In this Healthcare Informatics podcast, Senior Editor, Gabriel Perna and Editor in Chief, Mark Hagland discuss the four “Most Interesting Vendor” selections: 3M, Merge Healthcare, Greenway Health, and Cerner. Perna and Hagland discuss each vendor and why the Healthcare Informatics staff says in many ways, these companies encapsulate where the industry is headed.
To that degree, the first vendor discussed is 3M, which was profiled by Managing Editor, John DeGaspari. 3M is helping its provider organization clients deal with the ICD-10 coding transition, while also helping payers and providers collaborate for accountable care. Hagland notes how the company’s acquisition of Treo Solutions, which provides analytics and business intelligence, puts them in a good position in this regard.
The next company detailed in the podcast is Merge Healthcare. Profiled by Hagland, the company finds itself at crossroads because of the unwillingness of hospital executives to invest in more advancing imaging informatics solutions due to regulatory concerns. “Merge is taking a careful conservative approach and what they’re involved in reflects more broadly on the imaging informatics sector,” Hagland said during the podcast.
Speaking of crossroads, Greenway Health is the next vendor featured in the podcast. Perna wrote about the Carrollton, Ga.-based company and where it finds itself after a $644 million merger with Vitera. With a singular focus on population health, this company is aiming to help provider organizations move data between systems. However, as KLAS’ Erik Bermudez notes, when companies make a big move, like Greenway did with Vitera, it can get harder for them to scale.
“Greenway seems to be headed where the industry is headed with population health and moving data between systems. Whether or not they succeed could be a bellwether of sort for other companies,” Perna said on the podcast.
The last vendor profiled by the Healthcare Informatics editorial team is similarly focused on population health. That would be Cerner, profiled by Associate Editor Rajiv Leventhal. Cerner, which made a jump into the second spot in this year’s Healthcare Informatics 100 list, is “skating to where the puck is headed” in terms of accountable care, care management, and value-based management.
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