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Clearwater Says New National Survey Findings A ‘Wake-up Call’ for Health System Cybersecurity
CHIME HealthCare’s 2018 Most Wired Survey Cites Profound Need for Foundational Security and Disaster Recovery Measures
San Diego, CA & Nashville, TN – October 31, 2018 – In the wake of a record-breaking $16 million data breach settlement earlier this month that put insurers and provides alike on notice that ignoring cybersecurity risks could come with a hefty price tag, a new national survey of U.S. health systems finds that only 29 percent report having a comprehensive cybersecurity program in place.
.@rstaynings says new @CIOCHIME #MostWired Survey findings a “wake-up call” for health system cybersecurity. #cybersecurity #HIPAA #CHIME #CyberAware
“Due to a growing number of internal and external security threats, it has become increasingly more difficult for healthcare organizations to protect their sensitive information, including patients’ personal health information,” according to CHIME HealthCare’s Most Wired: National Trends 2018 report issued today during the annual CHIME Fall CIO Forum in San Diego. Clearwater, a CHIME member and top-ranked healthcare cyber risk management solutions company, was a sponsor of the research for a second year.
Clearwater Chief Trust & Security Officer Richard Staynings said the findings from this year’s Most Wired research should be a wake-up call for health system leadership especially as healthcare becomes increasingly digital (the overall Internet of Medical Things, or IoMT, market is expected to grow from $41 billion in 2017 to $158 billion by 2022, Deloitte, July 2018).
“The question every board of directors and executive leadership team should be asking themselves is, have we done a sufficient risk analysis, and if not, why not?” said Staynings. “In our own analysis of the past 57 OCR settlements involving a breach of electronic protected health information, in 88 percent of the cases, the healthcare organization failed to do a sufficient risk analysis. That’s pretty mind boggling.”
The Anthem data breach, affecting nearly 79 million people, is the largest ever reported, and statistics show healthcare breaches are on the rise, with 277 breaches through the first nine months of 2018, compared with 271 during the same period the year before. Most breaches stemmed from hacking or “IT incidents,” according to the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR), which enforces Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy and security rules. Breaches currently under investigation can be found here. Regulators also noted that Anthem failed to take several basic security steps, including conducting an enterprise-wide security risk assessment on all assets involved with PHI, including assets thought to be “out of scope.”
While Most Wired found most respondents have taken at least one step toward an incident-response plan (97 percent said they have a documented EHR-outage prodecure, for example), only 29 percent reported having a comprehensive cybersecurity program in place, just 26 percent surveyed said they had adopted all 10 critical components of an incident response plan, while 43 percent had adopted 7-9 components, and 31 percent reported adoption of fewer than seven.
“Before provider organizations can achieve outcomes with their strategies for population health management, value-based care, patient engagement, and telehealth, they must first ensure that foundational pieces such as integration, interoperability, security, and disaster recovery are in place,” the CHIME report concluded.
The annual Most Wired survey is designed to identify and recognize healthcare organizations that exemplify best practices through their adoption, implementation and use of information technology. This is CHIME’s first year to oversee the Most Wired program since acquiring it from the American Hospital Association. Participation is open to all CIOs and qualified health organizations.
This year’s research added a new emphasis on measuring key areas to help identify gaps in healthcare organizations’ technology adoption and strategies and to highlight areas in which the industry has opportunities to make progress. The key areas that emerged from this year’s research were:
- Foundational Technologies:
- Integration and Interoperability
- Security and Disaster Recovery
- Transformational Technologies:
- Population Health Management and Value-Based Care
- Patient Engagement and Telehealth
Clearwater has long been a leader in cyber risk management solutions, and its founder and executive chairman, Bob Chaput, is known as an industry trailblazer. He recently authored a chapter titled “Compliance Risk Management and Cyber Risk Management” in the Wolters Kluwer 2019 Health Law and Compliance Update, now in its 16th year. The publication features national experts who address key developments in healthcare delivery, payment, and compliance.
Chaput’s chapter includes practical advice and analytical tools for use in organizational compliance and cyber risk management programs in addition to a timely and thorough analysis.
The chapter includes topics such as:
- What constitutes an OCR-quality risk analysis
- Jump-starting an effective cyber risk management program
- The consequences of an inadequate risk analysis
- Critical building blocks for a comprehensive, enterprise-wide information risk management program
- Three pillars of HIPAA compliance
- Governance
- Most common risk analysis mistakes
- A case study: St. Joseph Health
The chapter addresses the misconception that compliance risk management and cyber risk management are synonymous. Chaput explains the differences between the two, and gives healthcare organizations the information they need to evaluate where gaps may exist in their compliance and cyber risk management programs. The chapter focuses on what is involved in a comprehensive risk analysis, and offers actionable steps an organization can take to move toward a comprehensive information risk management program.
“Compliance risk management is a critical component of any healthcare organization’s overall risk management program,” said Chaput. “Yet, compliance is only one part of a much bigger information risk management picture. Cyber risk management takes a more complete look at an organization’s information assets, threats and vulnerabilities than compliance risk management does.”
The 2019 Edition of the book can be purchased from Wolters Kluwer: https://lrus.wolterskluwer.com/
About Clearwater
Clearwater provides the most complete and trusted, enterprise-class cyber risk management solution available. Designed for healthcare providers and their partners, Clearwater’s IRM|Pro™ platform and experienced professional services team provide insights and actions to address compliance, cyber and patient safety risks. Clearwater is a 2017 Inc. 5000 fastest-growing company, the 2018 Best in KLAS winner in Cybersecurity Advisory Services, the 2017 and 2018 Black Book Marketing Research winner in Compliance and Risk Management Solutions, and exclusively endorsed by the American Hospital Association as well as numerous state hospital associations. Clearwater solutions have been deployed within hundreds of hospitals and health systems, Fortune 100 organizations, and federal government institutions. More information about Clearwater is at clearwatercompliance.com.
Contacts
Clearwater
Kriste Goad, 615-440-9049
[email protected]Posted 10.31.2018 - Foundational Technologies:
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CHIME Innovator of the Year Combines Creativity with Compassion to Help Pediatric Patients
SAN DIEGO, CA, Oct. 31, 2018 – Compassionate care is a hallmark in healthcare, and compassion is what motivated the informatics team at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, to develop an innovative approach to help pediatric burn victims through their recovery. Under the leadership of Chief Research Information Officer Simon Lin, they collaborated with the Center for Pediatric Trauma Research and the Pediatric Burn Unit at Nationwide Children’s to develop and pilot test a virtual reality app that immerses young patients in a game while clinicians remove and replace dressings.
Preliminary results show a dramatic reduction in reported pain scores compared to controls – a reduction achieved without altering pain medication. This creative use of technology, which is now being tested in a larger study, earned Lin the 2018 College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) Innovator of the Year Award. The award was given today at the 2018 CHIME Fall CIO Forum in San Diego.
Burn patients already are in distress from the pain that can occur during dressing changes, Lin said. Watching the process may intensify children’s trauma. The game, which requires patients to wear a headset, distracts them while the headset shields their view of the clinical activities going on around them. Patients can passively watch the game or they can actively engage in it using breathing controls that substitute for hand consoles.
“Simon’s virtual reality app is a perfect example of patient-centered care,” said CHIME Board Chair Cletis Earle, senior vice president and CIO at Kaleida Health. “They developed a tool that children will respond to – a game – and worked with clinicians to make sure it fits within their work flow. The result is a better experience for the patient with no added burden for clinicians. This is a win for everybody.”
The app itself has been well received, based on study results: 96 percent of patients reported satisfaction with the game; 100 percent of parents were satisfied; and 83 percent of physicians reported that virtual reality is helpful. Lin and his group are now conducting a larger study that stratifies children into three groups: active participants, passive watchers and a control group that will receive standard care. The long-term goal is to be able to reduce or eliminate the use of pain medications such as opioids in this patient population by using innovation.
The Innovator of the Year Award is given annually to a CHIME member whose creative application of IT and innovative solutions brings value to his or her organization “It is an honor to be chosen by CHIME for the innovator award,” Lin said. “This has been a very rewarding project, and getting recognition CHIME makes it that much more rewarding.”
About CHIME
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers (CIOs), chief medical information officers (CMIOs), chief nursing information officers (CNIOs) and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 2,800 members in 51 countries and over 150 healthcare IT business 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.
Contact
Candace Stuart
Director of Communications and Public Relations, CHIME
734.665.0000
[email protected]Posted 10.31.2018 -
CHIME Presents Longtime Member and 2006 Chair Bill Spooner with Legacy Award
SAN DIEGO, CA, Oct. 31, 2018 – The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) Board of Trustees awarded longtime member and 2006 CHIME Board Chair William Spooner with the Legacy Award in honor of his many contributions to CHIME and to the industry. He received the award today during the 2018 CHIME Fall CIO Forum in San Diego.
“Bill has done literally everything CHIME has asked of him, and more,” said Russell Branzell, CHIME president and CEO. “This year alone he has served as the chair of the Most Wired Governing Board in addition to being on the CHIME Opioid Task Force and the Public Policy Steering Committee. He brings so much knowledge, insight and good spirit to everything he does. We are privileged to have him in the CHIME family.”
Spooner, who joined CHIME in 1996, has more than 40 years of healthcare experience. For 18 years, he led an aggressive IT program at Sharp HealthCare that helped it develop into the leading integrated delivery network in San Diego and win prestigious awards, including the 2007 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. He retired in 2014 and currently is a founding advisor at Next Wave Advisors, a Huntzinger Company.
“Bill is supposed to be retired, but he is the busiest retiree I know,” said Cletis Earle, chair of the CHIME Board of Trustees and senior vice president and CIO at Kaleida Health. “He is truly committed to everything he does. He was critical to the success of CHIME’s Most Wired program this year, and his participation on the PSC and the CHIME Opioid Task Force has been invaluable.”
Spooner has received numerous awards from CHIME, including the 2009 John E. Gall Jr. CIO of the Year award and CHIME’s inaugural Federal Public Policy Award for CIO Leadership. In 2011, Information Week named him one of the “25 leaders driving the healthcare IT revolution.”
Spooner is only the fifth CHIME member to receive a Legacy Award. Previous winners are Tim Zoph in 2013 and David Muntz, Judy Murphy and Doug Fridsma in 2014.
About CHIME
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers (CIOs), chief medical information officers (CMIOs), chief nursing information officers (CNIOs) and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 2,800 members in 51 countries and over 150 healthcare IT business 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.
Contact
Candace Stuart
Director of Communications and Public Relations, CHIME
734.665.0000
[email protected]Posted 10.31.2018 -
Navicent Health’s Omer Awan Wins 2018 CHIME Transformational Leadership Award
SAN DIEGO, CA, Oct. 31, 2018 – Two years ago, Omer Awan joined Navicent Health in Macon, Ga., as senior vice president and CIO. In that short period of time, he has changed the culture in his department to make his team valuable contributors who work collaboratively with others to find creative solutions that benefit patients and the healthcare system. At the same time, he has elevated the profile of IT within the ranks of their executive leadership, giving him a seat at the table as they carry out Navicent Health’s vision.“Today, IT is considered a strategic asset and looked upon as an innovative and customer-oriented group that is consistently raising the bar for gold-standard customer service,” said Ninfa M. Saunders, DHA, president and CEO at Navicent Health. “Omer has fostered the spirit of innovation within the IT team and the organization as a whole.”His success has earned Awan the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) Transformational Leadership Award. The award is given annually by CHIME in conjunction with the American Hospital Association in honor of a CEO and CIO whose organization developed and deployed transformational IT that improved the delivery of care and streamlined administrative services. The honor was announced today at the 2018 CHIME Fall CIO Forum in San Diego.Awan said he institutionalized a framework that called for simultaneously strengthening their IT foundation, advancing the culture and innovating, always keeping in mind Navicent Health’s business needs. IT staff embedded themselves within other groups to better understand their programs and get more involved in problem solving and decision making. This process changed mindsets within the IT department and throughout the organization.“IT has broken out of the shell of technology,” Awan said. “It is all over the place. It is in business; it is in the clinical areas. All of my IT managers and directors rewrote their job descriptions. They are not just managers and directors, they are solution partners. It was incumbent on them to know as much about their respective clinical and business areas.”Among their successes has been the rollout of a real-time care coordination platform that serves as a one-stop shop for surgical staff and patients. The program, utilized for OrCarestra, Navicent Health’s surgical patients, has eliminated the use of faxes, phone calls and hand-written requests and added standardized processes. OrCarestra has shortened scheduling times, decreased scheduling errors, sped up financial clearances and allowed them to complete more cases faster.Saunders said Awan and his IT members are now trusted partners at Navicent Health. “His colleagues trust his leadership, admire his insights and cherish his partnership,” she said. “His team feels the same way and is motivated and passionate about achieving their vision and making a difference.”Awan’s commitment to transformational leadership parallels the vision of CHIME, noted Cletis Earle, CHIME Board chair and senior vice president and CIO at Kaleida Health. “Our vision statement is ‘Exceptional Leaders Transforming Health and Care,’ and Omer exemplifies that,” Earle said. “Omer is a perfect example of what we can achieve with visionary IT leaders who embrace innovation.”About CHIMEThe College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers (CIOs), chief medical information officers (CMIOs), chief nursing information officers (CNIOs) and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 2,800 members in 51 countries and over 150 healthcare IT business 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 Navicent HealthNavicent Health was incorporated on November 17, 1994, as a nonprofit corporation whose primary purpose is to coordinate The Medical Center, Navicent Health and other affiliated entities in their mission of providing a comprehensive continuum of high quality, reasonably priced healthcare services to the region. Navicent Health has 970 beds for medical, surgical, rehabilitation and hospice purposes. The health system includes The Medical Center, Navicent Health, a nationally recognized tertiary teaching hospital; Beverly Knight Olson Children’s Hospital, Navicent Health, the region’s only dedicated pediatric hospital; Navicent Health Baldwin and Medical Center of Peach County, Navicent Health, both rural hospitals; Rehabilitation Hospital, Navicent Health, the region’s oldest and most experienced rehabilitation provider; Pine Pointe, Navicent Health, which provides palliative and hospice care in homes and in its facility; Carlyle Place, Navicent Health, the area’s first continuing care retirement community; Navicent Health Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Navicent Health; as well as diagnostic and home care services. For more information, please visit www.navicenthealth.org.ContactsCandace StuartDirector of Communications and Public Relations, CHIME734.665.0000Megan AllenPublic Relations Manager, Navicent Health478.550.4380Posted 10.31.2018 -
Telmediq Rated Top KLAS Secure Communication Vendor for Product Quality and Delivering Promised Technology
Seattle, WA – October 31, 2018 – In the latest KLAS Decision Insights Secure Communication report, Telmediq received the clinical communication industry’s highest marks for quality and post-purchase reality. Telmediq, the 2018 Best in KLAS winner for Secure Communication, topped the list in this newest report for Overall Product Quality and Delivery of New Technology.
Released today, Decision Insights Secure Communication 2018 draws on performance feedback from current customers, as well as purchasing insights from 100 acute-care and ambulatory organizations, to evaluate vendor performance and which vendors are most often considered in this rapidly evolving industry. In addition to product quality, Telmediq also received high scores for Executive Involvement and Quality of Training.
“We take the commitment to quality and delivering on our promises extremely seriously,” says Ben Moore, CEO and Founder of Telmediq. “We are very proud that the KLAS data reflect the strong partnerships we have built with our clients to improve patient outcomes with exceptional technology.”
Telmediq’s customers reported high confidence in the vendor’s ability to meet the acute-care market’s growing desire for communication platforms. Telmediq’s cloud-based solution integrates with numerous clinical, IT and Telecom systems to eliminate workflow silos and coordinate care in both the acute and ambulatory healthcare environments. The product’s robust scheduling, call routing, and patient-centric approach to communications were among the functionalities often highlighted by customers.
“We didn’t want just a secure messaging system,” wrote one CIO. “We wanted a messaging system centered around patients. That was critical in making the choice to go with Telmediq.”
All together, these factors contributed to a high retention rate, high customer considerations, and an overall performance score of 93.1 out of 100. Ninety-seven percent of Telmediq’s current customers say they would buy the solution again.
About KLAS
KLAS is a data-driven company on a mission to improve the world’s healthcare by enabling provider and payer voices to be heard and counted. Working with thousands of healthcare professionals, KLAS collects insights on software, services and medical equipment to deliver reports, trending data and statistical overviews. KLAS data is accurate, honest and impartial. The research directly reflects the voice of healthcare professionals and acts as a catalyst for improving vendor performance. To learn more about KLAS and the insights we provide, visit www.KLASresearch.com
About Telmediq
The No. 1 KLAS-rated vendor for secure communication platforms 2018, Telmediq streamlines clinical communication and workflow so health systems can improve patient safety, throughput and satisfaction. The Telmediq healthcare communications hub pulls together disparate hospitals systems—EMR, lab, nurse call, clinical alarms, call centers and call schedules—into one powerful and integrated platform for HIPAA-compliant communication and care coordination.
For additional information about Telmediq, visit Telmediq.com | Connect on LinkedIn | Follow us @Telmediq
Contact:
Gabrielle Eagles
Director of Marketing, Telmediq
[email protected]
206.960.4202Posted 10.31.2018 -
Most Wired Trends Report Highlights Gains and Challenges for Providers
SAN DIEGO, CA, Oct. 31, 2018 – Interoperability is taking a step in the right direction, but providers may find themselves challenged in coming years, according to an analysis of data collected in the 2018 CHIME HealthCare’s Most Wired survey.
William Spooner, chair of the Most Wired Board of Governors, Drex DeFord, a member of the Board of Governors, and Bobby Low, KLAS vice president of customer insights strategy and analysis, presented the results today at the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) Fall CIO Forum in San Diego. The presentation was offered as a preview of HealthCare’s Most Wired National Trends Report 2018. This is the first year that CHIME conducted the Most Wired survey and the first year a trends report based on survey data has been made available for the industry.
“One of the key objectives of the Most Wired program is to drive change in the industry with the goal of improving patient safety and outcomes,” Spooner said. “Each participating organization received a benchmarking report to help them assess their strengths and gaps, but we wanted to go beyond just the participants. The trends report is designed to help any healthcare organization identify opportunities to improve and advance our industry.”
The report found that access to patient health information is now commonplace, suggesting the next investment could be in communication channels with patients. Many organizations report that they have the capability to consume data from outside entities such as an external hospital system or a retail pharmacy, although less so with home health agencies, skilled nursing homes and chronic care facilities.
Meaningful use has helped drive the development and use of patient portals, and progressive providers have adopted several additional capabilities, according to the analysis. Many patients have readily transitioned to mobile apps offered by most portals. The presenters noted that regulations on application programming interfaces (APIs) under Promoting Interoperability – the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ renaming for Meaningful Use – will expand engagement opportunities with patients but also pose security challenges for providers.
Besides interoperability and patient engagement, the report examines security and disaster recovery, technologies to support population health management, telehealth and more. The report is available on the CHIME website at https://chimecentral.org/mwtrends.
About CHIME
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers (CIOs), chief medical information officers (CMIOs), chief nursing information officers (CNIOs) and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 2,800 members in 51 countries and over 150 healthcare IT business 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.
Contact
Candace Stuart
Director of Communications and Public Relations, CHIME
734.665.0000
[email protected]Posted 10.31.2018 -
Inova Health System Prevents Alarm Fatigue and Enhances Patient-Centric Care with Spok Clinical Alerting
Inova clinicians receive priority clinical alerts on hospital-issued mobile devices to make informed care decisions
Springfield, VA – October 31, 2018 – Spok, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPOK) and a global leader in healthcare communications, announced that Inova Health System has chosen Spok Care Connect® clinical alerting to deliver priority clinical alarms. The solution helps prevent potential alarm fatigue by delivering alarm notifications from nurse call and patient monitoring systems to clinicians’ healthcare-grade mobile devices. Inova is a five-hospital health system serving more than two million people each year from throughout the Washington, D.C. metro area and beyond. Spok clinical alerting is fully deployed at Inova Fairfax Hospital, and is being rolled out systemwide over the next year, encompassing more than 2,500 users.
“Intelligent clinical alerting combats alarm fatigue and reduces clinician burnout, which are two top challenges for healthcare today.”
“We were already using Spok in a variety of ways for clinical communication within Inova, and we knew we had a solid, reliable platform to build on,” said Jill Briggs, RN, CPN, pediatrics project manager, at Inova Fairfax Hospital. “Across multiple critical care units, Spok enables us to take an enterprise approach to alarm management. We are preventing alarm fatigue with technology that adapts to our workflows to eliminate ‘nuisance alarms’ and improve patient safety.”
Spok clinical alerting integrates with Inova nurse call systems, Rauland Responder® 5 and Hill-Rom NaviCare®, as well as the patient monitoring network of bedside devices, which are primarily GE Healthcare. Spok enables Inova to have the flexibility to customize alarm management for each clinical unit. Assignment sync, patient identification, workflow rules, keyword logic, and unique tones for different patient events help ensure the right clinicians receive alerts that matter to them on Inova-issued Spectralink clinical smartphones. Automated escalations, audit trails, and analytics support timely response to patients in need.
“Spok works very well with the other systems our care teams use communicate,” said Rebecca Arthur, CPHIMS, ITIL, manager of biomedical information systems at Inova. “That level of interoperability means technology adapts to our workflows, rather than the other way around, and provides timely information to the caregiver in order to make more informed care decisions.”
Spok clinical alerts are received by Inova clinicians on Spectralink PIVOT® 87-Series clinical smartphones. Inova selected Spectralink, a Spok partner, for the seamless integration with Spok and its EHR system, Epic®. Deciding factors for choosing PIVOT include its screen size, which is large enough to clearly read complete alert notifications and messages and effectively navigate the EHR, and its rugged durability.
“Inova has worked diligently to develop a unified communication system, and Spok is proud to be the platform that supports their vision,” said Vincent D. Kelly, chief executive officer of Spok, Inc. “Intelligent clinical alerting combats alarm fatigue and reduces clinician burnout, which are two top challenges for healthcare today.”
About Inova Health System
Inova is a global leader in personalized health, which leverages precision medicine together with more patient-centric services to predict, prevent and treat disease, enabling individuals to live longer, healthier lives. At Inova, we serve more than 2 million people each year from throughout the Washington, DC, metro area and beyond.We are shaping the future of health through our integrated network of hospitals, primary and specialty care practices, emergency and urgent care centers, outpatient services and destination institutes. Our commitment to health and wellness is further reflected in our sustainable practices. Inova is home to world-class researchers, expert medical specialists and renowned scientists, who are driving innovation to improve patient care, prevent disease and promote wellness. For more information, visit inova.org, or find Inova on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
About Spok
Spok, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPOK), headquartered in Springfield, Virginia, is proud to be the global leader in healthcare communications. We deliver clinical information to care teams when and where it matters most to improve patient outcomes. Top hospitals rely on the Spok Care Connect® platform to enhance workflows for clinicians, support administrative compliance, and provide a better experience for patients. Our customers send over 100 million messages each month through their Spok® solutions. When seconds count, count on Spok. For more information, visit spok.com or follow @spoktweets on Twitter.Spok is a trademark of Spok Holdings, Inc. Spok Care Connect is a trademark of Spok, Inc.
Contacts
Spok, Inc.
Jill Asby, +1-952-230-5363
[email protected]Posted 10.31.2018 -
Vocera and QGenda Announce Reseller Partnership, Systems Integration
Integrated solution will improve clinical workflows and on-call provider communication
San Jose, CA – October 30, 2018 – Vocera Communications, Inc. (NYSE:VCRA), a recognized leader in clinical communication and workflow solutions, today announced a new partnership with QGenda, a leader in enterprise cloud-based physician scheduling automation. Vocera will be the exclusive reseller of QGenda’s product portfolio into the federal healthcare market, including the Veterans Health Administration, Department of Defense, and Indian Health Service. Interoperability between the Vocera communication system and the QGenda scheduling solutions will improve care team communication and clinical workflows with on-call providers.
The QGenda portfolio includes solutions for automated scheduling, time tracking, compensation management, and on-call scheduling, providing a comprehensive provider workforce management solution. The combined offering connects QGenda On-Call with the Vocera platform for better clinical communication and workflows, enabling care teams to easily communicate in real-time with the right on-call provider. Healthcare organizations can quickly build and manage optimized provider schedules and easily create and update consolidated on-call schedules. Integration between the companies’ scheduling and communication solutions saves caregivers valuable time and steps by eliminating the need to know names or phone numbers of available on-call providers to make calls and send texts.
“The partnership between QGenda and Vocera will greatly benefit our customers in the growing federal market,” said Greg Benoit, CEO and Founder at QGenda. “The integration between our solutions takes the guesswork out of who is on call; and in healthcare every second counts. No more wondering and waiting means clinical communication is faster, easier, and more accurate.”
Inside or outside the facility, shift after shift, clinicians will no longer need to manually keep track of schedules and providers. The integration automatically connects the latest schedule with the Vocera communication platform, enabling clinicians to make calls, send secure texts, and route notifications. Care team members have their choice of using a smartphone, wearable Vocera Badge, or desktop computer when connecting with on-call providers.
“In our effort to support our customers and respond to their needs, our strategy is to extend our capabilities and integrate with best-in-class enablers of real-time health systems,” said Brent Lang, president and CEO at Vocera, “The integration between Vocera and QGenda is sure to improve provider satisfaction and healthcare delivery. We can’t wait to see the positive impact it has on the lives of patients and care teams.”
About QGenda
QGenda is the #1 cloud-based, automated provider scheduling software. Since its launch in 2006, QGenda has grown to serve more than 2,500 customers in over 30 medical specialties. Leading physician groups, hospitals, academic medical centers, and enterprise health systems use QGenda to optimize their workforce which allows them to provide the best possible patient care. In 2017, QGenda made the list for both Georgia Fast 40 and Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™ for its rapid growth. QGenda is headquartered in Atlanta, GA with offices in Baltimore, MD. Learn why 81 of 100 Becker’s Greatest Hospitals use QGenda at www.QGenda.com, or follow on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
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 1,700 facilities worldwide, including nearly 1,500 hospitals and healthcare facilities, have selected our solutions for team members to text securely using smartphones or make calls with our hands-free, wearable Vocera Badge. Interoperability between Vocera and more than 140 clinical and operational 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, aged care facilities, 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. In 2017, Vocera made the list of Forbes 100 Most Trustworthy Companies in America. Learn more at www.vocera.com, and follow @VoceraComm on Twitter.
Vocera® and the Vocera logo are trademarks 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.
CONTACTS
Sarah Tipsin
Qgenda
770.399.9945 (ext. 9323)
Shanna Hearon
Vocera Communications, Inc.
669.999.3368Posted 10.30.2018 -
Renown Health Enhances Labor & Delivery Patient Safety with PeriWatch® Decision Support System
Reno, Nev. health system now uses real-time trend analysis for mothers and babies in their care
Cary, NC – October 30, 2018 – PeriGen, the innovator in perinatal early warning systems, today announced northern Nevada’s Renown Health has implemented PeriGen’s PeriWatch labor analysis software in its childbirth unit. The software system includes PeriWatch® Cues™, the only fetal surveillance solution that is both cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and validated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The software incorporates artificial intelligence features to help clinicians interpret fetal heart rate patterns and provides a consistent, objective and standardized assessment to enhance care collaboration.
“We strive to deliver optimal patient safety for every mother and baby in our care by giving our childbirth team the most advanced tools available for assessing fetal heart rate and labor progress, while making it easier for caregivers to maintain the patient record,” said Paul Sierzenski, M.D., MSHQS, RDMS, FACEP, FAAEM, Renown Health vice president and chief medical officer of acute services. “Following a seamless implementation, PeriGen gives us real-time information that will help our care team make the most informed decisions possible.”
Renown Health, which provides care for more than 4,200 babies delivered each year, focuses on providing the most compassionate and comfortable environment for mothers and their newborns, knowing expectant mothers expect the best medical care to ensure their babies are born healthy.
“Our clinical team works tirelessly to help our mothers and babies have the best outcomes possible,” said Natalie Nicholson, DNP, MBA, RN, CENP, director of nursing for Renown Women’s Health. “Before PeriGen, we looked at long streams of paper to discern if one data point was cause for intervention, making it difficult to identify worrisome trends quickly. Now, we have several hours of information at our fingertips, along with the analytics to add further context.”
PeriWatch labor analysis modules provide comprehensive, patented, FDA-cleared clinical decision support for the Renown Health labor & delivery team. Integrated with the health system’s Epic electronic health record system as part of its Epic Refresh Project, the software uses patented algorithms to help clinicians interpret fetal heart rate patterns and provides a consistent, objective and standardized assessment of the data as a basis for collaborative care at the bedside. The tool has been cited as invaluable in facilitating communication among nurses and physicians.
“The unique capabilities of the PeriWatch solution assist Renown Health in providing exceptional, safe patient care that will ultimately lead to better health outcomes for mothers and medically fragile newborns,” said PeriGen CEO Matthew Sappern. “Both the clinical and IT teams at Renown Health helped facilitate a flawless implementation and were up and running in less than one day. We’re proud to help healthcare organizations like Renown quickly and easily leverage the most advanced technologies available in their labor & delivery units to reduce risk throughout the birthing experience.”
The NIH validation is based on the findings of an extensive, independent study which determined an analysis of fetal strip tracings performed manually by top NIH experts matched the findings from PeriWatch Cues automated, real-time analysis more than 97 percent of the time.
ABOUT RENOWN HEALTH
Renown Health is a locally governed and locally owned, not-for-profit integrated healthcare network serving Nevada, Lake Tahoe and northeast California. Renown is one of the region’s largest private employers with a workforce of more than 7,000. It comprises three acute care hospitals, a rehabilitation hospital, the area’s most comprehensive medical group and urgent care network, and the region’s largest and only locally owned not-for-profit insurance company, Hometown Health. Renown has a long tradition and commitment to continually improve the care and the health of our community. For more information, visit renown.org.
ABOUT PERIGEN, INC.
PeriGen offers innovative perinatal software solutions that incorporate advanced statistical analysis features to enhance clinical efficiency and standardization of care during childbirth. Led by skilled OB practitioners and IT visionaries, PeriGen has created the PeriWatch platform to provides consistent analysis and efficient display of complex data in real-time to promote better human recognition and communication about impending problems during labor. With PeriWatch, clinicians can spend more time on direct patient care and less time on manual calculations and data manipulation. To learn more, visit www.perigen.com; follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook; or call 877.700.4755 or email.Media Contact for PeriGen:
Heather Caouette
Amendola Communications
508.579.3894Media Contact for Renown Health:
Allison Williams
Renown Health
775.691.7308
Posted 10.30.2018 -
Survey: Nearly Half of Consumers Have Abandoned a Prescription at the Pharmacy Because it Was Too Expensive
Almost 75 percent of consumers would change pharmacies to save money, yet the majority of physicians do not provide price information
Rockville, MD – October 30, 2018 – Nearly half of consumers have abandoned a medication prescribed by their physician because it was too expensive, according to a survey released today by DrFirst, the nation’s leading provider of e-prescribing and patient medication management solutions. At a time when the federal government is pushing a variety of measures to make prescription drug prices more transparent to consumers, the nationwide survey revealed that fully 73 percent of consumers would change pharmacies if they knew that doing so would save them money on a prescription.
According to the findings, as little as $10 in savings would motivate 38 percent of respondents to switch pharmacies. If the savings rose to between $11 and $25, nearly 70 percent of them would choose a different pharmacy. The survey results are consistent with recent studies that found a high correlation between drug costs and medication adherence, or the likelihood that patients will follow their doctor’s prescribed therapy. A 2017 Truven Health Analytics-NPR Health Poll found that 67 percent of patients who failed to fill their prescriptions in the last 90 days reported high costs as their reason.
Most Physicians Fail to Share Pricing Information
With medication adherence being a critical factor in patients’ long-term health, physicians are under increasing pressure to discuss costs with patients when they write prescriptions. Yet according to the survey, fewer than half (44%) of consumers say their physician advised them about medication costs or offered lower-cost therapeutic alternatives. Even fewer (41%) reported receiving advice from their doctor or pharmacist about possible cost-saving coupons or having a prescription filled at a less-expensive pharmacy. Respondents’ willingness to change pharmacies to save money indicates that such advanced notice of prescription costs, coupon options, or lower-cost pharmacies would be highly valuable.
Addressing high drug prices and increasing price transparency is a priority for the Trump administration, and Congress, which passed two bills recently that prohibit pharmacy gag clauses on drug prices. The legislation allows pharmacists to tell customers when they could save money by paying for a prescription out-of-pocket instead of using insurance and paying their copay amount. Results from the DrFirst survey, however, indicate that participants would like notification about drug pricing options before picking up prescriptions.
“Physicians must be sensitive to the fact that even a $10 price difference influences patient behavior when it comes to filling prescriptions,” said G. Cameron Deemer, president of DrFirst. “The survey underscores patients’ desire to have pricing information up-front, before going to the pharmacy. To reduce prescription abandonment and improve health outcomes, physicians must actively participate in this conversation at the point of prescribing so that the physician and patient can jointly decide on the best medication option.”
DrFirst’s industry leading benefit verification system, myBenefitCheck℠ enables physicians to access the actual cost of a patient’s prescribed medication before leaving the physician’s office. DrFirst was the first to launch this functionality in October 2015. Since then, DrFirst has processed nearly 20 million benefit and pricing inquiries on behalf of physicians and patients nationwide, and today leads with the broadest coverage in the market. Patients have benefited from an average savings of $110. Overall, patients have experienced out-of-pocket savings of as much as $5,365 over the life of a prescription (including refills). Additionally, myBenefitCheck has helped prescribers avoid more than 30% of unnecessary prior authorizations to get patients on treatment faster. Currently, more than 330 EHR solutions use myBenefitCheck.
Survey Details
Respondents to the online survey of 200 consumers were nearly evenly divided between male (50.5%) and female (49.5%). Eighty-seven percent reported having health insurance. The largest age group represented was between 25 and 34 years old (27%), followed by 35-44 (23%) and over 54 (23%). Respondents were pre-selected for having filled at least one prescription in the last year. They tend to be heavy users of prescription medications. Sixty-two percent reported filling a prescription once each month, while 23% do so once every 3-4 months, and 14% fill an order every week.
To learn more about DrFirst’s myBenefitCheck, please contact [email protected].
About DrFirst
DrFirst, the nation’s leading provider of e-prescribing and medication management solutions, enables stakeholders across the healthcare industry to use comprehensive real-time data and connectivity to increase their patient safety ratings, efficiency, and profitability. Today, more than 170,000 healthcare professionals and more than 60% of electronic health record (EHR) 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, and 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 www.drfirst.com or connect with us @DrFirst.
DrFirst Media Contact:
Lisa Chernikoff
Amendola Communications
734-678-5513
Posted 10.30.2018 -
Piedmont Healthcare Improves Clinical Documentation, Physician Productivity with Nuance AI-Powered Solutions
Nuance’s AI-powered solutions deliver more complete patient story, quantifiable time-savings for care teams
Burlington, MA and Atlanta, GA – October 30, 2018 – Nuance Communications, Inc. and Piedmont Healthcare, an integrated healthcare system with nearly 600 locations and 11 hospitals, today announced that Nuance’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered solutions have driven valuable improvements in clinical documentation accuracy and efficiency at Piedmont Healthcare, and quantifiable time-savings for its care teams. In an effort to create a one-of-a-kind experience that always puts patient care first, Piedmont Healthcare has implemented Dragon Medical One, Nuance’s AI-powered speech recognition platform, PowerMic Mobile, a secure microphone app that turns any workstation into a dictation station and Dragon Medical Advisor, an AI-powered computer-assisted physician documentation (CAPD) solution.
“We chose Nuance for both their products as well as their service and support capabilities. Nuance provides a vital set of tools to our physicians with innovations and resources to boost their efficiency and quality of work,” said Robert Budman, M.D., chief medical information officer at Piedmont Healthcare. “In just a short period of time, Nuance Dragon Medical One and PowerMic Mobile have improved our physicians’ ability to more quickly and accurately create a pertinent document of our patients’ stories. Because of the success thus far, we will be expanding the rollout of these solutions, including computer-assisted physician documentation, to a broader group of clinicians and caregivers in the weeks and months to come.”
Dr. Budman went on to share the following feedback he’s received from physicians using Nuance’s AI-powered solutions:
- “It has helped my clinic workflow tremendously. No more going back to my office.”;
• “It is revolutionary!”;
• “I absolutely love it and I have really encouraged my team to embrace using Dragon.”;
• “The new software… Dragon Medical One, is exceptionally accurate.”; and
• “The notes are actually telling us something useful!”
Piedmont Healthcare physicians credit Dragon Medical One and its built-in productivity tools like AutoTexts and Advanced Step-by-Step Commands for productivity gains. Collectively, physicians using AutoTexts now save hundreds of additional hours per month and capture 65 percent more documentation per hour using their voice to input information — resulting in more comprehensive patient stories. With Advanced Step-by-Step, which provides a higher level of automation to complete workflows, physicians have the ability to give complex voice commands that contain one or more steps and can easily navigate between entry fields. Advanced Step-by-Step not only increases quality and completeness of documentation, but also saves time and improves physician, care team, and patient experiences.
Dragon Medical One, a HITRUST CSF certified solution, is completely cloud-based and seamlessly integrated into existing workflows so users can enjoy consistent documentation experiences regardless of their location. Greater ease of installation and virtualization support, higher portability and access, greater accuracy, and built-in productivity tools all contributed to increases in adoption.
Beyond the productivity improvements provided by Dragon Medical One and PowerMic Mobile, Piedmont Healthcare providers will be able to further enhance the quality of documentation with the support of Dragon Medical Advisor. AI-powered Dragon Medical Advisor analyzes patient notes as they’re created so physicians can immediately update their documentation with the appropriate level of specificity while the details of the patient visit are still in front of them. Notes are more precise and complete, and physicians receive fewer post-discharge and out-of-context queries from CDI and coding teams. As physicians begin to naturally document more complete notes, the advisor fades into the background.
“Piedmont Healthcare is a distinguished, long-standing institution that understands the importance of empowering its physicians with innovations like voice-driven CDI to ensure optimal efficiency and productivity resulting in complete documentation that fully reflects the care provided,” said Michael Clark, general manager, provider solutions at Nuance Healthcare. “The productivity benefits Piedmont Healthcare’s physicians experience with Dragon Medical One, PowerMic Mobile and Dragon Medical Advisor help them save valuable time that they are now able to repurpose back into patient engagement while improving documentation that benefits patient care.”
About Piedmont Healthcare
A private, not-for-profit organization with nearly 600 locations serving nearly 2 million patients across Georgia, Piedmont is transforming healthcare, creating a destination known for the best clinicians and a one-of-a-kind experience that always puts patients first. Today, more than 110 years since it was founded, Piedmont is known as a leading health system in cancer care, treatment of heart disease and organ transplantation with 11 hospitals, 24 urgent care centers, 28 Piedmont QuickCare locations, 555 Piedmont Clinic physician practice locations and more than 2,000 Piedmont Clinic members. Our 22,000-plus employees dedicate themselves to making a positive difference in every life we touch and our commitment doesn’t stop there. In FY 2018, Piedmont provided more than $225 million in uncompensated care community benefit programming in an effort to better the health and well-being of the people in the communities we serve. For more information, visit www.piedmont.org.About Nuance Healthcare
Nuance provides intelligent systems that support a more natural and insightful approach to clinical documentation, freeing clinicians to spend more time caring for patients. Nuance healthcare solutions capture, improve and communicate more than 300 million patient stories each year, helping more than 500,000 clinicians in 10,000 global healthcare organizations to drive meaningful clinical and financial outcomes. Nuance’s award-winning clinical speech recognition, medical transcription, CDI, coding, quality and medical imaging solutions provide a more complete and accurate view of patient care.About Nuance Communications, Inc.
Nuance Communications, Inc. is the pioneer and leader in conversational AI innovations that bring intelligence to everyday work and life. The company delivers solutions that can understand, analyze and respond to human language to increase productivity and amplify human intelligence. With decades of domain and artificial intelligence expertise, Nuance works with thousands of organizations – in global industries that include healthcare, telecommunications, automotive, financial services, and retail – to create stronger relationships and better experiences for their customers and workforce. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.Trademark reference: Nuance and the Nuance logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners.
Media Contact Information
Palmer Reuther
Corporate Communications
Nuance Healthcare
M: 978-697-9227
[email protected]Posted 10.30.2018 - “It has helped my clinic workflow tremendously. No more going back to my office.”;
-
PeriGen to Deliver Educational Webinar on The Joint Commission’s New Perinatal Performance Measure
Cary, NC – October 25, 2018 – PeriGen, the innovator in perinatal early warning systems, will host a free educational webinar on Tuesday, October 30, outlining The Joint Commission’s new Perinatal Care (PC) performance measure, PC-06. This requirement will be added to the existing five measures for Joint Commission accredited hospitals with at least 300 live births per year.
On January 1, 2019, The Joint Commission will require all hospitals seeking Perinatal Care certification to collect data and report a new Perinatal Care performance measure. PC-06 Unexpected Complications in Term Newborns identifies the percentage of infants with unexpected newborn complications among full-term newborns with no preexisting conditions.
During this webinar, Chief Nursing Officer Alana McGolrick, DNP, RNC-OB, C-EFM, will address the Perinatal Care performance measure specifications and requirements. Having collaborated with The Joint Commission on this presentation, she will also explain what the measure means for hospitals.
Webinar Details:
Who: Alana McGolrick, DNP, RNC-OB, C-EFM, Chief Nursing Officer, PeriGen
When: Tuesday, October 30
1:00 p.m. ET
Length: One hour
Register: Click here to register
Multiple peer-reviewed studies indicate that more than 50 percent of bad outcomes in childbirth are preventable. According to its website, The Joint Commission, which accredits more than 4,000 hospitals, is implementing this new measure to both eliminate the data gap and reduce unexpected complications of term newborns.
“The United States is struggling with a higher rate of poor outcomes during childbirth than is seen by most other developed countries,” said Matthew Sappern, CEO of PeriGen. “Collecting data is the first step to addressing this growing crisis and this new measure from The Joint Commission helps establish that baseline. With that information, we can make the appropriate analysis that will allow for timely responses, as needed.”
About PeriGen
PeriGen offers innovative perinatal software solutions that incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance clinical efficiency and standardization of care during childbirth. Led by skilled OB practitioners, AI scientists and technologists, PeriGen has created the PeriWatch platform to provide consistent analysis and efficient display of complex data in real-time to promote better human recognition and communication about impending problems during labor. With PeriWatch clinicians can spend more time on direct patient care and less time on manual calculations and data manipulation. To learn more, visit www.perigen.com; follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook; or call 984.208.4250 or email.
Media Contact:
Heather Caouette
Amendola Communications for PeriGen
Phone: 508-579-3894
Email: [email protected]Posted 10.26.2018