Healthcare data exchange solutions provider, Opala, announced commercial availability of its Attribution API, which streamlines delivery of value-based care to patients in a way that yields significant administrative efficiency and improves reimbursement for providers. In tandem, the company announced the first deployment of this solution at MultiCare Connected Care.
Designed in partnership with MultiCare in Washington State and a multi-state health insurance provider in Washington State and Alaska, the API leverages the Health Level Seven (HL7) Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standard to identify which patients are part of value-based care contracts and ensure that providers and payers have complete information about patients in real time.
Historically, comparing lists of patients on value-based contracts with those in providers’ records has been a time-consuming, error-prone manual process, overly reliant on Word documents or Excel spreadsheets to share information. Without clear visibility into a patient’s coverage, providers often are unsure of which patients qualify for comprehensive and preventative care.
“Provider and payer organizations have spent the last 25 years trying to figure out how to unlock the promise of value-based contracting. Today, Opala accomplished this goal,” said Opala CEO Ken Chandler. “Our Attribution API uses FHIR standards to automate information sharing between payers and providers, delivering member data that is accurate and available in real-time, in a scalable format so it can easily be implemented to any provider or payer organization.”
Wheel has acquired GoodRx‘s virtual health tech business as part of a $19.5 million digital health infrastructure licensing deal, first reported by Axios. According to an SEC filing, GoodRx will continue to provide its consumers access to telehealth services through the GoodRx Care platform using Wheel’s technology and staffing services.
Earlier this year, Wheel closed a $150 million funding round to help more companies offer patients virtual-first care.
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Fathom, an automated medical coding startup launched in 2017, has closed a $46 million Series B funding round. Alkeon Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round with participation from Cedars-Sinai, Vituity’s Inflect Health, ApolloMD as well as existing investors Founders Fund and Tarsadia.
Galym Imanbayev, M.D., Partner at Lightspeed, and Mark McLaughlin, General Partner at Alkeon Capital, will join the Fathom board of directors. The Series B round brings Fathom’s total funding to $61 million.
“Widespread autonomous medical coding is one of the first steps to rebuilding America’s healthcare payments system into something that actually works for providers, payors, and patients,” said Andrew Lockhart, Fathom CEO and cofounder. “With inflation and severe staffing shortages driving up costs at a time when revenues are declining, automation has become a critical lever in ensuring the financial sustainability of our health system. This financing will enable us to radically expand the number of specialties and health systems we support.”
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Tivic Health Systems, a commercial-phase health technology company focused on bioelectronic medicine, will be exhibiting at the HTLH conference with ClearUP, an FDA-approved and clinically proven device that uses low-level electrical stimulation to treat sinus pain and congestion. Tivic is exhibiting in the UCSF Health Hub Pavilion booth #1158-33. HLTH takes place November 13-16, at the Venetian Expo in Las Vegas.
“Key goals of ours are to grow consumer awareness of bioelectronic therapies and to advance these non-invasive drug-free technologies toward becoming mainstream treatment options for common health conditions,” said Blake Gurfein, chief scientific officer of Tivic Health. “The use of bioelectronic medicine to address various conditions has increased during recent years and is expected to continue to expand in scope and commercial traction in the near term. We intend to continue to pioneer bioelectronic medicine research and to grow a trusted brand that builds and delivers evidence-based, safe, and effective bioelectronic therapies.”
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Digital health is transforming the medtech sector as well as consumerization trends, according to a new report from Accenture and AdvaMed. The report — “Digital Health and MedTech — New Signals for Transformation, is based on a global survey of more than 150 medtech executives. It highlights a shift away from traditional healthcare models, with leaders adopting digital health as part of their approach to improving patient outcomes.
“Healthcare is at a crossroads, facing unprecedented pressure and disruption — including affordability challenges, shifting patient expectations, and an increasing deluge of health data,” said Tim Durst, a managing director at Accenture who leads the global medical technology sector in the company’s Life Sciences practice. “With a unique understanding of therapeutics, patients and providers, as well as insights gained from digital devices in the hands of patients, MedTech companies are well-positioned to lead the transformation to digital health. However, companies will need the proper digital foundation to leverage the necessary insights and create a comprehensive digital health solution.”
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