Midweek updates: Walgreens may sell Shields Health after 2 years; Ventric Health’s home cardiac RPM; Singapore military medical corps upgrades PACES 3 EMR

Walgreens reportedly looking to sell Shields Health Solutions, working with advisers on a valuation to raise cash. That valuation may bring $4 billion in a sale. Shields provides specialty pharmacy services and is part of its US Healthcare division. Criticism of the possible sale breaking in Bloomberg 23 January was hardly muted. TD Cowen analysts cited in Healthcare Dive called it “a strange move” to sell what could be Walgreens’ highest margin business with a knock-on effect of slowing a return to profitability. They even proposed that a sale of Boots in the UK might make more sense. A Bloomberg analyst called it “a pointed reversal of the prior CEO’s strategy to diversify” but also stated that “the strategic rationale for owning it remains strong”. It is perhaps the most salable of US Healthcare’s assets, with excellent growth of 27% in its last quarter. WBA bought a minority stake in Shields  in 2019, spent $970 million to take majority control in 2021, and bought out the last 30% for $1.37 billion in 2022.

The impression left by these articles and in FierceHealthcare was that WBA is a “troubled drug-store chain in turnaround mode” (Bloomberg). That isn’t a good look.

Heart failure is a major disease, with 6.5 million in the US diagnosed and joined by 550,000 every year. Ventric Health has a newly FDA-cleared non-invasive cardiac diagnostic system for remote patient monitoring (RPM) that can be used in the home as well as clinical settings. A trained clinician can use Ventric’s Vivio system to perform an evaluation in the home or a clinic that could only previously be done in the hospital. An EKG patch and arm cuff are placed on the patient, connected to a tablet with the Vivio app and its advanced algorithms via Bluetooth, and in under five minutes–two minutes for the data collection and about a minute for the analysis, can evaluate patient heart failure. The portability of the system eliminates a lot of care barriers to cardiovascular health by being more accessible to clinicians and patients in non-hospital settings, reduces time wasted on initial diagnosis, improves support of diagnosed patients, and promotes better outcomes. Healthcare IT News

The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Medical Corps upgraded its EMR for the first time in a decade. The SAF’s Patient Care Enhancement System 3 (PACES 3) runs both the Sunrise EMR system and the newly implemented Altera Opal by Altera Digital Health. This is Sunrise’s first upgrade in Asia-Pacific. Soldiers can now access information on their medical history, manage and book their medical appointments. Also upgraded: document management, clinical and financial applications, including enhanced workflows, improved system performance, enabled compliance with regulatory obligations, and improved overall usability. It also connects securely to Singapore’s National Electronic Health Record system and other local health IT infrastructures via internet. The EMR is the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) of Singapore. Healthcare IT News

Malaysia to spend over $360M for EHRs over the next five years

Obviously no burnout fear here! The Malaysian Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad announced in Parliament in Kuala Lumpur that the government will spend RM1.5 billion ($362.3M or £287.7M) on implementing EHR systems in all government hospitals and clinics over the next five years. The open tender will be announced this year and may be awarded to more than one system in different phases.

Malaysia currently has some information systems at work in its health systems. According to the article in The Edge Markets, out of 145 government hospitals, 35, or 25 percent, have Hospital Information Systems (HIS) such as Cerner, iSoft, Fisicien, Profdoc, and Patient Management System. 7 percent, or 118 out of 1,703 government clinics, have  Clinical Information Systems (CIS) such as Teleprimary Care (TPC), Oral Health Care Information System (OHCIS), and TPC-OHCIS. The Health Ministry is also evaluating proposals from 60 companies prior to opening the tender. The wide-open-spaces where global EHRs could conquer are growing fewer and fewer.

Mobile in healthcare: HIMSS Analytics infographic

You can read the full 3rd Annual HIMSS Analytics Mobile Survey of 170 health IT and clinical staff or treat yourself to the highlights in this infographic. It summarizes key findings such as 59 percent have a mobile technology plan and 29 percent are developing a mobile technology plan; 62 percent indicated that they offer patients access to at least one of the mobile tools identified in the research, including patient portals, telehealth services and remote monitoring devices; only 22 percent indicated that three-quarters of the data captured by mobile devices was integrated into the organization’s EMR. Developed by HIT Consultant.

An essential link to mHealth devices and apps?

Guest columnist Lois Drapin thinks so. She shares her insights on Validic, an emerging company in data integration for payers, providers, preventive wellness companies and pharma;how it evolved from its original concept in consumer health engagement, along with a few pointers its founders have for fellow entrepreneurs.

One of the keystone aspects of “ecosystems” is interoperability and this also applies to the data pipeline that flows from health apps and devices to the appropriate segment of the healthcare delivery system, and eventually, to the users—patients, consumers and/or medical professionals such as physicians and nurses or other clinicians. By now, we all know that the capture and analytics for both “big” and “small” health data are business imperatives for healthcare in the US. With data of this nature, we can embrace our understanding of behavioral change at the individual and population levels. The anticipated outcomes of behavioral change may power operational and cost efficiencies in the healthcare industry.

But data will no longer come from just inside the healthcare delivery system. In addition to the changing technology enablement within the health system, as we all know, data will flow from many things—in fact, The Internet of Things (IoT). This means that data that relates to our lifestyle, wellness and health will pour from the many types of wearable devices not now connected to the heath delivery system. In addition to our computers, tablets, phablets and smartphones, are the many sensors paired with tech innovations such as the wearables— from wristbands, smartwatches, clothing (from shoes to headbands), glasses, contacts, and pendants — to things such as refrigerators, clocks, mattresses, scales, coffee pots, cars, and even, toilets…all of which are predicted to become an important market in the coming years.

Validic, based in Durham, NC, has put itself smack in the middle of that market (more…)

mHealth Summit 2013: Verizon’s role in the HIT ecosystem

Peter Tippett, MD, PhD Talks Verizon’s Role in the Health IT Ecosystem

Lois Drapin, Founder & CEO of The Drapin Group, in the third of her post 2013 mHealth Summit insights, speaks with CMO and VP of Verizon Enterprise Solutions, Peter Tippett, MD, PhD to share his insights on expanding Verizon’s role in the health IT ecosystem during the 2013 mHealth Summit. This article is courtesy of HIT Consultant.

I was happy to hear that Peter Tippett, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Verizon Enterprise Solutions put aside thirty minutes for an interview with me at the mHealth Summit. I arrived at the large Verizon booth and was immediately greeted by one of my favorite women in health technology, Nancy M. Green, Managing Principal of Healthcare Practice at Verizon Enterprise Solutions. Disruptive Women in Health Care, a group founded by Robin Strongin, just announced their list of Disruptive Women to Watch in 2014 and Nancy is on that list. Congrats goes out to Nancy… and to Dr. Tippett for having one of these top women on his team. We like that.

I always ask people to share a little about themselves before we talk business. (more…)

Samsung speeding hospital EHR/workflows (US)

Much has been made of iPad/iPhone dominance in the US hospital/clinician setting, but Samsung is interestingly going after blockages–not heart ones, but workflow and data integration systems. This brief Technorati article on their pilot with Olympic Medical Center (OMC) in Washington state notes how Samsung is working with them and others on digitization (such as cloud services and touch screen monitors) which help to speed physician dictation and chart completion, as well as soon speeding secure interoperable access to patient records. The article unfortunately is short on Samsung-specific details. Now if hospitals and practices work with Samsung on this, can the hardware (tablets, phones, monitors) be far behind?