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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Singapore's iHiS taps Google Cloud, Accenture to drive healthcare innovation

Singapore’s iHiS taps Google Cloud, Accenture to drive healthcare innovation

Integrated Health Information Systems, Singapore’s national healthcare technology agency, has collaborated with Google Cloud and Accenture to promote the development of data-driven applications to “deliver more high-quality and digital-first healthcare experiences.”Accenture is helping deploy Apigee, Google Cloud’s API management platform, which will provide third-party developers access to data and services across iHiS’s managed systems to create new applications and capabilities. 
The resulting flexible API-based architecture from this collaboration will serve as a “connective tissue across data sources and applications,” as per iHiS assistant chief executive Alan Goh. 
Google Cloud has also built security features into the Apigee platform to provide iHiS full visibility over…

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Epic MyChart Patient Portal Racks up 6th Best in KLAS Award

Epic MyChart Patient Portal Racks up 6th Best in KLAS Award

– KLAS Research has once again named the Epic MyChart patient portal Best in KLAS, but the rest of the annual report highlights the numerous software solutions in the patient engagement technology market. While other healthcare market segments have dominant vendors—Epic Systems within the EHR space, for example—no single vendor came out on top across the numerous areas of patient engagement. Once again, the health IT vendor giant has come in as the top-rated patient portal solution, getting a score of 88.7 out of 100. Epic was followed by athenahealth, Greenway Health, Veradigm, Oracle Health (Cerner), and NextGen Healthcare. The annual…

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Memorial Healthcare System grows its telehealth offering to 61 programs

Memorial Healthcare System grows its telehealth offering to 61 programs

Before the widespread adoption of telemedicine technology, there were several problems that hindered the delivery of healthcare services for most healthcare organizations.THE PROBLEM
One of the main problems was access to healthcare, particularly with working families and those with chronic conditions. Many people lacked convenient access to medical care and providers, making it difficult for them to receive the care they needed.
Another problem was the cost of healthcare, which could be prohibitively expensive for many people. This was especially true for those without insurance or with limited coverage. Additionally, long wait times for appointments and limited availability of specialists further exacerbated the…

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Virtual care system designed for COVID-19 grows into a multiuse digital health tool

Virtual care system designed for COVID-19 grows into a multiuse digital health tool

In 2019, Cleveland-based University Hospitals saw an opportunity to use automation and digital care technologies to improve patient engagement, clinical care and outcomes.THE PROBLEM
Ultimately, the health system was looking for ways to improve patient engagement first and foremost and then wanted to see how it could use automated tools to improve outcomes.
It also recognized the foundational changes occurring in the health system – especially when it came to consumer behavior and increased competition from nontraditional healthcare disruptors. The organization wanted to offer its patients tools and options that support their personal healthcare journeys in these ways.
PROPOSAL
“We implemented Amwell Automated Care Programs…

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Virtual care enables BrightView Health to increase outpatient access

Virtual care enables BrightView Health to increase outpatient access

BrightView Health, a behavioral health facility that specializes in addiction treatment and substance abuse, already was using telehealth when the COVID-19 pandemic and associated response happened. The organization mostly was using telehealth between its various locations.THE PROBLEM
However, BrightView did not have a secure communications platform to engage with patients either synchronously or asynchronously.
“So, the pandemic and the lockdowns created some potential gaps in access to care that we needed to predict and fill,” said Navdeep S. Kang, chief clinical officer at BrightView Health and a fellow with the Obama Foundation. “We looked at several platforms to implement secure communications.
“We were specifically interested…

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North Queensland GPs get access to Inca's care planning platform

North Queensland GPs get access to Inca’s care planning platform

The Northern Queensland Primary Health Network is deploying a shared care platform to GPs in North Queensland. The care planning platform, INCA, developed by the health IT company Precedence Health Care, enables health professionals to manage patient health data, create and monitor care plans, and share information digitally. 
This system allows the creation of Medicare-compliant GP management plans and team care arrangements, which can be automatically shared with the care team. It also enables GPs to allocate tasks and send automatic reminders for actions needing completion, track and monitor adherence to a plan, and store all approved and shared documentation in one record.
Moreover, INCA…

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Intermountain and Story Health partner on specialty care for heart failure

Intermountain and Story Health partner on specialty care for heart failure

Intermountain Health is looking to artificial intelligence and high-touch coaching to increase care personalization and medication adherence for patients with heart failure.WHY IT MATTERS 
Coaches from Story Health, which helps develop personalized care plans using clinical data, will be available to answer Intermountain patients’ questions via text or call. They’ll also remind them about essential medication changes and ensure that vascular patients have access to the medications they need between visits.
“Patients have long journeys with their health, and a significant part of that journey takes place after they leave the clinician’s office,” said Tom Stanis, CEO and cofounder of Story Health, in…

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Remote therapeutic monitoring is reimbursable – here's what you need to know

Remote therapeutic monitoring is reimbursable – here’s what you need to know

Ever since CMS released the new CPT codes for remote therapeutic monitoring last year, health systems have been eager to use them, but unsure of the criteria. Providers are acknowledged for the time they spend connecting with patients outside of the office.With the new CPT codes, providers can get reimbursed for:

Educating patients on how to use a remote care-management platform.

Monitoring a platform’s alerts and patients’ use of remote education.

Direct patient/provider messaging within the platform.

Data collection via the platform, i.e., collecting patient feedback on pain levels, activity and motion.

To qualify for reimbursable RTM, providers need to use software deemed a medical device…

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