Is Interoperability Tech Worth the Investment? Experts Say Yes for 3 Reasons

Is Interoperability Tech Worth the Investment? Experts Say Yes for 3 Reasons

Editor’s note: This story is based on discussions at Abarca Forward, a conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, hosted by Abarca, a pharmacy benefit manager. MedCity News’ Editor-in-Chief Arundhati Parmar and Senior Reporter Katie Adams were invited to attend and speak at the conference. All travel and related expenses for the team were covered by Abarca. However, company officials had no input in editorial coverage. 
In order for the U.S. healthcare system to operate smoothly, various stakeholders must cooperate with one another and share data seamlessly. But this notion is far from being achieved — the industry is still seriously plagued by…

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Morning Headlines 2/17/23

Morning Headlines 2/17/23

February 16, 2023 Headlines No Comments Avaya Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy After Cloud Subscription Accounting Woes
Unified communications and collaboration services vendor Avaya, whose healthcare offerings include solutions for virtual care, collaboration, and patient access technology, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in six years.
Elation Health Acquires Medical Billing Company Lightning MD to Accelerate Market’s First Primary Care All-in-One Solution
Primary care EHR vendor Elation Health acquires practice-focused medical billing company Lightning MD.
Spacelabs Healthcare Expands Clinical Informatics Capabilities with Acquisition of Predictive Analytics Company PeraHealth
Spacelabs Healthcare acquires PeraHealth and its Rothman Index patient deterioration software for undisclosed…

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News 2/17/23

News 2/17/23

Top News

Unified communications and collaboration services vendor Avaya, whose healthcare offerings include solutions for virtual care, collaboration, and patient access technology, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in six years.
The Durham, NC-based company reported lower than expected revenue and earnings last year, blaming accounting problems with its cloud subscription revenue, after which it replaced its CEO.
AVYA share price has dropped 98% in the past 12 months, valuing the company at $24 million.

Reader Comments From Baby Payer: “Re: IVF coverage. In an example of our messed up healthcare system, women are taking Amazon jobs and quitting after…

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Elation Health Acquires Lightning MD to Build Primary Care All-in-One Solution

Elation Health Acquires Lightning MD to Build Primary Care All-in-One Solution

What You Should Know:– Primary care EHR Elation Health acquires cloud-based medical billing and payer connectivity provider Lightning MD, a platform that was created by nurses. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.The acquisition is part of Elation Health’s bid to be a one-stop shop for all primary care — something that co-founder and CEO Kyna Fong, Ph.D., has been driving despite all the odds.As part of the acquisition, Elation will continue to support practices integrated with over 20 practice management and billing solutions connected via the Elation application programming interface (API).Lightning MDFounded in 2017 by registered nurses Kelly Schoenfeld and…

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AI can be a big help to healthcare workers, but there are legal issues to consider

AI can be a big help to healthcare workers, but there are legal issues to consider

As burnout among healthcare workers continues to be a major concern, the use of artificial intelligence, EHRs and other automation tools may be able to have a positive impact on hospitals and health systems.When it comes to artificial intelligence, some legal issues arise. That’s why we interviewed Carly Koza, an authority on this topic and Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney associate. Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney is a national law firm with 450 attorneys and government relations professionals across 15 offices representing companies including 50 of the Fortune 100.
Koza discusses what healthcare provider organizations should prepare for when it comes to growing AI…

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Primary care tech company Elation Health acquires billing platform Lightning MD

Primary care tech company Elation Health acquires billing platform Lightning MD

Elation Health, which offers tools for telehealth, patient engagement and an EHR geared toward primary care providers, announced on Thursday that it had acquired billing and practice-management company Lightning MD.Elation said it would combine the billing and revenue cycle software with its tools to offer an all-in-one product in beta starting this summer. Practices who use other management and billing software through Elation’s API will still have that option. 
Founded in 2017, Lightning MD partnered to integrate with Elation’s services last year. 
“Healthcare technology is rapidly evolving, particularly in the primary care sector where we have the greatest opportunity to improve patient outcomes and…

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How Rural Healthcare Systems Can Strengthen Their Resilience

How Rural Healthcare Systems Can Strengthen Their Resilience

Hall and other CalvertHealth leaders knew there was room for improvement, but amid tight budgets and competing priorities, an upgrade seemed too expensive. Instead, CalvertHealth migrated its EHR recovery site to Amazon Web Services.Recovery time is now between two and four hours, Hall says, and CalvertHealth has since conducted two failover tests without anyone noticing.
“To me, it was a no-brainer. I thought, ‘If we don’t do it now, we won’t get to do it again.’ As a stand-alone, rural-based organization, we couldn’t achieve this on our own,” she says. “It was a huge win for us, and the driving piece of…

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Elation Health Buys Medical Billing Company to Create All-in-One Tech Platform for Primary Care Providers

Elation Health Buys Medical Billing Company to Create All-in-One Tech Platform for Primary Care Providers

Elation Health — a San Francisco-based company that sells its electronic health record (EHR) and other technology solutions to primary care providers — on Thursday announced its  acquisition of medical billing firm Lightning MD.
The deal will help Elation become an all-in-one technology platform for primary care offices, CEO Kyna Fong said in a recent interview. Fong founded Elation with her brother in 2010. The siblings grew up in Canada, where their father was a primary care physician — and a passionate one. He was so passionate that he ended up moving his family to the U.S. because he couldn’t “practice the…

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