The first quarter of 2021 has been one of investor optimism as the vaccine rollout continues ahead of expectations and economic activity begins to accelerate in response. Within the Health IT industry, the already strong investment and M&A trends seen in 2020 have only accelerated. Over the course of the quarter, we observed $7 billion in private equity and venture capital investment across 158 companies. By comparison, Q1 of 2020 saw $3.2 billion and 127 investments. Health IT
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Boost Operational, Clinical and Financial Performance with Good Data
There’s an old adage that every challenge is merely an opportunity in disguise. COVID-19 highlighted the healthcare industry’s ongoing challenge with producing clean, standardized data. As the industry looks to rebound from the severe financial impact of the pandemic, there’s a renewed urgency among hospitals and health networks to improve operational efficiency. The push toward greater operational efficiency – in a time of constrained budgets and resources – has accelerated
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Best Practices to Ensure Telehealth Security and Protect Patient Data
To support the sudden increase in test results and medical records being transmitted during the pandemic, hospitals, laboratories, and pharmacies implemented additional devices and remote connections into their networks. After the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) lifted penalties around telehealth to expand care options amid the crisis, new platforms were adopted that were not previously allowed by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This exercise of discretion
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Nuance Acquires Ambient AI Assistant for Physicians Platform Saykara
What You Should Know: - Nuance acquires ambient AI healthcare voice assistant Saykara, Inc. to bring complementary AI technology and engineering talent to conversational AI and ambient clinical intelligence market leader. - Kara’s AI-powered healthcare voice assistant can be used during a physician-patient encounter without any voice commands, promising to eliminate up to 100% of after-hours charting and records entry Nuance Communications, Inc. today announced the acquisition of
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Epic, Galen Healthcare, Chartis Group Named 2020 Overall Best in KLAS Awards
What You Should Know: - Epic was named the top Overall Software Suite for the eleventh consecutive year in the Best in KLAS 2021 Software & Services report, released today, which reports on the top vendors for 2020. Epic was also named the top Overall Physician Practice Vendor. Galen Healthcare Solutions was named the top Overall IT Services Firm. The Chartis Group earned the award of top Overall Healthcare Management Consulting Firm, edging out last year’s winner,
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Provider Strategies for Mitigating Telehealth Fraud & Abuse in 2021
As healthcare spending continues to rise, so too does the inherent risk for bad actors to take advantage. Today, the United States is estimated to spend nearly 18 percent of its GDP, or $3.6 trillion, on healthcare, and is expected to increase to one-fifth of GDP within the next decade, according to the latest data. This alone provides ample motivation for fraud and abuse. While the full extent of healthcare fraud is difficult to measure, The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association
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30 Executives Share Top Healthcare Predictions & Trends to Watch in 2021
As we close out the year, we asked several healthcare executives to share their predictions and trends for 2021. Kimberly Powell, Vice President & General Manager, NVIDIA Healthcare Federated Learning: The clinical community will increase their use of federated learning approaches to build robust AI models across various institutions, geographies, patient demographics, and medical scanners. The sensitivity and selectivity of these models are outperforming AI models
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M&A: Cedar Gate Acquires Deerwalk to Enhance Value-Based Care Analytics
What You Should Know: - Cedar Gate acquires Deerwalk, an innovative population
health management, data management, and healthcare analytics software company
based in Lexington, Massachusetts. - By acquiring Deerwalk, Cedar Gate expands its
employer-based offerings with the ability to actively engage employers and ASOs
as they manage rising healthcare costs. The combined suite of offerings
improves the patient experience and delivers financial sustainability. Cedar Gate Technologies
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Hospital Sustainability Demands that Revenue Integrity Move Front and Center
Razor-thin operational margins coupled with substantial and ongoing losses related to COVID-19 are culminating in a perfect storm of bottom-line issues for U.S. hospitals and health systems. A study commissioned by the American Hospital Association (AHA) found that the median hospital margin overall was just 3.5% pre-pandemic, and projected margins will stay in the red for at least half of the nation’s hospitals for the remainder of 2020. The reality is that an increase in
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Volaris Group Acquires Clinical Workforce & Workflow Platform medaptus
What You Should Know: - Volaris Group acquires medaptus, a clinical workforce, and workflow solutions that empower healthcare delivery entities to achieve their desired patient, clinical and financial outcomes. Today, Volaris Group has acquired medaptus, a healthcare technology company that removes the administrative burden from hospital and group practice operations to enable higher efficiency throughput. Removing common and costly workflow barriers from
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