• CHIME-KLAS: Most Wired Participants Adopting HHS Advisory Group Cybersecurity Recommendations

    ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN AND SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, JUNE 28, 2019 – Many organizations that participated in the CHIME HealthCare’s Most Wired program in 2018 reported they follow cybersecurity practices recommended by a federally convened task group of private and public cybersecurity leaders, according to research released today by CHIME and KLAS Research. The task group, called for in Section 405(d) of the Cybersecurity Act of 2015, published their recommendations in HICP (“Health Industry Cybersecurity Practices: Managing Threats and Protecting Patients”) at the end of 2018.

    HICP lists 10 overarching cybersecurity practices that the task group determined organizations of all sizes, from local clinics to large healthcare systems, should follow. These include email protection systems, endpoint protection systems, access management, data protection and loss prevention, network management, vulnerability management, incident response, medical device security and cybersecurity policies. An analysis of responses in the 2018 Most Wired survey was published today as a CHIME-KLAS white paper, “How Aligned Are Provider Organizations with the Health Industry Cybersecurity Practices (HICP) Guidelines?” The white paper reports that while many providers have adopted guidelines outlined in HICP, there was room for improvement, especially among smaller organizations.

    The CHIME HealthCare’s Most Wired survey is conducted annually by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) to benchmark and identify industry best practices. Cybersecurity, which is critical for protecting patient information and ensuring patient safety, is a major component in the survey. In 2018, 647 surveys were submitted, representing 2,190 hospitals. With support from Clearwater Compliance, CHIME collaborated with KLAS Research to produce a white paper that assesses the adoption of the task group’s recommendations for reducing and mitigating cybersecurity risks. This analysis was augmented by provider commentary and data collected by KLAS via other research methods.

    “CHIME’s goal with Most Wired is to improve patient safety and outcomes around the world by identifying best practices and sharing that knowledge across our industry,” said Russell Branzell, CHIME’s president and CEO. “Working with KLAS, we are able to use this amazing resource to benchmark the current state of the industry and highlight strengths and gaps. HICP provides a perfect opportunity to see how far we have progressed and where we need to go in cybersecurity.”

     “This report is a wake-up call and road map to identifying cybersecurity vulnerabilities for healthcare providers, and highlighting where specific progress needs to be made,” said Adam Gale, president of KLAS. “CHIME is playing a critical role in monitoring and promoting adoption of HICP recommendations.”

    The CHIME-KLAS white paper found many organizations have deployed email and endpoint protection systems, transitioned from homegrown identity and access management solutions to commercial solutions, and adopted data-loss prevention solutions. Most have network access solutions to monitor devices connected to their networks but less than half of the small organizations use network segmentation to control the spread of infections. Large organizations also use more sophisticated and more frequent vulnerability scanning and application testing than do small organizations.

    Most have an incident-response plan, but only half conduct an annual enterprise-wide exercise to test the plan. For medical device security, some large organizations report investing in supporting technologies while small organizations say they have strong internal processes. Small organizations are less likely to use cybersecurity policies, and small and medium organizations are four times less likely to have a CISO than large organizations.

    The CHIME-KLAS white paper is available here. The HICP report is the result of the collaborative work of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and its industry partners. The full HICP report and related documents are available here.     

    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 2,900 members in 55 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 care in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit chimecentral.org.

    About KLAS

    KLAS is a research and insights firm on a global mission to improve healthcare delivery. Working with thousands of healthcare professionals and clinicians, KLAS gathers data and insights on software, services and medical equipment to deliver timely, actionable reports and consulting services. KLAS represents the provider and payer voice and acts as a catalyst for improving vendor performance, highlighting healthcare industry challenges and opportunities, and helping build understanding and consensus for best practices. To learn more about KLAS, go to klasresearch.com

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

    Joshua Schneck
    KLAS Research
    612-709-8500
    [email protected]

    Posted 6.28.2019

  • CynergisTek Appoints New Director of Managed Security Services

    Healthcare Security Expert Carrie Whysall to Lead Security Service Line Growth for Top Cybersecurity Firm

    Austin, TX – June 27, 2019 – CynergisTek, Inc. (NYSE AMERICAN: CTEK), a leader in healthcare cybersecurity, privacy, and compliance, today announced that it has appointed Carrie Whysall as the company’s Director of Managed Security Services, reporting to the Vice President of Security Services. In this new position, Whysall will be responsible for executing strategic business initiatives and driving the company’s growth strategies for security services including, Vendor Security Management (VSM), Managed Security Service (MSS) and Medical Device Security. A healthcare veteran with over 20 years of experience in IT leadership, 12 of which have been specifically in security, she will also work closely with the company’s executives to meet client expectations and ensure timely and efficient service delivery to support company goals and enhance employee and customer satisfaction.

    Prior to joining CynergisTek, Whysall served as Senior Director of Security for Ascension Information Services, the largest not-for-profit health system in the United States with more than 150 hospitals and 2,600 physician practices. During her time there, Whysall was part of the leadership team that implemented Ascension’s Security Operations Center (SOC) as well as the company’s eForensics, Security Training & Awareness, Medical Device Management, and Incident Response programs. Whysall also was responsible for the Access & Identity Management program which provided identity and access services for over 200,000 users across the Ascension system. She also served as part of Ascension’s mentor program, providing guidance and empowering women to develop and expand their careers in healthcare security.

    “I could not be more excited to join CynergisTek at such a critical time in healthcare. As an industry, we struggle to coordinate defenses across health systems, making it more challenging to protect and secure patient data,” said Whysall. “Coming from a large health system, I was instantly drawn to CynergisTek’s unique ability to provide proven and reliable security and privacy services to healthcare organizations of all sizes to better coordinate a strong defense against growing threats. I look forward to leveraging my healthcare information security background with CynergisTek’s team and working with the company’s growing client base to enhance the adoption of security best practices across the industry.”

    “As we continue to see demand for our broad range of services, it is very exciting to bring someone with Ms. Whysall’s qualifications and experience into our leadership team and tap into her health system experience to inform service planning, development, and delivery,” said Mac McMillan, CEO and President of CynergisTek. “Her proven track record and powerful leadership skills will play an integral part in bolstering our services and shaping them to meet the security concerns of the future. Her security operations expertise in particular will play a vital role in shaping and ensuring our managed services address the growing threats in the healthcare industry.”

    About CynergisTek, Inc,.

    CynergisTek is a top-ranked cybersecurity, privacy, and compliance management consulting firm dedicated to serving the healthcare industry. CynergisTek offers specialized services and solutions to help organizations achieve privacy, security, and compliance goals. Since 2004, the company has served as a partner to hundreds of healthcare organizations and is dedicated to supporting and educating the industry by contributing to relevant industry associations. The company has been named in numerous research reports as one of the top firms that provider organizations turn to for privacy and security and won the 2017 Best in KLAS award for Cyber Security Advisory Services.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to the business of CynergisTek that can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “may” or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including uncertainties relating to product/service development, long and uncertain sales cycles, the ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection, market acceptance, future capital requirements, competition from other providers, the ability of our vendors to continue supplying the company with equipment, parts, supplies and services at comparable terms and prices and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Certain of these risks and uncertainties are or will be described in greater detail in our Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at http://www.sec.gov. CynergisTek is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

    ###

    Investor Relations Contact:
    CynergisTek, Inc.
    Bryan Flynn
    (512) 402-8550 x8
    [email protected]

    Media Contact:
    Aria Marketing
    Danielle Johns
    (617) 332-9999 x241
    [email protected]

    Posted 6.27.2019

  • PROVIDENCE ST. JOSEPH HEALTH ACQUIRES BLUETREE EPIC CONSULTING

    Acquisition is part of effort to diversify revenue to support patient care

    RENTON, WA and MADISON, WI – June 27, 2019 – Providence St. Joseph Health, one of the nation’s largest health systems, announced today that it will acquire Bluetree, an Epic consulting and strategy company that helps health care providers maximize their use of technology.

    As one of the largest Epic customers in the world, Providence St. Joseph Health has extensive experience maximizing Epic, both within its own seven-state system and for other independent hospitals and medical groups. By acquiring Bluetree, Providence St. Joseph Health will expand its current offerings to increase the value it delivers to other health systems across the country. The acquisition is part of a strategy to diversify revenue to support patient care and the mission of Providence St. Joseph Health.

    With the addition of Bluetree, Providence St. Joseph Health now has two of the top EHR solutions companies in the country. It also owns Engage, which has grown to become one of the largest MEDITECH solution companies in the United States.

    “Bluetree is on a trajectory for continued growth and success, and we look forward to partnering with them on this journey,” said Mike Butler, president of strategy and operations for Providence St. Joseph Health.

    Founded in 2012 by former Epic leaders, Bluetree has more than 140 health system clients nationwide. In joining Providence St. Joseph Health, Bluetree will extend its customer reach and pursue additional growth and innovation opportunities. Bluetree was also recently named one of the fastest-growing private companies in America and awarded one of the Best Workplaces by Inc. Magazine.

    “By joining Providence St. Joseph Health, Bluetree will be able to help even more health care organizations maximize the power of technology,” said Jeremy Schwach, CEO of Bluetree. “Bluetree has always focused on helping health care organizations better care for their patients. By tapping into the Providence St. Joseph Health platform and their thousands of dedicated and talented providers, we will be able to increase the speed by which we bring new innovations to our clients.”

    “On behalf of Bluetree’s Board of Directors, we are delighted that the leadership and staff will continue to provide exemplary service to their clients by working alongside an innovative, mission-driven organization such as Providence St. Joseph Health,” said Ken Bloem, board chairman for Bluetree.                                                                          

    Bluetree will operate as a separate subsidiary of Providence St. Joseph Health. Providence St. Joseph Health will continue to provide existing Epic implementation and management services to its family of organizations and Community Connect partners as it does today. The transaction will close and become effective upon the satisfaction of certain closing conditions, as included in the agreement. Terms of the agreement will not be disclosed.

    Providence St. Joseph Health’s announcement comes on the heels of other innovative ventures designed to diversify revenue to support its mission. In February 2019, Providence St. Joseph Health launched Ayin Health Solutions, a population health management company. Additionally, the health system acquired Lumedic, a next-generation revenue cycle management platform based on blockchain technology.

    About Providence St. Joseph Health

    Providence St. Joseph Health is a national, not-for-profit Catholic health system comprising a diverse family of organizations and driven by a belief that health is a human right. With 51 hospitals, 829 physician clinics, senior services, supportive housing, and many other health and educational services, the health system and its partners employ more than 119,000 caregivers serving communities across seven states – Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, and Washington with system offices based in Renton, Wash., and Irvine, Calif.

    About Bluetree Network: Bluetree was founded in 2012 and has a client base of more than 140 health systems nationwide, including eight of the 10 organizations listed in the 2018-19 US News and World Report Best Hospitals Honor Roll rankings. Based in Madison, Wisconsin, and with offices in Denver and New York, Bluetree’s integrated team approach helps health care providers realize higher returns from their Epic platform investment. It was named the 569th fastest-growing private company in America by Inc. Magazine in August 2017.

    ###

    Media Contact:
    Bluetree
    Ryan Hill
    [email protected]      

    Posted 6.27.2019

  • News of Note


    6.27.2019
    Candace Stuart – Director, Communications & Public Relations

    Get a peek into the latest CMIO Leadership Academy: CHIME concluded the CMIO Leadership Academy in Ojai, Calif., on June 18. Visit the photo gallery for highlights from the event and photos of the alumni. Spoiler alert: There is a ukulele. Find it all here.

    Scholarship deadline extended: The CHIME Education Foundation has extended the deadline for scholarship applications to attend the upcoming fall forum and boot camp to July 5. Learn more and apply here.

    Here’s a chance to earn recognition: CHIME and the CHIME Foundation are accepting nominations for several awards honoring the outstanding efforts and accomplishments of members who have demonstrated leadership, innovation and collaboration through the application of technology in healthcare. Members and Foundation firm partners have until July 29 to apply. Learn more here.

    Embarking on the innovation journey: Are you early in your innovation journey? Recently been asked by your CEO to “own innovation”? The Innovation Strategy – Launch & Execution workshop, which is July 25-26 in Salt Lake City, is just for you. Learn more here.

    More Inside CHIME:

    Posted 6.27.2019

  • A Word from CHIME’s Planning Committee Chair on 2019 Fall CIO Forum Speakers

    6.27.2019
    Steve Stanic, CHIME Planning Committee Chair, VP/CIO at Mississippi Baptist Health System

    Healthcare, technology and leadership. Those three words sum up what drives us as members of CHIME. We always strive to make healthcare better, to use the best technologies of the day to improve care and to be the most effective leaders we can be. CHIME’s Planning Committee keeps those three core topics in mind when we put together events like our forums.

    As the Planning Committee’s chair this year, I am excited to say that we have secured a spectacular lineup of speakers for the 2019 CHIME Fall CIO Forum. The fall forum is our flagship event, and this year’s program meets those high standards, and then some. We have Rana Foroohar, global business columnist at The Financial Times and global economic analyst at CNN, to kick off the forum with a global perspective on healthcare. The second day Wendy Sue Swanson, who is a pediatrician and chief of digital innovation at Seattle Children’s Hospital, will talk about how digital innovations and social media are transforming healthcare. We end with a familiar name: Eric Topol. We are thrilled to bring him back as a speaker to discuss emerging technologies like wearables – something many of us are curious about.

    Here are their official descriptions:

    • Rana Foroohar covers the intersection of business, economics, politics and foreign affairs. She frequently profiles movers and shakers in finance and business, including Warren Buffett, Bill Gross, Howard Shultz, Mary Barra and Carl Icahn. Her high-level yet accessible analysis has made her a sought-after commentator on influential programs such as CNNI and Face the Nation. She has authored two books: Makers and Takers and the forthcoming Don’t Be Evil: The Trouble with Big Tech, due out in the fall of 2019.
    • Wendy Sue Swanson, MD, is leading the way to a new age in medicine in which innovations in digital and social media leverage the combined wisdom of clinicians, patients and researchers to help them collaborate more closely and build stronger relationships. She is a practicing pediatrician, blogger, a weekly TV reporter and an important thought leader online. She also is the author of Mama Doc Medicine. Her innovations in digital health include developing translations for smart speakers to help them better respond to the health queries of young people, collaborating with Amazon on the development of Alexa for Kids, piloting technologies at Seattle Children’s and creating two apps. She also is chief medical officer at Before Brands, a health and wellness startup.
    • Eric Topol is a leading innovator in medicine, cardiologist, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, executive vice president of Scripps Research and a professor of Molecular Medicine. He is a proponent of individualized medicine, also called precision medicine, which tailors diagnosis, prevention and treatment to the full biological and social profile of the individual, rather than the “average” human of traditional medical science. He is the author of two bestsellers on the future of healthcare, The Creative Destruction of Medicine and The Patient Will See You Now. His most recent book, Deep Medicine, was released this year.

    You can read more about our three keynote speakers and watch video clips of them here on CHIME’s website. CHIME19 will be held Nov. 3-6 at the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort and Spa in Phoenix. More information about the program is available here.

    We also have great track sessions that will be presented by your peers. We expect to announce those soon, along with the Leadership from the Edge presentations. This will be the third year we’ve offered Leadership from the Edge and keeps getting more popular each year. Keep an eye out for details about the forum in the coming months. We look forward to seeing you in Arizona!  

    More Inside CHIME:

    Posted 6.27.2019

  • Impact Advisors Recognized in KLAS HIT Advisory Report

    Firm celebrated for strong experience and high performance

    CHICAGO, IL – June 26, 2019 – Impact Advisors, a leading provider of clinical, revenue cycle and information technology services to the healthcare industry, announced today that it has been recognized as a top performer among Comprehensive Firms in the KLAS 2019 HIT Advisory Report, earning an overall score of 95.4. The report surveyed healthcare leaders to reveal those firms that consistently exceed clients’ expectations.

    “We are proud to be honored by KLAS again and humbled that our clients continue to rate our services and expertise so highly,” said Peter Smith, CEO of Impact Advisors. “As we celebrate this achievement with our associates and clients, we will continue to live our mission of creating a positive impact for our clients by helping put the strategies in place to help reach their ultimate goal of providing high-quality service and exceptional patient care.”

    Each year, KLAS interviews thousands of healthcare professionals about the products and services their organizations use. These interviews are conducted using standard, quantitative data, combined with various supplemental evaluations that aim to provide answers to the most pressing questions facing healthcare technology today. The questions were organized into five separate pillars: loyalty, operations, services, relationship and value. The data in this report comes from both evaluation types and was collected over the last 18 months.

    Impact Advisors was recognized in the report as a seasoned firm with almost twice as many validated engagements as newer entrants. In the seasoned firm category, Impact Advisors has the highest number of validated engagements. Impact’s clients specifically highlight the firm’s strategic expertise, longtime market presence, and experience in many different HIT advisory areas, and it was the only firm recognized in the report with substantial validated experience in revenue cycle optimization. In addition, the firm was mentioned as having the best track record among seasoned firms and is the most frequent Best in KLAS winner.

    One client stated, “From an advisory standpoint, Impact Advisors has a broad knowledge base. Their people are top-notch executives and subject matter experts, and they are able to apply their knowledge in advisory roles. Impact Advisors aligns with their customers.”

    To view the complete KLAS 2019 HIT Advisory report, visit klasresearch.com.

    About Impact Advisors

    Impact Advisors is a nationally recognized healthcare consulting firm and trusted partner of industry leaders focused on delivering clinical, revenue cycle, and information technology services to solve some of healthcare’s toughest challenges. Our comprehensive suite of patient access, clinical and revenue cycle services spans the lifecycle of our clients’ needs. Our experienced team has a powerful combination of clinical, revenue, operations, consulting and IT experience. The firm has earned a number of prestigious industry and workplace awards: Best in KLAS® for 12 consecutive years, CRN Solution Provider and CRN Fast Growth 150, Modern Healthcare’s Largest Revenue Cycle Management Firms, Healthcare Informatics HCI 100, as well as “best place to work” awards from: Modern Healthcare, Consulting Magazine, Becker’s Hospital Review and Achievers. For more information about Impact Advisors, visit www.impact-advisors.com.

     

    Media Contact:
    Karli Smith
    Chartwell Agency
    815-977-5343
    [email protected]

    Posted 6.26.2019

  • Channel Futures 2019 MSP 501 Announcement – PDS recognized in top 30 of managed service providers in the world

    Milwaukee, WI – June 20, 2019 – For 12 years, managed service providers (MSPs) around the world throw their hats in the ring and apply for Channel Futures’ annual MSP 501 ranking list, the IT channel’s first, largest and most comprehensive industry ranking survey. Today we are proud to announce that PDS was recognized in the top 6% (#30) of the 2019 winners of the ChannelFutures MSP 501.

    “We’re once again thrilled to be recognized among this group of international companies as a thought leader in the Managed Services business,” said PDS Technical Principal Consultant, Greg Fliearman. “We are gaining huge momentum is this area of our business and we will continue to partner with our customers in healthcare, corporate, government and beyond to assist them with developing services and solutions that meet their business objectives.”

    MSPs recognized on this year’s list have distinguished themselves among the largest pool of applicants the MSP 501 has ever received. Last year was a record-breaking year in terms of the number and quality of submissions, and 2019 saw a 35% year-over-year growth rate in applications from 2018. The competition was fierce, but their commitment to taking risks on strategic business decisions, dedication to customer support and intuitive knowledge of the managed services market helped these companies rise above the competition. The winners placed in the top 501 because of their forward-thinking business strategies and ability to anticipate and act upon trends in the fast-evolving IT channel market.

    “This year’s applicant pool was the largest and most diverse in the history of the survey, and our winners represent the health and progress of the managed services market,” says Kris Blackmon, Channel Futures content director and editor of the MSP 501. “They’re growing their revenue, expanding their customer influence and exploring new technology that will propel them for years to come.”

    PDS is honored by this industry recognition, and looks forward to continuing to serve our customer base with best-in-class managed service offerings.

    To learn more about PDS managed service offerings visit https://pdsit.net/management-support/

    Media Contact:

    Steven Hartl | Digital Marketing Manager
    (262) 641-3045 | [email protected]

    Posted 6.20.2019

  • Nuance to Guide Financial Leaders on the Power of Cloud-based Analytics to Solve Healthcare’s Most Pressing Challenges

    Company to lead in-depth experiential learning track on utilizing real-time analytics to improve outcomes, patient experience and increase productivity at the 2019 HFMA Annual Conference

    BURLINGTON, MA – June 20, 2019 – Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN), an industry-leading provider of AI-powered solutions, will host a full day experiential learning track for leading healthcare systems executives, “Business Intelligence, Data Management and Return on Analytics,” at the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla., June 24, 2019. The track will educate a cohort of attendees on how to capitalize on the right data to boost physician engagement, unlock the full value of claims-data sets for value-based contract negotiation and create an analytics ecosystem to drive performance.

    Healthcare as a whole is at a critical juncture: spending continues to skyrocket, burnout has been coined an official medical diagnosis, and organizations are failing to optimize the costly technology in which they have invested. The industry is begging for a solution to make healthcare work as it should, and with the role of the CFO evolving to have more of a strategic focus on data analytics, emphasis must be placed on education for organizations to make data more actionable in order to thrive financially and clinically. A recent Black Book research study reinforced the fact that analytics should play a critical role in the decision-making process at hospitals and health systems. The study highlighted cost control as the top concern for every healthcare leader including CFOs, who are leaning more into the technology and innovation realms than ever before.

    “The healthcare industry is experiencing a monumental shift on the analytics front, and CFOs and others in the financial departments of health systems are looking to better understand the nuts and bolts of Big Data in optimizing performance, driving ROI, and helping to reduce burnout,” said Michael Clark, senior vice president and general manager, Nuance Communications. “There is a demand for actionable insights in healthcare and real-time financial metrics to extract value for organizations and, as a company, we’re committed to advancing our analytical platform and self-service dashboard to help organizations and clinicians thrive now and in the future.”

    According to healthcare consulting firm Kaufman Hall’s 2019 CFO Outlook: Healthcare report, 96 percent of healthcare CFOs think that their organizations should be doing more to leverage financial and operational data to inform strategic decisions initiatives, and 94 percent said they have experienced increased pressure to have greater insight into how financial results impact business strategy. And with more than 60 percent of CFOs looking to create better dashboards and visualizations, pulling data in from multiple sources into a single report, organizations like HFMA are doubling down to include conference sessions that provide tangible takeaways for CFOs and financial leaders to help improve enterprise performance management for their organizations.

    The Nuance HFMA cohort will include participation from industry leaders Halifax Health, Regional Health, Carilion Clinic, and Partners Healthcare, who will share analytics best practices surrounding their documentation and Electronic Health Record (EHR) optimization initiatives. In addition, the session track will feature a unique, interactive working session where CFOs can dig into national benchmarking of peer hospitals and real-time analytics such as risk of mortality, severity of illness, readmission rates, and Case Mix Index to learn how to improve the performance of their clinical documentation excellence programs and EHR with actionable solutions.

    “We needed to utilize analytics to improve the time-to-value for our EHR investment,” said Stephanie Lahr, MD, CHCIO, chief information officer and chief medical information officer, Regional Health. “After working with Nuance to better understand our approach to analytics in the EHR, we underwent a significant transformation and will be incorporating AI and data analytics to identify health patterns in patient populations where opportunities for personalized interventions didn’t exist before.”

    To learn more about the cloud-based analytics platform Nuance healthcare solutions are built on and the impact on providers and their care teams, please visit booth #859 or attend the sessions below:

    Monday, June 24
    • 10:00-11:15amET: Using analytics to optimize the EHR, with Michael Clark, senior vice president and general manager, Nuance; Stephanie Lahr, MD, CHCIO, chief information officer and chief medical information officer, Regional Health; Stephen Morgan, MD, senior vice president and chief medical information officer, Health Analytics and Clinical Informatics, Carilion Clinic; Christopher Holland, HCMBA, User Experience manager, Clinical Strategy and Innovation, Partners HealthCare

    • 1:30-2:30pmET: Using AI-powered documentation to prioritize patient encounters, with Anthony Oliva, DO, vice president and chief medical officer, Nuance; Tom Stafford, vice president and chief information officer, Halifax Health

    • 2:45-3:45pmET: Using analytics to improve documentation performance, with Michael Clark, senior vice president and general manager, Nuance; Anthony Oliva, DO, vice president and chief medical officer, Nuance

    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. (NASDAQ: NUAN) 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
    Finley Hines
    Senior Manager, Corporate Communications – Healthcare
    Nuance Communications, Inc.
    Tel: 781-565-5438
    Email: [email protected]

    Posted 6.20.2019

  • Optimum Healthcare IT Named Top Developing HIT Advisory Firm in KLAS Report

    Clients’ appreciate firm’s executives and consultants

    Jacksonville Beach, FL – June 20, 2019 – Optimum Healthcare IT, a Best in KLAS healthcare staffing and consulting services firm, announced today that it has been named as the top-rated developing HIT Advisory Services firm as outlined in the KLAS HIT Advisory Services 2019 report. As the 2018 and 2019 Best in KLAS HIT Advisory Services firm, clients praise the organization’s consultants’ knowledge level and ability to approach unique needs strategically. Additionally, based on historical data, Optimum Healthcare IT has the best track record among developing firms.

    The report states that Optimum Healthcare IT is the most experienced of developing firms with the highest percentage of highly satisfied customers. Clients appreciate that the firm’s executives and consultants work to help stakeholders understand and implement the firm’s recommendations. A CEO reported, “I have worked with many firms in my career, and Optimum Healthcare IT is the most customer focused and friendly firm that I have worked with. The senior leaders at Optimum Healthcare IT are heavily involved when they need to be.” Clients also highlight the firm’s consultants’ knowledge level, expertise, and ability to be strategic for clients’ unique needs. Consultants can engage key stakeholders—from end users to C-suite members—and speak each stakeholder’s language to help them understand and implement the firm’s recommendations. The report rates vendors on five key areas: Relationship, Operations, Product, Value, and Loyalty. Optimum Healthcare scores above market average in all categories. Of the firms surveyed for this report, 100% of respondents responded that they would buy again from Optimum. KLAS concludes that even though Optimum is classified as a developing firm, they are quickly becoming a more seasoned player.

    “Optimum Healthcare IT’s mission is to act as trusted advisors to our clients by providing world-class consulting services at a reasonable cost,“ said Jason Jarrett, CEO of Optimum Healthcare IT. “As the company continues to evolve and grow our HIT Advisory Services practice, we are looking forward to working with current and future clients in meeting their needs. We are humbled by our clients positive evaluations of Optimum this year, and hope to continue to serve as their trusted partners in their future initiatives.”

    Each year, KLAS interviews thousands of healthcare professionals about the products and services their organizations use. These interviews are conducted using a standard quantitative evaluation, and the scores and commentary collected are shared online in real time so that other providers and IT professionals can benefit from their peers’ experiences. To enable readers to more quickly understand high-level differences in firms’ performance and give better context as to how each firm compares to other offerings in the market, KLAS has organized the questions from the standard evaluation for services into five customer experience pillars—loyalty, operations, services, relationship, and value.

    About Optimum Healthcare IT

    Optimum Healthcare IT is a Best in KLAS healthcare IT staffing and consulting services firm based in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Optimum provides world-class professional staffing services to fill any need as well as consulting services that encompass advisory, EHR implementation, training and activation, EHR optimization, community connect, managed services, enterprise resource planning, security, and ancillary services – supporting our client’s needs through the continuum of care. Our organization is led by a leadership team with extensive experience in providing expert healthcare staffing and consulting solutions to all types of organizations.

    Visit www.optimumhit.com or call 1.904.373.0831 to find out how your organization can take advantage of our solution offerings.

    Posted 6.20.2019

  • CHIME Board Nominations Open June 19


    6.18.2019
    Cletis Earle, CHCIO, Chair, Foundation Board; SVP & CIO, Information Technology Kaledia Health

    The CHIME Foundation will begin accepting nominations, starting June 19, for one representative from a Foundation firm to serve on the Board beginning Jan. 1, 2020. I encourage anyone with a vision for how CHIME members and our partners in industry can work together to improve patient care to apply for the seat.  

    We often talk about how the CIO’s role has evolved over the years. So have the many companies that support our healthcare organizations. In my half year as the Foundation Board chair we have seen numerous advanced and emerging technologies enter the healthcare marketplace. In addition, several corporations that traditionally served other sectors recently have taken an interest in healthcare.  

    The CHIME Foundation reflects this diversity, a diversity that has helped to make our healthcare ecosystem robust and rich. Working with my fellow board members has helped me appreciate how deep and broad our industry has become, and how important it is for our CIOs and our Foundation partners to collaborate and educate each other.  

    The CHIME Foundation Board is responsible for setting a long-term strategy to sustain CHIME and the CHIME Foundation, a task that calls for vision and creativity. Every one of you offers valuable perspective on the challenges we face and strategies to move our industry forward. Serving on the board is a great opportunity to learn, lead and have a lasting impact. To participate, you must be from a current Premier, Standard or Associate CHIME Foundation firm holding membership for at least one year, and you must be an active member, for instance, by participating in events such as CIO forums, focus groups, College LIVEs and surveys.  

    The nomination process will close on July 19. To learn more, or to submit a nomination, click here. If you have any questions, please contact the Foundation staff at [email protected] or call (734) 665-0000.

    More Foundation Insight

     

    Posted 6.18.2019

  • Why Foundation Partners Need to Defend Highly Targeted Healthcare Providers from Third-Party Risk


    6.18.2019
    By Ed Gaudet, CEO and Founder of     Censinet

    Healthcare data is highly valuable, as just one medical record can be worth up to $250 on the black market (compared to $5.40 for the next highest valued record). As a result, the healthcare industry continues to be the most targeted industry by hackers, with an increasing number of reported breaches occurring year over year.  

    To gain access to healthcare providers’ sensitive information, hackers often target third-party vendors – the electronic lifeblood of a healthcare system. These partners (an average of 1,000 vendors per hospital) are crucial to healthcare providers as they help to manage everything from patient electronic health records and life-sustaining medical devices, to payroll and cybersecurity. This is why it’s no surprise that 68 percent of vendor organizations reportedly experienced a security incident in 2018, and in a domino effect, 20 percent of healthcare organizations were compromised throughout the year. 

    Vendors have a responsibility to their clients, as they are trusted with access to their network and sensitive data. With this trust and operational responsibility comes the need to identify, assess and remediate potential third-party vendor risks to the privacy and security of protected health and confidential information in a frequent and transparent way: third-party risk assessments. 

    Unfortunately, the process of conducting third-party assessments is incredibly inefficient and expensive for both vendors and healthcare providers. Due to a lack of resources, historically, these assessments have been manual, time-consuming, and non-repeatable. On average, they take eight or more weeks to finalize, and even after that, many are outdated almost as soon as they are completed as a result of dynamic product updates, environmental configurations, and cyber threats that change much more frequently than in the past. 

    This is why providers have started utilizing online platforms to modernize the risk assessment process, enabling them to take a more streamlined and efficient approach – and their vendors are benefiting as well. The era of manual spreadsheets is over. Providers are turning to technology that digitizes risk assessments and creates a more collaborative process that improves visibility for providers and their vendors or suppliers. With this, comes the ability for vendors to:  

    • Complete and reuse standardized risk assessments based on NIST standards  
    • Control who has access to their risk assessments in real time 
    • Access and manage all product and service risk assessments (including all supporting evidence) from a single pane of glass 
    • Respond to subsequent assessment requests with one click 
    • Update any changes to their risk profile in real-time based on product patches, minor, and major upgrades, vulnerabilities, etc.  
    • Spend more time supporting their healthcare providers 

    Beyond adopting technology solutions, there are several common sense strategies that healthcare vendors and other third parties can use to ensure they’re not putting providers at risk. This includes the need for internal education, regular cybersecurity training for all employees, and awareness campaigns designed to let all employees know about the threats that are out there. The threat landscape is constantly changing as attackers look for new exploits, and it shouldn’t just be up to cybersecurity and IT staff to help keep the company secure. Attackers often target individual employees through phishing attacks and other exploits, and it’s critical for all companies to take a security-first approach.  

    It’s critical that vendors take responsibility for the risk they might potentially introduce to their clients. Through making an effort to effectively manage and reduce these threats and modernizing antiquated processes that evaluate and pinpoint areas of vulnerability, providers and vendors can get back to focusing on their main priority – servicing customers and delivering the highest quality of care. 

    More Foundation Insight

     

    Posted 6.18.2019

  • Now Accepting Nominations for CHIME Foundation Awards


    6.18.2019
    By Christopher Hargrett, Membership Associate, Foundation     

    CHIME is now accepting nominations for the CHIME Collaboration Award, CHIME Foundation Industry Leader Award, and the CHIME Foundation Partner Award. Each award is designed to recognize CHIME Foundation partners for their contributions to the healthcare IT industry. Recipients for the various Foundation awards will be recognized during the 2019 CHIME Fall CIO Forum in Phoenix in November. 

    The CHIME Collaboration Award recognizes the best collaborative effort of a CHIME Foundation partner and CHIME member CIO who have submitted a co-authored paper that illustrates the value for the healthcare IT field of their successful work together. The Collaboration Award is jointly awarded to an active CHIME member CIO and an active CHIME Foundation partner. 

    The CHIME Foundation Industry Leader Award is presented to an individual who has shown exceptional dedication and made outstanding contributions to the healthcare IT industry, CHIME and the CHIME Foundation. The purposes of the award are to provide peer and industry recognition for Foundation firm representatives and to acknowledge examples of excellent leadership and integrity. Eligibility requirements include that all nominees must have 20-plus years of experience in the healthcare IT industry, five-plus years of membership and involvement with CHIME or the CHIME Foundation, and written acknowledgements from the organization CEO and/or representative. 

     The CHIME Foundation Partner Award recognizes a Foundation partner organization that demonstrates exceptional support and dedication through outstanding contributions to the healthcare IT industry, CHIME, CHIME Foundation and other CHIME organizations. In addition, this award acknowledges the values, leadership qualities and services the recipient possesses. All organizational nominees must be active CHIME Foundation partners in good standing. 

    The awards application and nomination deadline is July 29. More details and information about the awards, including eligibility, criteria, and nomination process, are on the CHIME website at chimecentral.org/awards. 

    Apply or nominate a deserving peer today!

    More Foundation Insight

    Posted 6.18.2019
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