KeyCare CEO Lyle Berkowitz, MD

Digital Health

Everything That Washed Ashore at Epic UGM

Epic went with a Castaway theme for this year’s User Group Meeting, and it’s easy to see why considering Tom Hanks would need years on a deserted island to sort through all the new features and partnerships announced at the show.

Luckily for Hanks, we already rounded up all the biggest news from the event, starting with the headline grabber: 

Microsoft and Epic are going all-in on AI. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella even attended in-person to lay out how the partnership will reshape clinical workflows with generative AI.

• Ambient clinical note generation powered by Nuance DAX Express 
• Added in-basket messaging features that auto-generate first-draft responses
• Rev cycle enhancements that provide coding staff with suggestions based on EHR data
• New Look-Alikes program that matches patients with unidentified conditions to others with similar symptoms to help inform novel treatments

Epic CEO Judy Faulkner also took the stage in a sweet island explorer / Burning Man costume to share Epic’s overhauled partnership program, which now includes four distinct categories.

• Cornerstone Partners – tech that serves as the backbone of Epic’s own software (InterSystems, Microsoft)
• Partners – market leaders in specific areas (Nuance for ambient voice, PressGaney for consumer surveys)
• Member Services – established integrations providing complementary value 
• Pals – new category that allows innovative vendors to work closely with its EHR, including Abridge for ambient voice and the just-announced addition of Talkdesk for contact center workforce management

A new app “Showroom” will be the home base for the above partners, replacing the App Orchard that Epic shut down last year. 

• When Showroom officially launches in a few weeks, it’ll be exclusive to a much more curated cohort of Partners and Pals than the Orchard’s 800+ third-party vendors, a decision that Epic said will help users find the “signal in the noise” and facilitate deeper collaborations. 

The Takeaway

Under the bright lights of an island-themed stage, Epic’s new features look nothing short of transformative, and its newfound willingness to play nice with partners could make a huge impact on nearly all aspects of care delivery. The real question will be whether these enhancements can be deployed as envisioned so that they can live up to their potential. It’s a massive undertaking, but there are countless clinicians that would love if Epic could pull it off.  

Save Time & Minimize Risk with connectRN

connectRN takes the work out of hiring at scale. connectRN’s W2 staffing solution protects you and your business from liability. Plus, their credentialing team handles everything from state licensure to background checks, and you’ll have access to it all via their user-friendly platform. Learn more.

Elevate Your Care Operations with Medallion

Join Medallion, the leading all-in-one provider network management platform, at Elevate 2023 on September 20th! Dive deep into the future of healthcare and explore strategies for transforming operations with top voices from Hims & Hers, Equip Health, Optum, Curai Health and more. Take advantage of this must-attend virtual conference by Registering Here.

The New Standard for Prescription Safety

Synapse Medicine’s quick-deploy Prescription Assistance API and components can be up and running in less than a day and instantly connect your HCPs to real-time drug data and prescribing support. Find out how easy it can be to equip your providers with the tools they need to ensure prescription safety and precision for their patients.

The Wire

• Innovaccer Unveils Sara for Healthcare: Not to let other AI events have all the fun, Innovaccer’s inaugural Innovation Keynote introduced its own impressive suite of “Sara for Healthcare” solutions. Originally teased at HIMSS23, Sara for Healthcare targets four distinct areas with purpose-built solutions: 1) immediately answers health system executive’s questions on clinical, financial, or operational metrics; 2) assists care coordinators with visit planning and documentation; 3) provides automated clinical note generation; 4) streamlines contact center workflows. 

• Medicaid Disenrollment: At least 5,366,000 Medicaid enrollees have been disenrolled as of this week, based on a KFF analysis of data from the 45 states with reporting requirements. Overall, 37% of people with a completed renewal were disenrolled, with dramatic variation between states. Disenrollments ranged from a whopping 72% in Texas to just 8% in Wyoming, which KFF pinned on differences in renewal policies (shocker..) and system capacity.

• Thyme Series B: Value-based oncology platform Thyme Care locked in a $60M Series B round (total funding now $83M) to help more cancer patients navigate the complications of their disease. For its nearly 3,000 cancer patients, Thyme serves as an always-on liaison with their entire care team, handling everything from symptom Q&As to prescription management. Patients have access to the service through their health plans, while Thyme generates revenue by sharing in the cost reductions. 

• Hospitals Pulling Back From VC: STAT put out a great piece on why many hospitals are quietly dissolving their venture investing arms after losing billions since peak pandemic mania. It’s a familiar tale: when valuations skyrocket to all-time-highs there’s a line around the block to invest, yet these same investors are nowhere to be seen after valuations get hammered back to realistic levels where they actually have a better chance of creating outsized returns.

• ChatGPT Differential Diagnoses Struggles: A Mass General Brigham-led study found that ChatGPT is about 72% accurate in overall clinical decision making, but struggles to make differential diagnoses between similar conditions (60% accuracy). As the study authors put it, that’s an important finding because it tells us “where physicians are truly experts and adding the most value – in the early stages of patient care with little presenting information, when a list of possible diagnoses is needed.”

• Bayer + Mahana DTx Commercialization: Bayer is walking the talk after launching its new Precision Health unit for consumer products, inking a substantial distribution partnership with digital therapeutic developer Mahana. The commercialization agreement will see Bayer support the marketing and distribution efforts for Mahana’s DTx solutions, starting with its de novo-cleared prescription digital therapeutic for reducing the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.

• Successful Pig Kidney Transplant: NYU Langone Health reported that a genetically modified pig kidney continued to function optimally “well after 32 days” in a brain-dead patient, the longest period ever for that type of operation. Xenotransplantations between other species and humans are already common for some tissues such as heart valves, but gene-edited breakthroughs could be paving the way for a new alternative supply of life-saving organs.

• Patients Leaving ED Without Care: Rebounding ED volumes and growing wait times have led to a record number of patients leaving the ED without receiving complete care, according to EDBA data from over 1,500 EDs. The percentage of patients who left the ED before completing treatment increased from 2.7% in 2019 to 4.6% in 2022, amounting to roughly 7M patients and $1B in lost revenue. Much of that increase is explained by average boarding times (between patients arriving in the ED and transitioning to a hospital bed) jumped from 121 minutes to 192 minutes over that same period.

• Employers Searching for Value: A Business Group on Health survey found that large employers are increasingly trying to avoid passing healthcare costs on to workers amid record-low unemployment. The average healthcare cost per worker reached $17,200 in 2023 (up from $15,862 in 2022), and most companies are eating the bulk of that increase instead of passing it on. Benefits managers are understandably worried that strategy might not be sustainable, and many are already looking for new value-oriented vendors (66%), health plans (25%), and PBMs (16%).

• Nursa Raises $80M: The funding-heavy week also saw nurse staffing platform Nursa close an $80M Series B round and announce “the completion of its executive leadership team” with the addition of experienced Chief Product, Revenue, and Technology Officers. Nursa focuses on hospitals, post-acute, and long-term care facilities, pointing to its “locally driven” national platform as a key differentiator.

• Fish Oil False Advertising: Fish oil is used by one-fifth of US adults over age 60, often due to the heart health benefits marketed on product labels despite a serious lack of scientific evidence. In a JAMA study analyzing 2,819 fish oil supplements, 73.9% of product labels made at least one health claim (most commonly for heart, brain, and joint health), yet 80% of those labels made structure/function assertions that aren’t FDA-approved.

Patient-Centered Design for Diabetes Care

Glooko’s recently overhauled Mobile App makes it easier than ever for diabetes patients to organize, log, visualize, and share their data. Head over to this conversation with Glooko’s product and design team for a behind-the-scenes look at how patient-centered design is improving diabetes outcomes.

Creating an Exceptional Engagement Experience

With a surge in experience‑oriented disruptors entering the healthcare industry, patient engagement is becoming a crucial competitive differentiator. Get your copy of Nuance’s guide to  delivering intelligent interactions and a better experience at every touchpoint.

Successful RPM Through End-to-End Support

From needs assessments and program deployment to security enhancements and call center monitoring, Clear Arch Health offers fully customizable support services to help you get the most from your RPM solution.