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The second Pop Health Forum 2016 took place in Chicago with expert speakers, panelists and healthcare professionals discussing pressing issues, from analytics to chronic care management to telehealth. Here’s a roundup of what happened. 

As NHS seeks to modernize, HIMSS will help leading hospitals partner with international counterparts such as Mayo and Cleveland Clinic.

Telehealth services can help providers and patients improve healthcare outcomes by reducing the barriers to care.

Consumers now can see psychologists and psychiatrists on Amwell, a telehealth app that enables visits with caregivers via video technology.

Building on its experience with Ebola in 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has created CDC Emergency Response Teams (CERT) of epidemiologists analyze and study Zika. 

Apixio’s next-generation analytics help health systems improve chart audits, build “the true state of the patient,” and enhance patient care, risk management, and the bottom line.

Granite Health and Exeter Health Resources are partnering with the aims of achieving meaningful operational efficiencies and boosting a robust population health management program already in place. Granite Health itself is a partnership of five of the largest community-based health systems in New Hampshire, including Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, Concord Hospital in Concord, LRGHealthcare in Laconia and Franklin, Southern New Hampshire Health in Nashua and Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover. Exeter Health Resources includes operating affiliates Exeter Hospital, Core Physicians and Rockingham Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice. Granite Health is leveraging its broad scope of services and scale to identify care gaps and unexplained variation in utilization, cost and quality across its member health systems, the organization said. By adding Exeter Hospital’s 38 communities in its primary service area, Granite Health member health systems now serve eight of the largest cities and more than 120 towns in the state. With its significant scale and services, Granite Health has established a patient-centered population health management program to improve care, enhance the patient experience and decrease overall cost of care by practicing evidence-based medicine, the organization explained. The approach, the organization said, includes: • A data-driven strategy using claims and clinical information to identify populations in need of intervention and unexplained variation in utilization, cost and quality across the health system. • Learning collaborative and identification of best practices for care coordination and patient engagement. • Evidence-based recommendations for clinical practice that target known gaps and unexplained variation in care. “Granite Health continues to be at the forefront of embracing innovative ideas to improve the health of New Hampshire communities,” said Kevin J. Callahan, president and CEO of Exeter Health Resources. “The Exeter Health Resources affiliates will bring a lot of new strengths and capacity to Granite Health. But even for successful, growing independent healthcare organizations there are significant benefits from joining with other successful locally independent organizations to share resources, knowledge, competencies and infrastructure. By joining Granite Health, we will be better equipped to face the challenges of an ever-changing healthcare marketplace and help shape an even better future for New Hampshire’s healthcare system.” Rachel Rowe, president and CEO of Granite Health, has led the organization since its inception in 2011. “Throughout its 120-year history, Exeter Hospital has seen considerable growth and has become a leader in adopting effective tools to improve the health of its community,” Rowe said. “We have been working on population health management and operational efficiencies for over five years now. In the midst of a changing healthcare delivery system, we are excited to be growing and serving as a model for success.” Callahan joins Granite Health’s board of directors, which is comprised of the CEOs who represent each of Granite Health’s member health systems. Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT Email the writer: bill.siwicki@himssmedia.com Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook and LinkedIn

Between 2010 and 2015, Medicare beneficiaries across all states avoided almost 104,000 readmissions, according to CMS data released Tuesday.

OpenNotes has enlisted 10 experts from across the healthcare industry to serve as founding members of the OpenNotes Advisory Board.

The startup’s COVALENCE Analytics Platform is designed to simplify healthcare and help enterprises better manage population health.