Tag: chronic care management
Tampa Bay Business Journal was the first to report the story.
“These events occurred despite the company’s best efforts to raise additional capital or find a strategic partner to enable the company to continue operations,” the company recording stated.
Earlier in the week a syndicate of investors, including Shipt CEO Bill Smith, tried to save the company. A video on Tampa Bay Business Journal’s website showed interim CEO Bob Crutchfield and Smith address what appears to be a company meeting of CareSync employees Monday talking about Smith’s management style and interest in creating a new chapter for CareSync. But in an email in response to a request for comment, Smith explained that the effort ultimately failed.
“A syndicate of investors including The Smith Family Office had intentions to acquire CareSync. We were hopeful that our support could save the company and would ultimately lead to a successful outcome for everyone involved, including the employees. Unfortunately, a deal could not be reached due to time constraints,” Smith said.
HIStalk offered some analysis and Twitter messages from former staff, including Grant Garrison, whose LinkedIn profile identifies him as a graphic designer with the business.
The company helped enterprise customers and consumers manage medical records for Medicare patients, particularly those with chronic conditions. Although some services were free such as appointment planning and medication reminders, CareSync charged a subscription fee for keeping personal medical records up-to-date. It also provided technology to support annual wellness visits and transitional care management.
RELATED: Get quality chronic care management services, from a knowledgeable, reliable team
Three years ago CareSync closed an $18 million Series B round led by Graycroft Partners, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Harbert Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors Tullis Health Investors, Clearwell Group, CDH Solutions, and CareSync CEO Travis Bond. At that time, a news release from the company stated that it would use the new funding to hire 500 staff.
CareSync was one of many digital health companies that benefited from the expansion of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ chronic care management program as part of a broader shift to value-based care in what has become an increasingly crowded market.
A statement on CareSync’s main number and website also noted that the company would continue to keep patient information secure and accessible by company members and patients and that its servers would remain operational.
We intend to follow all applicable requirements under our agreements and applicable law regarding patient data in our possession, including, but not limited to, the secure transfer and/or ongoing maintenance and security of such patient data if transfer is not feasible.
Join us to learn more about Medicare’s Chronic Care Management Program. CCM services can help your patients manage their chronic conditions more effectively and help drive your practice’s bottom line revenues.
Recommended attendees:
- – Office Manager/Practice Administrator
- – Physician or clinical staff
Register for our CCM Demo Today:
Join us to learn more about Medicare’s Chronic Care Management Program. CCM services can help your patients manage their chronic conditions more effectively and help drive your practice’s bottom line revenues.
Recommended attendees:
- – Office Manager/Practice Administrator
- – Physician or clinical staff
Register for our CCM Demo Today:
Join us to learn more about Medicare’s Chronic Care Management Program. CCM services can help your patients manage their chronic conditions more effectively and help drive your practice’s bottom line revenues.
Recommended attendees:
- – Office Manager/Practice Administrator
- – Physician or clinical staff
Register for our CCM Demo Today:
Join us to learn more about Medicare’s Chronic Care Management Program. CCM services can help your patients manage their chronic conditions more effectively and help drive your practice’s bottom line revenues.
Recommended attendees:
- – Office Manager/Practice Administrator
- – Physician or clinical staff
Register for our CCM Demo Today:
CMS on Tuesday announced its first Rural Health Strategy, which looks to improve access to and quality of care in rural areas.
CMS Administrator Seema Verma said the effort looks to “apply a rural lens to the vision and work of the agency” and was the culmination of input from rural providers and beneficiaries.
Objectives for the plan include advancing telehealth and telemedicine, empowering patients in rural communities and leveraging partnerships to achieve rural health goals, the agency said.
The announcement was short on specifics, but CMS said it was aiming to improve access through provider engagement and support.
CMS estimates that 60 million Americans live in rural areas. Those areas have their own obstacles, including higher poverty rates, potential healthcare provider shortages, more chronic conditions and higher percentages of uninsured and underinsured. With that in mind, the strategy looks to “better serve individuals in rural areas and avoid unintended consequences of policy and program implementation,” CMS said.
Rural hospitals have been hard hit by industry trends of lowering patient volumes and reduced reimbursements. They also struggle to recruit qualified physicians and other healthcare professionals, and are often at the mercy of state Medicaid policies. More than a third of rural hospitals are currently vulnerable and could close, according to the National Rural Health Association.
One piece of the CMS plan — expanding telehealth access — will be accomplished by paying for additional services and making it easier for providers to bill Medicare for those services. Congress also recently passed legislation that extends telehealth access to Medicare beneficiaries with chronic conditions.
RELATED: Chronic Care Management proven to improve outcomes, enhance practice services
Telehealth and virtual care are often cited as a way to improve healthcare, especially in rural areas. Large healthcare organizations, including Kaiser Permanente and UnitedHealthcare, are using virtual care to supplement primary care visits.
And patients seem to like the flexibility. A recent Accenture report said about 70% of consumers are interested in virtual healthcare, though only 20% said they’ve actually received such care. “Virtual care offers what consumers really want: a variety of health and care service available to any location at any time, crossing the spectrum from health and wellness to episodic injury and illness to ongoing condition management,” the report said.
Telehealth interests providers and organizations, too. A recent Mordor Intelligence report said the North American telehealth market will reach $16.8 billion by 2020 due to more chronic diseases and rising healthcare costs. A REACH Health survey also reported about 70% of healthcare leaders considered telehealth a high priority in their organization.
Though health officials see potential in telehealth, a recent report by HHS Office of Inspector General found that CMS paid about $3.7 million on telehealth claims that did not meet Medicare requirements during a 2014-2015 audit. So, the agency will need to work out those issues if telehealth is going to become a cost-effective way to help bridge gaps and improve rural healthcare.
