< + > Telemedicine M&A trends moving into 2024

Two investment bankers discuss the players in the telehealth sector, the main financial backers, the dynamics between venture capital and private equity, and more.

< + > AI scaling and sustainability – tips for success from providers, payers and vendors

Leaders from Providence, Humana and VMware offered varied perspectives on their artificial intelligence journeys at the HIMSS AI in Healthcare Forum on Friday.

< + > Reverse Bed Chain, a New Way to Tackle Hospital Inefficiencies

The following is a guest article by Connie Moser, CEO at Navenio

The current NHS waiting list has hit 7.3 million in the UK, increasing monthly. A recent survey conducted by the NHS revealed only 21.3% of staff reported that there is enough headcount available for them to do their job properly and 44.8% admitted to witnessing errors, near misses, or incidents that could have hurt staff or patients. The same frustrations exist in the US healthcare system. In a letter sent in March to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the American Hospital Association called the workforce shortage hospitals were experiencing a “national emergency,” projecting the overall shortage of nurses to reach 1.1 million by the end of the year. And it’s not just nurses: Professionals from medical lab workers to paramedics are in short supply. Rising backups beginning in the emergency department have been described as the canary in the coal mine. Clearly, something must change.

Short of a reversal of the global staffing shortage, hospitals and health systems must find ways to do more with less transforming workflows through efficiency and optimization as other industries have been driven to do. Healthcare has always been reactive by nature, but transforming healthcare processes, in a similar manner to successful manufacturing processes, while preserving quality care and patient relationships will take a big transition from reactive to proactive.

One strategy involves reverse bed chain, a concept created to improve patient flow across a hospital environment and alleviate pressure within emergency departments (ED). According to the NHS, flow within the healthcare setting is defined by the movement of patients, information, or equipment between departments, staff groups, or organizations as part of a care pathway. With a reverse bed chain in place, this continuous flow ensures that each step in the care process is completed without delay. This is like Just in Time (JIT) manufacturing processes made famous by Toyota.

Two areas to be targeted are patient flow and capacity planning, improving both the experience for staff and patients and increasing the number of patients being seen.

So, how does reverse bed chain work, and how will this help the NHS?

Improving Patient Flow

The traditional method of patient movement begins in a “pull” process with the patient being discharged from the hospital and their movement from a base ward to the discharge lounge. A porter or patient logistics staff would move the patient from the ward out to the lounge then have to transition across the hospital to the assessment ward to collect the second patient and then move them to the base ward, the base ward where the first patient was moved from. Upon completion, the porter would then head to ED and collect the 3rd patient before moving them to the Assessment ward (where the porter moved patient 2 from). In principle, the discharge of a patient from the hospital initiates a pull through each ward and ultimately from the ED.

If, however, we were able to bundle multiple patients and their move-related tasks together, into a single group, time could be reduced that would otherwise been lost by patient logistics staff and backlog in ED, as the delivery location of patient 1 will be the collection location of patient 2 and so on.  Although this can be mapped out on paper or in a spreadsheet, to efficiently create a pull process, hospitals will need technology to assist.

New location and tasking technology offered in a “lite tech” format utilizing a simple-to-use phone-based app offers hospitals and health systems the ability to group patient moves into a single task, displaying the order in which the group needs to be carried out.  Assignment of the task group is based upon the task handler’s location within the building, ensuring that we issue the task to the right person who can get to the start location the quickest.

Improving Capacity 

By moving patients in a synchronized manner, the backlog in ED is addressed, and delay-related harm is mitigated.  Together this “light tech” solution can improve the patient experience, keep care flowing, and help support staff across hospitals.

This means that long-term workforce issues can be resolved, for example, clinical staff can continue to care for patients while other team members are perfectly aligned where they can make the most impact.

< + > Vida Health Announces $28.5 Million in Funding; Appoints Joe Murad CEO

Investment to Support Key Growth Initiatives and Drive Continued Focus on Improving Access to Effective, Affordable, and Sustainable Cardiometabolic Care Treatments

Vida Health today announced it has closed $28.5 million in financing led by existing investors, including General Atlantic, Ally Bridge, Canvas Ventures, Hercules Capital, and other insiders. The company also named Joe Murad as Chief Executive Officer. Murad brings more than two decades of experience leading healthcare technology companies, with a demonstrated ability to guide venture-backed businesses from early stages through phases of significant growth. Murad succeeds Stephanie Tilenius, who will step down following nine years of service as Founder and CEO.

Vida intends to use the investment to further scale and pursue ongoing growth opportunities, particularly in the rapidly expanding obesity and diabetes market. The investment also advances Vida’s mission of increasing access to integrated treatment for obesity and diabetes — including both behavior change support and prescription medications.

Murad joins Vida after serving as President and CEO of WithMe Health, a digital health company offering pharmacy benefits management and personalized medication experiences. He was previously President and CEO of PokitDok, Inc., a platform-as-a-service company for healthcare, which he led until its acquisition by ChangeHealthcare. Murad has also held various leadership roles at Willis Towers Watson and served as Chief Operating Officer at Extend Health, Inc. and as Director of Business Development at eHealth, Inc. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Southern California.

Vida offers a differentiated clinical care platform combining prescriptive and behavioral therapies and addresses a growing need in the cardiometabolic space, which affects approximately 40% of adults in the U.S. Vida has a long track record of cardiometabolic innovation — from being the first to integrate Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with cardiometabolic care, to launching the first full Spanish intervention, to being the first solution in its class to combine behavior change with GLP-1 prescribing. Looking ahead, Vida is well-positioned to mitigate the impact and cost of cardiometabolic disease in the GLP-1 market, where demand is projected to reach $100 billion by 2030.

“Vida has significant momentum in its business, having delivered best-in-class clinical and financial outcomes for its rapidly expanding book of enterprise and health plan customers with respect to cardiometabolic conditions. I am thrilled to be joining the Company at such a key moment in our growth trajectory and look forward to close partnership with the Board and the outstanding Vida team to further accelerate our business,” said Murad. “Vida’s offering has the potential to redefine virtual cardiometabolic care and improve the lives of millions, and I’m passionate about advancing our mission and leading the company through our next phase of growth.”

Originally announced November 9th, 2023

< + > Data privacy still a top concern for digitalisation in APAC

Hospitals also worry about the lack of digital talent and the incompatibility of various digital solutions. 

< + > 2024 outlook: Southeast Asian hospitals ready to acquire new digital tech, treatment

They generally exhibited a high rate of technology adoption.

< + > Bonus Features – December 17, 2023 – 97% of hospitals now capable of enabling electronic access to patient records, 70% of hospitals face hidden business continuity challenge, plus 31 more stories

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

In a blog post, ONC highlighted trends in patient access to electronic health information. Nearly all (97%) hospitals and roughly almost two-thirds (65%) of physician practices are now capable of enabling patient access. Though this is a significant increase from 2012, numbers haven’t budged much since 2015. On the other hand, and not surprisingly, the percentage of patients accessing information electronically saw the biggest jump from 2020 (38%) to 2022 (57%) amid the pandemic.

eClinicalWorks completed Phase 1 of the QHIN application process, while the CommonWell Health Alliance intends to complete its application in early 2024 amid launching a new platform.

Studies

• About 70% of hospitals face hidden challenges to business continuity, such as poor data integrity or network disruptions, according to a report from Veriti.
• Nearly 3 in 4 (73%) of mental health practitioners have seen an increase since the start of the pandemic, and 45% said they’ve had to turn patients away, according to research from Wiley. Forty percent of practitioners reported feeling burned out.
• A survey from Turquoise Health found prices for “shoppable services” in healthcare are increasing roughly at the pace of inflation, though some vaccines have seen price increases of more than 20%.
• Although 94% of consumers know oral health impacts physical health, 81% are hesitant to seek dental care, according to a survey from VideaHealth.

Partnerships

• Darena Solutions, Leidos, and SLI Compliance unveiled a verification process for AI applications built using SMART on FHIR standards.
• Medically Home added Arcadian Health, a Louisiana-based mobile health service, to its network.
• Empathy is partnering with Carallel to offer bereavement support to caregivers as a covered benefit through employer-sponsored health plans.
• Equality Health and Datavant are partnering to automate data exchange among value-based care practices.
• MedeAnalytics and HSBlox entered an exclusive strategic partnership to integrate operational analytics and financial administration.
• AVIA added five health systems to the AVIA Network, bringing the total number of members to more than 55. In addition, AVIA published its Top Interoperability Companies Report, with Andor Health topping the list.
• Real-time location service provider Navenio is integrating with Pavion‘s nurse call system.
• Laudio and the American Organization for Nursing Leadership will produce biannual reports and insights from the perspective of nursing leadership.

Product and Company News

• Google Cloud released MedLM language models for healthcare and life sciences. One model is larger and designed for complex tasks; the other is medium and designed for scaling across tasks.
• Avalon Healthcare Solutions launched Precision Genetic Testing Management, a payer-facing program for managing genetic testing spending.
• Business process management company Sagility launched its Utilization Management as a Service offering, which aims to help providers with CMS regulatory compliance.
• Infermedica added three languages to its Medical Guidance Platform – Japanese, Thai, and traditional Chinese – bringing the number supported to 24.
• Pair Team expanded into seven more California counties; the company provides virtual primary care for Medicaid beneficiaries.
• Home care EMR software maker Smartcare Software rebranded as Aaniie.

Sales

• Maryland HIE entity CRISP chose Zane Networks as the technology partner for its Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Human Services Interoperability Innovations (HSII) cooperative agreement.
• New York City HIE entity Healthix chose CLEAR identity verification technology for its My Health Record NY portal.
• Pennsylvania-based WellSpan Health selected Arcadia data analytics to supports its Medicare Shared Savings Program.
• The Bahamas’ National Health Insurance Authority implemented eClinicalWorks and increased cancer screening compliance.
• Missouri-based Phelps Health chose KeyCare to support virtual care delivery through MyChart.
• Central New York care management service Nascentia Health selected the Biofourmis Care platform for its hospital-at-home program.
• Diagnostic software maker Dedalus adopted CAST Highlight for risk analysis of open source software.

Certifications and Recognitions

• Consensus Cloud Solutions achieves HITRUST Risk-based, 2-year Re-Certification for its eFax Corporate platform.
• Frost & Sullivan recognized the Inovalon ONE Platform with the 2023 North American Product Leadership Award.

People

• Concierge urgent care provider Sollis Health announced Jia Jia Ye as Chief Operating Officer.
• Community-based care program provider Wider Circle appointed Brett Zelkind as Chief Strategy Officer.
• Medical coding automation vendor CodaMetrix named Lisa Morella as Vice President of Data and Analytics.
• Cost cycle optimization vendor SpendMend hired Bryan Olson as Area Vice President of Sales for the western U.S.

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.