News

LAS VEGAS -- When Inova Health saw that Affordable Care Act initiatives for value-based care would cut 7 percent, or $220 million, out of the $3 billion health system’s successful fee-for-service revenues, the northern Virginia provider knew it needed to change, said President and COO Mark Stauder. “Thinking through our strategic plan, we are a fee-for-service community of chiefly independent private practicing physicians,” Stauder said during HIMSS16. “We were a great fee for service; we needed a new revenue source.” The result was a partnership with Aetna and the creation of a new health plan called Innovation Health. [Also: See photos from Day 1 of HIMSS16] From 2012 to 2014, the partnership has realized an 8-20 percent cost reduction per employer; 17 percent reduction in the number of unnecessary hospital days after surgery; 15 percent fewer hospital admissions; and 21 percent fewer hospital readmissions, Stauder said. Despite the success Stauder said he feels the health system is still in “Population Health 101.” “This is a difficult journey that’s going to take us another five years or more to get good at it,” Stauder said. The strategic plan through 2020 focuses on population health, individualized wellness and the aggressive pursuit of personalized medicine, Stauder said. In 2012, the health system had no risk. Today it’s 50 percent. There are 90,000 commercial risk patients and the system purchased a Medicaid health plan from Amerigroup of 60,000 members. “We wanted to build critical mass with covered lives and build a shared savings construct,” Stauder said. “We’re in a market with many commercial payers. We needed to broaden market share.” The goal by 2020 is to have a million covered lives. Aetna provides health plan administration; claims and customer service; analytics; technology and care management programs. Inova provides a nationally recognized healthcare system, and more member management at the primary care level of chronic conditions and lower unit costs. Innovation Health began in September 2013 and has grown to 180,000 members. The health system’s narrow network is supplemented by the national Aetna network, he said. “It’s about empowering the physician providers,” Stauder said, emphasizing the need to get their cooperation. Care coordinators steer members towards appropriate programs and there are alerts given if any members are in network hospitals, he said. For post-acute care, there are transitional programs; post-discharge community placement; and medical home for 30 days for high risk for readmission patients. The system is currently building out an advanced illness model to include home-based physician visits and EPIC community based visits. Analytics and IT tools include using, a fully integrated EMR through EPIC, a MyChart portable EMR patient engagement driver, telemedicine; analytics for risk stratification and predictive data analytics for clinical quality. The Aetna platform also interfaces with Epic. Twitter: @SusanJMorse This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the HIMSS16 conference. Follow our live blog for real-time updates, and visit Destination HIMSS16 for a full rundown of our reporting from the show. For a selection of some of the best social media posts of the show, visit our Trending at #HIMSS16 hub.

LAS VEGAS – Rueben Devlin, CEO of Humber River Hospital in Toronto, sees full digitization as the future of physician efficiency and patient experience.  In seeking to fully digitize Humber River, the hospital focused on improving communications, bringing disparate technologies together into one streamlined package. Monitors on the outside of patient rooms are just the tip of the iceberg. “It tells people coming to that room what’s going on – if there are infection control problems, any special precautions that need to be made,” said Devlin. “If a nurse or physician is in the room, that will show up on the monitor as well.” [Also: See photos from Day 1 of HIMSS16] All nurses and physicians are also assigned “rugged PDAs,” smartphones that can take pictures, provide code call applications and scan bar codes. Devlin said the hospital recently implemented use of real-time locating systems. The RTLS devices are doled out to clinicians and patients alike, not only ensuring that nobody gets lost, but that hospital staff can more efficiently perform their jobs. “(Visitors) can track their family member in the waiting room on the screen,” said Devlin. “That solves their problem of constantly going back to the desk to check where they are.” Humber River Hospital in Toronto A patient portal at Humber further advances efficiencies in communication, he said. The patient portal “allows patients to access their own information (and) empowers physicians to access information off-site if they’re allowed to.” Devlin asserted that this has decreased registration load. Online billing is a component of the patient portal, and operates within a secure firewall. Since implementing full digitization in October 2015, the hospital has seen an increase in safety, with a higher focus on care, said Devlin. Communications aren’t the only ways in which technology has changed the landscape. Wireless addressable light switches, chromatic glass windows controlled by the patient, and 100 percent fresh air with temperature control has heralded a 40.8 percent decrease in energy usage. Automating the little things helps, too – as in the case of garbage. “Pneumatic garbage chutes … deliver the materials right to shipping and receiving,” said Devlin. “That goes on a truck. That’s quite helpful; none of the dirty material needs to be dragged through the hospital.” Devlin said part of the hospital’s success in innovation is due to gleaning a wide swath of ideas from different hospitals, and in keeping track of what non-health entities are doing to become more technologically current. “You need to look at other industries,” he said. “A big supporter of ours is someone who owns a lot of McDonald’s. … They’re very efficient. They only walk three to four steps to get to everything they need within their facility. We needed to look at other industries who were doing a good job.” The next steps for the hospital include creating a center of excellence, and implementing black box technology in operating rooms, similar to what’s found on an airplane – in case “something untoward happens.” Twitter: @JELagasse This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the HIMSS16 conference. Follow our live blog for real-time updates, and visit Destination HIMSS16 for a full rundown of our reporting from the show. For a selection of some of the best social media posts of the show, visit our Trending at #HIMSS16 hub.

At the Federal Health IT Solutions Pavilion, a solution to FHIR "ambiguities."

In a frank conversation with Healthcare IT News, the Epic CEO says her company gets a bad rap. But the numbers show it more than stacks up.

The massive rollout will require a coordinated effort by clinical, business and information technology stakeholders, says Defense Health Agency's William Roberts.

One success story is the Colorado Rural Health Center partnered with Cyberscience Corp. to speed up processes, a move that has saved time and money.

The funding will go toward patient- and provider-facing apps, as well as a ‘store’ where consumers can download them. 

Thomas Carton, director of health services research at REACHnet, also says tablets are changing the way data is managed.

AMIA president touts the need for an informed workforce who can use the data to make EHRs more useful.

LAS VEGAS – WellDoc, a mobile health technology vendor, announced Tuesday at HIMSS16 a collaboration with LifeScan, a blood glucose monitoring business within the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Care Companies, to deliver a digital health system for patients living with type-2 diabetes. In addition to the collaboration, Johnson & Johnson Innovation/JJDC Inc. participated in WellDoc’s $29.5 million Series B financing. Under the collaboration, WellDoc’s BlueStar product, an FDA-cleared digital therapeutic for adults who live with type-2 diabetes, will be integrated with LifeScan’s OneTouch Verio Flex Bluetooth Smart blood glucose monitoring system and OneTouch Reveal mobile app. The collaboration seeks to leverage LifeScan’s blood glucose monitoring system and mobile app along with the data analytics and patient engagement of WellDoc’s reimbursable mobile prescription therapy to create a real-time, personalized approach to the management of type-2 diabetes. “Together we seek to provide those living with type-2 diabetes a best-in-class diabetes management solution that delivers evidence-based and outcomes-driven support in a consumer-friendly manner,” said Kevin McRaith, CEO of WellDoc. “This is a very significant step forward for our company and has the potential to make a difference in the lives of millions of people living with this chronic disease.” Samsung Ventures, the venture arm of the consumer electronics giant, acted as the lead investor in the initial WellDoc Series B raise with existing investor Merck Global Health Innovation Fund serving as co-lead. Adage Capital Management, Excel Venture Management, Asset Ventures Management, Alexandria Venture Investments, Hudson River Capital Partners LLC and other investors also participated in the financing. WellDoc develops mobile systems to drive behavioral and clinical change in chronic disease with the goal of improving patient self-management and helping physicians overcome gaps in care to improve clinical outcomes and decrease cost. Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the HIMSS16 conference. Follow our live blog for real-time updates, and visit Destination HIMSS16 for a full rundown of our reporting from the show. For a selection of some of the best social media posts of the show, visit our Trending at #HIMSS16 hub.