Dr. Aalpen Patel – who holds a position that's still rare among provider organizations – discusses the need to educate the healthcare workforce in AI, and describes how the health system is applying algorithms across radiology, pop health management and other clinical use cases.
Monday, October 2, 2023
< + > Health IT Potpourri – Healthcare IT Today Podcast Episode 124
For the 124th episode of the Healthcare IT Podcast, we are mixing together some of the recent health IT news with previews of some upcoming conferences to make our own little health IT potpourri! The first big news item we are discussing is UPMC and Intermountain moving to Epic. Then we discuss the acquisition of NextGen by Thoma Bravo. Lastly, we take a look forward and give a little preview of the upcoming HLTH and AHIMA conferences!
Here’s a preview of the topics we discuss in this episode:
- UPMC and Intermountain Moving to Epic
- NextGen Acquired by Thoma Bravo
- HLTH Preview
- AHIMA Preview
If you’re a vendor planning to attend the HLTH or AHIMA conferences this fall, reach out to us to learn more about how Healthcare IT Today can help you at health IT conferences or take a look at what options we have available in our media kit.
Now, without further ado, we’re excited to share with you the next episode of the Healthcare IT Today podcast.
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< + > How Technology can Address Clinician Shortage and Burnout
The following is a guest article by Kim Howard, Chief Client Officer at Nomad Health
The U.S. healthcare system faces an estimated national deficit of more than 900K registered nurses by the end of the decade. Hospital CEOs agree that workforce challenges are the biggest issue they face, with 90% saying nursing shortages are the most pressing – a trend driven by the 4.7M healthcare workers retiring by 2030. The “silver tsunami” is also to blame, with 10K baby boomers aging into Medicare coverage daily, placing even further strain on the situation.
Fewer nurses, a slowed education pipeline, and more patients in need of care certainly do not bode well for fixing this shortage, making the industry desperate for solutions. But merely recognizing the clinician shortage barely begins to scratch the surface of a much deeper problem plaguing healthcare: burnout, which only exacerbates job dissatisfaction. McKinsey recently released a report that revealed that 45% of inpatient nurses – nearly half of the 4.2 million nurses in the U.S. – “are likely to leave their role in the next six months.”
While the thought that almost half of American nurses are trying to leave their positions could lead hospital executives to panic, there is room for optimism. Yes, many nurses are retiring, overworked, and burned out as the industry continues to right itself following the pandemic. While many nurses do report they intend to leave their position, they should be aware that other options are available to them, including travel nursing, where data shows that 76% of those in that field express satisfaction with their jobs.
Challenges
For many caregivers, it’s considered a calling rather than a profession. As such, nurses long held high career satisfaction rates until COVID-19 upended the field. The fallout of the pandemic was so traumatizing and disruptive to normal operations that many clinicians lost all sense of direction over their careers. To turn things around and alleviate the shortage of RNs threatening the stability of the healthcare system, clinicians need more control over their professional journeys.
For many, a considerable benefit of travel nursing over a staff position is that it allows one to avoid workplace politics that can be burdensome to clinicians, further contributing to burnout.
Digitizing Recruitment
Staff turnover has destabilized the industry, and reverting to out-of-date staffing tactics will not solve the problems. Clinicians know what jobs they want. They understand their skills and expertise better than anyone. Traditional travel recruiters, on the other hand, are tasked with selling a single job to multiple clinicians without putting much thought into whether that position is the best match. If hospitals want to mitigate staff burnout, they need to hire people quickly, and the best way to do that today is with technology.
Technology, such as online staffing platforms, allows clinicians to take control over their professional journey. It creates the ability for them to self-review job postings and set personal preferences and rules based on their specific skills and interests. Being able to find a position that matches these immediately increases the likelihood that both the clinician and the facility will gain satisfaction and success from the match.
For example, a recruiter trying to push a NICU nurse into a med-surg job immediately sets them up for probable failure. Rather than helping them operate at the top of their license, it’s putting unfair pressure on them and further contributing to the burnout problem. Similarly, if a clinician is hoping for a job in California, and they’re instead sent to South Dakota to fill a role at a hospital in which they’re not interested in working, that’s exacerbating clinician burnout and setting the facility up for a greater risk of cancellation.
With digital staffing solutions, hospitals can guarantee their job postings reach thousands of the most qualified and interested candidates, which speeds up the hiring process. Using a machine learning model, combined with clinician preferences, to inform who can see and apply for jobs ensures a better match. It increases the likelihood of hiring a clinician who is excited about their position, which in turn, encourages them to operate at the top of their abilities. By giving job-seekers control over which jobs they apply for, it builds a culture that fosters staff confidence and prioritizes delivering the best care for patients.
Welcoming the Next Generation
Today’s nurses are coming from an educational environment where technology is central to their learning process. Students study on iPads, learn to read data analytics, and use digital applications in their courses. Not only were they taught with technology, they grew up with it. Smartphones, tablets, and apps that enable everything from grocery shopping to booking a trip with just a few clicks have raised a generation of digital natives who are already savvy and knowledgeable on how to use technology to make all aspects of lives easier and more productive.
They are often trained in a completely technology-based lab rather than on cadavers. When they leave school, they’re naturally predisposed to seek out similar, tech-oriented environments, a factor with which hospitals and health systems using outdated recruitment tactics must reckon.
Staffing for the Future
Newly graduated nurses are drawn to technology because it’s an extension of not just what they have already been taught, but their lives in general. Enter online staffing platforms. Unlike traditional methods such as phone screenings, these application processes meet nurses where they are, offering recorded interviews that hiring managers can watch on-demand, ultimately speeding up the recruitment process and getting clinicians to the bedside faster.
Healthcare is adapting to the use of technology at the center of patient care, including how clinicians are recruited, ultimately decreasing the time it takes facilities to secure an experienced, qualified clinician to ensure patient/staff ratios are manageable. More than that, it is also allowing clinicians to take control of their careers and find positions where they can learn, grow, and succeed with confidence. Healthcare is amid an industry-wide sea change whether it’s wanted or not. In order for hospitals to have adequate staffing for increasing patient populations, they need to embrace innovation from the top down and put clinicians in the driver’s seat.
About Kim Howard
Kim Howard, Nomad Health Chief Client Officer, brings 25+ years of staffing industry experience, with 18 years focused entirely on the healthcare market. With prior experience at AMN and Nursefinders, Kim is passionate about providing clinicians with the tools, information, and support they need so they can find the most rewarding assignments with as little effort as possible, allowing them to do what they love the most – focus on their patients.
< + > Amenities Health Closes Series A, Raising a Total of $10M to Modernize Health System Digital Front Doors
The New Financing will Accelerate Adoption of Amenities’ Groundbreaking Digital Front Door Platform Designed to Help Health Systems Improve Patient Loyalty
Amenities Health, a leading Digital Front Door platform, today announced the final closing of its Series A financing round. The company secured an additional $6.25 million, putting Amenities’ total amount raised to date at $10 million.
The latest fundraising round was led by MemorialCare Innovation Fund, a strategic healthcare investment fund wholly owned by MemorialCare Health System. Epic Ventures, a venture capital firm which led Amenities’ seed round, also participated. Other notable backers include HealthTech CEOs Chris Gibson, Blake Marggraff, Kyle Robertson, Tom White, Kulmeet Singh, Harjinder Sandhu, and Buzz White.
Building off strong growth in 2023, Amenities plans to use the additional capital to further accelerate the adoption of the company’s groundbreaking Digital Front Door platform designed to help health systems improve access to care, deliver personalized patient experiences, and earn loyalty through membership programs.
“As tech companies, retailers and urgent care clinics offer patients increased convenience to lure them out of network, health systems must enhance their digital tools by offering a modern, seamless engagement strategy to keep patients satisfied, healthy, and loyal. This involves providing an Uber or Amazon-like experience where patients can easily register in 30 seconds, find and book their appointments online, and receive same-day services,” said Dr. Aasim Saeed, Founder and CEO at Amenities Health.
Many hospitals and provider groups offer online scheduling, but it is usually reserved for current patients and offered exclusively through the patient portal, which requires an existing account. Amenities’ Digital Front Door platform eliminates that barrier, enabling new patients to register and create a full EMR account instantly, with no lengthy forms to fill out, dated security questions to answer, or delays waiting for a live review. The consumer-centric technology then surfaces every available appointment across an entire health system network (including virtual and urgent care options) and organizes the information based on the next available appointment, distance, types of insurance coverage accepted, etc.
In addition, the platform delivers streamlined access to medical test results, provider messaging, and insurance billing information, all seamlessly integrated with the most common patient portals, meaning patients no longer have to sign in multiple times into disparate systems. Patients also have the option to upgrade to a higher level membership that unlocks innovative concierge medicine and financial protection services for individuals and families.
“Amenities Health is a fully white-label, expandable Digital Front Door platform that serves as a gateway technology for hospitals and healthcare systems. The suite of digital tools helps connect otherwise disjointed services across the healthcare continuum and provides a next-level experience that will dramatically reduce the friction patients experience today when trying to access care, ultimately leading to better continuity of care, patient loyalty, and engagement for healthcare systems,” said Brant Heise, Managing Director at MemorialCare Innovation Fund.
For more on how Amenities Health is working with health systems to create innovative patient experiences, tools, and services, visit amenitieshealth.com.
About Amenities Health
Amenities Health’s Digital Front Door and Patient Loyalty Platform helps health systems acquire new patients, build brand loyalty, and grow revenue. Amenities’ technology is secure, scalable, and fully integrated with the industry’s largest EMR and cloud providers. The modular platform provides the flexibility of custom-built solutions at a fraction of the cost and time. Learn more at amenitieshealth.com
About MemorialCare
MemorialCare Innovation Fund (MCIF) brings strategic investment funding to accelerate the development of companies in the healthcare information technology, healthcare services, and medical device sectors that can advance high-quality, effective healthcare. MCIF is focused on companies offering innovative products, services and technologies which help healthcare systems significantly improve performance and outcomes and achieve their community missions. Learn more at memorialcareinnovationfund.com
About EPIC Ventures
EPIC Ventures is a premier early-stage healthcare-focused venture capital firm. Founded in 1994, EPIC excels at identifying and supporting high-growth technology companies and was an early supporter of flagship businesses like Recursion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RXRX), Health Catalyst (NASDAQ: HCAT), Collective Medical (ACQ: PointClickCare), and more. Learn more at epicvc.com
Originally announced September 19th, 2023
< + > Women’s and Children’s Health Network launches Australia's first virtual gynaecological service
South Australian women experiencing signs of early pregnancy loss no longer have to wait in the ED to be assessed.
< + > Hospital Authority to expand clinical database access for R&D
It is launching a data collaboration lab with Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks.
Sunday, October 1, 2023
< + > Bonus Features – October 1, 2023 – 45 Percent of patients prefer telehealth for minor but urgent issues 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.
Surveys and Research
Nearly 30% of telehealth visits result in an in-person follow-up within three weeks, and nearly half of patients who used telehealth only did it once, according to Trilliant Health’s latest report on trends shaping the healthcare economy. The data points suggest limited satisfaction with telehealth, the research firm said.
Meanwhile, a survey from KeyCare found 45% of consumers prefer telehealth for minor but urgent issues, which can include medication refills and behavioral health services. This compares to 37% of patients who prefer going into the office to meet these needs.
Nearly 40% of health systems are using automation in denials management, according to an Akasa survey. Among those who aren’t, 44% plan to do by the end of this year, and 32% plan to do so by next year.
Almost 80% of healthcare organizations have seen an API security attack in the last year, according to a report from Noname Security. That’s an increase from 70% over the previous 12-month period.
Hospital operating margins appear to be stabilizing, according to the latest monthly report from Syntellis, and outpatient revenue is rising as well.
Partnerships
- Amwell Converge is using Health Gorilla to provide clinicians with diagnostic lab ordering capabilities.
- Weave and Affirm are collaborating to offer pay-over-time financing options for patients.
- AdvancedMD‘s latest EHR updates include a move to Zoom for telehealth.
- Evidium is hosting its Referenced AI platform on Syntropy, a secure data collaboration environment.
- Healthcare data transfer company Rymedi is now using Zeeve Avalanche Subnet Blockchain infrastructure.
- PeriGen is collaborating with American Legal Connections to develop risk management software for obstetrics.
Product and Company News
- MEDITECH Expanse Virtual Assistant, powered by Google Cloud, is now live.
- Nuance launched DAX Copilot, formerly known as DAX Express, for creating clinical documentation using ambient AI.
- Objective Medical Systems announced the OMS C3 Chronic Care Coordinator, an Epic-integrated tool to engage with patients undergoing cardiovascular care at home.
- iRhythm Technologies updated its Zio cardiac monitor and introduced improved symptom tracking to the Zio service.
- Komodo Health announced MapLab, an analytics platform for medical research, will be available by the end of this year.
- Gozio Health launched a vendor marketplace to support mobile application design.
- Pharmacy benefit optimization vendor RxBenefits released Optimize 340B to provide a picture of 340B-eligible employee prescriptions.
- KLAS Research released its inaugural report on virtual sitting and nursing, with AvaSure recognized as the market leader.
- Researchers at three AMCs concluded that Aiberry has clinically similar diagnostic accuracy to the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) mental health assessment.
- Researchers at three AMCs in two countries found that AccYouRate smart T-shirt technology enables longer-term ECG monitoring than traditional Holter monitoring or smartwatches.
- Two studies showed that the Viz.ai disease detection platform accurately identifies pulmonary embolism and reduces wait times for diagnosis.
Sales
- Costco chose Sesame to provide virtual care services to members on a cash payment basis, with primary visits costing $29.
- National physician group Apollo MD selected Fathom automated medical coding technology.
- HealtHIE Nevada chose Holon Solutions to help provide real-time data access and aggregated population-level data.
- Maryland-based Luminis Health chose Luna for in-home, in-person outpatient physical therapy.
- New York City’s Coordinated Behavioral Care selected Unite Us to connect patients to network and community partners.
- Texas-based UMC Health System expanded its implementation of XSOLIS for utilization review and case management.
- Kentucky Primary Care Association selected Accelecom to build fiber connections to 60+ locations across rural Kentucky.
- Highmark and Allegheny Health Network chose Cedar for patient billing, payments, and integrated insurance information.
People
- McKesson subsidiary Ontada named Christine Davis as President; the company provides real-world data and evidence for oncology.
- RPM company Implicity announced Jon Hunt as Chief Commercial Officer for North America.
- Connected device security firm Ordr appointed Wes Wright as Chief Healthcare Officer.
- Healthcare and life science investment firm Foresite Capital added Hadi Tabbaa as Managing Director.
- Mental health therapy vendor GrayMatters Health made three executive appointments: Dr. Aron Tendler as Chief Medical Officer, Pam Schwartz as Vice President of Marketing and Scott Blackman as Director of Market Access and Provider Success.
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. Note that submissions received after the close of business on Thursday may not be included in Bonus Features until the following week.
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