HealthStream, a Nashville-based provider of workforce and provider solutions for the health care industry, has acquired Providigm LLC.

A Denver-based company focused on quality assurance and performance improvement in health care, Providigm primarily serves skilled nursing facilities.

HealthStream adds to its workforce development solutions with a comprehensive quality management system created by Providigm, known as “abaqis,” which is a SaaS-based quality-improvement program adopted by U.S. skilled nursing facilities.

To date, over 2,000 skilled nursing facilities are already using Providigm’s abaqis to achieve better outcomes and compliance with RoP.

Montecito buys Premier Medical office complex

Montecito Medical Real Estate, a national owner of medical office properties, has completed the acquisition of a prime medical office complex in the Clarksville area.

The two buildings, both 100 percent occupied, are medical offices for Premier Medical Group, one of the largest physician-owned, multi-specialty groups in Montgomery County.

Adjacent to the Premier Medical Office complex is 281-bed Tennova Healthcare Hospital, the largest of five hospitals within a 30-mile radius.

Both two-story, Class A buildings on the complex – connected via an indoor corridor – together represent nearly 110,000 square feet.

Constructed in 2016, Building 1 is approximately 55,000 square feet. Premier Medical Group uses the space to provide family medicine, internal medicine, occupational and travel medicine, a walk-in clinic, diagnostic imaging services and laboratory.

Building 2 was constructed in 2018 and offers 54,000 square feet.

Survey: Public supports small business insurance plan

AssociationHealthPlans.com, headquartered in Nashville, has released a survey showing public support for small companies collaborating to offer “large company” health insurance plans to their employees.

The findings are timely given a recent Department of Labor update to association health plan regulation that has made it easier for small businesses to band together to offer the same type of health insurance coverage offered by large companies.

AssociationHealthPlans.com is the leading online resource supporting the emerging association health plans market.

“The overwhelming public support – 77 percent – observed in the survey may come from a desire for fundamental fairness between small and large businesses,” says health policy expert Kev Coleman, president and founder of AssociationHealthPlans.com. “Big companies have used ‘large group’ health plans to lower health insurance costs for decades. Why shouldn’t smaller businesses have access to the same plans?”

AssociationHealthPlans.com surveyed 1,119 adults nationwide. The survey, performed by independent third-party polling technology Jan. 2-4, 2019, asked “Should small businesses and sole-proprietors be allowed to band together to offer the same kind of lower-cost health insurance plans that large companies already offer?”

The survey found 77.6 percent of survey respondents answered “yes” in response to the question – more than three times higher than those that oppose the rule. (77.6 percent “yes” to 22.4 percent “no”). The margin of error across survey responses is estimated at +2.2 percent/-2.2percent.

Health Here launches Clinic Q in app market

Nashville-based Health Here has announced the release of Clinic Q into the App Store.

Clinic Q, a simple way to check-in and pay for visits to the doctor, connects patients to their healthcare providers with a modern, user-friendly interface that meets the rising demands of the consumer-patient.

With Clinic Q, patients spend less time in the doctor’s waiting room filling out tedious questionnaires, while doctors receive new patient information well in advance of appointments, enabling them to focus on care over paperwork.

Clinic Q further streamlines the patient data sharing process with Health Records on iPhone.

Patients can leverage Health Records to import their existing health data directly into Clinic Q and then securely share that data with their providers.

Patients can use Clinic Q to conduct a real-time review of their health plan benefits, including dollars spent against their deductible and their expected co-pay for the next visit. After an appointment, Clinic Q presents patients their medical bills in an easily understandable format and allows for one-tap payments against those bills.

Change, Experian form partnership

Two Nashville area health care companies are teaming to help accurately identify patients across care settings.

Change Healthcare and Experian Health are both leaders in the healthcare patient access and revenue cycle management market.

The partnership will provide an identity management solution to solve patient identification and duplication challenges.

This solution will leverage Experian Health’s robust identity management capabilities, along with Change Healthcare’s Intelligent Healthcare NetworkTM connecting providers and payers, to accurately identify patients and match records within and across disparate healthcare organizations. With the companies’ extensive footprint across healthcare providers and Change Healthcare’s ecosystem of more than 700 channel partners, the partnership will aim to deliver trusted identity management capabilities integrated with healthcare workflow applications across the continuum.

“It’s imperative the healthcare industry focus on accurate patient identification and data management to improve overall patient safety,” says Jennifer Schulz, group president, Experian Health.

“This new partnership aligns with our commitment to connect and simplify healthcare in a data-driven world and ultimately deliver an optimal consumer experience.”

Novatech purchases Atlanta company

Novatech, Nashville-based provider of managed IT and print services, has announced the purchase of Consolidated Copier Services, an independent document management and copier dealership servicing the Greater Atlanta area.

“For the past 32 years, Consolidated Copier Services has built a professional and well-respected reputation throughout the Greater Atlanta area with its customers and local business communities,” says Novatech CEO Darren Metz. “We are very excited for both companies as we move forward.”

With the acquisition, Novatech will retain the Consolidated Copier Services name, office and staff.

With the acquisition, CCS President Pat Nunnally is retiring. His son Lincoln Nunnally has become part-owner of Novatech with the full backing of the company and its private equity funding to not only carry on the family tradition but also expand services throughout the Greater Atlanta area.

Quorum sells Texas medical center

Quorum Health Corporation, based in Brentwood, has entered into a definitive agreement to divest the 146-bed Scenic Mountain Medical Center in Big Springs, Texas. The transaction is expected to be complete by the end of the first quarter of 2019, subject to customary approvals and conditions.

All cash proceeds from the transaction will be used to repay outstanding principal on Quorum’s term loan facility.

Through its subsidiaries, the Quorum owns, leases or operates a diversified portfolio of 27 affiliated hospitals in rural and mid-sized markets located across 14 states with an aggregate of 2,604 licensed beds.

Vatica Health acquires CareSync’s technology

Vatica Health, a Nashville-based provider-centric risk adjustment and clinical quality solutions for health plans and risk-bearing entities, has closed on its acquisition of CareSync’s technology.

Since its founding in 2011, CareSync had raised over $50 million to develop a best-in-class technology platform for coordinating care and improving outcomes of people suffering from chronic conditions. Vatica will incorporate CareSync’s technology to broaden its payer and provider product offerings.

“This acquisition accelerates Vatica’s vision to create a robust platform leveraging proprietary technology combined with clinical teams to deliver value-based care, improve quality measures, and optimize financial results,” says Hassan Rifaat, M.D., chief executive officer of Vatica Health. As part of the transaction, a number of former CareSync employees have also joined Vatica.

VUMC, GE Healthcare form partnership

Vanderbilt University Medical Center and GE Healthcare have announced a five-year partnership to enable safer and more precise cancer immunotherapies.

Multiple diagnostic tools will be developed to help predict both the efficacy of an immunotherapy treatment and its adverse effects for a specific patient before the therapy is administered. This would allow physicians to better target immunotherapies to the right patients and avoid potentially damaging, ineffective and costly courses of treatments.

Immunotherapies use the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells and can be more effective than traditional treatments, but response rates are often low and side effects can be severe.

“Immunotherapy offers tremendous promise but given the current unpredictability of some patients’ reactions to treatments, it is also associated with increased morbidity and cost. This partnership provides the opportunity to leverage strengths of both of our organizations to further personalize cancer care by creating new tools that allow clinicians to more accurately predict how patients will respond to a specific therapy,” says Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., president and chief executive officer, VUMC and dean of the Vanderbilt School of Medicine.

Gun maker to expand in Davidson County

Military Systems Group, Inc. is expanding its operations in Davidson County, officials say it will create 70 new jobs during the next five years.

Founded in 1977 to manufacture the .50 caliber machine gun, MSG now designs and manufactures specialty weapons mounting systems for various U.S. national defense programs. The company caters primarily to the U.S. government and also supports U.S. partners and allies around the globe.

MSG will expand its in-house engineering, design, machining, production and assembly operations to accommodate increased demand.

“As one of Tennessee’s oldest privately-owned specialty manufacturing companies, we are pleased to continue to expand and invest in our hometown of Nashville,” Joe Whelan, president and owner of MSG, says.