Posts Tagged: data archiving

Healthcare Data Industry Welcomes New COO

FULL PRESS RELEASE

InfoWerks Data Services LLC, a leading provider of healthcare data services, today announced the promotion of Beth Manchester to Chief Operations Officer of the company. Having paved a highly successful and tenured career of over two decades, Beth’s rise to the Executive Leadership Team will help shape the direction of InfoWerks and influence the vision of the healthcare data industry.

Beth has over 20 years of experience leading teams and complex projects for Transaction Data Systems (TDS), one of the most prominent healthcare data companies in the industry. Before joining the team at InfoWerks, she was responsible for driving adoption of one of the most popular pharmacy management platforms, Rx30, from roughly 800 pharmacies to over 8,500 by the time of her departure. Beth also served in other managerial and director-level roles during her tenure.

“If there’s anybody who knows pharmacy data, it’s Beth,” said Jeff Deitch, Chief Executive Officer of InfoWerks. “She’s been involved with large-scale data conversions, coordinated new system installations across the country, and overseen acquisitions. Her technical prowess and intuition are unparalleled; we are extremely lucky to have her on our team.”

“Thanks to Beth, TDS has become one of our best partners,” said Paul Placek, Chief Relationship Officer of InfoWerks. “We’ve done thousands of projects together over the years and look forward to thousands more. She has earned this position in every respect.”

Moving forward, Beth will be focused on maximizing operational efficiencies and customer satisfaction, as well as striving for alignment among all internal and external teams. Her appointment marks the beginning of the next chapter for InfoWerks, with a focus on expanding into new verticals within the healthcare data space.

Buying or Selling? Check Out Our Healthcare Transition Services

Healthcare organizations change hands all the time. Bankruptcies, mergers and acquisitions, closures, and more happen all the time. In these times of transition, organizations need a variety of solutions to ensure they are seamless and compliant. As a leader in healthcare data management, we offer turnkey healthcare transition services. Learn about how we can help.

Metrics and Insights

There are a variety of analytics needs in transitions. We developed a product years ago called Acquisition Analytics, which provides an unbiased, third-party review of the data. Its purpose is to help buyers determine the potential profitability and patient retention.

Since its introduction, we have expanded our analytics capabilities to provide deep insights on valuations along with other KBIs (key business indicators). 

Data Conversions

Healthcare data conversions are our core competency. We’ve completed thousands of them for all types of healthcare organizations. We’ve also worked with over 150 different software products. Our data migrations are secure, compliant, and accurate. No matter where your data is and where it needs to go, you trust us to ensure an optimal result.

Interfaces

We consider our solutions to be the pipes for healthcare data. As such, we can move it from any system to any format. That includes real-time and batching with FHIR-standard APIs. As a result, sharing data is now easy and no longer a hurdle or obstacle to operational improvement. 

Data Archiving

During a transition, you’ll likely have data you need to store but not convert to a new system. However, you have to keep it to meet medical record retention requirements. Data archiving is the cost-effective, easy answer. We can archive documents, data, and images to a secure repository that’s accessible via any browser with a login. Enjoy print-ready audit reports, too.

Print and Direct Mail

Lastly, if an organization is changing, you’ll need to communicate this with signage and mailings. We offer turnkey print and mail bundles for rebranding locations with our Printwerks brand. Additionally, we can mail patient-directed communications as first-class letters to advise of changes, portal access/opportunities, and what actions to take. 

Learn More About Our Healthcare Transition Services

When it comes to transitions, your data is one of your most valuable assets. Moving it, archiving it, and understanding it are key. Let us be your data management guide if you’re buying or selling. Download our Healthcare Transition Services spec sheet today.

Healthcare M&A Activity Expected to Rise in 2021: What Does It Mean for Healthcare Data Management Needs?

healthcare M&A

Are M&A (mergers and acquisitions) ready to take off for healthcare? Healthcare M&A has always been part of the ecosystem. A new report from Moody’s expects M&A activity to increase due to several factors. 

This post will break down those factors and what this means for healthcare data management needs.

Why Will M&A Activity Increase?

According to the Moody’s report, there are several factors behind this trend. Let’s dive into those next. 

Hospitals and Health Systems Want to Expand and Diversify

Many not-for-profit systems are seeking to expand geographically and develop new revenue streams beyond low-paying government programs. They may acquire more specialty services to offer more procedures, which could increase patients. 

For-profit hospitals also want more opportunities to make money. They are targeting out-of-hospital services that align with consumer desires for flexible care. 

Small, rural hospitals have been struggling during COVID-19, leading to many closures. To curb losses, they are looking for partnerships and affiliations.

These factors are in line with a report from Kaufman Hall that revealed the total number of hospitals and health systems declining. However, the remaining ones are larger. The report also notes that there were only 72 deals in 2020, a 14% decrease from the 2019 number of 92. 

Payers Add Non-Traditional Services

Payers want to generate more revenue, too. They saw declines in 2020 simply because wellness screenings and elective procedures dwindled during the pandemic. Payers aren’t expected to merge but acquire non-traditional services. 

UnitedHealth group purchased Change Healthcare. Cigna acquired MDLive, and Centene paid $2.2 billion for Magellan Health. 

Healthcare Staffing Mergers Pick Back Up

Last year, these M&As slowed to conserve dollars. With financing available at attractive rates, there will likely be some consolidation. Moody’s lists potential acquisitions for AMN Healthcare, ONEX TSG Intermediate, U.S. Anesthesia Partners, and Radiology Partners.

With More Healthcare M&A: Data Becomes a Key Asset to Migrate, Archive, or Share

When healthcare organizations merge or acquire, there are a million moving parts relating to legal, compliance, and finances. There are also challenges around healthcare data management

Data Conversions

For entities acquiring others, they’ll need to migrate these new divisions into their EHRs and other health information systems (HIS). That requires a healthcare data conversion. It’s a tricky process with many caveats. A migration strategy is a good idea to discern what and how to move data. 

Data Archiving

Acquirers don’t have to convert all the data from older systems. You can choose to archive patient records that are older or inactive. You still have to keep them to comply with record retention regulations. The cost-effective, secure, and easy answer is to move the documents, images, and data to an archive. Select one that’s web-based, so accessibility isn’t an issue. You’ll also be able to decommission legacy systems, which are expensive to maintain and, if no longer supported, leave you open to risk.

Data Sharing

With any healthcare M&A, new systems need to exchange data and communicate with each other. This type of work can be time-consuming stretching thin already overwhelmed internal IT teams. There are options to outsource healthcare data sharing so that interoperability isn’t hindering your operations. 

Don’t Forget About Your Data in M&As

Data can be an afterthought in healthcare M&A. It shouldn’t be! It’s one of your most valuable assets and what ensures processes and ultimately better patient care. If an M&A is on the horizon for your organization, find a healthcare data management partner like InfoWerks. Contact us today to learn more.