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Former HHS Assistant Secretary for Aging Lance Robertson Joins Guidehouse
Expert in Social Determinants, COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution, and Community Living to Bolster Firm’s Long-Term Care and Community-Based Services
WASHINGTON – January 27, 2021 – The Honorable Lance Robertson, former US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary for Aging, has been named a director at Guidehouse, a leading global provider of consulting services to the public and commercial markets.
Robertson, a US Army veteran who received 100% bipartisan confirmation from the Senate when appointed to his HHS position in 2017, will support Guidehouse’s full spectrum of long-term care and community-based services and support solutions.
An expert in aging and disability services, Robertson recently played a key role in advising the COVID-19 vaccine distribution strategy and addressing issues facing vulnerable populations, particularly in rural areas.
“Our team is excited to welcome Lance Robertson to Guidehouse and engage him with our clients,” said Guidehouse CEO Scott McIntyre. “He is passionate about driving innovation to best serve older Americans and people with disabilities, and is a strong addition to our team of seasoned consultants working across the healthcare continuum to advance holistic care and wellness.”
While at HHS, Robertson served as the nation’s gerontologist and lead for aging and disability issues. Managing the agency’s $4 billion budget, nationwide team, 36 programs, and a research institute, he collaborated with key stakeholders to help older adults and people with disabilities live and work independently in the community. In doing so, he spearheaded initiatives linking health with human services and social determinants; launched the agencywide Disability Collaborative, the National Center for Person-Centered Thinking, Planning, and Practice, and the Multi-Agency Task Force on Increasing Disability Employment; and led significant work with the White House Domestic Policy Council.
“I am honored to join an organization that is at the forefront of addressing our country’s health inequities,” said Robertson. “We must take steps to unite state, community-based, and long-term care organizations if we want to achieve the Triple Aim. I look forward to working with Guidehouse’s clinical and community-based program experts and clients on strategies to improve overall health for our vulnerable populations.”
Prior to HHS, Robertson served as director of Aging Services at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services for 10 years. He also spent 12 years in leadership roles for Oklahoma State University’s Gerontology Institute and Partnerships for Aging. Robertson is the former president of the National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities and served on the Catastrophic Health Emergency Planning Task Force.
“Lance’s successful career is reflected throughout his leadership in advancing federal and state community living programs,” said Alicia Harkness, Guidehouse partner and Health segment leader. “It is an honor to have him on our team of experts who are working with public and private organizations to modernize and integrate the healthcare delivery system.”
Guidehouse works with the federal government, state agencies, providers, and health plans across the country, including the US Department of Veterans Affairs, to address the challenges associated with long-term services and supports (LTSS) and the transformation of LTSS program design and payments. The company is focused on improving quality and outcomes for older adults, children and adults with physical, intellectual, or developmental disabilities.
The Guidehouse Health segment includes a team of provider and public health administrators, clinicians, scientists, and other experts with decades of strategy, policy, revenue cycle, digital, retail health, managed care, and managed services experience. With multiple Best in KLAS awards, the Guidehouse Health team helps hospitals and health systems, government agencies, life sciences companies, employers, and payers strategically redesign, revitalize, and transform care delivery and operations. Visit the Guidehouse Center for Health Insights for the latest health research, trends, and best practices.
About Guidehouse
Guidehouse is a leading global provider of consulting services to the public and commercial markets, with broad capabilities in management, technology, and risk consulting. We help clients address their toughest challenges and navigate significant regulatory pressures with a focus on transformational change, business resiliency, and technology-driven innovation. Across a range of advisory, consulting, outsourcing, and digital services, we create scalable, innovative solutions that prepare our clients for future growth and success. Headquartered in McLean, Va., the company has more than 8,000 professionals in over 50 locations globally. Guidehouse is a Veritas Capital portfolio company, led by seasoned professionals with proven and diverse expertise in traditional and emerging technologies, markets, and agenda-setting issues driving national and global economies. For more information, please visit www.guidehouse.com.
______________________________________________________________
Manager, Health Marketing
704-502-9974 Mobile | [email protected]
guidehouse.com
Connect with me on LinkedInPosted 1.27.2021 -
Optimum Healthcare IT Partners with University of Colorado Denver for Optimum CareerPath
Partnership enables recent graduates to have a clear pathway to healthcare IT careers
Jacksonville Beach, FL – January 26, 2021 – Optimum Healthcare IT, a Best in KLAS healthcare IT staffing and consulting services company, announced today that they have partnered with the University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) for provide recent college graduates a pathway to high-paying healthcare IT jobs through the Optimum CareerPath™ apprenticeship program.
CU Denver students who are accepted into the Optimum CareerPath program will work with Optimum to bridge the skills gap in healthcare IT. CareerPath apprentices, who are considered Optimum employees, participate in a three-month immersive healthcare IT training program focusing on specific IT skills and platforms used by hospitals. After training, the apprentices join Optimum project teams serving healthcare systems across the United States.
“We are thrilled to be a part of this wonderful opportunity, which is win-win for our students and for Optimum. The CareerPath apprenticeship provides our hard-working students valuable, industry-relevant skills, preparing them to launch careers in the high-demand field of healthcare technology,” said CU Denver Chancellor Michelle Marks. “It also provides Optimum with workers trained to meet their specific needs in healthcare IT. Through its partnerships and collaborations with private industry, CU Denver is continuing to play an important role in filling key needs in today’s workforce.”
In addition to CareerPath training, apprentices will receive a certification from the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHiME) and training on the Epic platform.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, employment of medical records and health information technicians is projected to grow 8 percent from 2019 to 2029, much faster than the average for all occupations. The demand for health services is expected to increase as the population ages. Until now, there has not been a college or university that has hosted training on specific electronic health records (EHR) software platforms.
“CU Denver is an ideal partner for our second CareerPath hub,” said Jason Jarrett, CEO of Optimum. “Whether it’s electronic health records, enterprise resource planning, or ServiceNow, COVID has demonstrated an urgent shortage of tech talent both trained on the specific platforms that hospitals and health systems deploy as well as knowledgeable about healthcare.”
For more information on the Optimum CareerPath program, visit https://www.optimumhit.com/services/optimum-careerpath/
About University of Colorado Denver
CU Denver is Denver’s partner in progress and ally in innovation. Our connection to our vibrant city inspires leading research, creative work, and civic engagement. Our collaboration with Denver’s businesses and local government helps set us apart from other universities. With a history that began in 1912, CU Denver has operated independently since 1973. Our location in downtown Denver serves more than 15,000 students. In Colorado and around the world, our talented graduates form a diverse and growing Lynx family. We work to create welcoming and respectful learning environments where a culture of inclusion can flourish. At CU Denver, we honor our diversity of experiences and perspectives in the committed belief that they enrich the educational experience for all.
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.
Contact:
Larry Kaiser
VP of Marketing
Optimum Healthcare IT
516.978.5487
Posted 1.27.2021 -
Allscripts collaborates with Microsoft, MATTER and ARC Innovation Center at Sheba Medical Center to discover new innovations
DeepScribe selected as winner for the Reimagining Care Delivery Developer Challenge
CHICAGO – January 27, 2021 – Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (NASDAQ MDRX), MATTER, Microsoft and ARC Innovation Center at Sheba Medical Center hosted a challenge in December for health IT developers focused on reimagining care delivery. 2020 marked 200 years since the trailblazing social reformer and nurse Florence Nightingale was born, and in honor of the mark she left on healthcare, the World Health Organization named 2020 the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife. With her legacy in mind, Allscripts and its partners hosted the virtual pitch competition.
During the event, eight organizations addressed the question, “How might we use technology and innovative solutions to create the electronic health record of the future to reduce the burden on nurses?” The startups presented their ideas and engaged in Q&A with a panel of Allscripts leaders, including Hospital and Health System Vice President Paul Minton, RN, and Vice President and Chief Experience Officer, Jenna Date. Other judges included Kathleen McGrow DNP, MS, RN, PMP Chief Nursing Information Officer at Microsoft and Lital Shnaiderman, Business Development at ARC Innovation Center.
The judges selected DeepScribe, a company that developed an AI-powered medical scribe that can produce comprehensive clinical documentation directly in the EHR, as the Reimagining Care Delivery Developer Challenge winner. It will receive waived Allscripts Developer Program partner fees, marketing benefits with Allscripts, two Microsoft Surface Go tablets, the opportunity to pitch its solution to experts from ARC Innovation Center at Sheba Medical Center’s network, a free year of the Allscripts-ARC Innovation Center at Sheba Medical Center’s private sandbox and more.
“Driving healthcare delivery forward has always required embracing the spirit of innovation, and Allscripts was pleased to host this challenge and hear the participants’ fresh, exciting ideas,” said Minton. “We look forward to nurses, doctors and other healthcare providers using DeepScribe’s functionality to make documentation easier.”
Jenna Date adds, “Congratulations to everyone who took part—I’m looking forward to seeing in the years to come how you make your mark in healthcare.”
“At Microsoft, we believe the future of healthcare is an interoperable one, and collaboration between innovators will be essential,” said Kathleen McGrow, chief nursing information officer at Microsoft. “We applaud the event’s participants for their innovative ideas and look forward to seeing how these promising developers help drive healthcare forward in the years ahead.”
“ARC at Sheba has been a prime force in accelerating the development of new ideas and concepts to redesign healthcare as we know it,” said Dr. Eyal Zimlichman, Sheba Medical Center’s, Chief Medical and Innovation Officer. “DeepScribe has the potential to be an important player in the way we want to imagine patient encounters of the future – today.”
Watch the recording at https://youtu.be/rBrqnnr1rMs
About Allscripts
Allscripts (NASDAQ: MDRX) is a leader in healthcare information technology solutions that advance clinical, financial and operational results. Our innovative solutions connect people, places and data across
an Open, Connected Community of Health™. Connectivity empowers caregivers to make better decisions and deliver better care for healthier populations. To learn more, visit www.allscripts.com, Twitter, YouTube and It Takes a Community: The Allscripts Blog.
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© 2021 Allscripts Healthcare, LLC and/or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
Allscripts, the Allscripts logo, and other Allscripts marks are trademarks of Allscripts Healthcare, LLC and/or its affiliates. All other products are trademarks of their respective holders, all rights reserved. Reference to these products is not intended to imply affiliation with or sponsorship of Allscripts Healthcare, LLC and/or its affiliates.
For more information contact:
Investors:
Stephen Shulstein
312-386-6735 [email protected]
Media:
Concetta Rasiarmos
312-447-2466 [email protected]
Posted 1.26.2021 -
New Report: 36% of Patients Sacrifice Medications to Afford Basic Needs
The 2021 Medication Access Report emphasizes medication access barriers further impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and technology that can make a difference
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 26, 2020 – The impact from the COVID-19 pandemic caused tens of millions of Americans to lose their jobs, health insurance and, for some, access to their medications.1 New research released today by CoverMyMeds found that 65 percent of patients were financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic2 and 36 percent sacrificed their treatments or medications to pay for bills and basic needs. Others have done the inverse: 43 percent have had to forgo paying for essential items and bills to afford needed medications,2 while 41 percent have skipped or modified medication doses to stretch out prescriptions.2
“I don’t know how people can afford to be sick and still live their lives,” said Patricia F., a patient featured in the 2021 Medication Access Report who shared her experience managing multiple sclerosis. “I take it one day at a time and hope I’m not going to find out when it’s too late that I really should have been on medication.”
The 2021 Medication Access Report also highlights technology designed to help inform medication conversations with patients, support prescribing decisions, and empower patients and caregivers to become part of their own care team, including:
Prescription Price Transparency
· Sixty-two percent of patients ask their provider about medication price and affordability options.2 Equipping providers and care team members with tools that show prescription cost, remaining deductible, formulary alternatives, cash price and cost savings programs at the point of prescribing can help bolster affordability conversations with patients.
· When a prescription cost more than expected, 43 percent of patients in 2020 said they checked a pharmacy comparison app to find a better price, up from 28 percent in 2019.2,3
Tech-Enabled Patient Support Services
· Specialty therapies are often the hardest to access for patients, usually due to process complexity and affordability challenges. Nearly half of providers surveyed indicated they changed how they approach specialty patient appointments due to COVID-19 while nearly one in five providers saw a decrease in patient therapy compliance.4
· Through continued development of electronic patient support services, available at the point of prescribing for prescribers and their staff, more patients can experience end-to-end support to access specialty medications. In some cases, such programs have contributed to a 34 percent reduction in time to therapy.5
Electronic Prior Authorization
· Due to manual prior authorization management, over one third of providers reported having less time for face-to-face interaction with patients—during which meaningful conversations about affordability, access or social circumstances could occur.4
· Adoption of a robust electronic prior authorization solution can help reduce manual processes and improve patient outcomes. In fact, 62 percent of prior authorization requests submitted electronically receive a determination within two hours, and 43 percent receive a determination automatically.6
“Patients need reliable paths to medication access, and they shouldn’t have to choose between basic needs to access and afford their medications,” said Miranda Gill MSN, RN, NEA-BC, Senior Director, Provider Services and Operations at CoverMyMeds. “Encouraging patients to proactively participate in their care plan has shown to help improve outcomes. By utilizing reliable technology to view cost, quality and convenience options, the patient and provider can collaborate to make the best treatment decision for the patient.”
The 2021 Medication Access Report uses industry research, patient interviews and new survey data from patients, pharmacists and providers to investigate medication access barriers and how we can overcome them as an industry, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report is published by CoverMyMeds, part of McKesson’s Prescription Technology Solutions, with an advisory board of leaders from Albertsons, California Chronic Care Coalition, Cerner Corporation, Community Health Network, Horizon Government Affairs, Humana, National Council for Prescription Drug Programs, National Patient Advocate Foundation, OptumRx, Orsini Healthcare, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, PioneerRx and Point of Care Partners.
To view the full 2021 Medication Access Report, click here.
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1 – Zipperer, Ben, and Josh Bivens. “9.2 Million Workers Likely Lost Their Employer-Provided Health Insurance in the Past Four Weeks.” Economic Policy Institute, 16 Apr. 2020
2 – CoverMyMeds Patient Survey, 2020
3 – CoverMyMeds Patient Survey, 2019
4 – CoverMyMeds Provider Survey, 2020
5 – CoverMyMeds data on file, 2020
6 – CoverMyMeds data on file, 2018
About CoverMyMeds
CoverMyMeds, part of McKesson’s Prescription Technology Solutions, is a fast-growing healthcare technology company that has been recognized as a “Best Place to Work” by Glassdoor and a “Best Company to Work For” by FORTUNE. CoverMyMeds’ solutions help patients get the medications they need to live healthy lives by seamlessly connecting the healthcare network to improve medication access; thereby increasing speed to therapy and reducing prescription abandonment. CoverMyMeds’ network includes 75 percent of electronic health record systems (EHRs), 96 percent of pharmacies, 750,000 providers and most health plans and PBMs. Visit www.covermymeds.com for more information.
MEDIA CONTACT
Angela Tavrell [email protected]
614-360-1735
Posted 1.26.2021 -
Interlace Health Names Allison Reichenbach as President
Allison Reichenbach Assumes the Role of President at Interlace Health, Looks to a Bright Future for the Long-Standing and Innovative Healthcare IT Company
ST. LOUIS, January 27, 2021 — Interlace Health (formerly FormFast), a healthcare process transformation company, has announced that Allison Reichenbach, former Chief Operating Officer, has been promoted to the position of President. She succeeds Randy Campbell, who will assume the role of Chief Technology Officer.
“During her time at Interlace Health, Allison has made several improvements across the business that greatly impacted organizational structure and company culture, while advancing financial strength and operational stability,” said Interlace Health CEO, Rob Harding. “Her loyalty and drive for excellence has served as an example, and she is right person to lead Interlace Health to even greater levels of accomplishment.”
Reichenbach joined Interlace Health in 2012, as Director of Special Projects. In 2014, she was promoted to Vice President of Administration, where she oversaw the areas of finance and human resources; and focused on refining the organization’s talent acquisition program. She most recently held the position Chief Operating Officer, where she led successful transformation to a number of core interdepartmental processes. Prior to her career at Interlace Health, Reichenbach was an attorney, focused on employment litigation.
“I’ve found a home for myself at Interlace Health working alongside people who care about our customers, each other, and the healthcare industry. Leading an organization that has a strong foundation of 28 years of experience and resources, yet still possesses an innovative spirit is truly unique. Our company’s solid foundation, combined with pioneering work we’ve done to create a new platform to support our solutions, puts us in a position to solve the increasingly complex workflow challenges of healthcare today,” said Interlace Health President, Allison Reichenbach.
Former Interlace Health President, Randy Campbell, has assumed the role of Chief Technology Officer. In this role, Campbell will work closely with Reichenbach during the transition, and will focus on providing executive leadership of the infrastructure, technology, and engineering required to continue producing industry-leading technology and services.
“It’s been an honor to lead such an amazing group of people. Interlace Health’s journey is just beginning, and under Allison’s leadership, I believe we will continue to get meaningful solutions out into the market and be prepared for the next phase of Interlace Health success,” said Chief Technology Officer at Interlace Health, Randy Campbell.
A Nashville resident, Reichenbach is an active member of Leadership Healthcare (an initiative of the Nashville Health Care Council); the Junior League of Nashville; and the Pi Beta Phi Nashville Alumnae Club. Reichenbach is also the Board Chair of the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The Princeton alum is also involved with the Princeton Entrepreneurship Council and the Princeton Alumni Association of Nashville.
For more information on Interlace Health’s organizational announcement, please contact Lauren Ziegler, [email protected].
About Interlace Health
Interlace Health (formerly FormFast) lives at the intersection of the relationships, environments, and experiences at the heart of modern health care. By enabling seamless data capture and information exchange among providers, staff, and patients, Interlace Health solves many of health care’s central challenges through process transformation. The result for its clients is reduced costs, increased collections, uplifted patient experiences, improved operational efficiency, and enhanced support of an organization’s integration strategy.Interlace Health’s platform enables several solutions that are accessible by clinicians and patients inside and outside the walls of the health care system. These include patient intake, revenue cycle management, electronic consent, forms-on-demand and downtime contingency. To learn more about how the company is improving health care workflow, visit www.interlacehealth.com.
Media Contact:
Lauren Ziegler
314-677-3765
[email protected]Posted 1.26.2021 -
Scottsdale Institute CIO Summit Examines New Alignment for IT
Leading health system executives discuss IT as enabler for crisis response
Chicago (Jan. 26, 2021) — Chief information officers (CIOs) from 24 leading health systems across the nation recently convened at Scottsdale Institute’s annual CIO Summit. The group met virtually this year with the discussion centered on how the need for speed is shaping information technology’s role in the health system and how CIOs have taken on more key operational responsibilities.
“As digital health continues to transform healthcare and the behavior of consumers continues to evolve, standardized data sharing is more important than ever before,” said Janet Guptill, executive director of Scottsdale Institute. “Scottsdale Institute is dedicated to providing educational and collaborative opportunities for healthcare executives around crucial topics such as this one. Our ultimate goal as an organization is to host and facilitate these conversations so healthcare leaders can network with their peers and gain knowledge and resources to put the strategies in place to reach their ultimate goals of providing high-quality service and exceptional patient care.”
During the half-day event, healthcare leaders participated in conversations concerning the new social pact between health systems and the public due to COVID-19; factors driving the pace of healthcare (consumer choice, financial sustainability, and care delivery reimagined); how accelerated decision-making and enhanced focus might be emerging paradigms for healthcare; and why next-gen CIOs are more about relationships—and transferring wisdom—than ever before. Key facilitators included Paul Keckley, PhD, industry analyst and managing editor of The Keckley Report; Doug King, SVP & CIO, Northwestern Medicine; Cherodeep Goswami, CIO, UW Health; and Craig Richardville, SVP & Chief Information & Digital Officer, SCL Health.
“Healthcare IT has always shown leadership in identifying, deploying, and maintaining enabling technology in support of mission-critical services and operations,” said Lydon Neumann, vice president at Impact Advisors. “The pandemic revealed the need for new or enhanced capabilities for IT like speed to value and scalability with a greater reliance on cloud-based delivery of services/technology. By significantly expanding telehealth, enriching patient and consumer digital experiences, and pursing process automation, healthcare organizations will be less ‘bricks and mortar’ dependent and more creative and successful in delivering care and new services virtually.”
The collaborative event was hosted by Scottsdale Institute, a not-for-profit membership organization of health systems advanced in IT, and supported by Impact Advisors, a leading advisory, technology services and operational improvement firm.
The CIO Summit Report, “New Alignment for IT in an Era of Rapid Change,” is available for free download at www.scottsdaleinstitute.org and at www.impact-advisors.com.
About Scottsdale Institute
The Scottsdale Institute (SI) is a not-for-profit membership organization of prominent healthcare systems whose goal is to support our members as they strive to achieve clinical integration and transformation through information technology (IT). SI facilitates knowledge-sharing by providing intimate and informal forums that embrace SI’s “Three Pillars”:
> Collaboration
> Education
> NetworkingSI Affinity Groups offer a popular way to focus on a shared issue, topic or collective challenges. They can be title-specific, or a mix of executive titles focused on single issues like Digital and Population Health, Cybersecurity, Clinical Decision Support, Data and Analytics, and others. Affinity Groups convene in a variety of ways, including Dialogues, Summits, Ad Hoc Queries, Site Visits and Roundtables. For more information about Scottsdale Institute, visit www.scottsdaleinstitute.org.
About Impact Advisors
Impact Advisors is a nationally recognized healthcare management consulting and technology services firm that is solving some of the toughest challenges in the industry by delivering strategic advisory, technology implementation and operational improvement services. Our comprehensive suite of strategic planning, digital health, clinical optimization and revenue cycle services spans the lifecycle of our clients’ needs. Our experienced team has a powerful combination of clinical, revenue, operations, consulting and information technology experience. The firm has earned several prestigious industry and workplace awards including Best in KLAS® for 13 consecutive years, Healthcare Informatics HCI 100, Crain’s Chicago Business Fast Fifty, as well as “best place to work” awards from: Modern Healthcare, Consulting Magazine, Becker’s Hospital Review and Achievers. For more information about Impact Advisors, visit www.impact-advisors.com
Posted 1.26.2021 -
CHIME-KLAS Interoperability Report Finds Significant Gains in Access and Data Exchange
ANN ARBOR, MI AND SALT LAKE CITY, UT, Jan. 26, 2021 – Both providers and the companies that produce the hardware and software needed to exchange and use electronic heath information continue to make progress in their efforts to advance interoperable healthcare, according to a white paper released today by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and KLAS Research. The report highlights 10 trends in the industry based on data from a 2020 interoperability survey, with comparisons to results from past surveys.The report shows steady progress in some areas related to interoperability and leaps forward in others. A total of 67% of provider organizations reported they often or nearly always had access to needed records in 2020, up from 28% in 2017. They noted improvements in functionality and usability for tasks like locating and viewing records. Many were increasingly optimistic that these changes will allow record exchange to have a greater impact on patient care in the future.Vendor support of data sharing improved between 2016 and 2020, with the biggest gains between partnering organizations using different EMRs.KLAS has formally measured interoperability since 2015 to assess the adoption of solutions with a focus on frequency of use, ease of use, functionality and perceived benefit to patient care. In recent years, federal efforts to promote interoperability have been a lever for removing barriers and facilitating uptake. In 2018, for instance, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services renamed its “EHR Incentive Programs” to “Promoting Interoperability” with an emphasis on interoperability, the exchange of health information across systems and patients’ access to their health data; and the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act) includes interoperability and patient data access provisions.“For digital health to reach its full potential, we need to be able to safely and securely exchange information across the healthcare ecosystem,” said CHIME President and CEO Russell P. Branzell. “Interoperability is the linchpin. With the Cures Act and other federal initiatives promoting data sharing, we should see even more gains that ultimately will improve patient care. As is evident in the survey results, great strides have been made resulting in remarkable improvements. This required hard work for all parties involved and they should be congratulated on their collective efforts.”“While there’s always room for improvement, we were glad to see provider organizations report progress in data sharing across disparate EMRs,” said Adam Gale, President of KLAS. “Many EMR vendors have partnered with customers to push interoperability forward. Some have made a strategic decision to focus their efforts on specific aspects of interoperability, such as FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources). Now we must continue to expand that interoperability beyond the EHR and ensure we truly impact the care of patients.”Other key findings:- Ambulatory clinics and smaller acute care hospitals are connecting more with affiliate hospitals’ EMR solutions.
- Respondents are more or less evenly split over whether they get sufficient support from EMR companies to be successful. Cost posed the most frequently mentioned barrier, followed by a lack of a thorough understanding of provider workflows and organizational needs along with a lack of technical readiness.
- 39% of respondents considered public health information exchanges the most valuable method for accessing patient data, while 36% chose national networks.
- Patient-facing apps are the most commonly used tools, although app use is still in its early stages. More organizations report using proprietary application programming interfaces (APIs) than FHIR APIs, with patient-facing tools the most common use for both types.
- When asked what the top interoperability use cases EMR companies should focus on in the next two to three years, the majority of respondents recommended enhancing patient record exchanges. Many also suggested capabilities to support population health and social determinants of health.
The white paper is free and available online to the public. To download the white paper, go here.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), chief innovation officers (CIOs), chief digital officers (CDOs) and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 5,000 members in 56 countries plus two U.S. territories and over 150 healthcare IT business partners and professional services firms, CHIME and its three associations provide 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 KLASKLAS 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/home.ContactsCandace StuartDirector of Communications and Public Relations, CHIME734.665.0000Joshua SchneckPR Counsel for KLAS Research612.709.8500Posted 1.26.2021 -
Divurgent Launches Virtual COVID-19 Vaccination Support Center for Organizations Experiencing Significant Call Volumes Related to Scheduling
As organizations rollout vaccinations across their populations, many are exclusively scheduling through
patient portals –with this effort, organizations are seeing significant increases in call volumesJanuary 21, 2021 – Virginia Beach, VA – Divurgent, an international IT consulting company, announced today that it has launched and successfully deployed a Virtual Patient Support Solution to address call volumes related to COVID-19 vaccination scheduling. As many organizations have started to rollout their vaccinations and launch communication through patient portals and other virtual communication platforms, a significant influx of inbound calls has followed.
Using the firm’s formidable capabilities in large-scale, rapid deployment support solutions, they have quickly stood up virtual patient support capabilities to take inbound calls and help patients activate, register, and navigate patient portals to schedule COVID-19 vaccination appointments. Clients can maintain vaccination distribution schedules and unburden internal staff who would otherwise triage and address all support calls. Divurgent is currently supporting vaccination deployment efforts for a New York client by handling inbound calls related to Epic MyChart activation and support.
“We’re hearing from our clients, and in true Divurgent nature, we’re coming to the table with a solution that’s easy-to-stand up with low organizational effort and high organization impact” said Dr. Sam Hanna, Executive Vice President Consulting Services & Innovation and Chief Strategy Officer, “we did this seamlessly in New York and are excited to be offering it more broadly to organizations facing the same business problem, which we know many are.”
Divurgent previously announced a similar virtual patient support model intended to assist organizations with converting office visits to telemedicine appointments.
Key benefits of the solution include:
• Rapid deployment with support centers standing up and fully operational within 72 hours, using a company’s existing PBX system or Divurgent’s
• Ability to scale call center agents up or down based on call volumes and wait times
• Effortless integration with an organization’s existing team and already-trained agents ready tosupport patients
• Insightful analytics that show real-time progress on technology activations and successful scheduling of appointments
• Customer-focused agents that work with patients of all kinds, helping them through the first critical step in the vaccination process with the goal of getting all of our communities back to normal
• Flexibility to pivot from inbound call support to outreach as needed based on daily availability of doses, prevention of dosage expiration or wastage, and compliance for completion of vaccination with second dosesDivurgent offers this focused, timely solution under their larger solution umbrella of Technology Support and Optimization, and the scale of the solution extends to all forms of inbound call management and patient outreach. Because of the timely nature of this solution, please follow this link to learn more about the solution and to schedule a consultation to understand how to deploy this at your own organization.
About Divurgent
Divurgent is a solutions provider focused on what matters most to our client partners. We disrupt the typical value equation by using data-infused, flexible, and scalable solutions that demonstrate and quantify value for our partners.We are committed to IT evolution, deploying tailored solutions that help our client partners achieve improved operational effectiveness, financial performance, and quality of customer experience. Throughout Divurgent’s 13-year history, we have experienced year-over-year growth measured in both revenue and employee headcount. www.divurgent.com
Press Contact:
Brittany Williams, Director, Marketing & Communications
804.712.1524 | Brittany.williams@ divurgent.comPosted 1.25.2021 -
18 Steward Health Care hospitals complete virtual implementations of MEDITECH’s Expanse EHR
The largest physician-owned, private, for-profit healthcare network in the U.S. adopted Expanse across their Western facilities in just three months.
January 20, 2021
Steward Health Care’s relationship with MEDITECH has strengthened despite the challenges of the coronavirus, as the two organizations worked together this fall to virtually deploy MEDITECH Expanse across 18 Steward facilities located in Arizona, Utah, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas.
Steward successfully brought their Arizona sites LIVE on September 1st — just 12 months after their contract signing. Subsequent go-LIVEs moved forward between October and November 15th.
The hospitals in each region share a single MEDITECH EHR, which is built upon standard content and best practices provided through Steward Corporate to ensure consistent quality standards across all Steward sites and minimize the build time. Content is further customized at a regional level in line with Steward’s corporate governance.
“Steward is committed to delivering high quality care to patients, and keeping them safe during the pandemic,” said David Colarusso, Chief Information Officer at Steward Health Care. “I am pleased with our team for successfully adapting to a virtual implementation, to bring our community the EHR technology needed to navigate care during these difficult times.”
MEDITECH’s Revenue Cycle Solution, which was a major attractor for Steward, enabled the organization to quickly begin processing claims after go-LIVE. Following implementation, subsets of claims were dropped within four days of go-LIVE, enabling Steward to reach standard auto claim creation with a four-day hold within six days.
Steward’s successful remote implementations were due in large part to the agile, cross-divisional, and collaborative process developed with MEDITECH, which included establishing a Virtual Command Center, a 24/7 bridge line to Steward Corporate, and a MEDITECH on-site executive sponsor to oversee the LIVE. In addition, HealthNet Systems Consulting Inc. provided program and project management support.
In January 2020, Steward extended its 20-year partnership with MEDITECH when it signed to implement the Expanse EHR in the 18 sites. This decision was a part of Steward’s “One Platform” strategy to bring all 34 of its hospitals under a single EHR, replacing their legacy vendor systems.
Learn more about how remote EHR implementations have enabled MEDITECH organizations to go LIVE safely during this pandemic.
Contacts
Robin Montville
Public Relations and Media Relations Manager
MEDITECH
781-774-3370
Posted 1.25.2021 -
ANCILE Solutions Achieves ISO/IEC 27001:2013 Certification
The widely recognized Information Security certification has been awarded to ANCILE for its uPerform digital learning platform.
ANCILE Solutions, the company behind the market-leading Digital Learning Platform uPerform®, announced today that it achieved the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 27001:2013 certification, demonstrating its dedication to security management best practices.
ISO 27001 is one of the most widely recognized and internationally accepted information security standards. To obtain certification, organizations must implement a rigorous security program including development of an Information Security Management System (ISMS), which defines a comprehensive, systematic approach to ensuring data security including
stringent security controls.“In addition to SOC 2, our ISO 27001 certification furthers our commitment to keeping our global customers’ data secure,” said Rusty Fiste, Chief Product Officer at ANCILE. “Our clients can be assured that we take the protection of their digital information seriously.”
From the Fortune 100 to large Healthcare systems, uPerform helps organizations maximize the value of their technology investments by providing role-based learning directly within the workflows of their applications, improving user productivity and engagement. uPerform, a digital adoption solution for the world’s leading ERP, EHR, and HCM applications, improves onboarding, reduces time spent in the system by reinforcing training, and decreases time spent in training. Education teams benefit from a full content development, management, and distribution platform that increases operational efficiency and reduces training costs.
For more information on uPerform or ANCILE, visit https://www.ancile.com.
About ANCILE Solutions
ANCILE Solutions, Inc. is the creator of uPerform®, a digital learning platform that drives user adoption of the world’s leading healthcare and business applications. Chosen by over half of the Fortune 100 and leading healthcare systems in the US, uPerform helps organizations realize the full value of their EHR, HCM, and ERP software by boosting proficiency, driving adoption, and reducing screen time. uPerform provides a digital approach to software enablement, from onboarding to performance support, application training is simplified and centralized on the platform.Media Contact
Caitlin McVeigh
Marketing Director
ANCILE Solutions, Inc.
[email protected]Posted 1.21.2021 -
uPerform by ANCILE Solutions Launches SMART on FHIR Capability for Digital Training Within Electronic Health Record Systems
Health systems can integrate training and performance support in the workflows of their EHRs to drive clinician proficiency and satisfaction.
ANCILE Solutions, the company behind the market-leading Digital Learning Platform uPerform®, is pleased to announce support for the SMART on FHIR standard. uPerform empowers health systems to deliver higher quality EHR education with role-based training and performance support materials available within their Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems, increasing user proficiency and satisfaction.
With SMART on FHIR support, uPerform healthcare clients are now benefitting from single sign-on powered by OAuth, providing clinicians a transparent login experience when accessing learning materials – such as tip sheets, simulations, and videos – from within their EHR workflows or processes. Epic® customers get enhanced administrative functions, including easier and more powerful user and group management, and better access control.
SMART on FHIR grants uPerform access to more user data, creating a more powerful education platform for the EHR. In-application help provides EHR users one-click access to training and support materials specific to their role, department, or other attributes, ensuring that clinicians can spend more time with patients and less time searching for help.
“As the healthcare industry standardizes with SMART on FHIR, uPerform must integrate easily with hospitals’ applications, particularly the EHR,” said Bobby Zarr,
Senior Director of Healthcare at ANCILE uPerform. “We are thrilled to simplify user management for our clients using Epic and other EHR systems to transform digital
training for mission-critical systems.”Today uPerform is used by large healthcare systems to address the difficulties that traditional instructor-led training and ongoing support pose to hospitals, including high training costs, EHR utilization and compliance issues, and low clinician satisfaction.
For more information on uPerform, visit https://www.uperform.com/.
View the uPerform for Healthcare listing on the Epic App OrchardSM.About ANCILE Solutions
ANCILE Solutions, Inc. is the creator of uPerform®, a digital learning platform that drives user adoption of the world’s leading healthcare and business applications. Chosen by over half of the Fortune 100 and leading healthcare systems in the US, uPerform helps organizations realize the full value of their EHR, HCM, and ERP software by boosting proficiency, driving adoption, and reducing screen time. uPerform provides a digital approach to software enablement, from onboarding to performance support, application training is simplified and centralized on the platform.Media Contact
Caitlin McVeigh
Marketing Director
ANCILE Solutions, Inc.
[email protected]Posted 1.21.2021 -
Nominations Open for New Healthiverse Heroes Award
DrFirst Launches Award for Healthcare Providers and Organizations Using Technology to Unite the Interconnected Healthcare Universe
ROCKVILLE, Md., January 15, 2021 –Nominations are open for a new award recognizing Healthiverse Heroes. The award is offered by health technology pioneer DrFirst to honor healthcare providers and organizations that are breaking through information silos that get in the way of clinical collaboration and patient care.
“We created this award because we are inspired by fellow innovators and pioneers in healthcare,” said G. Cameron Deemer, president of DrFirst. “The pandemic has been an extraordinary challenge for everyone, making it all the more important to honor those who found ways to be forward-thinking, implementing technology to help transform healthcare collaboration.”
The award is an extension of DrFirst’s efforts to unite the Healthiverse, a term the company introduced in 2020 as part of its 20-year anniversary to represent its vision for connecting people at touchpoints of care with the information they need when they need it.
The nominations will be judged by DrFirst’s clinical team, including its chief medical officer and principal pharmacist, and others with backgrounds in medicine, nursing, emergency medical services, pharmacy, and dentistry.
Awards are offered in seven categories, including healthcare providers; hospitals and health systems; pharmacies; emergency medical services; life sciences; vendors of electronic health records systems, health information systems, and pharmacy information systems; and payers and pharmacy benefit management organizations.
DrFirst will announce awardees in February 2021 with a press release and social media. Honorees will also receive a plaque and an award image for their website and social media.
Nominations can be made on the DrFirst website by January 31, 2021. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited.
About DrFirst
Since 2000, DrFirst has pioneered healthcare technology solutions and consulting services that securely connect people at touchpoints of care to improve patient outcomes. We create unconventional solutions that solve care collaboration, medication management, price transparency, and adherence challenges faced in healthcare. We unite the Healthiverse—the interconnected healthcare universe—by providing our clients with real-time access to the information they need, exactly when and how they need it, so patients get the best care possible. DrFirst solutions are used by nearly 300,000 healthcare professionals, including more than 100,000 prescribers, nearly half of the EHRs in the U.S., and more than 1,400 hospitals in the U.S. and Canada. To learn more, visit www.DrFirst.com and follow @DrFirst.
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DrFirst Media Contact
Sofia Kosmetatos
Amendola Communications for DrFirst
646-431-8423
Posted 1.15.2021