Health IT Business News – August 16, 2016

HITbizNews-200 ZirMed® (@zirmed), a provider of revenue cycle software and analytics, will host its annual ZirMed User Group Conference (#ZUG16) August 22-23 in Chicago, home to ZirMed’s Healthcare Analytics Center of Excellence. ZUG16 will address today’s unique revenue-cycle challenges as the nation’s healthcare system spans the fee-for-service and value-based care worlds. [tweetthis]Register now for @ZirMed User Group #ZUG16 8/22-8/23[/tweetthis]

BridgeHead Software (@BridgeHeadHDM), a healthcare data management company, announced its integration with EMC XtremIO, the company’s leading all-flash storage array. For more than 16 years, BridgeHead has collaborated with EMC to bring the best technologies to its healthcare customers worldwide, and BridgeHead will continue to support new emerging technologies that peak in the market. EMC’s fastest-growing product of all time, XtremIO, helped EMC reach more than 40 percent market share in Q4 2015 and topped the all-flash storage array market in just nine months after its 2013 debut – notably for its ease of use and unique architecture that delivers consistent and predictable performance at scale.

CareCloud (@CareCloud), a provider of modern, cloud-based software and services for high growth medical practices, announced that its platform has been awarded “Best UX/UI/Design in a SaaS Product” at the 2016 SaaS Awards, a global awards competition. The SaaS (Software as a Service) Awards, partnered with the Cloud Awards, is an international program recognizing the best and most innovative SaaS offerings in a host of categories. Attracting entries from the U.S., Canada, Australasia, the U.K. and the EMEA, the competition has honored some of the most visible and respected companies worldwide including Attivo Networks, British Gas, Dell, Hitachi, HP, RedHat, Ubuntu and Zendesk. [tweetthis]Congratulations, @CareCloud for winning Best UX/UI/Design in a SaaS Product #saasawards[/tweetthis]

The global connected health and wellness devices market is expected to reach USD 612.0 billion by 2024, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc (@GrandViewInc). The demand for wearable medical devices and remote patient monitoring systems is anticipated to increase over the forecast period due to the shifting consumer preferences towards a healthier lifestyle thus driving the market growth in the coming years. In addition, the increasing incidences of lifestyle-associated diseases requiring continuous health monitoring, which is expected to lead to an upsurge in the demand for connected health devices over the forecast period. In addition, the advantages associated with its usage and the availability of advanced products, such as remote sensors, adapters, and connected mobile communication devices are the factors further augmenting the market growth.

ZeOmega Inc. (@zeomega), a provider of software solutions for population healthcare management serving payer and provider organizations, announced that Integra Connect, a provider of integrated cloud-based technologies and services for value-based specialty care, will integrate Jiva™ Population Health Management (PHM) functionality into its solution portfolio. The capabilities will support the seamless transformation of specialty physician practices to supporting alternative payment models and accompanying regulatory mandates.

Huron Consulting Group Inc. (@Huron), a provider of business consulting services, recently announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Healthcare Services Management, Inc. (@hsmconsulting), a firm specializing in healthcare information technology and management consulting. When it closes, the acquisition will strengthen Huron’s ability to help healthcare providers implement and optimize technologies that harness data to improve the quality and cost of care and better manage patient populations.

Torax Medical, Inc. announced the completion of a $25 million Series E financing. The Series E round was led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. and included participation of existing investors, including Sanderling Ventures, Thomas McNerney & Partners, Accuitive Medical Ventures, Kaiser Permanente Ventures, Piper Jaffray Companies, and Mayo Clinic Ventures.

Elation Health (@ElationHealth), formerly known as ElationEMR, announced a $15MM funding round to solve one of healthcare’s biggest challenges — the ability for patients to experience continuous, coordinated care in today’s fragmented healthcare system. The cloud-based platform, beloved by thousands of physicians, connects more than two million patients to their providers in a dynamic health information network that enables providers in different organizations to share information and collaborate on mutual patients at the point of care. The scale of Elation’s care network and its high level of engagement in the clinical workflow of providers tackles the problem of interoperability, which results in billions of dollars in wasted healthcare expense every month.

The Forum on Health Care Innovation, a collaboration between Harvard Business School (@HarvardHBS) and Harvard Medical School (@harvardmed), announced the four finalists in its Health Acceleration Challenge, which focuses on taking compelling, already-implemented health care solutions and helping them to grow and increase their impact through powerful networking and funding opportunities. Addicaid (@Addicaid), Carrum Health (@CarrumHealth), Ochsner Health System, and Radial Analytics (@radialanalytics) emerged as the 2016 finalists.