HEALTHCARE NEWS FLASH January 16, 2014
Table of Contents Sales & Marketing ................................................................................................................. 3 Finance ................................................................................................................................. 9 Technology .......................................................................................................................... 14 Strategy .............................................................................................................................. 18
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Sales & Marketing Clinics rise in popularity for non-emergency care January 15, 2014 | Fierce Healthcare http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/clinics-rise-popularity-non-emergency-care/2014-01-15 Health clinics are speedier and more cost-effective than hospitals, and their role in non-emergency care will grow substantially in the near future, according to the Visalia Times-Delta. In Tulare County, Calif., for instance, clinic construction is on the rise, with Family Healthcare Network, Kaweah Delta Medical Center and Tulare Regional Medical Center among the local hospitals tied to new clinic projects. Specifically, according to the article: Kaweah Delta, a 403-bed facility in Visalia, intends to open a chronic disease management clinic in May and an additional prompt-care clinic in the fall, as well as a rural clinic in nearby Dinuba; Tulare Regional has opened a new clinic in the western part of the county and plans to open an additional one in Earlimart; and Family Healthcare Network has opened its 13th health facility in the county along with an ongoing expansion project in downtown Visalia projected for completion in May. The popularity of clinic projects in the area is largely cost-related, outgoing Tulare Regional CEO Shawn Bolouki told the Times-Delta. Emergency room costs mean that a treatment that costs $150 at a clinic could be up to $1,000 at a hospital. "A clinic can do the same thing with greater customer satisfaction at a fraction of the cost," Bolouki said. One advantage of the proliferation of clinics is that clinics are a much better environment for educating patients on lifestyle choices that will reduce their risk of ending up in the hospital, according to the article. "We've [healthcare organizations] always been disease-focused," Henry Cisneros Jr., chief clinical officer for Family Healthcare Network, told the Times-Delta. "We need to be prevention-focused. This model takes us further into the community." Despite the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, many people who fall into the law's gaps, particularly in states that do not expand Medicaid, will continue to rely on community clinics for treatment, FierceHealthcare previously reported.
Blues plans team up with U.K. firm to expand global network January 13, 2014 | Fierce Health Payer http://www.fiercehealthpayer.com/story/blues-join-bupa-form-global-network/2014-01-13 The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association has partnered with Bupa, a London-based healthcare group covering 14 million people. Effective later this year, the partnership will create "the largest healthcare provider network in the world for international health insurance customers," the coalition of 37 independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensees recently announced.
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This network may help BCBSA companies build their international customer base and better contend with the global businesses of insurers such as UnitedHealth and and Cigna, Bloomberg reported. The partnership will include more than 11,500 hospitals and about 750,000 practitioners in more than 190 countries. It also involves Bupa's purchase of a 49 percent stake in Highway to Health, Inc. (HTH), the Blue Cross-owned company that sells GeoBlue international health insurance products, BCBSA noted. Both organizations cited global mobility trends creating unique health insurance needs for expatriate workers and large employers. Recent study results predict a 50 percent spike in worldwide business travel and work assignments abroad by 2020, Bloomberg noted. "We know that people are becoming increasingly globally mobile--either to live, study or simply travel abroad for long periods of time--and travel insurance doesn't always provide the coverage they need or expect," Robert Lang, managing director of the Bupa Global Market Unit, said in the announcement. "We're responding by creating the biggest global provider network for people who require international health coverage, and other propositions will follow later this year." Massive network growth resulting from the BCBSA's international partnership contrasts sharply with shrinking provider networks in the United States, which typify plans available under the Affordable Care Act. Although regulators in some states are blocking payer efforts to thin provider networks in response to public outcry, as FierceHealthPayer reported, cost-conscious marketplace shoppers may accept the trade-off of less choice for lower premiums.
New study explains why words matter--and can help improve patient experience January 13, 2014 | Fierce Healthcare http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/new-study-explains-why-words-matter-and-can-helpimprove-patient-experience/2014-01-13 A new study identifies 35 positive, negative and neutral emotion words that patients use to describe their healthcare experience. The word set is now the foundation of the experience-based design (EBD) questionnaire at Virginia Mason, a nonprofit regional healthcare system in Seattle, and could serve as a model for hospitals and health systems across the nation, according to a study announcement. EBD is a method for accelerating the redesign of healthcare delivery and making it more patient-centered to incorporate patient and caregiver experience and emotion. The study, published in Health Care: The Journal of Delivery Science and Innovation, asked 407 patients, family members, nurses and other healthcare professionals to sort 67 expressions into positive, negative and neutral categories. The final list contains only expressions that received at least 80 percent agreement about their perceived meanings.
Nearly A Quarter Of Health Marketplace Enrollees Are Young Adults January 13, 2014 | Kaiser Health News http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2014/January/13/HHS-marketplace-enrollmentdata.aspx
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Nearly a quarter of the 2.2 million people who have enrolled in health coverage in the health law's insurance marketplaces are young adults — the population that's hardest to reach and yet most vital for the financial stability of the new exchanges, the Obama administration announced Monday. While federal officials say they are pleased with the early turnout, they want to increase the proportion of young adults buying plans before open enrollment ends March 31. Almost 40 percent of the potential market for the exchanges is people 18 to 34 years old. Based on the Congressional Budget Office estimate that 7 million people would enroll this year, that would be 2.7 million young adults. According to the government figures released Monday, 24 percent of those enrolling in the marketplaces through Dec. 28 were adults ages 18 to 34. Though no one expected young adults to be first in line signing up for coverage this fall, trouble with healthcare.gov during October and November has increased the challenge of reaching them. "There's no question because of the technological challenge, that outreach to that population was put on hold and folks coming to the website in October and November were those who were supermotivated," said Sabrina Corlette, research professor at the Health Policy Institute at Georgetown University . Corlette noted that experts always expected most young people to wait until late in the enrollment period to enroll. "I do not see anything about the age breakdown figures that strikes me to get super excited about or super depressed about," she said. Getting enough young adults to sign up for coverage is critical to keeping the marketplaces financially viable by subsidizing the older and sicker people who are gaining coverage because insurers can no longer turn people away for pre-existing illnesses or charge them higher rates. If too many sick people buy insurance, it could lead to higher rates in future years that could eventually compromise the market. The health law's individual mandate was put in place largely to make sure young adults signed up. The details about young adults came in a briefing from top Health and Human Services officials and from an HHS report that for the first time provided details about enrollees' age and plan choice on a state by state basis. Some states individually had released data. The officials announced: •
About 60 percent of people buying policies on the marketplaces chose a silver plan, 20 percent bought bronze, 13 percent bought gold and 7 percent bought platinum. Policies run from platinum as the most expensive, followed by gold, silver and bronze, the lowest tier. The higher the metal tier, the higher the monthly premium but the lower the copays and deductibles.
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Only about 1 percent of people chose a catastrophic plan which requires enrollees to pay much of their medical costs up to a certain amount. Catastrophic plans are available for people under age 30, those with a financial hardship or those who have had their insurance policy canceled.
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About 80 percent of those buying a plan qualified for a financial subsidy.
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Women were more likely to purchase plans on the exchange with only 46 percent of enrollees being male. Administration officials say they hope to enroll more men.
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The top five states for enrollment are California (498,794), Florida (158,030), New York (156,902), Texas (118,532) and North Carolina (107,778).
Young adults are the most likely group to lack coverage — 19 million people between 18 and 34 are uninsured. Most say they do not buy policies because they can’t afford it, says Aaron Smith, founder and executive director of nonprofit group Young Invincibles, a proponent of the health law. "The 24 percent figure suggests we are on the right track," he said. About 18 million of the 19 million will qualify for subsidies to buy private coverage or for Medicaid, he said. Because of concerns about sicker consumers overwhelming the risk pool, much attention has been centered on young adults. But Cori Uccello, senior health policy fellow at American Academy of Actuaries, cautioned that age distribution is only important as a rough barometer of health status of people signing up for coverage. "It’s not just the distribution of age, but the health status at every age and what is their experience (in using insurance)," she said. She added that the age distribution of those buying coverage only matters if it's much different than what insurers based their assumptions on in setting premiums. "Among young adults, momentum is particularly strong," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in the telephone briefing with reporters. In addition to young adults buying health plans, about 3 million have gained coverage because of a provision in the law that allow them to stay under their parents' policy until age 26, she said. The data about young people released Monday mirror what some state marketplaces have already reported. There had been concerns that states relying on the federal exchange would have less consumer outreach and would have a lower proportion of younger people signing up. So far, there’s not a big difference. Among the 14 state exchanges, about 25 percent of enrollees are between 18 and 34 compared to 23 percent for the 36 states in the federal exchange. The percentage of young people enrolling ranges from 17 percent in West Virginia and Arizona to 44 percent in the District of Columbia. The individual state proportions matter because each state is a different insurance market that has its own pricing. The low level in Arizona is “a little surprising because we’ve been doing enrollment at community colleges and we have had a good response,” said David Aguirre, health care marketplace coordinator for the Greater Phoenix Urban League. But since so many of the students live out of state, they may be reluctant to enroll in Arizona’s exchange, which is administered by the federal government, he said. Now that the second semester of college has started for many students, Aguirre said his staff is giving it another try. He expects more younger people will enroll by March 31. “We are pushing every day and we are out there bugging them to make sure they understand,” he said. Smith of the Young Invincibles said that the disparity of rates among states shows those doing outreach will see a larger share of young people sign up.
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No data was released about people enrolling in individual plans outside the marketplaces. Those numbers could, of course, impact insurers’ risk pools. HHS officials said that some of the differences reflect differences in the average age of state populations. They noted that West Virginia and Arizona have higher percentages of older people than some other states. California, which accounts for nearly 500,000 people who have chosen a health plan, had 25 percent enrollment among young adults. HHS spokeswoman Julie Bataille said the administration would widen its outreach efforts in the next few months, which is expected to include television advertising during the Olympic Games in February. “There has been a lot of attention to the mix of individuals signing up for coverage so at the end of the day we have a balanced insurance pool,” said Mike Hash, who directs the HHS’ Office of Health Reform. “The trend is suggestive of an appropriate mix in the marketplace. We are only halfway through and we expect an increase in the proportion of young adults as we go forward.” A recent survey by The Commonwealth Fund, a nonpartisan research group, found that 41 percent of those who had shopped on state marketplaces were ages 19 to 34. A study in November by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KHN is an editorially independent program of the foundation), downplayed concerns about so called "death spiral" if not enough young people enrolled. Under a worst-case scenario in which just 25 percent of enrollees are age 18 to 34, then insurers would have to raise premiums by just 2.4 percent in 2015.
Catholic Health Initiatives Builds New Alliance Between St. Luke's, Baylor January 07, 2014 | Becker's Hospital Review http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-transactions-and-valuation/catholic-healthinitiatives-builds-new-alliance-between-st-luke-s-baylor.html Two major Houston-based providers within Englewood, Colo.-based Catholic Health Initiatives have expanded their affiliations with the Baylor College of Medicine as part of a campus redesign. Last year, CHI finalized its acquisition of St. Luke's Episcopal Health System, now known as CHI St. Luke's Health, for $2 billion. CHI also signed a letter of intent last year with the Texas Heart Institute, part of St. Luke's, to provide $220 million in funding for 10 years for cardiovascular disease research. According to the new and enhanced affiliation agreement, the arrangement between CHI and the Texas Heart Institute is completed. In addition, CHI and St. Luke's will partner with Baylor in a joint venture to create a new hospital on Baylor's McNair campus. This new hospital will replace the current 850-bed CHI St. Luke's hospital in the Texas Medical Center. The hospital, which will be named CHI St. Luke's Health Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, will have up to 650 acute-care beds. The project is expected to be completed in 2018.
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Wayne Keathley will serve as president of CHI St. Luke's Health Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center. CHI St. Luke's Health and Baylor also solidified an academic affiliation agreement. Both organizations plan to emphasize educational and research activities, and they plan on receiving comprehensive cancer center status on a new joint venture cancer center. CHI is the second-largest Catholic health system in the United States with 87 hospitals.
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Finance 2013 private healthcare costs moderate January 13, 2014 | Healthcare Finance News http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/2013-private-healthcare-costs-moderate Medical costs in commercial plans slowed between August 2012 and August 2013, according to the S&P Healthcare Claims Indices. Medical costs for commercial plans rose at a slower pace, to 3.2 percent growth, in the 12 months ending August 2013, compared to 4.8 percent in the year-ago period. Inpatient fees for service rose 4.2 percent in 2013 compared to 4.4 percent the year before, while outpatient costs increased 5.7 percent compared to 7.9 percent in 2012. Prescription drugs ticked up just 0.9 percent in 2013 versus 2.9 percent the previous year. he report gives a more up-to-date but similar view of health spending than a recent analysis of 2012 national health spending by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that showed health costs increased at a 3.7 percent rate, the fourth consecutive year of slow growth. Annual spending growth rates have been between 3.6 percent and 3.8 percent annually since 2009. The S&P Healthcare Claim Indices, based on claims data from 33 insurers and other healthcare data providers, indicate that the underlying costs per member per month have been growing more slowly. Medical services are shifting increasingly toward outpatient care, and while demand has been rising, outpatient care is less expensive than inpatient care, said David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Over time, it may include more complex activities, more involved procedures than it had in the past, which may raise the price,” he said. What may drive up medical costs is new technology. “Every time we develop a new procedure or invent a new machine that will save lives, it still always costs more,” Blitzer noted, adding that innovative technologies may enable the move towards more outpatient services. At the same time, technologies may help to dampen the rise in costs once they are widely adopted. “We may be in a period where a lot of technology is diffused through the system and awaiting the next round of new technology, which will mean a period of rapidly increasing costs and then other periods that are more slow,” he said. Many studies have found that healthcare expenditures have been decelerating for several years, “but nobody has a clear idea why,” Blitzer said. Some have suggested preparations by providers and payers ahead of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Many have cited the recession as the main reason for people cutting back on their use of healthcare services. “By now the recession effects should have worn off, even though the recovery has been disappointing. It’s time we blame something else instead of the recession,” he said.
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Survey: 32% of Patients Ask About Cost Before Appointment or Hospital Visit January 09, 2014 | Becker's Hospital Review http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/racs-/-icd-9-/-icd-10/survey-32-of-patients-ask-aboutcost-before-appointment-or-hospital-visit.html Only 32 percent of patients asked about cost before visiting a nurse, physician, lab or hospital, according to the fall 2013 Altarum Institute Survey of Consumer Health Care Opinions. That means, among patients who received care in one year (October 2012 through October 2013), 68 percent did not ask about costs before their visits. Younger consumers were more likely to ask about prices than older consumers: 37 percent of people ages 25-34 did so compared to 23 percent of people ages 55-64. Most consumers said they feel comfortable approaching their physician about healthcare costs, as four out of five were either somewhat or very comfortable doing so. Only 15 percent and 4 percent said they are somewhat and very uncomfortable, respectively. Despite these comfort levels, consumers expressed little confidence in their ability to shop for less expensive care. Only 35 percent felt very or somewhat confident that they could take steps to find more affordable care, while 47 percent said they were uncertain and 18 percent were "not at all confident" that they could reduce costs, according to the survey. The survey also includes findings on how often patients look for information on physicians' quality before choosing which provider to visit for care — 35 percent do so while 65 percent do not. Younger consumers were also more likely to look for quality ratings — 51 percent of people 25-34 did so compared to 23 percent of people ages 55-64. Findings were based on a pool of 1,974 survey respondents.
Health spending remained low in 2012 January 07, 2014 | Healthcare Finance News http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/health-spending-remained-low-2012 National health spending in 2012 increased at a 3.7 percent rate to $2.8 trillion, the fourth consecutive year of slow growth, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said in an analysis. Overall, healthcare expenditures grew during each of the past four years at the slowest rates ever in the 53-year history of the National Health Expenditure Accounts, said the CMS Office of the Actuary analysis released Monday in Health Affairs and in a news release. Annual spending growth rates have been between 3.6 percent and 3.8 percent annually since 2009. Total healthcare spending in 2012 grew slightly slower than the economy, so healthcare’s share of the economy dipped marginally to 17.2 percent from 17.3 percent in 2011.
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Healthcare’s slower acceleration after 2009 is the result of leftover effects of the recent recession and “… the mostly one-time effects of a large number of blockbuster prescription drugs losing patent protection and a Medicare payment reduction to skilled nursing facilities,” said Anne Martin, an economist in CMS’s actuary office, in the release. The Affordable Care Act had minimal impact on 2012 health spending except through several provisions, including higher Medicaid rebates for prescription drugs, the Medicare drug coverage gap, or donut hole, discount program, and coverage for dependents under age 26. The analysis noted there was an uptick in growth in some areas and a slowdown in others. Areas that accelerated in 2012 from the previous year were hospital spending, up 4.9 percent from 3.4 percent, on prices and utilization; physician and clinical services, up 4.6 percent from 4.1 percent on utilization and complexity of services; Medicaid expenditures, up 3.3 percent from 2.4 percent (but still two of the slowest growth rate years in Medicaid history); and out-of-pocket spending, up 3.8 percent from 3.5 percent, on higher cost sharing for physician and clinical services (but tempered by use of generics). Areas where spending slowed compared to 2011 were retail prescription drugs, up 0.4 percent from 2.5 percent, on patent expirations and the shift to generics; nursing care facilities and continuing care retirement communities, up 1.6 percent from 4.3 percent, on a one-time Medicare payment reduction to adjust for a large increase the previous year; private health insurance, up 3.2 percent from 3.4 percent, on enrollment gains in high-deductible plans with lower premiums; and Medicare spending, up 4.8 percent from 5.0 percent on one-time payment reduction for skilled nursing facilities despite have the largest one-year increase in Medicare enrollment.
Uncompensated care rises 11.7% to $45.9B January 06, 2014 | Fierce Health Finance http://www.fiercehealthfinance.com/story/uncompensated-care-rises-117-459b/2014-01-06 Uncompensated care provided by U.S. hospitals rose $4.8 billion (11.7 percent) in 2012, skyrocketing to a whopping $45.9 billion, according to the American Hospital Association's Annual Survey of Hospitals. In 2012, uncompensated care accounted for 6.1 percent in total expenses--the highest rate since 1999, when the rate was 6.2 percent. In 1980, uncompensated care costs were just $3.9 billion, although it still made up for 5.1 percent of total expenses. Rates normally trend between 5.4 percent and 6 percent, according to a chart in the survey. The total tallied by the AHA survey included bad debt and charity care, but did not include underpayment of Medicaid and Medicare charges, the association said in the findings announcement. About 5,000 community hospitals responded to the survey.
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M&A looking strong in 2014 January 03, 2014 | Healthcare Finance News http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/ma-looking-strong-2014 Merger and acquisition activity continued at a robust pace in the closing months of 2013, and by all accounts, the industry will see more of the same in 2014. Consider a few recent statistics from M&A data publisher Irving Levin Associates and from Hammond Hanlon Camp, a New York-based strategic advisory and investment banking firm that is focused on the healthcare industry: M&A activity increased by nearly 20 percent in the third quarter of 2013 compared with the same period in 2012 The number of reported mergers or acquisitions in the third quarter 2013 was 267, up from 223 in the same period in 2012 The value of M&As in the third quarter 2013 was $51 billion, a 35 percent increase from the 2012 value of the same period, but it was down by 4 percent from the second quarter of 2013 What these statistics speak to is a trend playing out nationwide – a steady increase in the number of mergers and acquisitions taking place, but a declining total in the overall value of those deals. The reasons for this trend include less uncertainty around the healthcare reform law and that there are fewer and fewer independent hospitals and healthcare facilities ripe for the picking, and the ones left are often smaller in size. These trends have been seen first-hand by Frank Trembulek, chief operating officer at Geisinger Health System. “We’ve seen significant consolidation in the last couple of years, both mergers and closures,” Trembulek says of activity in Pennsylvania, where Geisinger has hospital and healthcare facilities in 33 of the state’s 67 counties. “The pace has accelerated, and there are few remaining free-standing hospitals. They’ve either been acquired by us, or they have been acquired by Community Health Centers.” With most of the hospitals now acquired by larger groups, an area where Trembulek expects to see more activity is with physician groups joining the networks. “The smaller, one, two, or three doctor practices can’t afford to go it alone,” Trembukek said. “We’re now seeing accelerated interest by [independent] physicians to become employed.” Whether it is the transition to electronic records, the impact of new healthcare regulations, or just the cost of running an independent business, many physician groups are looking to share their burdens with a larger partner. “These trends are playing out across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and across the country,” Trembukek said.
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The driving factor behind all of this activity is simple economics. There is financial strength in numbers. Or, more accurately, there is less financial vulnerability in numbers. Take the example a merger between two southern Maine hospitals that became effective at the start of this year. Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford and Goodall Hospital in Sanford merged to become Southern Maine Health Center, the fifth largest healthcare system in Maine, with 46 locations in York County. In a story about the merger published in the Bangor Daily News, executives of the two hospitals said the merger will make for increased efficiencies to help control the rising costs of healthcare. Another significant factor in the merger and acquisition landscape in 2014 will be a relaxing of the uncertainties around the launch of major parts of the Affordable Care Act, said Tom Carden, senior managing director at New Jersey-based Martin Health Advisors. “In 2012, there were a lot of questions about the Affordable Care Act: Will it happen? What will it look like? Will it have a real impact on my business?,” said Carden. “In 2013, the uneasiness was taken out of the equation.” The result is a greater willingness to invest in hospital and healthcare organization acquisitions, Carden said. “There is a lot of money sitting on the sidelines not being used,” he said. “There is plenty of equity capital available.”
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Technology EHR payments soar to near $20B January 15, 2014 | Healthcare IT News http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/ehr-payments-soar-near-20b Electronic health record incentive payments to eligible docs and hospitals continue to climb into the new year. The "inexorable progress" of the federal EHR incentive program continues, with payments to providers moving ever closer to $20 billion. As of the end of November, more than 436,000 hospitals and health professionals have registered for the Medicaid and Medicare EHR incentive program, and the federal government has made more than $17.7 billion in payments, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told the Health IT Policy Committee in an update. Of the $17.7 billion, almost $11 billion has gone to 4,300-plus hospitals who have achieved meaningful use status, while $4 billion has gone to about 210,000 physicians and health professionals qualifying under Medicare and $2.5 billion has gone to 107,000 professionals qualifying under Medicaid. All of that has translated in a majority of American providers now using digital health record systems, the data showing the "inexorable progress made every month," as policy committee chair Paul Tang, MD, the chief innovation and technology officer at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, said on Tuesday during the HIT Policy meeting. CMS eHealth specialist Robert Anthony also highlighted some other data showing attestation rates for core objectives, with high percentages in many areas but lags for others, such as syndromic surveillance.
Athenahealth, CECity launch exchange January 14, 2014 | Healthcare IT News http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/athenahealth-cecity-create-new-exchange Cloud-based EHR company athenahealth, and CECity, a provider of cloud-based registry services for performance improvement and value-based reporting, have teamed up to launch what it calls a "first-of-its-kind" health data exchange integration and reporting service. The service automates the flow of information directly from practices using athenaClinicals to clinical registries from national medical specialty societies and other registries. The American College of Physicians will be the first national medical organization to receive clinical data from athenaClinicals to its registry via CECity's clinical quality data gateway. The gateway trademarked ImpaQT Gateway.
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"In partnership with CECity, and through a combination of our open cloud-based platform and commitment to free data flow in healthcare, we continue to expand our providers' ability to effortlessly transmit key clinical data from their EHR to the places it needs to and should go," said Doran Robinson, vice president of healthcare transactions, athenahealth, in a news release. "We believe data exchange should be a core service embedded in health information technology to satisfy things like meaningful use, but more importantly to advance the delivery of high-quality, wellcoordinated care," Robinson added. "This partnership is an important differentiator for athenahealth; with CECity, we are establishing a key platform integration point that enables any provider using our athenaClinicals service to meet meaningful use specialized registry requirements with no additional effort and at no additional cost, so they can focus on their primary role of efficient, high-quality patient care delivery." The ImpaQt Gateway will enable the seamless transfer of information from the national athenaNet platform to appropriate "specialized registries" in order to satisfy the meaningful use Stage 2 – menu measure 6 requirement that went into effect Jan. 1. Gateway includes support for standardized data exchange formats from EHRs, as prescribed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Through secure, continuous data exchange, the ImpaQt Gateway accepts standardized EHR files, which are then automatically processed and logically stored in CECity's registry-based cloud platform. Practices are then able to control how they would like their EHR data to be channeled for use in a variety of applications hosted by CECity, including the specialized registries available for meaningful use, as well as PQRS, Bridges to Excellence, Maintenance of Certification, and other clinical practice improvement programs. ACP first to receive data to its registry The first specialized registry to receive data through the ImpaQt Gateway will be ACP Genesis Registry. Through a partnership with CECity, ACP Genesis Registry will accept data from athenaClinicals and provide participating health care practices with continuous feedback reports presented through online performance monitors
Obama Administration Selects New Lead HealthCare.gov Contractor January 13, 2014 | Becker's Hospital Review http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/news-analysis/obama-administration-selects-new-leadhealthcare-gov-contractor.html CMS has selected a new contractor, consulting firm Accenture, to oversee maintenance of the federal health insurance exchange site, HealthCare.gov, according to a report from The Hill. Federal officials decided to replace the original head contractor, IT company CGI Federal, following the federal exchange site's glitch-ridden rollout, according to the report. Accenture has agreed to a year-long contract worth at least $90 million.
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Since its launch this past October, HealthCare.gov has experienced numerous technical issues. The site's functionality has improved with repair efforts, and it could support 83,000 concurrent users as of Dec. 23. Still, CGI has come under fire for its part in the bumpy rollout process. A Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee investigation released a report last month that showed CGI was assessed by the Department of Labor for $1.7 million in wage and safety penalties from 2007 to 2012. CGI was also cited for 13 wage and safety violations during that time period, according to the report. Additionally, Vermont and Massachusetts officials have withheld payments to CGI for constructing less than satisfactory websites for their state-based exchanges. Earlier this year, CGI officials testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committeeabout the federal exchange site's glitch-ridden rollout. CGI and other contractors that testified told lawmakers the site wasn't tested enough before its launch.
Wireless EHR market to hit $23.5 billion by 2018 January 08, 2014 | Fierce EMR http://www.fierceemr.com/story/wireless-ehr-market-hit-235-billion-2018/2014-01-08 The global market for wireless electronic health records is robust and expected to evolve in the next few years, according to the latest report from BBC Research. The report, Wireless Electronic Health Records: Technologies and Global Markets predicts that the global market for wireless EHRs to grow to nearly $23.5 billion by 2018, with a five year compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.1 percent from 2013 through 2018. The report notes that wireless EHRs can streamline data and data storage options as well as provide "critical analytical data" inside and outside the traditional hospital setting. While government initiatives are spurring the adoption of EHRs, they're also motivating efforts in related areas such as medical device connectivity, according to the report's authors. "[R]ecent focus on meaningful EHR adoption across hospitals and a parallel growth with respect to mobile technologies have resulted in the evolution of the wireless EHR market," a BBC Research announcement says. "Wireless EHR devices provide freedom from a laboratory setting for monitoring purpose and also keep physicians well connected. ... Increasing R&D spending and technological advances, particularly in the area of mobile technologies, as well as intense interest from governmental and global public health institutions and hospital systems will drive tremendous growth in this market for foreseeable future." The move to wireless EHRs may be part of the overall trend to implement EHRs and/or change systems. A recent report from Orem, Utah-based KLAS Research noted that many large hospitals still have no EHR or are running legacy systems that at some point may need to be replaced. Another report published in early 2013 found that many physicians who already have adopted EHRs are already considering switching from their existing EHR system.
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Poll: 59% of Uninsured Report Negative PPACA Exchange Site Experience January 03, 2014 | Becker's Hospital Review http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/news-analysis/poll-59-of-uninsured-report-negativeppaca-exchange-site-experience.html Most uninsured Americans who visited a Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act state-based or federal health insurance exchange website reported their experience was negative, according to a Gallup poll. Among those who visited an exchange site in December, 59 percent reported a negative or very negative experience, while 39 percent classified their experience as positive or very positive, according to the poll. Combined Gallup poll results from October and November show 63 percent of those surveyed had a negative or very negative experience in those months, while 33 percent reported a positive or very positive experience. Additionally, 26 percent of uninsured Americans surveyed in December said they have visited an exchange site, up from 20 percent in October and November polling. The rise in exchange site visits could reflect improvements in the websites, according to Gallup. Following its launch, HealthCare.gov experienced various technical issues. However, following repair efforts, the site could support 83,000 concurrent users as of Dec. 23, and enrollment has been rising. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recently announced 6 million people signed up for health insurance coverage because of the PPACA in 2013, including 2.1 million who signed up for health plans through the exchanges and 3.9 million who were determined eligible for Medicaid.
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Strategy University Hospitals Continues Aggressive Expansion, Acquires Robinson Memorial January 15, 2014 | Becker's Hospital Review http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-transactions-and-valuation/university-hospitalscontinues-aggressive-expansion-acquires-robinson-memorial.html Cleveland-based University Hospitals has signed a letter of intent to acquire Robinson Memorial Hospital in Ravenna, Ohio — the third such deal for UH in the past six months. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Both organizations will now undergo due diligence before hammering out a definitive agreement, which is expected to be reached by May 31. The deal also requires regulatory approval. Robinson Memorial had been looking for a new partner since the hospital allowed its affiliation agreement with Summa Health System in Akron, Ohio, to expire. The 117-bed Robinson Memorial, located about 35 miles southeast of Cleveland, also received approval to convert from a countyowned hospital to a general nonprofit organization. If the deal closes, Robinson Memorial would become UH's 15th hospital. Last year, UH signed separate deals to acquire Parma (Ohio) Community General Hospital and EMH Healthcare in Elyria, Ohio. Those hospitals, now known as UH Parma Medical Center and UH Elyria Medical Center, officially joined the UH system on Jan. 1.
SIS acquires AmkaiSolutions January 15, 2014 | Healthcare IT News http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/sis-acquires-amkaisolutions Surgical Information Systems, which develops technology for perioperative care, has acquired AmkaiSolutions, a maker of electronic medical records and practice management tools for ambulatory surgery centers. SIS officials say the acquisition will help its expansion into the outpatient surgery market, moving beyond the 300 hospitals and health systems it already serves. Amkai, meanwhile, will benefit from SIS' experience with product development and client support. "The combination of these two industry leaders will help meet the changing needs of surgical care delivery and bring together a legacy of technology innovation, surgery and anesthesia expertise, as well as strong client and partner relationships to the market," said Ed Daihl, CEO of SIS, in a press statement. "The merger expands our ability to provide the solutions perioperative leaders need to help meet their safety, efficiency and financial goals in any surgical environment."
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As more ambulatory surgery facilities replace and enhance their legacy administrative solutions and expand into electronic clinical documentation, Amkai has been growing in recent years, officials say. With both an EMR system and administrative management tools, its systems are installed in more than 200 facilities nationwide. "Meeting the practice and information management needs of the outpatient and acute care environments enable information to be more easily managed and analyzed," said Amkai's Executive Vice President Joe Macies, in a statement. "We look forward to combining our strong ambulatory experience with the rich, acute care experience of the SIS team."
NewYork-Presbyterian Seeks Takeover of Lawrence Hospital Center January 13, 2014 | Becker's Hospital Review http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-transactions-and-valuation/newyorkpresbyterian-seeks-takeover-of-lawrence-hospital-center.html NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City has filed a certificate of need with the state to completely absorb Lawrence Hospital Center in Bronxville, N.Y., according to a Journal News report. Lawrence Hospital Center, a 291-bed facility, is already an affiliate within the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System. If New York approves the CON, NewYork-Presbyterian would gain full control of the Lawrence Hospital Center and run the hospital's day-to-day operations, according to the report. A spokeswoman for NewYork-Presbyterian told The Journal News that "a closer alignment will further benefit the community." NewYork-Presbyterian conducted a similar merger when it added New York Downtown Hospital in Manhattan as its sixth hospital campus this past summer. Lawrence Hospital Center was one of four hospitals that disestablished Stellaris Health Network last year.
Brooklyn Hospital Center to Buy, Close Long Island College Hospital January 09, 2014 | Becker's Hospital Review http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-transactions-and-valuation/brooklyn-hospitalcenter-to-buy-close-long-island-college-hospital.html The time left for Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y., to stay open is dwindling, as a new plan would convert the hospital into a freestanding emergency department coupled with apartments, according to a Brooklyn Eagle report. Brooklyn Hospital Center, a safety-net hospital two miles away from LICH, has partnered with a private equity firm to make a bid on the struggling hospital. According to the report, Brooklyn Hospital Center would buy LICH and consequently close it as a full-service hospital. LICH would become an urgent care center and freestanding ED, and the remainder of the property would be converted into mixed-income housing.
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Brooklyn Hospital Center would take on LICH's inpatient and outpatient services, and the unnamed private equity firm would fund the plan. LICH has been on the brink of closure for roughly a year now. Last January, New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released an audit that found LICH, which is part of State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, has experienced heavy losses and faced immediate insolvency. SUNY Downstate has planned on closing LICH on multiple occasions. However, nurses, community members and Mayor Bill de Blasio have campaigned to keep LICH open as a full-service hospital.
Banner Health to Acquire Casa Grande Regional Medical Center January 02, 2014 | Becker's Hospital Review http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-transactions-and-valuation/banner-health-toacquire-casa-grande-regional-medical-center.html Phoenix-based Banner Health has signed a deal to acquire Casa Grande (Ariz.) Regional Medical Center. Financial terms were not disclosed. However, Banner will provide interim funding to CGRMC until the deal closes. Pending regulatory approvals, Banner and Regional Care Services Corp., the parent company of CGRMC, expect the acquisition to close this spring. CGRMC has been in financial hot water as of late. According to CGRMC's most recent audited financials, the hospital posted a $13.4 million operating loss in its 2013 fiscal year, which ended June 30. This compared to a razor-thin $86,706 operating profit in 2012. CGRMC has suffered from large volumes of uncompensated care and declining volume. Total revenue at the hospital dropped 9.1 percent in 2013 to $100.2 million. Banner operates 23 acute-care hospitals, with almost half of those in Arizona.
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