Indianapolis, IN Jun 11, 2015 – International Medical Group® (IMG®), a leader in the global medical and travel insurance market for 25 years, has released its Travel Risk Assessment Tool, or TRāT, a mobile travel app designed to assess and manage the risk of international travel.
“Traveling internationally can be very exciting, but there is an unpredictability that comes with travel,” said R. Brian Barwick, IMG President and CEO. “That’s why it became a priority for IMG to create a pre-planning mobile app to improve our members’ overall travel experience. TRāT provides comprehensive information to alleviate some of that anxiety.”
The app prompts users to provide basic information including age, destination, length of visit, frequency of travel to destination, trip purpose, currency familiarity and current travel medical insurance coverage. By answering 15 short, non-intrusive questions, users will receive a personalized Travel Risk Level score and recommended steps to reduce risk.
“TRāT is a complete source of preparedness for international travel, allowing travelers to feel secure and confident with Global Peace of Mind®” Barwick said.
To calculate risk, the app uses IMG’s proprietary algorithm that incorporates the company’s 25 years of service to more than 2.5 million international travelers. Answers are weighted according to values assigned to potential risk behaviors. Based on the unique Travel Risk Level score assigned to each user, IMG will recommend tools to reduce trip risk including credible online travel document resources, international travel guides, U.S. Department of State services, travel medical insurance options, language translation services and currency conversion tools among others.
Numerous variables affect millions of international travelers each year. Globally, international inbound tourists took 800 million trips in 2013, according to data published by the World Tourism Organization in the 2015 Yearbook of Tourism Statistics.
“Weather and attire are important questions for people planning trips abroad,” said Barwick. “But there are matters more critical that many travelers don’t realize until it is too late. TRāT is the perfect international travel planning companion to help protect and enhance the health and well-being our members.”
Author: Julie Kaloides
iTravelInsured launches new travel protection plan options
Indianapolis, IN Jun 2, 2015 – iTravelInsured®, Inc., a subsidiary of International Medical Group, Inc.® (IMG®) today announced enhancements to its travel programs available to U.S. family, student, business and other travelers.
The company designed the new travel products to meet the needs of a growing and increasingly diverse travel market. According to the U.S. Travel Association, Americans accounted for more than two billion leisure and business trips in 2014.
IMG President and CEO R. Brian Barwick said the enhancements to the company’s products builds upon a 25-year commitment to providing travel protection to all types of travelers.
“We’re constantly listening to our customers to learn how we can best meet their evolving travel needs,” Barwick said. “These new options reinforce our tagline, ‘Travel Protection Without Boundaries®,’ by widening the range of protection we are able to provide.”
The new iTravelInsured plans have insurance benefits underwritten by the United States Fire Insurance Company, and they were designed to fall into three tiers based on travelers’ needs:
Travel Lite: An existing plan that includes new benefits, such as reimbursement of miles and points, and rental car damage coverage
Travel SE: A new plan for families that provides coverage for children under the age of 18 at no additional charge per insured adult
Travel LX: iTraverInsured’s highest benefit level plan with ‘Cancel and/or Interruption for Any Reason’ coverage included within the base price
Amanda Winkle, Vice President of International Sales of IMG, believes the plans will be empowering to travel agents seeking to address their customers’ concerns about travel issues, from flight cancellations to medical emergencies, that often arise.
“Our plans account for many of the challenges our customers have faced in the past several years, and we are proud to roll out these plans in time for a busy travel season,” Winkle said.
M2S® and SVS® Establish a Qualified Clinical Data Registry for Participants in the Vascular Quality Initiative®
Chicago, IL and West Lebanon, NH May 28, 2015 – The Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) and M2S, Inc., a leader in providing clinical outcomes data, have announced today that M2S has been accepted as a Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). M2S, as the exclusive registry provider to the SVS Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI), has provided information on quality reporting to CMS on behalf of VQI participating physicians since 2009. The Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) is a CMS program that uses payment adjustments to promote the reporting of quality information by providers. In the past, this has provided a bonus payment to physicians who satisfactorily reported quality measures, but going forward, it will impose a penalty on those who fail to report. The importance of the new QCDR program is that it allows the SVS and M2S to develop additional vascular quality measures that can be used by physicians with different practice profiles to report their quality.
PQRS was originally designed to improve quality of care by initially rewarding physicians for simply reporting quality measures. Effective with 2015 reporting for 2017 payment adjustments, it has transitioned into a penalty only phase for failure to report quality measures, and eventually it will reward or penalize physicians based on quality performance, not just for reporting. VQI data has been used by its members since 2011 to improve quality, reduce variation and reduce costs. It is aligned with the CMS goals of PQRS reporting, and the acceptance of M2S as a Qualified Clinical Data Registry will provide additional opportunities for VQI participants to demonstrate their commitment to quality and value going forward.
During the past year, SVS Quality and Performance Measures Committee has worked with VQI members and M2S to create 15 new quality measures that assess appropriate care of patients with carotid, aortic, lower extremity and venous disease. Combined with 8 existing vascular PQRS measures, this creates a total of 23 potential quality measures for physicians who treat vascular disease, making it more likely that they can meet their PQRS reporting requirements. Physicians who fail to report will be at risk for reductions in their Medicare payments of 2% in 2017 based on their 2015 quality reporting. The new QCDR measures report not only immediate in-hospital outcomes, but also outcomes during one year follow-up, such as appropriate imaging after endovascular aortic aneurysm repair. This is the first example of the use of longer term outcome measures for PQRS reporting, which is only possible because of the one-year follow-up data collected in VQI. Long-term outcomes are critical to the assessment of vascular treatment, and create a unique opportunity for physicians and centers who participate in VQI.
HealthTronics Invests in Additional Mobile Medical Technologies As Cost Efficient Solution for Hospitals, Doctors
HealthTronics Expands Portfolio, Acquires Mobile Laser Solutions Company
Austin, TX May 27, 2015 — In today’s healthcare landscape, where costs are growing and margins are getting tighter, it can be challenging for doctors and hospitals to keep up with the latest technology for cutting edge treatments.
Austin-based HealthTronics, Inc. is offering a solution to that problem, with minimally invasive, mobile medical therapies for clinically sophisticated applications. The company has now broadened its mobile medical portfolio with the acquisition of Laser Ventures, Inc., a mobile laser technology company based in Woodstock, Georgia. The company’s lasers are used for a wide variety of procedures, including urology, orthopedics, gynecology, neurology and many other indications.
“By mobilizing more technology, we can effectively and efficiently accommodate the needs of any size health care provider, from comprehensive medical centers to remote and rural communities,” explained Russell Newman, president of HealthTronics.
For over 25 years, HealthTronics has focused on providing mobile medical technology for urology indications. Since becoming an independent company in February 2014, HealthTronics has been acquiring companies and technologies to serve more specialists, including interventional radiologists and oncologists.
Newman says medical providers and healthcare facilities benefit from mobile technology because there is no large capital payment required, there is little to no risk of the device becoming obsolete, and there are no administrative headaches of maintaining the technology or training support staff to help operate it.
HealthTronics’ mobile medical technologies allow doctors and hospitals to access a device for individual procedures so that they can provide a wide array of clinical treatment options without purchasing and servicing big pieces of equipment. Current applications include lithotripsy, microwave ablation, nerve monitoring, laser treatment and cryotherapy for urology and interventional radiology.
HealthTronics delivers the mobile device to the medical facility where the physician conducts the procedure. A dedicated, highly trained HealthTronics technologist assists with operation of the equipment, and studies show that experienced technologists can directly impact the overall treatment success rates.1
HealthTronics is able to accommodate any size healthcare provider, from comprehensive medical centers to those in remote and rural communities.
Said Newman, “HealthTronics’ mobile health solutions can be used for treating cancerous tumors to breaking up kidney stones to nerve monitoring during delicate prostate cancer surgeries. And we’ll continue to listen to physicians and health industry experts to expand our minimally invasive treatment options moving forward.”
Penlon Staffers raise money for CLIC Sargent
Abingdon, UK May 21, 2015 — Staff at Penlon headquarters took part in Wig Wednesday yesterday raising money for CLIC Sargent, the UK’s leading cancer charity for children and young people.
Colourful wigs, celebrity wigs, and simply outrageous wigs, we had a hair-lairious day, and all for a good cause!
CLIC Sargent was formed in 2005 through merger between CLIC and Sargent Cancer Care for Children. They provide clinical, practical, financial and emotional support. From diagnosis onwards their aim is to help the whole family deal with the impact of cancer and its treatment, life after treatment and, in some cases, bereavement.
HealthTronics Announces Presentations at American Urological Association 2015 Annual Meeting
HealthTronics announces cryotherapy abstract presentations from urologists from around the country and the world at the American Urological Association annual meeting held May 15-19.
Austin, TX May 20, 2015 — HealthTronics, a leading provider of mobile medical treatments and services, announced that various urologists from around the country and the world presented abstracts relating to cryotherapy at AUA2015, the American Urological Association annual meeting held May 15-19 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Cryotherapy is a technology that uses small ice crystals to destroy cancer, rather than drugs or radiation.
“HealthTronics is committed to working with some of the top urologists in the country toward the advancement of treatments for prostate and kidney cancer,” said Russell Newman, HealthTronics’ President. “The new research illustrates the important role of cryotherapy for these potentially deadly diseases.”
Cryotherapy treatment devices are among the top mobile medical technologies that Austin-based HealthTronics manufactures and distributes.
The cryotherapy presentations were as follows:
“Salvage Ultrasound Guided Targeted Microcryoablation of the Peri-Spermatic Cord for Persistent Chronic Scrotal Content Pain After Microsurgical Denervation of the Spermatic Cord.” Abstract number: PD40-04
“Outcomes of Salvage Prostate Cryoablation After Primary External Beam Radiation or Brachytherapy: Is There a Difference?” Abstract number: MP82-12
“Long-Term Morbidity and Oncological Outcomes of Salvage Cryotherapy of Radio-Recurrent Prostate Cancer.” Abstract number: MP78-08
“Prospective Quality of Life Impact Analysis Following Localized Prostate Cancer Treatments: Brachytherapy, Cryotherapy, and Radical Prostatectomy Long-Term Follow-Up.” Abstract number: MP14-02
“Comparing Oncologic Outcomes of Different Definitive Treatments for Prostate Cancer after a Period of Active Surveillance.” Abstract number: PD30-04
“Laparoscopic versus percutaneous cryoablation for T1 renal masses: an Italian multicentric study.” Abstract number: MP57-13
Quantum Health Named One of the 50 Fastest Growing Women-Owned/Led Companies Four Years Running
Columbus, OH May 12, 2015 – Quantum Health, the nation’s leader in care coordination and consumer navigation, announced today that is has been named one of the fastest growing women-owned/led companies in the U.S. by the Women President’s Organization (WPO). This is the eighth year the WPO has released its rankings, the second year nominations were open to global entries, and the fourth year that Quantum Health has made the list.
Founded in Columbus, OH in 1999 with just five employees, Quantum Health has grown to almost 500 employees serving more than 400,000 plan participants. The company manages over $6 billion in health plan spend on behalf of its self-insured employer clients. Quantum Health’s groundbreaking consumer behavior research led to the creation of the care coordination and consumer navigation segment, a rapidly growing healthcare sector.
“It is an honor to be recognized among such a distinguished group of women entrepreneurs,” said Kara J. Trott, chief executive officer and founder of Quantum Health. “Quantum Health’s remarkable growth is fueled by the dedicated and passionate team of professionals who work every day to deliver an exceptional member experience.”
The WPO award, in partnership with American Express Global Corporate Payments, ranked companies according to a sales growth formula that combines percentage and absolute growth. From this list, the 50 Fastest were selected. To qualify for the ranking, businesses must be privately held, women owned/led, and have reached revenue of at least $500,000 in 2010 and $2 million in 2014.
Webinar – The Tools and Technologies for the Future of Revenue Cycle Management
Plano, TX and Pleasanton, CA Apr 30, 2015 – Healthcare is evolving at breakneck speed in almost every respect with no sign of slowing down anytime soon. Innovation is required to not just keep up with trends but also stay ahead.
Since our founding in 1987, we have always felt that it was our obligation to continuously make advancements to our products and stay ahead of the curve to meet not only the current but also the future needs of our healthcare provider customers.
In our next webinar, we review the technological components of revenue cycle management that will be crucial for future heathcare provider sustainability, including:
• Data Analytics & Intelligence Platforms
• Business Office Efficiency & Productivity Tools
• Next-generation Billing & Remittance Technologies
M2S® and SonoSoft® sign licensing agreement as first EMR integration partner for new VQI® Varicose Vein Registry™
Chicago, IL and West Lebanon, NH Apr 28, 2015 – M2S, Inc., a leader and innovator in technology for quality improvement in healthcare and SonoSoft, a leader in business continuity software and services, have committed to reduce registry data entry time for the new Vascular Quality Initiative(VQI) Varicose Vein Registry. SonoSoft will provide electronic medical records (EMR) integration for the M2S PATHWAYS™ platform, allowing collection of more comprehensive data for improved patient care.
This licensing agreement will allow vein centers, hospitals and outpatient facilities who are participating in the VVR to significantly improve their data entry workflow and efficiency. SonoSoft’s EMR software will automate the data capture of over 150 data fields on the web-based PATHWAYS form for the registry, including patient demographics and history, procedure details and follow-up.
Jeff Lord, Chief Technology Officer at M2S, says “Effective EMR integration is essential for the clinical registries on the PATHWAYS platform in order to streamline the data entry process for our clients. Our work with SonoSoft on the integration for the Varicose Vein Registry will both strengthen the PATHWAYS platform and help our clients to capture the quality data they need to track outcomes.”
SonoSoft provides an automated process for uploading the data required for the M2S PATHWAYS platform and the Varicose Vein Registry. By linking the M2S PATHWAYS clinical registry functionality with SonoSoft’s EMR functionality, staff and physicians can improve both the quality of care and efficiency. Vein specialist electronic medical records can be shared with other physicians and can conform to standards for medical billing with insurance companies as well.
Dr. John Stahl, President of Empower Technologies, adds,”We have developed a nice interface with the M2S PATHWAYS platform, so that the information in our EMR will populate the 150+ data fields for the registry in a single click and can be uploaded to the website. We feel that this improves workflow as well as the desire to continue to participate in the registry without compromising data accuracy. It’s a win/win for everyone.”
Gaffey Healthcare in Machine Learning Blog
Machine Learning Blog: How ML Accelerates Claim Automation & Revenue at GAFFEY Healthcare
Plano, TX and Pleasanton, CA Apr 27, 2015 – Machine learning can help modern businesses utilize their data to become more profitable. GAFFEY Healthcare is a leading healthcare technology solution provider, and they help their customers – who include over 200 healthcare systems, hospitals and physician practices – accelerate their revenue cycle. Microsoft and GAFFEY Healthcare recently collaborated on a pilot to deploy ML in GAFFEY’s claims automation and processing engine at a couple of hospitals using Azure cloud services, and are now working to move this system into production for many more of their customers.
The cash flow at healthcare organizations is frequently slowed down by insurance companies postponing claim payments. GAFFEY now uses ML to make predictions around:
Whether a human collector is needed to accelerate the claim payment process, and
How long it will take for an insurance company to pay a claim (0-60 days, 60-90 days, or 90+ days) based on historical patient and claim payment information.
GAFFEY is now able to target workflow processes to help its customers speed up their payment collections, while keeping its labor cost lower by eliminating non value added touches.
To make predictions, a binary classification model was developed to determine whether a human collector is needed to have the insurance company pay the claim, and a multiclass classification model was developed to predict how long it will take for an insurance company to pay a claim. Azure Machine Learning was used to develop the two models, which work on the same input data composed of insurance and claim information. Boosted decision trees gave the most accurate results, both for the two-class and multi-class models. The trained models were then used in the scoring workflow shown in Figure 1 below, and deployed as a web service. The web service takes the claim and insurance information as the input, and outputs the probability of a human collector being needed and the predicted length of time for a claim to be paid.
In addition, Azure cloud services were utilized to set up an automated data pipeline for GAFFEY. Figure 2 below illustrates how the on premise data in their system is automatically pulled and aggregated into the cloud using Azure Data Factory. The ML models described above are consumed by a daily batch request to the machine learning REST API for the new claims, and the results are automatically pushed back to their data center for use in their claim processing rule engine.
By deploying this automated data movement and processing pipeline and utilizing ML, GAFFEY has been able to improve their operational efficiency through accurate predictions on which claims should be worked on and when, resulting in better cash flow management and lower costs for their customers.