< + > Why Some Individuals Can’t ‘See’ Anything When They Close Their Eyes

Aphantasia is a condition in which a person cannot see or imagine mental images. In other words, when they attempt to imagine or think about something they cannot create an internal mental image or picture. While rare, it provides an intriguing window into the workings of the brain and mind.

< + > Omicron XBB.1.5 Rapidly Becomes New Dominant Covid-19 Subvariant, Here Are The Concerns

This new version of the Omicron Covid-19 coronavirus may be even more immune evasive than previous versions.

< + > These Are Some of 2022’s Most Important Healthcare Headlines

Overall, 2022 was an incredibly busy year for healthcare.

< + > The Perverse Persistence Of Fax Machines In American Medicine

In the words of Sarah Kliff, fax machines are “the cockroach of American medicine: hated by doctors and medical professionals but able to survive — even thrive — in a hostile environment.”

< + > CDC Director Walensky Tweets ‘We Can’t Stop The Spread Of Covid-19,’ Here’s The Pushback

Folks on the Twittersphere wondered why interventions like face mask use and air purification weren't being implemented more instead.

< + > Poor Pollination Led To More Than 400,000 Excess Deaths Due To Lower Crop Yields

In a recent study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers found that sparse pollination lead to an estimated 427,000 deaths every year.

< + > Cellular Therapy Shows Promise In Children With Relapsed Leukemia

The CAR T cell therapy targeted two different proteins on leukemia cells and 99% of children responded to the treatment.

< + > San Diego practice develops a 4-part plan to reduce burnout

The regional pediatrics provider is working across teams and with AMA to determine the best staffing models, reduce unnecessary daily burdens for clinicians and improve medical assistant-to-clinician ratios.

< + > HIMSSCast: What the midterm elections mean for healthcare in 2023

Tom Leary, Valerie Rogers and David Gray of the HIMSS Government Relations team unpack what the federal and state ballot results will hold for health policy going forward.

< + > Healthcare Workers Are Stressed About Money, New Survey Shows

Facing long hours and staffing shortages, healthcare workers are burned out. But a new survey shows that they're also worried about their own finances.

< + > Top 10 Healthcare IT News stories of 2022

Workforce challenges, patient engagement efforts, ongoing interoperability hurdles and some big announcements from legacy EHR and Big Tech players were among the news and reports that captured the most attention this past year.

< + > Russia Attacks Ukraine Power Grid, Leaves Hospitals Without Electricity, Here Are UNITED24 Aid Efforts

Actor and director Liev Schreiber, astronaut Scott Kelly, and others have been working with UNITED24 to raise funds to help Ukraine's battered health care system.

< + > Telehealth helps stop suicidal ideation for many patients, study finds

One person dies from suicide every 11 minutes in the U.S. A new study shows that telemedicine can be used to treat more severe mental illness – contrary to previous thought.

< + > Using A Mental Health App? New Study Says Your Data May Be Shared

Thousands of mental health apps are on the market, but how good—and secure—are they? A new study suggests innovation, evidence, and privacy controls are lacking.

< + > How the Right Technology can Simplify a Healthcare Worker’s Life

The following is a guest article by Marcus Mossberger, Future of Work Strategist at Infor.

If the wrong technology can make a healthcare worker’s life miserable, the right technology can do the opposite. Find out how the right technology can improve retention during the “Great Resignation.” 

Virtually every study on healthcare worker burnout and turnover cites technology as one of the leading culprits. For example, KLAS Research released a report on clinician turnover that found that nurses are more likely than other clinicians to leave their jobs, heavily influenced by their struggles with electronic health record (EHR) systems.

Frustration with disconnected processes and workflows is just one of many reasons healthcare workers are quitting their jobs as part of the “Great Resignation.” Today’s workers are willing to sacrifice salary and benefits for jobs that offer more flexibility, more professional growth, more fulfillment, and more appreciation for what they do.

Interestingly, the common solution to counter all these new non-technology reasons for leaving is technology. The hospital and health system C-suite must adopt new, strategic approaches to technology—embracing an effective, objective, and sustainable workplace well-being technology platform. 

Burned Out and Leaving Fast

Let’s start with why healthcare workers—clinical and nonclinical—are burned out. As mentioned, ongoing struggles with their EHR systems are a huge factor. But they’re also suffering from cognitive overload. Whether delivering care or submitting a claim for payment, virtually every task at a hospital or health system is getting more complex, complicated, and time-consuming.

That mental fatigue triggers frustration. All healthcare workers, but especially nurses and other clinicians, are frustrated because they can’t give the optimum level of attention and care to each task or patient. People go into healthcare to deliver the best possible care and services to patients—and their own operational and support systems are getting in the way.

Healthcare workers also feel a lack of control, whether over their work in patient care or administrative tasks or over work hours. Healthcare employers, not the employees, decide when, where, and how long staff work.

According to the KLAS report, the top five reasons, in ranked order, contributing to burnout, cited by clinicians likely to leave their positions, were:

1. Chaotic work environment 
2. Too much time spent on bureaucratic tasks 
3. Lack of effective teamwork in my organization 
4. No personal control over workload 
5. Lack of shared value with organization leadership

It’s no wonder, then, that healthcare workers are quitting in droves to work for other healthcare organizations that give them what they want.

Technology Done Wrong 

Today’s healthcare workers put up with poor user experiences on their current technologies. They’re frustrated by unconnected, disparate IT systems that force them to interrupt their workflows to log in and out of a system before they can continue their work. If their current systems do have self-service functions at all, those functions typically are limited or difficult to use. Their systems have no or poor scheduling tools. Furthermore, their systems are plagued by poor navigation, bottlenecking essential data access. 

As a result, hospitals and health systems that refuse to address this user experience will suffer increasing staff shortages, absenteeism, lower productivity, lower profit margins, and, in many cases, adverse clinical outcomes. Giving staff more point-solution technology to use without seeing the bigger picture will only make matters worse. 

Technology Done Right 

The right technology, which is the manifestation of contemporary thinking by hospitals and health systems, does three things on a single, cloud-based platform. It advises. It augments. And it automates. The functionality and capabilities of each attribute are as follows:

Advises 

• Alerts staff to remote work opportunities  
• Gives staff access and control via flexible scheduling tools 
• Helps staff make better decisions faster 
• Notifies staff of internal work and career opportunities

Augments

• Generates actionable, accurate data in real time 
• Is transparent to build credibility and trust with staff 
• Makes it easy for staff to make the right decisions 
• Speeds use with intuitive navigation and appropriate prompts

Automates

• Automates rote, repetitive tasks that require little or no human thinking 
• Improves workflow by eliminating friction between disparate IT systems 
• Pre-populates with historic and verified data to reduce rework 
• Seamlessly runs disparate IT systems on a single platform

The right technology addresses each of the top five reasons for staff burnout identified in the KLAS report. Hospitals and health systems that adopt the right technology, as described above, will enjoy benefits such as enabling workers to practice at the top of their license, renewing workers’ sense of purpose, improving clinical outcomes, and more.

The Role of the Right Technology

While it’s true that the wrong technology or technology used the wrong way can exacerbate the Great Resignation in healthcare, the right technology or technology used the right way can have the opposite effect.

For example, intuitive, self-service scheduling technology can go a long way toward giving employees the flexibility in work hours they need when a permanent or temporary lifestyle change demands it. Technologies that eliminate friction in work processes and workflows can reduce the frustrations that lead to burnout. Technologies that simplify or eliminate repetitive tasks can empower clinical and non-clinical staff to practice at the top of their license or perform higher-level and more gratifying responsibilities. Technologies that help people do their jobs better can improve both job performance and job satisfaction. 

The effects of the Great Resignation are here to stay. It’s a volatile hallmark of the new healthcare economy. Whether a hospital or health system succumbs to it or overcomes it will depend on how well and how fast you adopt new solutions that address the new reasons people are leaving healthcare organizations.

< + > FDA Approves Drug Which Makes Lung Cancer Glow

The drug helps surgeons find tumor cells that would have otherwise been missed.

< + > Engage Venture Partners Announces Lead Investment in VOCxi Health

The Minnesota-based medtech venture capital firm marks continued growth of its research-driven model leveraging deep industry expertise and an inclusive investment vehicle

Engage Venture Partners, a venture capital (VC) firm committed to building a funding community for early-stage medical technology companies and their investors, announces its investment in VOCxi Health. This marks the third investment for Engage since the firm’s launch earlier this year and the first time it has led a funding round.

Engage was founded in July 2022 to provide clients access to extensively vetted investment opportunities in the medical device, digital health, and healthcare software sectors. The firm’s Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) allow investors to choose the startups they wish to fund. This flexible, investor-friendly model also has lower fees than traditionally structured venture capital funds.

The most recent investment is a $1.6 million SAFE (simple agreement for future equity) seed round for VOCxi Health. This financing, raised from a group of 39 individual and institutional investors in 10 states, nearly doubled the firm’s largest previous investment – a signal of successful growth for the well-established medtech venture partners. “Fundraising is one of the most important efforts for a startup, and I am so pleased with how Engage led our development funding round,” said Ping Yeh, CEO at VOCxi Health.

Minnesota-based VOCxi Health is a breath diagnostics company focused on accurate, non-invasive, mobile disease identification. Born out of years of research at the University of Minnesota and a global medical device leader, VOCxi’s patented smart mask is designed to measure disease from thousands of volatile organic compounds in just one minute of breath, making late-stage diagnoses a thing of the past.

Engage Partner, Morgan Evans, will join VOCxi’s board of directors, bringing her industry expertise to support the investment. Evans, a medtech founder and executive, brings extensive experience in regulatory pathways, FDA clearance, and commercialization. “After a months-long due diligence process, we had such confidence in the incredible team that VOCxi has assembled, paired with its breakthrough technology that has been years in the making, that we felt very confident taking the role of lead investor,” said Evans.

“Engage’s knowledge and thoughtful advice was extremely helpful as we approached our fundraising. Through their strong network of highly engaged investors, they contributed a significant portion of this first round,” Yeh said, adding “We are also thrilled to have Morgan bring her substantial experience and expertise to our board of directors.”

To learn more about Engage and investment opportunities, email investors@engagevp.com.

About Engage Venture Partners

Minneapolis-based and Woman-Owned, Engage Venture Partners is a research-driven venture capital firm focused on early-stage medtech investments. With extensive healthcare and medical device industry knowledge, and decades of experience in investing and startup operations, Engage delivers a flexible and investor-friendly structure utilizing Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs). Accredited investors are invited to join the Engage Investor Network, which requires neither a fee to join nor a minimum investment commitment. Email investors@engagevp.com to learn more.

Originally announced December 21st, 2022

< + > 2023: The Year Medicare Advantage Begins To Dominate Traditional Medicare

With one in two seniors now enrolled in the privatized health plan alternative to traditional Medicare known as “Medicare Advantage,” look for growth to escalate in 2023 and beyond.

< + > England On Track To Eliminate Hepatitis C Years Ahead Of Schedule

England could become the first country to eliminate a serious liver disease thanks to a major drug deal and targeted screening, officials say.

< + > Chicago Providers Charge Fees To Answer Clinical Questions Submitted Via Portals

Back when patient portals were first introduced, one of the original concerns clinicians raised was that they were afraid that they would get too many patient messages and find themselves overwhelmed.

Over time, most stopped complaining about this problem, though I’d wager it was because they simply had worse things to worry about during the painful initial period of EHR adoption.

It may also have been that complaining wouldn’t help. At least in the early days, health system administrators were very excited about giving patients the ability to trade messages with clinicians, as they believed that getting patients to do so was a great way to get them more engaged with their care.

More recently, however, providers have begun to reevaluate their position on charging for medical advice requested via a portal.

For example, a piece in the Chicago Tribune recently outlined a growing movement among hospitals in its region to begin charging for patient requests made through portals such as Epic’s MyChart.

According to the article, an increasing number of health systems in metro Chicago – as well as elsewhere in the U.S. – have begun charging for responses to some types of patient messages sent through portals, typically charging $35 or less.

For example, the NorthShore University HealthSystem has begun billing patients when clinicians respond to some types of messages coming in through the portal, the article said. In so doing, it joined Northwestern Medicine and Lurie Children’s Hospital.

When NorthShore announced the planned charges, it noted that while most patient messages won’t involve a charge, they might be billed for a few categories of response, including questions about new symptoms, new prescriptions, flare-ups of chronic conditions and any other queries that required clinicians to spend extensive time reviewing that patient’s medical history, the Tribune noted.

The health system said that patients on Medicare will pay fees ranging from $3 to $10, while consumers with Medicare Advantage or private insurance might face co-pays similar to those paid for video visits or in-person consultations. Private pay consults for patients without insurance will cost $35.

It’s interesting to note that while the prospect of new charges might frighten consumers, they are unlikely to be affected by these charges if early research is any indication. According to the newspaper, Northwestern Medicine charged fees for less than 1% of message exchanges conducted via its MyChart portal during the first three months after the charges were rolled out.

In any event, with many consumers having gotten used to telehealth co-pays, perhaps the idea of paying for clinical advice via portal messages won’t be a big deal.

< + > Featured Health IT Job: Senior Network Administrator

We like to regularly feature a healthcare IT job that might be of interest to readers. Today, we’re featuring the Senior Network Administrator position that was recently posted on Healthcare IT Central. This position was posted by New Directions Staffing and is in Savannah, Georgia.

Here’s a description of the position:

Our client is looking to fill a Senior Network Administrator role to:

• Serve as a senior resource and technical lead in Information Services (IS) projects.
• Provides support for day-to-day issues and requests escalated to the Network Administration Team.
• Assists the Technology Director in the design of new systems, development of new standards, and the identification/integration of new technology solutions, technical projects, issues, and initiatives.
• Analyzes, installs, tests, maintains, secures, operates, troubleshoots, repairs, replaces and decommissions enterprise hardware and software.
• Maintains open communications and is available to component organizations and practitioner sites for consultation.
• Specialization of this position exists in server or networking technologies, each requiring the appropriate experience and performing specific job duties.

The appropriate candidate will have the following qualifications:

• Bachelor of Computer Science Preferred. Equivalent work experience or a combination of some college and specialized training in the installation and operation of enterprise operating systems, software, and hardware will be considered.
• 5 – 7 Years Required Serving as a technical resource supporting enterprise information technology Infrastructure; Extensive knowledge of network concepts and computer operating systems, including Windows 7 and 10, Windows server 2208, 2012, and VMware virtualization.
• Knowledge of: Cisco LAN, WAN, WLAN, and VOIP, as well as SAN and backup/recovery technologies.
• Professional certification required: Must possess one or more industry certifications such as Microsoft MCITP / MCSA / MCSE, VMware VCP / VCAP, Cisco CCNA / CCNP / CCIE.

Looks like a great opportunity for those with experience in network administration. If this looks like a position that would interest you, check out the full details for the job and how to apply.

As always, you can search our Health IT job board for a variety of jobs from leading companies in the industry. You can also register for free and post your resume where recruiters search for job candidates regularly.

< + > More Evidence That Covid-19 Vaccines Are Effective For People With Blood Cancer

People with blood cancer don't always produce antibodies after Covid-19 vaccines, but another type of immune cell seems to compensate.

< + > Meet The Entrepreneur Helping Women In Chemo Keep Their Hair

Kate Dilligan spent $8,000 to save her hair during cancer treatments, then spent another $40,000 to see if there was a better way. There was.

< + > Measles Outbreak In Ohio, 82 Children Infected, 32 Hospitalized, Most Unvaccinated

74 of the kids that have been infected never got the measles vaccine, four had received only one of the two doses needed to be fully vaccinated, and the vaccination status of the remaining four is currently unknown.

< + > Staying Focused on Patient Access Will Help Providers and Plans

It might be tempting to pause seemingly “nice-to-have” projects in these tough times. Projects like improving your patient-facing website, adding online appointment booking, or enabling price transparency. Investing in these areas, however, may be the key to a faster recovery for healthcare providers and health plans according to Paul Merrild, President of Kyruus.

“Providers and plans have made progress on improving patient access,” stated Merrild. “But our latest patient access study shows that we still haven’t ‘nailed it’ when it comes to things like knowing where physicians are located, what languages they speak, when they are available, and whether they are in-network. There is ample opportunity to make this type of data more accurate.”

Marrild believes that by improving the accuracy of information in this area, organizations will improve patient access. By making it easy, smooth, and seamless for patients to find, book, and keep appointments organizations will improve their financial position. Plus, providing cost and procedure details early in the booking process means patients can make more informed decisions.

Kyruus surveyed over 1,000 healthcare consumers for their 2022 Patient Access Journey Report. They found 80% of consumers used 2 or more online resources in their process when searching for care.

Healthcare IT Today spoke with Merrild at the #HLTH2022 conference.

Learn more about Kyruus: https://www.kyruus.com/

Listen and subscribe to the Healthcare IT Today Interviews Podcast to hear all the latest insights from experts in healthcare IT.

And for an exclusive look at our top stories, subscribe to our newsletter.

Tell us what you think. Contact us here or on Twitter at @hcitoday. And if you’re interested in advertising with us, check out our various advertising packages and request our Media Kit.

< + > Improved Revenues, Fewer Payer Denials, and Better Surveillance Through Automation by MilagroAI

In this video Ofer Derech, CTO at MilagroAI, explains the technology they use to automate revenue cycle management tasks and surveillance for things like hospital acquired infections that are traditionally performed manually. The tool analyzes both structured and unstructured data, converting varying formats to standards such as SNOMED. MilagroAI then automatically identifies procedures and principal diagnoses, and finds the appropriate coding or surveillance data.

For instance, surgeons often discover during a procedure that they need to do something different from what the payer contracted to do. The hospital has only 72 hours to negotiate with the payer to approve the new procedure. Efficiency is clearly crucial, and manual processing is too slow.

Plus, government regulators are requiring more and more reporting from healthcare organizations.  Much of the data that needs to be reported to government organizations comes from narrative sections inside EMRs.  MilagroAI uses clinical data abstraction to identify key data elements from within this unstructured data.

Watch the video to see how MilagroAI handles tasks such as automating regulatory reporting and revenue cycle management.

Learn more about Milagro AI: https://www.milagroai.com/

Listen and subscribe to the Healthcare IT Today Interviews Podcast to hear all the latest insights from experts in healthcare IT.

And for an exclusive look at our top stories, subscribe to our newsletter.

Tell us what you think. Contact us here or on Twitter at @hcitoday. And if you’re interested in advertising with us, check out our various advertising packages and request our Media Kit.

< + > Why Are British Health Care Workers Striking?

Hospitals and ambulance services are currently facing industrial action over at least another three weeks.

< + > Does Everything Cause Cancer? New Study Shows Many Are Confused About Real Causes

Anti-vaxxers, flat-earthers and believers in reptilian overlords were more likely to believe misinformation about cancer causes.

< + > Fujifilm Announces Asset Purchase Agreement with Inspirata, Inc. to Acquire the Company’s Digital Pathology Business

Company to expand robust Enterprise Imaging offering with addition of Inspirata’s Digital Pathology technology and team

FUJIFILM Corporation (President and CEO, Representative Director: Teiichi Goto) today announced the company has entered into an asset purchase agreement to acquire the global digital pathology business of Tampa, Florida-based Inspirata, Inc. Upon completion of this agreement, Inspirata’s Dynamyx® digital pathology technology, employees and customers will become part of Fujifilm. The addition of digital pathology will expand Fujifilm’s robust Synapse® Enterprise Imaging offering to enable the integration of pathology images and data into a healthcare organization’s electronic health record system and help to streamline care delivery for oncology patients and provider teams.

Building off the success of its established partnership with Inspirata, this acquisition marks Fujifilm’s full-scale, global entry into the largely unpenetrated digital pathology market, where 85% of U.S., 86% of European, and 90% of Asian healthcare organizations are still running on analog.

“Acquiring Inspirata’s digital pathology business allows Fujifilm to be an even stronger healthcare partner – bridging a technological gap between pathology, radiology and oncology to facilitate a more collaborative approach to care delivery across the enterprise,” says Teiichi Goto, president and CEO, representative director at FUJIFILM Corporation. “We’re thrilled to welcome Inspirata’s digital pathology experts to Fujifilm’s growing medical informatics business, along with their renowned global customer base, as together we work to drive the digitization and advancement of healthcare.”

Dynamyx is an open, vendor-agnostic, end-to-end digital pathology solution. Dynamyx’s software capabilities include using whole slide images from multiple scanning vendors to create an easier path for more pathology labs to digitize and realize the benefits of faster patient results, centralized imaging records, and enterprise access to images for all clinicians. It is installed in medical facilities that handle large volumes of pathological images across multiple lab locations, allowing the use of their preferred mix of laboratory and diagnostic technologies with confidence of full compatibility. According to a recent DeciBio article, Dynamyx is shown to have one of the largest partnership networks in the digital pathology space.

It will become part of Fujifilm’s Synapse Enterprise Imaging portfolio – an award-winning suite of healthcare IT solutions that unify imaging, data access and workflows across the health system. With the addition of digital pathology, Fujifilm will offer one of the most comprehensive enterprise imaging portfolios on the market consisting of a Best in KLAS winning VNA, Radiology PACS, and Cardiology PACS, as well as an enterprise information system, cloud services, and 3D advanced visualization. Future releases of Dynamyx will also create opportunities for Fujifilm to support pharmaceutical and contract research organizations with toxicity testing data management for drug development.

“A $320 million global industry in 2021 projected to reach $640 million* by 2025, the rising number of cancer cases and the demonstrated benefits of digital pathology are fueling significant demand and market growth in the hospital and pharmaceutical industries,” says Henry Izawa, president and CEO at FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas Corporation. “These evolving clinical needs fuel Fujifilm’s investment and innovation in the digital revolution, and we look forward to introducing Dynamyx and its host of unique features and benefits to our Synapse customers and prospects as we strive to enable more efficient medical diagnosis and high-quality care.”

“Since launching our European partnership with Inspirata three years ago, we’ve seen great success implementing our combined technologies in several healthcare organizations, notably in the UK,” says Masa Fukumoto, managing director at FUJIFILM Healthcare Europe and senior vice president at FUJIFILM Medical Systems Europe. “We’ve received feedback from customers anticipating digitizing pathology will be the most transformative thing they do for their practice, and we look forward to continuing our global expansion.”

Digital pathology is the digitization of pathology slides to conduct software visualization analysis of a specimen rather than using microscopic slides. With a specialty as image and data heavy as pathology, digitization is key. Pathologists, clinicians, patients, researchers and biopharma companies alike may see benefits such as improved and more efficient workflows, enhanced collaboration, remote and centralized interpretation, faster patient results, overall cost savings, ROI, and increased precision of diagnosis. Fujifilm’s existing partnership with Inspirata has demonstrated success in implementing these benefits for several global healthcare organizations.

Dynamyx has been cleared and/or approved for use in the U.S., Canada, Europe and the UK by each region’s regulatory agency. Dynamyx technology ownership and ongoing development and engineering will be led in the U.S. by FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas Corporation and licensed to other regions. Timing for the completion of the transaction is subject to closing conditions and is scheduled for early 2023. Terms of the agreement have not been disclosed.

*Source: Markets and Markets “Digital Pathology Market, Global Forecast to 2025”; Signify Research “Digital Pathology – World – 2018”

About Fujifilm

FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas Corporation is a comprehensive healthcare company that has an extensive range of technology and expertise in the detection, diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Fujifilm’s innovative medical imaging portfolio includes solutions for digital radiography, mammography, CT, MRI, ultrasound, gastroenterology, pulmonology, endosurgery, and minimally invasive surgery. The award-winning Synapse® Enterprise Imaging portfolio provides healthcare professionals with the cross-departmental imaging and data access needed to deliver a complete patient record. Fujifilm’s AI initiative, REiLI®, combines Fujifilm’s rich image-processing heritage with cutting-edge AI innovations to inspire clinical confidence and combat burnout. The In-Vitro Diagnostic portfolio provides the gold standard of molecular based immunoassay technology for liver surveillance, cutting edge clinical diagnostic chemicals for leading laboratories and diagnostic chemicals for OEM white labelling products. The company is headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts. Click here for more information.

Fujifilm operates over 50 group companies and branches in Europe and is engaged in R&D, manufacturing, sales and service, with FUJIFILM Europe GmbH, located in Ratingen, Germany. The company operates as the strategic headquarters for the region. Throughout Europe, Fujifilm entities serve a range of industries including medical technology, biopharmaceuticals, electronic materials, industrial products, chemicals, graphic systems, optical devices, data storage and all aspects of photography. Over the last 20 years, the company has intensively focused on healthcare – from diagnosis to prevention and treatment.

FUJIFILM Corporation is an operating company of FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation.  FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, Tokyo, leverages its depth of knowledge and proprietary core technologies to deliver Value from Innovation in our products and services in the business segments of healthcare, materials, business innovation, and imaging. Our relentless pursuit of innovation is focused on providing social value and enhancing the lives of people worldwide. Fujifilm is committed to responsible environmental stewardship and good corporate citizenship. For more information about Fujifilm’s Sustainable Value Plan 2030, click here. For the year ended March 31, 2022, the company had global revenues of approximately 2.5 trillion yen (21 billion $USD at an exchange rate of 122 yen/dollar). For more information, please visit: www.fujifilmholdings.com.

About Inspirata

Inspirata, Inc. helps patients fighting cancer—and the clinicians they trust—to make every moment matter. Our comprehensive cancer informatics solutions bring disparate data together throughout the entire cancer care journey to drive informed decisions that improve survivorship.

Inspirata has assembled the most advanced and proven technologies to address the complex challenges of delivering cancer care and conducting ground-breaking research. We combine leading artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) technology with automated cancer registry solutions, comprehensive cancer informatics and advanced patient-trial matching tools to bring users the broadest oncology informatics platform available globally. To learn more, visit www.inspirata.com.

Originally announced December 19th, 2022

< + > Johnson & Johnson is Investing Billions in Clinical Care Solutions

J&J is a global leader in healthcare innovation.

< + > What To Know About Ozempic: The Diabetes Drug Becomes A Viral Weight Loss Hit (Elon Musk Boasts Using It) Creating A Shortage

The FDA has the drug listed on its medication shortage list, causing type two diabetics to call around to multiple pharmacies before finding one with Ozempic in stock.

< + > U.K. Stops Publishing Key Covid-19 Statistics

The U.K. will stop publishing certain covid-19 modelling data in the new year, a government body has revealed.

< + > Major Trends and Stories from 2022 – Healthcare IT Today Podcast Episode 104

For the 104th episode of the Healthcare IT Podcast, we are taking a look back at the year! As this will be the last episode in 2022, it is time to review all of the major trends and stories from this year. First we share the story that stood out the most for us in 2022. Then, we share what we thought was the most surprising trend in health IT. And in that light, we also share what topic we wished we had seen more of throughout 2022. And to wrap up we discuss what term/topic was overplayed and should be put on the “tired” list for 2023.

Here’s a preview of the questions and topics we discuss in this episode:

• What story sticks out most for you in 2022?
• What was the most surprising/unexpected trend in health IT in 2022?
• Was there a topic that we wished we had seen more of in 2022?
• What term or topic should be on the “tired” list for 2023?

Now, without further ado, we’re excited to share with you the next episode of the Healthcare IT Today podcast.

We publish a new Healthcare IT Today podcast every ~2 weeks. Thanks to our friends at Healthcare Now Radio, you’ll be able to listen to the latest episodes of Healthcare IT Today on their radio station for the first two weeks. Then, we’ll be publishing each episode as a podcast and YouTube video here after it finishes on the radio.

You can also subscribe to the Healthcare IT Today podcast on any of the following platforms:

• Apple Podcasts
• Google Podcasts
• Stitcher Podcast Radio
• TuneIn
• Spotify
• iHeartRadio
• Pandora

Thanks for listening to Healthcare IT Today and if you enjoy the content we’re sharing, please rate the podcast on your favorite podcasting platform.

Along with the popular podcasting platforms above, you can Subscribe to Healthcare IT Today on YouTube.  Plus, all of the audio and video versions will be made available to stream on HealthcareITToday.com.

If you work in Healthcare IT, we’d love to hear where you agree and/or disagree with the perspectives we shared. Feel free to share your thoughts and perspectives in the comments of this post, in the YouTube comments, with @Colin_Hung or @techguy on Twitter, or privately on our Contact Us page. Let us know what you think of the podcast and if you have any ideas for future episodes.

Thanks so much for listening!

Listen to Our Latest Episodes:

< + > The Impact of the Digital Front Door

Too often in talking about digital transformation, we only look to the future. Merely speculating as to how it will impact the world of healthcare once x gets developed. Too little do we take a look at the work that has already been done in this field to examine the impact it has already had. So that is what we will be doing today.

We reached out to the Healthcare IT Community to hear their thoughts on the digital front door and how it has already transformed healthcare. This is what they had to say.

Patty Riskind, CEO at Orbita

Digital tools gained traction in care delivery during COVID. Now we are seeing rapid uptake in operational workflows that support care too. That said, most solutions, like digital front doors, fall short. Next-generation DFD must combine the value of consumer search tools with the convenience of chatbots. Using natural language understanding and intentional conversational dialogs, intelligent virtual assistants will guide website visitors to the answers and care they’re looking for. Websites become more intuitive, so patients find them useful, resulting in higher conversions.

Colin Banas, Chief Medical Officer at DrFirst

To transform the patient experience, the digital front door needs to move far beyond what typical patient portals currently offer. Simply replicating the old paradigm in a digital format isn’t enough, it is time to push past that. It will take tools that make it easier for patients to play a central role in their own care. For example, new tech so patients can document and report their outcomes directly to providers, curate their physiological data and connect it with emerging AI to detect signals of disease that are just now emerging, and participate in clinical trials with their smartphones and personal devices. The front door is just the beginning, pun intended.

Dr. Keith Dressler, CEO and Chairman at Rhinogram

The digital front door has helped providers meet patients’ demands for more modernized, convenient healthcare experiences. These digital tools have also assisted in mitigating challenges providers face, such as the great staffing shortage and burnout, by replacing in-person clinical and administrative tasks with virtual care sessions and virtual digital administrative intake of forms, insurance information, and payments.

Aaron Lewis, Executive Vice President, Growth and Integrated Solutions at Lifepoint Health

The digital front door has fundamentally transformed healthcare and will continue to shift how patients receive care into the foreseeable future. Care is now more accessible; patients and providers can easily communicate with one another outside of scheduled appointments; and a patient’s health status can be continuously monitored and shared with providers in real time.

That said, while technology has given providers many more ways to connect with, support and engage with patients, sometimes this can lead to fragmentation if there isn’t an integrated approach from an operational standpoint. We must focus not only on making it easier for patients to access our health system in the first place, but we need to ensure our digital front door leads to better and more seamless care across the full continuum. When implemented correctly, digital innovations can be a win-win for providers, health systems and patients.

In order to achieve digital transformation in healthcare, provider organizations and digital/tech companies need to work together to integrate developed solutions into patients’ and providers’ daily work and regular interactions with the healthcare system. Innovation must work for providers and patients, and it has to work in our current healthcare system. Too often a solution may work well for a hospital or medical office, but not its patients, or vice versa. Innovations must be tested to ensure that they work for all stakeholders and be able to demonstrate success via improved quality metrics, more efficient care, better patient and provider experiences and improved outcomes.

Sunny Kumar, MD, Partner at GSR Ventures

Digital transformation holds tremendous potential for the healthcare sector, promising that current and emerging software technologies will deliver greater efficiencies, lower costs, and better outcomes for patients. One of the most visible of these digital transformation technologies has been the “digital front door” where some or all of a patient’s typical experience of finding a doctor, making an appointment, checking-in, inputting their medical information and completing appropriate forms, is transitioned from analog to digital.

During the peak of COVID-19, as many visits transitioned to telemedicine, we saw spike of interest in digital front door and comparable solutions as brick-and-mortar providers sought to provide care and compete in a suddenly very different environment. However, while digital front door does provide additional convenience and slight efficiency gains, the lack of a very strong ROI has slowed widespread adoption, even as patient prefers some of its offerings. As an example, for one of the most fundamental features, appointment scheduling, a recent Optum survey found that 74% of patients schedule appointments over the phone or in person, despite 36% of all patients (and 45% of patients age 25-34) preferring to schedule online.

As we look forward, digital front door solutions and digital transformation broadly have great potential to generate significant value for patients, providers, and payers, but companies in the space will need to focus on driving a high ROI for their customer set in order to see meaningful adoption, even more so in the current economic environment.

So much to consider here! Comment down below to share your thoughts on the digital front door and how it has transformed the world of healthcare.

< + > Nectar Raises over $24M in Funding to Scale Personalized Allergy Care Platform Nationally

Investment from venture funds Juxtapose, Obvious Ventures, and Harmony Partners will help Nectar launch its comprehensive allergy care program nationwide.

Nectar, an innovative and comprehensive allergy care platform, announced today its $16.5 million Series A round led by Harmony Partners, with meaningful participation from founding partners Juxtapose and Obvious Ventures, who co-built the company with Founding CEO Kenneth Chahine, Ph.D.

Nectar’s latest fundraising round, which builds on their March 2022 seed investment and brings total equity raised to over $24M, will allow the company to invest in three key areas in 2023: scaling its virtual care platform nationwide, launching its first physical location to comprehensively treat allergies, and initiating clinical studies. Nectar is the consumer-facing brand of Nectar Life Sciences, an allergy-focused healthcare holding company led by Dr. Chahine, one of the country’s leading entrepreneurial operators at the intersection of science and healthcare. Nectar launched in June 2022 with a mission to turn clinical research into personalized, accessible, and revolutionary allergy care and ultimately put an end to allergies.

“Today, over 120 million people in the US suffer from allergic diseases, yet most consumers feel under-served and constrained with the therapies available to them,” said Nectar’s Dr. Chahine. “We’re proud to tackle this chronic illness head-on with transformative personalized solutions that holistically treat the unique root cause of an individual’s allergies while also focusing on convenience and an exceptional customer experience.”

Nectar is building the first vertically-integrated platform for allergies, including a hybrid virtual and physical clinic model, compounding pharmacy, lab testing facility, and an allergist physician network to align incentives and deliver best-in-class customer experiences.

Nectar’s world-class medical board advises on every aspect of Nectar’s comprehensive allergy treatment program. It also helps drive clinical research efforts, ensuring all products and services meet the highest safety and efficacy standards. In November, three scientific and clinical experts joined Nectar’s Head of Medical, Shyam Joshi, M.D. on the company’s medical board, including Kari Nadeau, M.D., Ph.D., Stanford University, Mohamed Shamji, Ph.D., Imperial College London, and John Zwetchkenbaum, M.D., Chief Allergist and Founder of AAPRI.

“Nectar’s mix of cutting-edge scientific research, strong business and medical leaders, and an industry-changing approach to conquering allergies, made our choice to partner an easy one,” said Mark Lotke, Founder and Managing Partner at Harmony Partners. “We’re proud to help fuel Nectar’s transformative work as it scales its virtual care platform nationwide.”

Nectar’s inaugural solution, an alternative to allergy shots, offers custom-formulated drops for under the tongue, delivered right to patients’ homes. The dosage and formulation of the treatment come from patent-pending protocols that help a patient’s body tolerate their allergen triggers over time through a process called Sublingual Allergen Immunotherapy, training their immune system not to trigger an allergic reaction.

“Allergy care is a $450 billion market opportunity with no clear leader. Dr. Chahine’s impressive track record, including his role in founding AncestryDNA and Ancestry Health, makes him the perfect leader to build and grow Nectar,” said Patrick Chun, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Juxtapose.

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Harmony and Juxtapose to help accelerate the success of Nectar,” said James Joaquin, Co-founder and Managing Director at Obvious Ventures. “Together we plan to improve the lives of millions of allergy sufferers.”

Learn more at mynectar.com.

About Nectar Life Sciences

Nectar is building a comprehensive, vertically integrated allergy healthcare platform that leverages data and clinical research to offer a personalized, patient-centric approach to allergy care. Led by founder and CEO Kenneth Chahine, Nectar is the direct-to-consumer brand developed by Nectar Life Sciences.

About Harmony Partners

Harmony Partners is a highly differentiated venture capital firm that makes expansion-stage investments in high-growth software, internet and tech-enabled companies. By eliminating the typical deal constraints of traditional growth equity firms around minimum check sizes and ownership percentages, Harmony fills a gap in the market. Harmony helps entrepreneurs craft ideal financings, minimize founder dilution, and save time and effort while accommodating outsized insider appetite and making room for strategic partners. Based in New York City but investing globally, Harmony was founded in 2010 by Mark Lotke, who has invested $1 billion in over 100 technology companies over the past 25 years, including Anaplan, AppDynamics, Alation, Arctic Wolf, E*Trade, Iterable, Klaviyo, Maven Clinic, Natera, Postmates, Priceline, SS&C, Swiggy, UiPath, and Zerto. To learn more, please visit www.harmonyvp.com.

About Juxtapose

Juxtapose is a creation-oriented investment firm that is exclusively focused on building industry-transforming businesses from the ground up. Founded by Patrick Chun and Jed Cairo in 2015, Juxtapose Ventures has supported the creation and financing of technology companies, including healthcare and tech businesses such as Care/of, Tend, Modern Age, and Forme Financial. Juxtapose partners with the world’s most experienced and talented entrepreneurial operators to found and scale category-defining technology companies that are set up to win in the industries in which they operate. Read more at juxtapose.com.

About Obvious Ventures

Obvious Ventures is a venture capital firm investing in startups and entrepreneurs reimagining trillion-dollar industries through a world-positive lens. Since launching in 2014, Obvious has backed over 90 companies using technology to create a smarter, healthier, more sustainable world. The fund has led investments in breakthrough companies such as Beyond Meat, Olly, Virta Health, and Recursion. Obvious was co-founded by Ev Williams, James Joaquin, and Vishal Vasishth. More information is available at obvious.com.

Originally announced December 20th, 2022

< + > What Is Value Based Care, And Why Is The Healthcare Industry Suddenly So Interested In It?

Many are wondering if VBC will be the next revolution in healthcare.

< + > U.K. Nurses To Strike Twice In January

Industrial action at hospitals looks set to continue for weeks.

< + > Gov. DeSantis’ Questionable Call For Grand Jury To Investigate Pfizer, Moderna Covid-19 Vaccines

Meanwhile, Florida is experiencing an upswing in Covid-19 cases.

< + > Oracle Reports Booming Growth, Signaling That its $28 Billion Purchase of Cerner Is Paying Off

Cerner contributed $1.5 billion dollars in revenue.

< + > Flushing Toilets Can Spray A 1.5 Meter High Volcanic Plume, Study Says

If you like watching what’s in the the toilet spiral down after you flush, urine trouble.

< + > New CDC Warning: Invasive Group A Strep Infections Rising Among Children

There have already been two reported deaths among those with invasive Group A Strep. Here are the precautions that you can take.

< + > Weekly Roundup – December 24, 2022

Welcome to our Healthcare IT Today Weekly Roundup. Each week, we’ll be providing a look back at the articles we posted and why they’re important to the healthcare IT community. We hope this gives you a chance to catch up on anything you may have missed during the week.

Tytocare’s Mission to Make Home Medical Care Easier and More Accurate. Demand for care at home is rising, but traditional telehealth and remote monitoring doesn’t support examination and diagnosis in the patient’s home. Colin Hung talked to TytoCare at HLTH about the company’s new Home Smart Clinic and its efforts to bring primary care into the home. Read more…

Practical Process Automation with Genzeon and Penn State Health. John Lynn sat down with Penn State Health CIO Cletis Earle and two Genzeon leaders to discuss how healthcare can benefit from intelligent automation, particularly when it comes to low-code and no-code solutions for workforce management. Read more…

Addressing Healthcare’s Top Cybersecurity Challenges. In the latest episode of the CIO Podcast, John spoke to Inspira Health CISO Francois Bodhuin about managing third-party risk from the perspective of cybersecurity, along with what it takes to get other executives and board members to buy into cybersecurity investments. Read more…

Using AI to Reduce Denials and Manage Staff Shortages. Two-thirds of health systems use AI for at least some RCM tasks. Helen Lamons at Advata pointed out that denials management is one of the most mature use cases for AI in RCM – and when used effectively it can help organizations improve collections with limited impact on billing staff. Read more…

How Third-Party Risk Management Minimizes Data Breach Impacts. Because data breaches are unfortunately inevitable, healthcare organizations need effective and comprehensive third-party risk management programs. Aaron Kirkpatrick at Venminder provided six key third-party risk management actions that improve breach response time and limit their impact. Read more…

Organizations Can’t Let HIPAA Become Criminal. Five former employees of Tennessee’s Methodist Hospital were indicted for allegedly selling patient medical information. Now the entire organization is subject to a compliance audit. Mike Semel said the incident shows that HIPAA training can’t be an afterthought and should show how staff could put the organization – and their careers – at risk. Read more…

Solving Healthcare’s Labor Problem May Require a Change in Strategy. Many health system leaders believe contingent staff contribute to rising labor costs, but the real culprit is a lack of visibility into where and how they’re used, according to Maria Luoni at RightSourcing. Strategic, centralized management can help control costs and better control the staffing process. Read more…

Featured Health IT Job: Delivery Consultant – Core (Cerner implementation) for a New York-based client of e4 Services, posted to Healthcare IT Central.

Funding and M&A Activity:

• Virtual chronic pain solution Override emerged from stealth and announced seed funding of $3.5 million.
• Virtual reality mental and behavioral health companies BehaVR and OxfordVR merged and raised a $13 million Series B round.
• Managed security services provider Fortified Health Security announced a growth investment.

Thanks for reading and be sure to check out our latest Healthcare IT Today Weekly Roundups. Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah!

< + > New FDA Update Reaffirms Plan B ‘Morning-After Pill’ Is Not Abortion Drug

This came after nine states have enacted legislation to restrict access to this emergency contraceptive.

< + > ‘The Grinch’ TikTok Trend Shows Parents Scaring Kids Witless, Here Are The Issues

You may have noticed the TikTok videos of parents having a frighteningly good time seeing their kids shriek in horror when “The Grinch” steals their Holiday presents.

< + > University Announces Online Medical Cannabis Course For Health Professionals

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem announced last week that it would offer a new course in medical cannabis for health professionals.

< + > The Truth About Dripping Faucets, Frozen Pipes And Extreme Cold

Fact or Fiction?: Leaving your faucets dripping prevents freezing pipes. It's complicated.

< + > New Monoclonal Antibody Fully Approved For The Treatment Of Covid-19

The Food and Drug Administration has approved Tocilizumab for use against moderate to severe Covid-19 symptoms.

< + > U.S. Releases Tamiflu Stockpiles—Here’s Why Demand Is Surging

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday it will allow states to access Tamiflu doses from the national stockpile to meet surging demand, as the U.S. faces a severe and early flu season.

< + > ATA applauds 2-year extension of telehealth flexibilities in Congressional Omnibus

But "hard work continues, as we persist in pressing telehealth permanency and creating a lasting roadblock to the telehealth cliff," the group said.

< + > Sequoia Project publishes final implementation guide on data usability

The guide is meant to improve data sharing among providers and public health agencies and enable semantic interoperability between sending and receiving systems, helping healthcare organizations incorporate shared data more easily into clinical workflows.

< + > 2022 Forbes Healthcare Summit: Summit Welcome

2022 Forbes Healthcare Summit: Summit Welcome

< + > CAR T Therapy, A Promising New Therapy For Multiple Sclerosis?

A recent study of mice suggests CAR T therapy may provide a new way to treat and potentially cure multiple sclerosis.

< + > AI In Big Pharma: The First Antibody Designed Using AI In The Clinic

In recent years, a hand full of AI startup companies that managed to utilize AI/ML to discover novel targets and/or design therapeutics reached human clinical trials and received massive media attention. However, there are several similar transformative cases in big pharmaceutical companies.

< + > Social Security And Supplemental Security Income Will Increase In 2023. But Will It Be Enough?

In 2023, around 70 million Americans will receive a boost to their social security and supplemental security income (SSI) benefits. The Social Security Administration announced a cost-of-living adjustment that will increase SSI payments 8.7%.

< + > New Insights Into The Postfusion Structure Of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein

A startling new structure of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein sheds light on the critical first step of infection, fusion of the virus and cell membranes.

< + > AI Foibles: A Cautionary Tale

AI, Machine Learning, and Large Language Modeling in healthcare show promise. The key is design and deployment with solution-driven clarity.

< + > Why Do People Fake Orgasms?

There are many reasons a person might fake an orgasm. Better communication, accurate anatomical knowledge, and medical check-ups can help partners find equal pleasure.

< + > Tattoos May Have Been An Ancient Treatment For Arthritis And Other Illnesses

For thousands of years, people across the globe have used tattoos to relieve pain and promote healing. The famous mummy Ötzti has dozens of tattoos in areas where he may have experienced chronic pain during his life.

< + > Personalized Neuroscience: Are Human-Derived Brain Organoids The Answer?

Brain organoids are pin-sized three dimensional self-organizing structures composed of roughly 2.5 million neural cells. They are derived from and genetically distinct to an individual. And while many open questions remain, they could represent a unique model for personalized neuroscience.

< + > Amazon Could Fuel Doctor Buyouts In 2023 If One Medical Deal Goes Through

The already hot market of buying physician practices is about to get even hotter should Amazon’s proposed acquisition of One Medical win regulatory approval.

< + > 33% Of Gen Zers Trust TikTok More Than Doctors, New Survey Shows

Young adults are turning to TikTok and other social media platforms before they'll consult a doctor, new research shows.

< + > UCHealth slashes code blues up to 70% with telehealth technologies

The academic medical center uses tele-sitter and virtual ICU platforms for a program it calls Virtual Deterioration.

< + > Which practice management platforms stand out?

A new KLAS report examines which PM vendors best deliver on customers’ expectations for midsize and large practices, and for independent and owned practices, with athenaIDX, Epic and NextGen receiving high marks. 

< + > New coalition calls for collective action on health equity

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the American Medical Association, Race Forward and several partners launched Rise to Health to transform healthcare with shared solutions and collective actions.

< + > Spotlight: Preventing The Next Global Public Health Crisis

Spotlight: Preventing The Next Global Public Health Crisis

< + > Successes Like The Covid-19 Vaccines Come From Long-Term Investments In Public Health

The Covid-19 vaccines have prevented more than 18 million additional hospitalizations and more than 3 million additional deaths in the United States alone but their success was only possible because of sustained investments in public health.

< + > Celine Dion Diagnosed With Stiff-Person Syndrome

Dion’s diagnosis raises awareness about this rare neurological condition. Disabled musicians and concertgoers argue that inaccessibility in the entertainment industry is a deep-seated issue.

< + > Planning A Caribbean Vacation? Here Are Some Infections To Consider Protecting Yourself Against

There are some unusual infections you might encounter in travel to the Caribbean. Here's what to watch out for and how to protect yourself.

< + > CMS subcontractor hit with ransomware

While no CMS systems were breached, the agency notified Medicare beneficiaries potentially involved about the exposure of their PII and/or PHI.

< + > A staffing expert shows how telehealth is stepping in to fill the staffing shortage

"As clinicians are passionate about patients receiving quality healthcare delivered in a timely manner, I see telehealth programs being the key to improving patient outcomes and the overall healthcare experience," he says.

< + > CIO Podcast – Episode 46: Cybersecurity with Francois Bodhuin

Kenneth Reiher, VP Operations at ComplyAssistant once said “Many organizations have a difficult time tracking their vendor relationships, let alone their implemented security controls. I recommend a strong third-party management program to complete the following: Organize all vendor relationships and associated contacts, assign an inherent risk level to each vendor based on their access to your data, create and send an information security risk assessment to all of your inherently high-risk vendors, and evaluate their controls with respect to the data accessed.”

So in that spirit, for the 46th episode of the CIO podcast hosted by Healthcare IT Today, we sat down with Francois Bodhuin, AVP and CISO at Inspira Health to discuss cybersecurity and managing third-party risk. We dive into the biggest challenges health systems are facing today in cybersecurity and what Bodhuin is doing to fix them. Next, Bodhuin shares how he approaches cybersecurity and third-party risks. Then Bodhuin shares some tips for getting your organization’s leadership on board with your cybersecurity efforts. We also talk about disaster recovery and business continuity when it comes to a cybersecurity breach. Lastly, Bodhuin passes on the best career advices he’s ever gotten.

Here’s a look at the questions and topics we discuss on this episode:

• What do you see as the biggest challenges health systems are facing today when it comes to cybersecurity?
• What are you doing to address those challenges?
• How are you approaching cybersecurity when it comes to third-party risk?
• What tips do you have for getting leadership on board with your cybersecurity efforts?
• How are you looking at disaster recovery and business continuity when it comes to a cybersecurity disaster (i.e. breach)?
• What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given?

Now, without further ado, we’re excited to share with you the next episode of the CIO Podcast by Healthcare IT Today.

We release a new CIO Podcast every ~2 weeks. You can also subscribe to the Healthcare IT Today podcast on any of the following platforms:

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Listen to the Latest Episodes

< + > BehaVR and OxfordVR Combine and Raise Series B to Create Largest VR Delivery Platform for Evidence-Based Digital Therapeutics

• Uniting under the BehaVR brand, digital therapeutic companies BehaVR and OxfordVR will deliver comprehensive virtual reality-based treatments for mental and behavioral health
• Clinically-validated, immersive, digital treatments will span the full spectrum of mental and behavioral health needs

Virtual reality mental and behavioral health companies BehaVR and OxfordVR today announced their merger, supported by an initial $13 million in Series B funding led by Optum Ventures and Oxford Science Enterprises, with participation from Confluent Health, Accenture Ventures, Chrysalis Ventures, and Thornton Capital.

The combination of the two digital therapeutic companies creates the largest VR delivery platform for evidence-based digital behavioral therapies and accelerates the combined company’s growth strategy.

Globally, roughly one billion people are living with a mental health condition, including nearly 20% of U.S. adults. For people with Serious Mental Illness (SMI), ordinary tasks such as using public transit, spending time with family or leaving home can be difficult. At the same time, as the U.S. seeks to expand its behavioral health workforce, existing mental health care providers are increasingly overworked. The self-reported burnout rate among psychiatrists is 78%.

Virtual reality allows clinicians to create multi-sensory patient experiences that the brain processes as real. These interventions are tailored to each patient’s unique behavioral health needs. Operating under the BehaVR brand, the comprehensive VR treatment platform will help providers, payers and employers deliver and increase access to enhanced behavioral care.

BehaVR’s comprehensive platform will treat anxiety, stress, pain and addiction using real-time biometrics, protocols and machine learning models. OxfordVR, whose gameChange product was recently granted FDA Breakthrough Device designation, will treat patients using automated cognitive-behavioral VR therapy. These therapies can be delivered by a wide range of clinical staff, peer group members and at home.

The combined company will be led by BehaVR Founder and CEO Aaron Gani. Gani’s leadership team will include psychiatrist, researcher and author Dr. Daniel Freeman, PhD.

“The demand for mental health services far outstrips available resources. Providers need help, and that help is available today through our clinically-validated and evidence-based digital programs,” said Gani. “In bringing together two innovative virtual reality therapeutics teams, we are positioned to serve the widest range of patient populations possible at a time of intense need.”

“What an exciting time for digital innovation in mental health,” said Deepak Gopalakrishna, CEO at OxfordVR. “The combination of BehaVR and OxfordVR brings together two organizations leading work in virtual therapeutics to bring evidence-based, clinically validated treatments to patients.”

About the Combined Entity, BehaVR

BehaVR is a leader in building evidence-based, immersive, digital therapeutics designed to create a more resilient world, liberated from fear and pain. Its suite of clinically validated therapeutics offer access to treatments on a spectrum across mental wellness and mental and behavioral conditions, including validated treatments for serious mental illness. BehaVR is the first immersive digital therapeutics company to deliver these treatments on an integrated platform that simplifies the patient experience, enables clinician oversight, and generates patient-specific care plans and measurable outcomes. Combining a team of accomplished clinicians and researchers with proven healthcare veterans and technology innovators, BehaVR is dedicated to improving access to better mental health through immersive technology.

Originally announced December 13th, 2022

< + > CAR T Therapy To Treat And Cure Rheumatoid Arthritis

One study progresses towards a cure for rheumatoid arthritis by using CAR T therapy, a treatment originally designed to fight cancer.

< + > No, You Still Don’t Need Vitamin D Supplements!

The NY Times this week ran a story that suggested everyone should take supplemental vitamin D in the winter months. Um, sorry, but no.

< + > Video Game God Of War Ragnarok Sweeps Award Categories and Memorializes Queer Love

A side quest in God of War Ragnarok honors the real love story of two developers, Sam Handrick and Jake Snipes. In 2020, Snipes passed away due to epilepsy.

< + > Meta, TikTok, Others Being Sued, Here Are 10 Ways Social Media Can Hurt Kids’ Mental Health

According to a recent 60 Minutes episode, over 1,200 families are now pursuing lawsuits against Meta, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, and other social media companies.

< + > CDC: Norovirus Outbreak Linked To Raw Oysters From Texas, At Least 211 Ill

The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) has ordered a recall of oysters that have gone to at least eight different states.

< + > Bonus Features – December 18, 2022 – Half of Americans avoiding hospitals due to staffing shortages, 62% of patients don’t trust health plan info when searching for providers, and much more

Welcome to the weekly edition of Healthcare IT Today Bonus Features. This article will be a weekly roundup of interesting stories, product announcements, new hires, partnerships, research studies, awards, sales, and more. Because there’s so much happening out there in healthcare IT we aren’t able to cover in our full articles, we still want to make sure you’re informed of all the latest news, announcements, and stories happening to help you better do your job.

News

The Federal Trade Commission released an updated Mobile Health Apps Tool created with input from ONC, OCR, and the FDA. An ONC blog post described how the tool works: Developers answer questions about the type of health data the app will collect, the intended use of the app, and the type of entity developing the app to determine whether the app is subject to HIPAA, the information blocking rule, or other federal laws.

CB Insights released its Digital Health 150 list, with companies focused on remote monitoring and diagnostics taking 29 of the spots. Additionally, roughly half of the companies on the list are early-stage or Series A startups, and 90% didn’t appear on the 2021 list, due in large part to the large number of exits and mergers in the last year. Notable holdovers from last year’s list include Xealth, Redox, and Maven Clinic.

Studies

• A patient survey from Global Healthcare Exchange found that half of Americans are avoiding hospital care due to staffing shortages, while one-third fear that they won’t get to see the right doctors or spend enough time being cared for.
• Provider data management firm Ribbon Health reported that 62% of Americans don’t trust their health plan when searching for care, while 38% had a negative patient experience due to incorrect provider information on their health plan’s website.
• Workflow automation provider Hospital IQ found that 70% of health systems face staffing challenges and 61% struggle to forecast department-level staffing capacity.
• Digital therapeutic Hello Heart revealed that just five additional minutes of walking per day is enough to reduce systolic blood pressure by 8.7 points – more than enough to reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke, according to data from The Lancet.
• A report from Best Buy care at home platform Current Health indicated that 59% of hospitals face staffing shortages in their efforts to expand care at home programs, while roughly half face challenges with patient engagement and tech support.
• A patient survey from data abstraction company Carta Healthcare found that 83% of patients have had to provide duplicate information at the doctor’s office, with 42% of patients spending more than six minutes recounting their medical history.
• A poll from payment solution DailyPay and workforce management tool IntelyCare found that 68% of healthcare workers find it stressful to manage their finances, compared to 56% of Americans overall; 65% of workers live paycheck to paycheck.

 Partnerships

• PatientsLikeMe is collaborating with LetsGetChecked to offer members increased access to at-home screening products.
• Surgical data platform Caresyntax is partnering with Google Cloud to develop the InfluenceOR app for creating and sharing educational videos.
• Gastroenterology and liver care provider Gastro Health is working with Lynx.MD to create digital health products and assemble a real-world data set for GI care.
• At-home diagnostics provider Getlabs is partnering with Poplin to provide testing products for couples attempting to get pregnant.
• Diagnostic software provider Dedalus expanded its relationship with AWS.
• Medical device cybersecurity company Cylera is integrating with Cisco Identity Services Engine, a network access control product.
• Complex care platform Memora Health is working with PeriGen, which makes analytics software for childbirth, to provide monitoring technology that supports labor and delivery and postpartum recovery at home.

Products

• In-home physical therapy provider Luna reported that its Auto-Charting tool saves physical therapists five to seven minutes filling out charts at the end of each appointment.
• Research from senior care tech provider Connect America demonstrated that its Personal Emergency Response Services can be linked to reductions in hospital readmissions, hospitalizations via ambulance, and hospitalization costs.
• The Sequoia Project published an implementation guide for HIE technology for vendors, networks, and testers. Meanwhile, The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia recognized The Sequoia Project for promoting more inclusive systems of economic growth.
• LeanTaaS announced new features for three products: iQueue for Operating Rooms, iQueue for Infusion Centers, and iQueue for Inpatient Beds. In addition, LeanTaaS named Mark Fidow as Chief Technology Officer.
• Quantum Health released research showing its care navigation tool for employers limited healthcare cost increase to less than 1% from 2016 to 2019, compared to nearly 25% for all other companies. In addition, Quantum Health formed an Oncology Clinical Advisory Board.
• AI engagement platform mPulse Mobile launched new content formats and educational courses.
• Telemental health provider Brightside Health unveiled Crisis Care, a program for treating patients with elevated suicide risk. The announcement also includes a referral partnership with NeuroFlow to help triage patients.
• Value-based care platform Edifecs introduced new capabilities to support episodes of care with precision risk intelligence
• Wireless monitoring device maker X-trodes released a wearable device that enables remote measurement of facial electromyography, or fEMG.
• Digital pathology platform Deciphex released Patholytix 3.0, allowing researchers to review and score non-clinical studies on a single platform.

Sales

• Washington state’s MultiCare Health System selected IllumiCare to enable providers to recommend clinical trials at the point of care.
• Provider-led ACO Triad HealthCare Network selected DrFirst‘s MedHx tool for its initiative to improve medication adherence among high-risk patient populations.
• Remote monitoring provider Doccla will provide the technology for virtual wards for Solent NHS Trust at its Portsmouth and Southampton facilities.
• American Endovascular & Amputation Prevention implemented eClinicalWorks PRISMA search too and EHR system.
• Centene subsidiary Superior Health Plan chose MedArrive to support its home health and care management program. The health plan will also offer virtual behavioral health services from Brave as part of the program.
• Maryland-based Luminis Health selected VisiQuate for denials Management, revenue management, and billing analytics.
• Community-based oncology network OPN Healthcare is implementing KAID Health chart analysis and natural language processing tools.

Awards

• Frost & Sullivan recognized MEDITECH with the 2022 North America Enabling Technology Leadership Award, citing the EHR vendor’s work on clinical decision support.
• In addition, VitalConnect received the 2022 North America New Product Innovation Award from Frost & Sullivan for VitalPatch, its wearable cardiac biosensor.
• Health at home technology provider Axxess was named one of the Best Places to Work in IT by Computerworld for the eighth consecutive year.

If you have news that you’d like us to consider for a future edition of Healthcare IT Today Bonus Features, please submit them on this page. Please include any relevant links and let us know if news is under embargo.

Happy Holidays from Healthcare IT Today! Bonus Features will be taking a bit of a break over the next couple weeks. Look for us again in 2023.