Health IT Business News – March 19, 2020

Coronavirus News

MEDITECH Provides Decision Support and Guidance for Coronavirus (Updated)
Reporting that the likelihood of a future COVID-19 pandemic is high, The Centers for Disease Control continues to assess the situation as it evolves. In response to updated recommendations from the CDC and WHO, MEDITECH (@MEDITECH) is providing additional system configuration instructions and guidance for patients under investigation (PUI) for COVID-19. This information has been added to the workflow documents MEDITECH released on February 7, 2020, to ensure your care teams have the proper procedures in place for effective COVID-19 screening based on current CDC and WHO guidelines.

Coronavirus Outbreak Solution – World first from Orion Health
Orion Health (@OrionHealth) has developed the first comprehensive pandemic outbreak monitoring platform to alleviate demand on health systems and reduce the risk of further spread of the COVID-19 virus. The Orion Health software that supports this will be offered at no cost to existing and future customers.

MedChi Urges the State of Maryland to Help Implement Telehealth Technology for Physicians to Prevent Spread of Coronavirus
MedChi (@MedChiupdates), the Maryland State Medical Society, is urging the State of Maryland to provide physician practices with telehealth technology to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. As a result of the outbreak, the MedChi Care Transformation Organization (MedChi CTO) provided its physician practices with telehealth capability, through DrFirst’s Backline care collaboration tool.

Apple is rejecting coronavirus apps that aren’t from health organizations, app makers say
CNBC reports that Apple is cracking down on apps related to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak that aren’t from recognized institutions like governments or hospitals.

Product News

SPH Analytics Launches Smart Patient Engagement Platform
SPH Analytics (@SPHAnalytics), a healthcare analytics and population health management company, has launched the Smart Patient Engagement™ platform, a new integrated predictive analytics solution to empower healthcare providers and health plans to drive desired patient/member behaviors. The platform elevates patient/member engagement strategies by stratifying the population according to the level of engagement in their own healthcare, disease conditions, risk factors and social determinants of health (SDOH) and then conducts multi-modal outreach with persona-specific messaging.

Rhinogram Now Available in Epic’s App Orchard
Rhinogram (@rhinogram) a cloud-based, HIPAA-compliant, telehealth solutions company, announced that its telehealth solution is now available in Epic’s App Orchard Marketplace. The integration with Epic EHR enables a better patient experience by making remote healthcare possible through secure, text-based patient engagement while simplifying communication and minimizing office interruptions. Rhinogram enables real-time virtual encounters without patients ever having to download an app.

Reach Consensus with J2 Global’s New Interoperability Platform
J2 Global, Inc. (@j2global) – the leader in digital cloud faxing – announced an unparalleled opportunity for healthcare providers to move from paper faxing to a comprehensive interoperability system through an easy-to-use platform that connects healthcare organizations through the entire continuum-of-care.

Biofourmis’ AI-Powered Remote Monitoring Platform to Provide New Insights to Fight COVID-19 in Disease Monitoring Program in Hong Kong
Biofourmis (@biofourmis), a global leader in digital therapeutics that powers personalized predictive care, announced that its technology is being leveraged in a remote monitoring and disease surveillance program in Hong Kong involving patients with diagnosed or suspected novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The program—administered by The University of Hong Kong—also includes Hong Kong-based Harmony Medical Inc., which is Biofourmis’ joint venture partner for the China region.

Andor Health Customers are Already Prepared for Full Compliance With Key Provisions in Federal Interoperability and Health Data Exchange Rules
Thanks to Andor Health’s (@andor_health) ThinkAndor™ mobile collaboration platform, two major Florida health systems are prepared to comply with new Conditions of Participation (CoP) provisions within the interoperability rules issued Monday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), thereby protecting their Medicare eligibility.

eVokeTM Automate Orchestrates OmniChannel Engagement Through Analytics
RevSpring (@RevSpringInc), a provider of healthcare financial engagement and payment solutions, announced eVokeTM Automate, a centralized OmniChannel engine that automates patient engagement strategically based on patient preference, engagement behavior, and desired outcomes.

Financial News

Two Purdue-affiliated life sciences startups receive Foundry Investment Fund support for detection technologies
Two Purdue University-affiliated startups have received approvals for up to $250,000 each from the Purdue Foundry Investment Fund to help continue their missions of advancing life science technologies.

b.well Connected Health Secures $16 Million in Series A Funding
b.well Connected Health (@icanbwell), the platform designed to provide consumers a new front end to healthcare, announced the close of a $16 million Series A investment round. The Series A round was led by UnityPoint Health Ventures, the venture capital arm of UnityPoint Health. Other investors include ThedaCare – a leading Wisconsin-based community health system, and Well Ventures – a subsidiary of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc (WBA). Previously, b.well raised $11.5 million in seed funding, bringing the company’s total funding to over $27 million.

Medicus IT Acquires Managed Service Provider Nexus Practice IT Services
Medicus IT (@Medicus_IT), a healthcare-focused managed services provider (MSP) based in Alpharetta, Georgia, announced the acquisition of Nexus Practice IT Services (Nexus). Nexus is the premier healthcare managed IT services provider based in Columbus, Ohio. The uniting of these leading companies further elevates MIT as one of the largest, healthcare-focused MSPs and will deliver significant benefits to clients.

Collaboration News

Unite Us and Lyft Team Up to Reduce Transportation Barriers and Improve Access to Health and Social Care
Unite Us (@uniteushq), the technology company that builds coordinated care networks to connect health and social care providers, announced that it has joined forces with Lyft, the leading transportation network with national experience in healthcare, to provide ride-enabled referrals through the Unite Us platform.

DrFirst and GoHipo Partner to Use Telehealth to Fight High Relapse Rates After Substance Abuse Treatment by Addressing Major Gaps in Post-Inpatient Rehabilitation
Relapse rates for people recovering from substance abuse are between 40% and 60%, but a new approach to post-discharge care aims to help people beat the odds. DrFirst (@DrFirst) and GoHipo are collaborating to keep patients connected with their treatment centers’ care teams using a mobile app for secure messaging and telehealth services.

Global Interoperability Leader Rebrands as Lyniate
Rhapsody and Corepoint have now launched their combined entity as Lyniate (@lyniate). This announcement coincides with a record year for the company, which has expanded 300 customer partnership agreements and grown its client base by more than 50 new customers. To support the company’s continued growth, Lyniate is also expanding its leadership team to include Scott Galbari as chief technology officer, and Sonal Patel as chief customer success officer. The company is also pleased to announce that once again its solutions have earned the top two rankings for Best in KLAS® healthcare integration engines.

IBM Watson Health and EBSCO Information Services Collaborate to Launch Integrated Clinical Decision Support Solution
IBM Watson Health (@ibm) and EBSCO Information Services (@EBSCO) announced a strategic collaboration aimed towards enhancing clinical decision support (CDS) and operations for healthcare providers and health systems. The companies are combining their respective solution suites – DynaMed® and IBM® Micromedex® with Watson™ – into a single, high-value global solution called “DynaMed and Micromedex with Watson.” The combined solution suite will be designed to bring together drug and disease content, into a single source for evidence-based insights to help inform clinical decisions.

Livongo Expands Relationship with CVS Health, Now Part of Chronic Condition Management Platform within Point Solutions Service
Livongo (@Livongo), an Applied Health Signals company empowering people with chronic conditions to live better and healthier lives, announced that it is available through the CVS Health Point Solutions Management service. Point Solutions Management is a full service offering for CVS Caremark pharmacy benefit management (PBM) clients to contract, onboard, and manage health and care solutions including Livongo’s Diabetes, Hypertension, Weight Management, and Diabetes Prevention programs.

Kyruus and GYANT Announce Partnership to Facilitate Chat-Based Patient-Provider Matching and Scheduling
Kyruus, a provider search and scheduling solutions for health systems company, and GYANT, an artificial intelligence-enabled virtual assistant for healthcare, announced a new partnership to help health systems enhance consumer access and self-service on their websites. The two companies will join forces to combine the power of Kyruus’ routing and scheduling platform with GYANT’s chat-based virtual assistant to help consumers find and book appropriate care through a conversational experience.

Making the Cut

Health Catalyst Named to 2020 Shatter List for Helping Break Glass Ceiling in Technology
In honor of International Women’s Day, Health Catalyst, Inc. (@HealthCatalyst), a provider of data and analytics technology and services to healthcare organizations, announced it has been named to the Women Tech Council (WTC) 2020 Shatter List. This recognition highlights companies with initiatives that help break the glass ceiling for women in technology.