Bonus Features – August 6, 2023 – 83% of hospitals are collecting SDoH data, 46% of hospitals planning to use large language models in the call center, and more

Brian Eastwood

Welcome to the weekly edition of Healthcare IT Today Bonus Features. This article will be a weekly roundup of interesting stories, product announcements, new hires, partnerships, research studies, awards, sales, and more. Because there’s so much happening out there in healthcare IT we aren’t able to cover in our full articles, we still want to make sure you’re informed of all the latest news, announcements, and stories happening to help you better do your job.

News and Research

• Five in six (83%) of hospitals are collecting SDoH data, according to the latest ONC Data Brief, with 74% using structured, electronic screening tools. Another 60% of hospitals are receiving SDoH data from outside sources, primarily from HIE entities.
• Nearly half (46%) of providers already have or plan to deploy large language models in their call centers, according to a survey from Hyro. This is in light of 39% of respondents noting staff burnout and turnover as primary causes of call center inefficiency.
• Healthcare accounted for 36% of all enterprise data breaches in 2022, according to the latest research from ForgeRock. The report also cited a 50% increase in breaches from 2022 as compared to 2021.
• A similar report from Barracuda found that ransomware attacks against healthcare more than doubled over the last 12 months.
• According to an AdvancedMD survey of providers, 84% of patients are reporting stress levels that are higher today than they were in 2020.
• A separate survey from TimelyCare found that 85% of college students are as stressed or more stressed this year than they were last year.
• The latest hospital finance report from Syntellis noted that hospital operating margins are at their highest levels in 18 months.

Partnerships

• Fintech company Cedar is working with Google Cloud to build AI-powered tools to hep patients understand medical bills.
• Cognizant and Google Cloud announced a joint effort to develop a large language model for healthcare administrative tasks.
• Wolters Kluwer and Unbound Medicine released a mobile app that digitizes Lippincott’s Nursing Drug Handbook.
• Scripta Insights is integrating Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company‘s discounted pricing into its Med Mapper program for self-insured employers and health plans.
• Staffing and professional services firms ShiftMed and Huron are collaborating to help hospitals recruit and onboard on-demand healthcare workers.

Product and Company News

• Voice assistant Suki launched its native Mac app.
• KMS Healthcare launched CONNECT, an interoperability platform for developers of digital health technology.
• Xerox subsidiary CareAR launched CareAR for Healthcare, which includes the CareAR Virtual Care platform that incorporates augmented reality into care management.
• Customer experience platform Weave launched Email Assistant, which automates email outreach for healthcare providers. In addition, Weave added Mobile Tap to Pay to its payment platform.
• Wellsky launched WellSky Team Insights for Personal Care to help agencies manage personnel and increase retention.
• Behavioral health program provider United We Care launched its mental health and wellness coaching program in the United States.
• MAGENTIQ-EYE received FDA 510(k) clearance for its AI-aided colonoscopy technology that can detect lesions in real time.
• Stroke care company Kandu Health published preliminary outcomes from its clinical study, with patients achieving higher rates of functional independence after 90 days.

Sales

• The Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services chose PointClickCare to develop a behavioral health treatment and referral platform. Also, PointClickCare is now part of the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association Strategic Business Partner program.
• Kidney care management company Interwell Health added more than 20 nephrology practices to its network.
• ACO REACH provider Upperline Health chose Innovaccer data analytics and population health management products.
• Chicago-based RUSH University System for Health chose Cadence for remote monitoring and virtual care for Medicare and Medicaid patients with chronic conditions.
• California’s Orange County Migraine & Wellness Center selected eClinicalWorks Cloud EHR and healow. In addition, Texas-based Midland Community Healthcare Services is transitioning to eClinicalWorks.
• Illinois-based Springfield Clinic is migrating to athenahealth‘s cloud-based EHR.
• Oklahoma-based LIFE Senior Services chose Pear Suite for tech-enabled health and social care support for community-based workers.
• Norwegian fertility network Klinikk Hausken selected Fairtility analytics and decision support software.

People

• Value-based analytics company Clarify Health appointed Terry Boch as Chief Commercial Officer.
• Interoperability company Kno2 appointed Dr. Peter Schoch as Chief Health Officer.
• Clinical workflow platform Rimidi named Dr. Mark Cohen as Chief Medical Advisor.
• EHR and RCM vendor ModMed appointed Denise Ceule as Chief Legal Officer.
• Configo Health appointed David Bertoch as Executive Vice President of Pediatric Analytics and Research Programs.
• Patient engagement company Carenet Health hired Patches Seely as Executive Vice President of Clinical Solutions.
• Chatbot maker Mediktor named John Wray as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
• Value-based care platform Privia Health named David S. Wichmann and Pamela O. Kimmet to the Board of Directors.
• symplr Chief Nursing Officer Karlene Kerfoot received the DAISY Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

If you have news that you’d like us to consider for a future edition of Healthcare IT Today Bonus Features, please submit them on this page. Please include any relevant links and let us know if news is under embargo. Note that submissions received after the close of business on Thursday may not be included in Bonus Features until the following week.