Northwest Primary Care (NWPC) has partnered with CareSignal, a Lightbeam Health Solutions Company, through implementation of Deviceless Remote Patient Monitoring® to manage vulnerable patient populations as the organization looks to improve patient outcomes and lower costs in risk-bearing contracts. Using CareSignal’s technology, NWPC is now able to monitor the whole health of patients across 30 high-cost chronic and behavioral health conditions, and is currently prioritizing COPD, congestive heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, and depression.

With CareSignal, NWPC is leveraging data and supporting care managers while delivering the best care possible. “It is a privilege to serve the Northwest Primary Care team during the accelerating transition to value-based care models,” says Blake Marggraff, CEO of CareSignal. “I am particularly excited that our partnership brings new digital solutions for both chronic and behavioral health use-cases to NWPC patients. We’re deeply excited for the impact and continued innovation in the months and years ahead.”

NWPC excels in high-touch care management, which increases patient encounters for the most high-risk patients, but this type of care works best when it can identify those with complex healthcare needs early. With CareSignal’s automated platform, NWPC can offer care management and preventative care to the rising-risk population allowing it to succeed in CPC+, Medicare Advantage, and at-risk contracts. By collecting real-time patient symptoms through convenient text and phone-based communication, CareSignal’s evidence-based platform enables care teams to reduce unnecessary hospitalizations and readmissions.

The partnership between NWPC and CareSignal transforms patient-centered care, empowering patients to take control of their own lives. “Our mission at Northwest Primary Care is to provide the best care for every patient at every stage of life. Implementing remote patient monitoring through CareSignal helps us improve upon our key metric of success in carrying out this mission: clinical outcomes,” says Danelle Norris, Director of Clinical Operations at NWPC. “CareSignal has proven to be uncomplicated, effective, and safe. We can offer extra support to our patients with chronic health conditions and add a layer of accountability that encourages them to take a proactive role in their own care. This not only reduces the number of costly hospital visits and admissions, but most importantly allows us to provide our patients with the tools they need to truly improve their own health outcomes.”

Bristol Myers Squibb announced $7.965 million in new health equity grants to 24 U.S. non-profit organizations that aim to improve access and quality care to medically underserved patients and communities across oncology, cardiology, immunology and hematology therapeutic areas. These grants will bolster community outreach and education, increase patient support and care coordination services, and support diversity, cultural competency and collaboration among community health workers and patient navigators in communities across the U.S. To date, Bristol Myers Squibb’s total support in addressing health disparities as part of our 2020 Commitments is just over $39 million.

“Through our Health Equity Commitments grants and partnerships, Bristol Myers Squibb is focused on scaling what works in removing barriers that patients may face when accessing care,” said Adam Lenkowsky, senior vice president, general manager of U.S. Cardiovascular, Immunology and Oncology, Bristol Myers Squibb. “We know that the complexities of specialty care bring unique challenges that community health workers and patient navigators can help solve. They are trusted members of their communities, have deep knowledge of health systems and are vital to medically underserved patients receiving high quality care, including access to medical innovations and clinical trials.”

These health equity grants are part of Bristol Myers Squibb’s D&I and Health Equity Commitments, a $150 million 5-year investment launched in 2020 to address health disparities, increase clinical trial diversity, expand supplier diversity, increase workforce representation and enhance employee giving in support of social justice organizations.

In 2021, Bristol Myers Squibb awarded $11 million in health equity grants that were broad-based and addressed disease awareness & education, patient supportive services, access to care, diversity in clinical trials, diversity in the healthcare and biomedical research workforce, health disparities research and health equity policy advancement.

These new grants are strongly community-oriented and continue to drive deeper investments in proven health equity solutions. The 24 grantees include patient advocacy, community-based and faith-based organizations, medical societies, and non-profit healthcare institutions that together serve a wide range of communities across the U.S.

For example, in the largely Latino communities of Houston and El Paso, Texas, Orlando, Fla, Chicago and Los Angeles, Dia de la Mujer Latina will expand the role of Promotoras de Salud in lung cancer prevention, screening and care. In North Dakota, CommonSpirit’s Total Health community health workers will focus on the social determinants of health and connect rural patients and community members to non-medical services such as housing and healthy nutrition. The Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum will collaborate with 20 community partners in 16 U.S. states to train and implement community health worker and patient navigator programs for Asian patients facing cancer, cardiovascular and immunological diseases. The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation will implement a pilot “train the trainer” program to bolster their Patient Navigation Center to improve the quality of clinical care for African American patients. In New Jersey, Crossroads4Hope will work with trusted community advocates to address the psychosocial needs of cancer patients in vulnerable communities.

Bristol Myers Squibb’s Commitment to D&I and Health Equity

Bristol Myers Squibb is united by a critical mission: transforming patients’ lives through science. As an inclusive, patient-centered, global biopharmaceutical company, we are committed to doing our part to help advance health equity and deliver innovative medicines that improve the health outcomes of medically underserved and increasingly diverse patient populations. We have been on a health equity journey for many years — continuously building on and expanding our tools to meaningfully tackle health inequities in the U.S. and worldwide.

In August 2020, we announced our $150 million investment over five years to address health disparities, increase clinical trial diversity, expand supplier diversity, increase workforce representation and enhance employee giving in support of social justice organizations. We remain deeply committed to doing our part to help transform patients’ lives around the world.

Last two years has seen the pandemic overshadow all the other significant issues related to diagnosis, treatment, and surgeries. This is a phenomenon which has been experienced across the world and Australia has been no different where the Australian Medical Association as well as the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons has called upon all levels of government to develop a national plan to address this concern in as swift a way as possible.

The need for this comes after data from AIHW, i.e., the new Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, suggests that Australian citizens have been waiting longer than ever to get themselves treated for essential surgery across segments and conditions. Apparently, the pandemic has engaged the medics quite significantly, who, by the way, were involved in patient treatment and surgeries on a regular basis.
The delay can be gauged from the fact that the percentage of patients awaiting knee replacement surgery has almost tripled from 11 percent to 32 percent in the last couple of years. And well, that’s only for one line of condition. Imagine what the number would be if we simultaneously looked into all the conditions that have been affected due to the delay.

Although AMA and RACS, both of which happen to offer facilities of national repute, have supported the government’s postponement of elective surgeries so as to avert the overwhelming numbers of COVID patients who might have otherwise caused unparalleled stress on the healthcare centres, this approach is apparently unsustainable. There is a need for an urgent plan that can restore the elective surgery environment and also a funding arrangement, particularly a long-term one, to make sure that the backlog is cleared significantly.

According to Dr. Omar Khurshid, who happens to be the AMA President, two years into the pandemic and a highly vaccinated population would mean that the blanket suspension should be used as a last resort now. He adds that the fact that the blanket is still there points out the failure of the government to effectively and efficiently invest in public hospital capacity.

On the other hand, Dr. Sally Langley, President of RACS, opines that surgeries aren’t an optional procedure but happen to be a must-have. They are the ones that are done to assess life-threatening issues and address conditions that prevent patients from leading a normal life because of pain or any dysfunction.

She adds that for many patients who have been waiting in line for a critical operation, the delay in the surgery can lead to more criticality and, at times, be life threatening. Not only that, lack of procedures when it comes to screening has also led to more advanced cancers and may have an altered prognosis.

Both the AMA and RACS are looking forward to an urgent plan that can help resume elective surgeries across public and private hospitals so that even the doctors as well as their teams can start catching up on pivotal operations they have missed. It is well to be noted that there happens to be unused capacity, particularly across private hospitals, which ought to be utilised for routine elective surgeries in no time.

Dr. Khorshid believes that a funded plan from the state and federal governments is required to clear the backlog and thus help support public hospitals. It then has to be backed by long-term, real funding assurances, which help in delivering permanent as well as expanded capacity across the public hospital system.

His understanding is that while private sectors can play a crucial role in addressing the public sector’s list of waiting patients in the short term, it should be done in a way that doesn’t displace private patients from accessing care.

A couple of funding packages aren’t going to be enough for things to fall into place for an impact that has lasted for two straight years and affected the health system and the capacity to deliver care.
Additionally, Dr. Khurshid suggests that the backlogs are much higher than the predictive numbers and that the country needs to take immediate action and find a long lasting solution to impart solutions to elective surgery patients.

Health Recovery Solutions (HRS), the nation’s leader in remote patient monitoring, has been awarded the 2022 Best in KLAS distinction for Remote Patient Monitoring in the “2022 Best in KLAS: Software & Services”, for the third consecutive year.

“Receiving this designation for the third consecutive year is surreal for our team. It is the culmination of our dedication to our clients and their patients and it is a testament to our unwavering commitment to put the very best technology in the hands of patients and their loved ones so they can transition to home safely,” said HRS CEO and co-founder, Jarrett Bauer. “Our product is built on client feedback. We would not be the company we are today without their continuous push for innovation and we are incredibly grateful for their support.”

Since 2012, HRS has partnered with the nation’s leading healthcare organizations to optimize clinician workflow, reduce readmissions, decrease costs, and improve patient outcomes. The HRS product suite is designed to monitor patients across all acuity levels—from the sickest polychronic populations to low-risk patients looking for ways to easily engage in their care. Today, HRS has over 400 clients across all 50 states and monitors over 400,000 patients. With over 45 client case studies, the HRS technology has proven effective in producing clinical, operational, and financial outcomes with nearly every common disease state and in nearly every type of care setting.

“This past year was about innovation. We deployed Tableau as our enterprise reporting platform to bring the most advanced analytics in the industry to our clients. Our product team launched an automated billing functionality to allow for real-time reimbursement reporting and we upgraded our logistics service to include remote installations of all equipment and technology. We heard exactly what our clients needed to improve clinical workflows and outcomes and we delivered on that. We’re excited to deliver updated interfaces, stronger integrations, innovative peripherals, and incredible partnerships in 2022,” said HRS COO and co-founder, Rohan Udeshi.

The Best in KLAS designation is a third-party consumer-centric review that recognizes the efforts of technology partners to help healthcare organizations in their mission to deliver exceptional patient care. HRS surpassed all competitors with a final score of 91.5 out of 100, with nearly 30 clients providing full reviews of their technology in over a dozen categories. The nearest competition fell a staggering 16% below HRS, with a 77.6 rating.

“Each year, thousands of healthcare professionals across the globe take the time to share their voice with KLAS. They know that sharing their perspective helps vendors to improve and helps their peers make better decisions,” said KLAS President, Adam Gale. “The Best in KLAS award serves as a signal to provider and payer organizations that they should expect excellence from the winning vendor.”

About Health Recovery Solutions

Health Recovery Solutions (HRS) provides leading healthcare providers with the most advanced telehealth and remote monitoring platform aimed at changing patient behavior to reduce readmissions and improve clinical outcomes. HRS’ disease-specific telehealth solutions are customized with educational videos, care plans, and medication reminders while also integrated with Bluetooth peripherals to engage patients. HRS’ software helps clinicians manage their high-risk patients and provides seamless communication tools including video chat, wound imaging, and text messaging. For family members and caregivers, HRS’ software gives them the ability to be fully involved in their family member’s care and well-being.

About KLAS

KLAS is a data-driven company on a mission to improve the world’s healthcare by enabling provider and payer voices to be heard and counted. Working with thousands of healthcare professionals, KLAS collects insights on software, services, and medical equipment to deliver reports, trending data, and statistical overviews. KLAS data is accurate, honest, and impartial. The research directly reflects the voice of healthcare professionals and acts as a catalyst for improving vendor performance.

All can work out well when it comes to artificial intelligence, as it has the potential to enhance the older generation’s health to a great extent, but only when the elements of ageism are deleted from their design as well as implementation and use.

In this regard, a new policy brief by WHO has been released that puts forth measures pertaining to legal, non-legal, and technical aspects that can reduce the aggravation and intensity and also introduce ageism through them. Artificial Intelligence Technologies, also known as AI Technologies, have changed the world at every hour of the day, revolutionising innumerable fields and industry segments. Public health as well as medicine for the older segment isn’t aloof from it either, as AI has the potential to detect risks to health and events, drug development enablement, and be of assistance when it comes to customised care management services and beyond.

That said, there are issues that, if not checked as per standards, AI technologies can raise to the extent of triggering existing ageism across society and, at the same time, eroding the health and social care quality that older people get. The data which is used by artificial intelligence can also be divergent from older people or even be asymmetrical due to past ageists because of discrimination or prejudice. The limitations of the entire design and reach are also a given when flawed assumptions such as how older people want to live or even interact with technology in their lives are made. The way technology comes into play can also reduce the intergenerational touch or even significantly deepen the existing barriers further when it comes to digital access.

As per Alana Officer, WHO’s unit head of demographic change and healthy ageing, AI technology is mostly a result of the replication of both implicit and explicit biases found in society, which includes age as a factor. In order to ensure, she adds, that AI and its technological advances play a pivotal role in ageism, it has to be identified in the first place and deleted right from their design and development to use as well as evaluation. The new policy brief is testimony to how it can be made possible.

There are certain eight considerations listed out which can ensure that AI in health addresses ageism and that older people get fully imbibed in the process, systems as well as technologies and services that influence them.

• With the involvement of older people, AI technology has made more participation prone.
• Data science teams that happen to be age-diverse.
• Data collection that is age inclusive.
• Investments as far as digital infrastructure goes and also digital literacy for the aged as well as their caregivers and healthcare service providers.
• Older people’s rights to consent and contest.
• A proper government framework and regulations are required to empower and work with the elderly.
• More thrust is given to understanding the uses of AI and getting rid of the bias with increased research.
• Strong and stringent ethics processes are put to use when it comes to both AI’s development and its application.

Notably, the policy brief syncs with the messages attached through the global report on ageism and thereby serves as a means to combat ageism through a global campaign. The WHO-produced framework comes in collaboration with UNDESA, UNFPA, and OHDHR and was launched in March, 2021, and puts forth that the elimination of ageism, which is both prevalent and harmful, is a possibility.

The report, which is the first of its kind, also puts in detail the high level and far-reaching impacts of ageism on all elements of health and well-being and even economies, and comes with a clear requirement to invest in three strategic advances that are proven: educational activities, policy as well as law, and finally inter-generational interventions. The policy has also mentioned the significance of enhancing data and ageism research and thereby amending the narrative that surrounds age and ageing so as to create a world for all ages.

Cancer informatics and digital pathology provider Inspirata and the Somerset, Wiltshire, Avon and Gloucestershire Cancer Alliance (SWAG) announced a new partnership designed to accelerate the process by which patients with cancer in the region are identified and matched with relevant clinical trials. The partnership involves an initial implementation of Inspirata’s Trial Navigator™ software at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW), as the first step of a multi-site roll-out of the clinical trial matching solution for the benefit of patients across the geography. This initiative is part of the alliance’s long-standing aim of improving clinical trial access.

“We are excited to partner with Inspirata in implementing Trial Navigator,” said Dr Helen Winter, Clinical Director of SWAG Cancer Alliance. “We hope that this solution will afford both clinicians and patients in the region a greater choice of potential treatment options. Similarly, expedite the fulfilment of existing, and the hosting of new clinical trials as we look to recover services affected by the pandemic.”

Trial Navigator draws on oncology-specific natural language processing (NLP) AI to eliminate common bottlenecks within the trial matching workflow by working with the Trust’s existing information governance processes to search the individual medical reports, notes and referral letters of patients with cancer, abstracting key information about their disease and automatically cross-referencing attributes identified against study eligibility criteria held within clinical trial databases. The software then immediately surfaces studies most likely to represent a patient-fit for clinical evaluation.

“Clinical trials are an integral part of the optimal management of cancer patients but having a complete and up-to-date picture of the ever-changing trial landscape can be time-consuming,” said Dr Axel Walther, Clinical Trials Unit Lead at Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre, UHBW. “Working with Inspirata to automate this aspect of the oncology workflow means our clinical teams can spend more time with patients evaluating potential trial options to best suit them. More patients will be able to take part in trials relevant to their cancer, increasing treatment options and driving innovation.”

It is also hoped that the introduction of Trial Navigator will help to assist in recruiting a wider demographic of patients to take part in cancer research, as a recent audit has shown that some cohorts of patients are less likely to participate in clinical trials than others. It is anticipated that this software will bring opportunities forward and medical teams will be able to offer these to patients more readily.

“Recent evidence points to a myriad of factors contributing to the under-representation of different groups in cancer studies. This can include pressures on healthcare professionals’ workload, time constraints and lack of trial information,” further explained Helen Winter. “The implementation of Trial Navigator is designed to help our care teams extend access to cancer research to everyone within our community wishing to take advantage.”

Automation of clinical trial matching will also assist the SWAG Cancer Alliance in working towards NHS England’s defined aims for the building-back of cancer services following Covid-19.

“NHS England detailed the tackling of inequalities and utilising innovations in practice as key strategic points of its Cancer Service Recovery Plan ,” said Dr Adam Dangoor, Chief Clinical Information Officer at UHBW. “In engaging Inspirata we are addressing a long-standing aim of our Cancer Alliance of ensuring more patients are put forward for trial. In addition, making our pathways more efficient and automatic so we can provide the most effective care for our patients.”

Oenone Duroe, General Manager Inspirata Europe, said: “Inspirata is thrilled to have been afforded the opportunity to work with the SWAG Cancer Alliance and is excited to help the region cement its reputation for innovation and clinical trial excellence.”

Inspirata’s engagement with the SWAG Cancer Alliance follows an equivalent collaboration with Guy’s and St Thomas’, King’s Health Partners Experimental Cancer Medical Centre and Cancer Research UK around automated patient matching with early-phase clinical trials.

iTether Technologies, Inc. and Salience Health, a leading healthcare provider based in Plano, Texas have announced an agreement to implement iTether’s care management platform for depression patients receiving Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (“TMS”) therapy, to improve patient engagement and adherence to their treatment plans.

“We are excited to partner with Salience Health and provide our digital care platform to support their depression patients” said Bradley D. Wilde, Founder and CEO of iTether. “Over 16 million adults 18 years and older suffer from depression, the leading cause of disability in adults in the U.S. The iTether portal and mobile application will be used to significantly improve patient engagement and connection to their Salience Health care team, driving improved outcomes for their depression patients receiving TMS therapy.”

The ITether application will dramatically improve digital engagement for our depression patients

Joel Bailleu, Chief Strategy Officer at Salience Health said, “We have implemented iTether’s platform with our clinical staff at 3 locations, who are supporting their depression treatment program for patients either qualified to receive TMS, receiving TMS therapy, or post TMS care. It is critical that our staff stay closely engaged with this population of patients we provide care to and the iTether application will dramatically improve digital engagement for them. In addition, the flexibility of their platform will help streamline workflows, enhance care coordination for our staff and most importantly improve patient care.”

About Salience Health

Salience Health understands that your physical health and behavioral health are related. That’s why we believe the most effective treatment comes from a seamless support team that closely collaborates with one another. Psychiatrists, family medicine physicians, advanced practice providers, licensed social workers, medical assistants, and care navigators working together as one united team under one roof, totally dedicated to you.

Salience Health treats the whole person. Body and Mind. Why? Because mental and physical health diagnosis can impact one another. When treated separately, the connection may not get detected. By treating the two together, under the same roof, the patient’s total needs get addressed.

About iTether Technologies, Inc.
iTether Technologies, Inc. provides HIPAA compliant digital care technology that is customizable and scalable, connecting individuals to their care team to improve outcomes and increase wellness. iTether’s engagement platform integrates with current clinical or community supervision workflows, and is applicable to any outpatient, behavioral, physical health, or criminal justice treatment plan.