, CM, BA, BSc, MEd, LLD Co-founder, Blockchain Research Institute, Co-author, Blockchain Revolution and Wikinomics

  Two decades after ushering in the “digital economy,” thought leader and CHIME17 closing keynote speaker Don Tapscott has put his reputation behind blockchain. He shares how blockchain will transform business and improve healthcare in a Q&A.

   

  You coined the term “digital economy” and predicted its impact on business and society more than two decades ago. Do you see blockchain as equally or more transformative, and if so, why?

  In 1994 when I wrote The Digital Economy, the big development was the WEB. Cryptographers were trying to solve the “double spend” problem that blockchain represents but it wasn’t until almost a decade and a half later that Satoshi Nakamoto’s amazing paper made a breakthrough.

  In 2013 I was asked to write some new material for the 20^th anniversary edition of the book and I started researching what the most important technologies might be for the next 20 years. That drew me into the bitcoin and blockchain world. And in collaboration with my son Alex, we came to the conclusion that this technology represents the second era of the Internet. For decades we’ve had the Internet of information; now we are getting the Internet of value, where for the first time in human history people can exchange and manage value peer to peer. This second era it will be bigger than the first one because it deals with value and assets, the things at the heart of our economy and society.

   

  You often talk about blockchain in the context of finances and business. How do you see it being applied to healthcare?

  The healthcare system in many countries is under extreme strain, where every stakeholder, from healthcare providers to insurers, drug companies and most of all patients, all suffer as a result. Though there are many culprits, the root of the problem is our industrial-age thinking about delivering healthcare, where data is hoarded, patients are assumed to be ignorant, and where healthcare is only available when you’re in the system. This leads to costly and ineffective care.

  Blockchain promises to change that. We can fix healthcare by basing it on a set of new principles — collaboration, openness, and integrity, and where the patient co-creates their own data with full transparency into it. This will all be centered on the portable identity, owned by citizens and which will contain their personal healthcare record.

  Let me give you an example. Patients and frontline healthcare providers are separated by a labyrinth of relationships between jurisdictions, professional services, specialists and other providers. The digital processes used are really for the logistics of handling paper documents. There are several paper trails per doctor-patient or patient-provider interaction, and lots of data entry duplication. The process is the same as before anyone had ever heard about a computer, except the information moves into separate data silos much faster. So, a lot of time and effort goes into managing data between organizations.

  Another way to put this is that we used to expend energy maintaining databases. Blockchain means we can move beyond the simple custodianship of a database and turn our energies to how we use and manipulate databases — less about maintaining a database, more about managing a system of record.

   

  Cybersecurity and the risk of hacks are a major concern of CHIME members. You say that blockchain is more secure than computer-based systems. What makes it more secure?

  Blockchain represents a global, distributed, highly secure platform, ledger or database where value could be stored and exchanged and we could all trust each other without powerful intermediaries. Collective self-interest, hard-coded into this new native digital medium for value, would ensure the safety, security and reliability of commerce online. Trust is programmed into the technology, which is why we call blockchain the Trust Protocol.

  Blockchains are inherently more secure than traditional technologies, not just because they use the highest levels of cryptography, but because they are distributed. It’s really tough to hack millions of computers simultaneously. Something like bitcoin is highly processed. Think of a Chicken McNugget. Hacking bitcoin would be like turning a Chicken McNugget back into a chicken.

   

  You noted that the digital economy posed risks such as the potential loss of privacy, and with time your concerns have proven to be founded. Do you see potential downsides with blockchain as well? If so, what are they?

  Well actually, the protection of privacy is one of the biggest benefits of the blockchain. But there are lots of criticisms of blockchain. We discussed a lot of these in our book, Blockchain Revolution. They include this list:

  • The technology is not ready for prime time.
  • The energy consumed by some like bitcoin is unsustainable.
  • Powerful incumbents might usurp it as they did with the Internet of Information.
  • Blockchain could be a job killer.
  • Distributed autonomous agents will form Skynet.
  • Criminals will use it.

  We came to the conclusions that these were not showstoppers but rather what we called “implementation challenges.”

   

  Although our members are technologically savvy, the leadership in their hospitals and healthcare systems may be less so. How should they frame the concept of blockchain when they introduce it to their CEOs and boards?

  This is the second era of the Internet and the most powerful technology for creating a new model of healthcare. It may sound self-serving, but the best source for awareness is our book, Blockchain Revolution. It’s the only best seller on the topic so far. Also, my second TED talk (the first on blockchain by TED) has over 2 million views and is the most viewed video on the topic.

   

  As a futurist and influential thinker, you have inspired others to embrace change. Where do you look for inspiration? Has that source changed over the years?

  In the mid-1990s I started studying these kids as a generation when I saw how my own children were effortlessly able to use all this sophisticated technology. And at first I thought, my children are prodigies. But then I noticed that all their friends were like them, and the theory that all their friends were prodigies was, you know, a bit of a stretch. I ended up writing a couple of books about this Net Generation. Still today my main inspiration comes from talking to young people, especially my own kids. When it comes to blockchain, every day I learn and am inspired by my son Alex. I tell people, listen to the children. In their experience and culture is the new workplace, the new customer, and the new citizen.

   

  Editor’s note: Don Tapscott will provide the closing keynote address Nov. 3 at the CHIME17 Fall CIO Forum, which will be Oct. 31-Nov. 3 in San Antonio, Texas. More information about CHIME17 is available here. To register, go here.

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  More Inside CHIME Volume 2, No. 18:

  • Inside CHIME: 2 CHIME Members Join Federal HIT Advisory Panel – Mari Savickis
  • Inside CHIME: News of Note – Candace Stuart
  • This Week’s Washington Debrief (8.28.17)

  Posted 8.31.2017

• CHIME and DirectTrust Announce Collaboration

  Leading Organizations Will Work Together to Promote Universal Deployment of Direct Exchange as Common Interface for Health Information Exchange

  ANN ARBOR, MI, and WASHINGTON, DC, Aug. 30, 2017 – The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and DirectTrust today announced they are collaborating to promote the universal deployment of the DirectTrust framework and health information exchange network as the common electronic interface for health information exchange across the U.S.

  CHIME is the leading professional association for healthcare CIOs, with more than 2,400 members across all 50 states in the U.S. as well as 47 other countries. DirectTrust is a healthcare industry alliance created by and for participants in the Direct exchange network used for secure, interoperable exchange of personal health information between provider organizations, and between provider and patients, for the purpose of improved coordination of care.

  CHIME and DirectTrust are working together to promote and ensure that secure, interoperable exchange of healthcare information via Direct exchange is available and able to be used at every location in the healthcare system where a patient’s data and information might be needed. This will include making Direct exchange universally available at hospitals, medical practices, pharmacies, labs, long-term care facilities, payers, insurers and health departments as well as on applications.

  DirectTrust’s network is the largest standards-based network for the exchange of health information, with more than 1.5 million send and receive endpoints, at over 100,000 healthcare organizations, via more than 350 ONC-certified EHRs.

  “Our members strongly support the further development of a standards-based national platform to safely and securely exchange patient data,” said CHIME CEO and President Russell P. Branzell. “DirectTrust offers an infrastructure that goes hand in hand with our goals to assist and lead where needed to improve patient care, engage patients in their health and reduce patient safety incidents. The National Patient ID Challenge, which we launched to accurately and safely identify patients no matter what the healthcare setting, is a perfect example of these needs that require a strong national exchange infrastructure. Having these two elements in place will go far toward offering high-quality, timely patient care anytime, anywhere in the U.S. We look forward to working with DirectTrust to make this a reality.”

  “We are thrilled to be working with such a strong leader in CHIME and its membership of experienced health IT professionals. There is great potential in our new collaboration to further standardize and simplify health information exchange interfaces on a national basis for an expanded variety of use cases,” said DirectTrust CEO and President David C. Kibbe, MD, MBA. “The value of a simple and secure means of exchange that can be relied upon everywhere for the exchange of health data and information is a necessary step forward in attaining the goals of national health IT interoperability consistent with existing national policy.”

  “As CIOs, we constantly are assessing what gaps need to be filled to meet current and future technological demands in our health systems,” said CHIME Board Chair Liz Johnson, CIO of Acute Care Hospitals & Applied Clinical Informatics at Tenet Healthcare Corporation. “We welcome the opportunity to add our perspective as these exchange networks mature and expand nationally.”

   

  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 2,400 CIO members and over 150 healthcare IT vendor partners and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit chimecentral.org.

  
  About DirectTrust
  DirectTrust is a five-year old, non-profit, vendor neutral, self-regulatory entity initially created by and for participants in the Direct community, including Health Internet Service Providers (HISPs), Certificate Authorities (CAs), Registration Authorities (RAs), doctors, patients and vendors, and supports both provider-to-provider as well as patient-to-provider Direct exchange. In the period 2013 to 2015, DirectTrust was the recipient of a Cooperative Agreement Award from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) as part of the Exemplar HIE Governance Program. DirectTrust serves as a forum and governance body for persons and entities engaged in the Direct exchange of electronic health information as part of the Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN). DirectTrust’s Security and Trust Framework is the basis for the voluntary accreditation of service providers implementing Direct health information exchange. The goal of DirectTrust is to develop, promote, and, as necessary, help enforce the rules and best practices necessary to maintain security and trust within the Direct community, consistent with the HITECH Act and the governance rules for the NwHIN established by ONC. DirectTrust is committed to fostering widespread public confidence in the interoperable exchange of health information. To learn more, visit www.directtrust.org.

  Contacts

  CHIME: Candace Stuart Director of Communications and Public Relations 734.665.0000 [email protected]

  Direct Trust: Ed Emerman Eagle Public Relations 609.275.5162 [email protected]

  Posted 8.30.2017

• California medical group chooses Novarad PACS/RIS

  ARCADIA, CA- August 29, 2017 – Novarad Corporation, a leader in the development of medical imaging software, has recently entered into contract with Diagnostic Medical Group of Arcadia, California. Novarad will provide PACS and RIS software as part of an effort to upgrade the facility’s imaging capabilities.

  “We are excited to work with such an excellent organization and help expand and streamline their imaging services,” said Fred Trovato, Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Novarad.

  Diagnostic Medical Group was established in 1984 to serve the citizens of their community in Southern California. They are a complete outpatient imaging center, providing MRI scans, CT scans, and more.

  Novarad offers PACS, RIS, cardiology, orthopedic, and mammography systems and has more than 850 installations worldwide. To learn more about Novarad, follow the company on Twitter @NovaradCorp, or visit www.novarad.net.

  # # #

  For over 20 years, Novarad has enabled healthcare providers to solve their imaging problems through its full diagnostic suite. Today, Novarad’s specialized enterprise imaging and workflow solutions continue to improve upon industry standards and empower healthcare providers everywhere to solve problems. Through customizable workflow and imaging solutions, Novarad encompasses medical imaging needs. Visit Novarad at www.novarad.net for more information.

  Media Contact:

  Kristi Alvarado, Media Relations Contact at Novarad | 801.642.1001 | [email protected]

  Posted 8.29.2017

• Parallon Technology Solutions to Host Webinar on Upgrading to Integrated MEDITECH 6.16: What Ever CIO and CMO Needs to Know

  Nashville, TN – August 25th, 2017 –On September 14, 2017, Parallon Technology Solutions (PTS) will team up with OakHorn Solutions to host a webinar for CIO’s and CMO’s considering or planning to upgrade to MEDITECH 6.16. Dr. Charles Bell, CMO of PTS and John Mason, virtual CIO and founder of OakHorn Solutions, will lead this presentation on what leaders should do to achieve the best results and a successful upgrade.

  Topics covered in this webinar will include:

  • Why consider an upgrade to 6.16?
  • How to prepare for the upgrade
  • Governance and leadership
  • Communication and collaboration with stakeholders
  • The role of the Physician Champion
  • Perspective and Intention: Clinical vs. IT

  Each presenter has extensive leadership experience and has an in-depth knowledge of the MEDITECH platform. This webinar is intended to provide attendees with guidance on how to approach an upgrade from a leadership perspective and will address common pitfalls when planning and preparing for an upgrade. To attend this webinar, click here to register and login details will be sent promptly after registration.

  About OakHorn Solutions

  A startup Advisory and Consultancy focused on rural healthcare operations and healthcare startup technologies in Texas. OakHorn Solutions provides ‘Virtual CIO’ services to hospitals, advising them on operational improvements, cost reductions and regulatory and compliance enhancements. OakHorn Solutions also provides healthcare operations advisory services to startup healthcare applications and companies, providing guidance on effective operational integration, architectural design considerations and ‘translation’ of healthcare operations to technology design. To learn more, visit http://www.oakhornsolutions.com or email [email protected].

  About Parallon Technology Solutions

  Parallon Technology Solutions, LLC (PTS) provides EHR implementations, application support, IT managed services, technical staffing and strategic IT consulting services to hospitals, outpatient facilities, accountable care organizations and large physician groups nationwide. A certified MEDITECH READY consulting firm with a team of over 400 clinical and technical professionals, PTS has implemented EHR systems in more than 300 facilities and provides world-class hosting and managed services. PTS offers staffing and remote support services for all major EHR acute and ambulatory platforms as well as their ancillary applications. Visit http://www.parallontechnology.comor contact us at 855.276.9112 or [email protected].

   

  Posted 8.25.2017

• Sectra Signs Breast Imaging PACS Contract with UC San Diego Health

  SHELTON, CT – August 24, 2017 – International medical imaging IT and cybersecurity company Sectra (STO: SECT B) announces that UC San Diego Health will install Sectra PACS for its breast imaging workflow. The Sectra solution will provide true, multi-modality display of all breast images, including digital breast tomosynthesis, with the end goal of improved cancer care. The technology will support patient care at both UC San Diego Health campuses in Hillcrest and La Jolla, and at Moores Cancer Center, the region’s only NCIdesignated Comprehensive Cancer Center.

  UC San Diego Health performs screening mammography and offers a full spectrum of diagnostic breast imaging services, including 2D and 3D mammography, breast ultrasound, breast MRI, breast biopsies and a wide-range of image-guided interventional procedures. The Sectra PACS will be integrated with the existing mammography reporting system and VNA.

  Sectra PACS displays ultrasound and MRI images side-by-side with digital mammograms and digital breast tomosynthesis exams, facilitating comparison of current and prior images according to radiologist preference.

  “Sectra’s focus on cancer care, including our cutting-edge software for teaching files and multidisciplinary team meetings, aligns closely with UC San Diego Health’s treatment philosophy and academic needs,” says Mikael Anden, President of Sectra North America.

  Sectra Breast Imaging Webinar
  Attend the Sectra breast imaging webinar on October 4 at 2pm Eastern Time to hear perspectives from five leading breast radiologists. Register at: bit.ly/2w4ycQO.

  About Sectra
  With more than 25 years of innovation and 1,700 installations, Sectra is a leading global provider of imaging IT solutions that support healthcare in achieving patient-centric care. Sectra offers an Enterprise Image Management solution comprising PACS for imaging-intense departments, VNA and Cross Enterprise Workflow solutions. Read more about Sectra and why Sectra PACS is “Best in KLAS” at sectra.com/medical.

  Contacts
  Andrea Sowitch
  Vice President of Marketing
  Sectra North America
  [email protected]
  203.925.0899 ext. 268

  Torbjörn Kronander
  President and CEO
  Sectra AB
  [email protected]
  +46.705.23.5227

  Posted 8.24.2017

• Collaboration is Antidote to Clinician Burnout, Safety Issues, Study Finds

  Vocera and HIMSS Analytics Survey Reveals Teamwork between Clinical, IT Teams Key to Reducing Clinical Errors and Improving Patient Safety

  SAN JOSE, CA -August 24, 2017 – By Bryan Fiekers – Before and during HIMSS2017, Vocera worked with HIMSS Analytics to survey 124 clinical and IT leaders at health systems, hospitals, and outpatient facilities. Vocera issued a report with research conducted by HIMSS Analytics http://bit.ly/2vYYFAJ, called “Research Findings: Strong Collaboration between Clinical and IT Leaders Supports Better Safety and Quality.”

  • Download the report: “Research Findings: Strong Collaboration between Clinical and IT Leaders Supports Better Safety and Quality”
  • View the recorded webinar http://bit.ly/2vYCo5Z: “HIMSS17 Survey Results: How Hospitals Select and Deploy Clinical IT Systems to Ensure Safety and Outcomes”

  From participants’ answers to 10 questions posed in the study, two themes emerged as most important.

  Clinical and IT leaders overwhelmingly share the belief that the most important value a clinical IT solution can deliver is to help to safeguard against clinical errors and ensure patient safety.

  In the view of clinical leaders, fostering greater collaboration between clinical and IT teams to ensure technology improves workflow is the way to make technology a greater part of the solution to clinician burnout.

  The study’s findings point to ways that IT and clinical leaders can work together to help reduce clinician burnout and shape solutions that will create safer, higher quality care for patients.

  The State of Collaboration Between Clinical and IT Teams

  The study looked at how IT leaders and clinical leaders work together and with front line teams to assess the need for clinical IT solutions, define requirements, select and implement solutions, and measure solution success. It also sought to better understand the state and causes not only of clinician burnout, but also of IT team burnout.

  Identifying the Need for a New IT Solution

  When it comes to how an organization decides it needs a new IT solution, about one-half of clinical and IT leaders reported that they work together with frontline team members to identify gaps in the care experience and IT solutions that can help deliver next-generation care.

  Defining System Requirements

  At more than one-half of organizations, IT and clinical leaders collaborate to define requirements for clinical IT system investments. Early-adopter health systems are going beyond collaboration between IT and clinical leaders and are directly consulting with frontline team members to understand workflow.

  Selecting and Implementing Solutions – and What’s Missing

  While respondents reported that clinical and IT leaders collaborate to select and implement solutions, the absence of care team members, patients, and family members in the process was a gap. These are the people who have the greatest stake in quality and safety at the bedside and across the care continuum.

  The Ultimate Measure of Solution Success

  Clinical and IT leaders agree that the ultimate measure of a clinical IT solution’s success is its impact on clinical measures, such as quality and safety improvement. No other measures came close.

  Assessing Burnout

  The study shed light not only on the state of clinician burnout, but also on the state of IT burnout.

  On the clinical side, the majority of clinical leaders believe that collaboration between IT and clinical teams to ensure clinical technology improves workflows is key to turning clinical IT into a burnout solution rather than cause.

  Meanwhile, one-half of IT respondents reported that their teams are somewhat burned out by the demands of selecting, implementing, and managing clinical IT solutions. Two-thirds cited budget and resource restraints as the top factor contributing to burnout among their teams.

  Better Collaboration Is the Key to Better Quality and Safety

  A great deal is beyond the control of IT and clinical leaders, particularly in the areas of budgets and resources. But they can control how they work together and involve stakeholders to develop, implement, and measure solutions.

  Clinical and IT leaders most value safety and quality, and yet safety and quality are common casualties of burnout. Greater collaboration between clinical and IT teams to ensure technology improves workflow can help reduce burnout and ultimately help deliver what both sets of leaders value most.

  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 www.vocera.com and follow @VoceraComm on Twitter.

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

  MEDIA CONTACT:
  Shanna Hearon
  Vocera Communications, Inc.
  865-769-2028
  [email protected]

  ###

  Posted 8.24.2017

• Medical software company enters into agreement with Smart Choice MRI of Mequon, Wisconsin

  MEQUON, IN – August 22, 2017 – Novarad Corporation, a leader in the development of medical imaging software, has recently entered into contract with Smart Choice MRI of Mequon, Wisconsin to install its PACS software as an effort to improve the facility’s imaging capabilities.

  “We are very pleased to work with Smart Choice MRI, and are happy to be a part of their goal to change the Healthcare industry for the better,” said Fred Trovato, Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Novarad.

  Smart Choice MRI has 15 total locations in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois. Their goal is to put the “care” back in “healthcare”, and provide better patient care and a higher value.

  Novarad offers PACS, RIS, cardiology, orthopedic, and mammography systems and has more than 850 installations worldwide. To learn more about Novarad, follow the company on Twitter @NovaradCorp, or visit www.novarad.net.

  About Novarad
  For over 20 years, Novarad has enabled healthcare providers to solve their imaging problems through its full diagnostic suite. Today, Novarad’s specialized enterprise imaging and workflow solutions continue to improve upon industry standards and empower healthcare providers everywhere to solve problems. Through customizable workflow and imaging solutions, Novarad encompasses medical imaging needs. Visit Novarad at novarad.net for more information.

  Contact
  Kristi Alvarado
  Media Relations Contact
  Novarad
  801.642.1001
  [email protected]

  Posted 8.22.2017