According to a new joint study by the RAND Corporation and the American Medical Association, physician payment models are becoming more complex and the pace of change is increasing, creating challenges for physician practices that might hamper their ability to improve the quality and efficiency of care despite their willingness to change.The study is a follow-up to a similar one conducted in 2014 to assess how physician practices were responding to alternative payment models. These models are
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Fred Pennic
Fred Pennic is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of HIT Consultant. Fred is a seasoned health IT strategist with fourteen years of experience in providing advisory services to executive leadership at hospitals and health systems. Some of his previous clients include Mayo Clinic, Stanford Hospital and Health Clinics, Northwell Health, Trinity Health.
Voice Search in Healthcare: Using Voice-Enabled Devices for Healthcare Information
When it comes to voice search in healthcare, only 24% of consumers are using voice-enabled devices to search for healthcare information. From smartphones to smart speakers, consumers are searching with their voices. What exactly they are searching for when it comes to healthcare-related topics is explored in a new study from the market research team at Zion & Zion, a top-ranked, full-service national marketing agency.The study reveals only 24% of consumers have searched for healthcare
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HHS Unveils International Pricing Index to Lower Medicare Part B Drugs for Patients
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), today announced unveiled the “International Pricing Index” (IPI) payment model to reduce what Americans pay for Medicare Part B prescription drugs.Under the IPI model, described in an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM), Medicare’s payments for select physician-administered drugs would shift to a level more closely aligned with prices in other countries. Overall savings for
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Mercom: Global Digital Health VC Funding Tops $3.1B in Q3 2018
Global digital health venture capital (VC) funding has already reached $9 billion in 2018, up 46 percent year-over-year (YoY) with a record $8B across 556 deals, according to market research firm Mercom Capital. The latest report reveals global digital health VC funding reached $3.1B across 173 deals, versus Q2 2018’s $2.4B in 196 deals.To date, digital health companies have raised ~$34B in 4,006 VC funding deals since 2010. Total corporate funding - including VC, debt, and public market
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K4Connect Raises $12M to Expand Smart Tech for Senior Living Communities
K4Connect, a Raleigh, NC-based digital health startup providing smart technology solutions for senior living communities has raised $12 million in Series B funding led by AXA Venture Partners. Founded in 2013, K4Connect plans to use the latest round of funding to further develop the Company's K4Community solution and underlying Fusion platform/OS technologies. In addition, the company plans to accelerate its partnerships across a spectrum of consumer and senior living-specific
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Ambra Health’s New App Offers Providers Instant Access to Medical Images
Ambra Health, an NYC cloud-based, medical image management suite has announced the launch of its first mobile app for providers, offering immediate access to medical imaging right in the palm of their hands. Designed with accessibility and ease of viewing in mind, the new Ambra Health app offers healthcare providers an intuitive image viewing experience, fully optimized for mobile viewing.The Ambra app, which was developed in close collaboration with leading providers, allows physicians to
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Garmin, Fitabase Collaboration Enables Researchers to Access Wearable Data
Garmin, today announced a new collaboration with Fitabase that will enable researchers to access data from Garmin wearables via the Fitabase platform, providing curated datasets ideal for deep analysis. Fitabase, a San Diego-based company founded by a team of research experts, has worked with over 150 academic and clinical institutions worldwide on over 500 studies with one singular goal: better research, better results. The Fitabase platform makes it easy to deploy the latest digital health
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IDx and Topcon Join Forces to Scale AI-based Diagnostic Platform in the U.S. Market
IDx, an AI diagnostics company, and Topcon, one of the world’s leading ophthalmic device manufacturers, have signed an exclusivity agreement that will allow the companies to scale delivery of AI-based diagnostic solutions in the U.S. market. As part of the agreement, is granted exclusive rights to IDx-DR system, an autonomous AI system that instantly detects diabetic retinopathy in fundus images, exclusively with Topcon NW400, an easy to use, robotic fundus camera. IDx-DR is an FDA-cleared
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Rush University Medical Center Integrates Indoor Navigation with Epic’s MyChart Appointment Scheduling
Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, today announced a partnership with Connexient to integrate the MediNav™ solution with the MyRush Mobile app; a mobile app for patients powered by Epic’s MyChart. Rush is the first Connexient customer that will combine Indoor GPS with appointment scheduling in MyChart.When patients log into the MyRush mobile app they will now be able to navigate directly to their appointments using Connexient's MediNav and access their records with Epic's MyChart
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Validic Launches Statistics Engine to Drive Population Health Analytics from Patient Generated Health Data
Validic, a Durham, NC-based patient-generated health data integration, and analysis platform, today announced the release of Validic Statistics Engine that will offer new opportunities for patient-generated health data in care delivery and management. The Statistics Engine enables organizations to easily derive individual or population-level trends and anomalies from PGHD. Making Patent-Generated Health Data (PGHD) Actionable for CliniciansBeyond optical character recognition, there are many
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