The Hermitage Hotel has been listed among the first hotels in the world to become Sharecare Health Security Verified with Forbes Travel Guide.

The Hermitage made the list along with exclusive resorts and hotels such as Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa Rancho Mirage, Rancho Mirage, California, The Goring Hotel, London, The St. Regis San Francisco, Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas, The Henderson in Destin, Florida, and Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Addressing the critical need to establish confidence with guests and travel planners in the age of COVID-19 and beyond, Sharecare’s health security verification comes with an easily identifiable “seal of approval” – the Sharecare Health Security VERIFIED with Forbes Travel Guide badge – for hotels to display on their official websites and on-property.

PENCIL named awardee for 2020 BofA program

PENCIL (Public Education Needs Community Involvement and Leadership), which links community resources to Metro Nashville Public Schools, has been named an awardee of Bank of America’s Neighborhood Builders program.

PENCIL will receive a $200,000 grant, a year of leadership training for Angie Adams, president & CEO, and an emerging leader, project manager Jacki Artis, access to a network of peer organizations across the U.S., and the opportunity to access capital to expand the impact of PENCIL’s work.

Bank of America’s investment will allow PENCIL to provide critical support to meet immediate needs of Metro Nashville Public School students. Students need access to community partners virtually due to the pandemic.

The Neighborhood Builders grant will help PENCIL expand its staff capacity to recruit, train and manage community partners who can support students through virtual platforms. These platforms are being piloted by current PENCIL Partners and key individuals within schools to ensure their success.

Longtime PENCIL Partner Rogers Group, Inc. has donated warehouse space to PENCIL for years, and Bank of America’s investment will enable PENCIL to expand use of its facility on Cockrill Bend Boulevard, which houses staff workspace and the LP PENCIL Box, a free, year-round resource for teachers to shop for school supplies.

Stroudwater to assist rural hospitals

Stroudwater Associates, with offices in Nashville, has announced a joint venture with Greater Commercial Lending, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Greater Nevada Credit Union to help rural health care businesses access USDA guaranteed loans. The new partnership will be known as StroudwaterGCL Rural Healthcare Capital and combines Stroudwater Associates’ expertise in rural health care planning, financial improvement, and strategy with Greater Commercial Lending’s expertise in USDA health care lending.

Historically, rural hospitals and health systems had a hard time accessing capital at a fast and affordable rate. This new partnership will provide improved access to low-cost, credit-enhanced capital for funding high-impact rural health investment in new replacement facilities and renovations and expansions. Additionally, rural hospitals will have the option of refinancing existing debt to create savings and enable reinvestment of capital expense into operations.

Nashville ‘hot growth market for jobs’

PRO Unlimited, an innovator of contingent workforce management software and services, has announced the top jobs market trends in the skilled, white-collar contingent landscape in 2020 based on year-over-year company data.

Among those trends, Nashville, Charlotte and Indianapolis are emerging as hot growth markets for jobs – in fact, hiring is stronger than it was pre-COVID in those cities.

PRO examined how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted contingent labor hiring across industries, demand in job roles and hot growth markets nationwide.

Salt Lake City, Denver, Austin and Hartford were all cities that were already “anointed” as metros that were poised for growth pre-pandemic. While these cities have not returned to pre-COVID hiring levels, their rate of hiring is remaining steady and showing signs of improvement. Employers are not abandoning hiring from these metros.

Nashville, Charlotte and Indianapolis have emerged as strong hiring alternatives as their hiring levels are even stronger now than they were pre-pandemic.

The hottest industries for contingent hiring in 2020 were information technology/technology, health care and professional services.

HealthTrust lands two new contracts

CME Corp, a health care equipment distributor, has announced two new contracts with Nashville-based HealthTrust Purchasing Group, LP, a health care performance optimization and group purchasing organization.

The pair of agreements include distribution for capital purchases from CME’s vast portfolio, as well as direct-to-site “white glove” services covering a facility’s needs from start to finish, including receiving, inspecting, warehousing, assembling and installing.

The contracts are for HealthTrust’s Acute Care & National Surgery Center Group and affiliates & non-acute care facilities & affiliates units. One contract is for three years, while the other contract includes a two-year option to extend, creating a potential five-year deal.

“The two contracts will give HealthTrust members access to CME’s unmatched ability to provide savings and efficiencies on medical equipment and delivery services throughout the U.S.,” says K.C. Meleski, CME vice president of sales. “We’re excited their members now have access to our nationwide best-in-class, direct-to-site white-glove delivery services, which allow health care providers to reduce costs by consolidating and streamlining the logistics required to manage their needs.”

Change sells business unit to HealthStream

Nashville’s Change Healthcare has sold its Capacity Management business to HealthStream, also of Nashville.

The sale supports Change’s stated commitment to focus on and invest in core aspects of its business to fuel growth and advance innovation.

“The sale of the Capacity Management business aligns with our strategy to concentrate on the primary areas of our business to achieve the best outcomes for our customers through the power of the Change Healthcare platform,” says Neil de Crescenzo, president and CEO, Change Healthcare. “By placing the Capacity Management business with HealthStream, an innovator with a successful track record, it will be able to carry on its important work within an organization that will continue to support its core mission and strategies.”

Change Healthcare’s Capacity Management business is a leader in its market, with a focus on nurse staffing, improving patient flow, and predictive modeling for patient demand to help hospitals become more efficient. Notable products in the Capacity Management portfolio include ANSOS, Enterprise Visibility and Capacity Planner.

The sale is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.

William Blair acted as financial adviser to Change Healthcare on the sale.

Monogram earns HITRUST CSF

Monogram Health, based in Nashville, has received HITRUST CSF Certification, following a review of the company’s systems and controls for protecting electronic health records and other sensitive data.

Privately held by Frist Cressey Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners, Monogram currently operates its renal disease care management programs across the U.S. and has built a national network of nephrologists that includes hundreds of leading kidney care specialists.

“Strong information security controls are critical to population health management,” says Chris Chi, Monogram Health’s chief operating officer. “Our company’s health plan clients and plan members entrust us with their data. HITRUST certification underscores our commitment to patient privacy and data security.”

The HITRUST CSF Certified Assurance Program verifies that the organization’s development, security, and compliance protocols meet key regulations and industry-defined requirements for data security and appropriate risk management. The certification encompasses HIPAA and numerous other federal and state regulations and standards for protecting sensitive patient data.

Certification of Monogram Health’s cybersecurity effectiveness involved an end-to-end review of the company’s information technology systems, including its electronic care management system, software tools, cloud and data storage environments, servers, hardware, user workstations and encryption protocols.

Clearwater brings new program to CaringWays

Clearwater, headquartered in Nashville, has announced its partner CaringWays is engaging its ClearAdvantage program, allowing customers to quickly implement a cost-effective, best-in-class cyber risk management and HIPAA compliance program.

CaringWays of Brentwood has developed an innovative platform that facilitates direct payment of medical costs to health care providers from those contributing to online fundraising campaigns. The company’s leadership team recognizes that ensuring the protection of their partners’ data is essential to earning the trust of providers to engage in the platform.

Recently rated the No. 1 provider of Compliance and Risk Management solutions in Black Book Market Research’s annual survey of health care providers for the fourth consecutive year, Clearwater drew on its intimate understanding of the industry’s information security needs and compliance requirements to develop The ClearAdvantage Program.

Snodgrass-King Dental joins support network

North American Dental Group, a dental support organization, has welcomed 18 new dental offices, including Snodgrass-King Dental with four Nashville area locations.

The local dental practices are in Cool Springs, Mt. Juliet, Murfreesboro and Spring Hill.

NADG now supports more than 240 dental practices and nearly 500 full-time dentists across 15 states.

NADG provides non-clinical administrative support for its affiliated practices including human resources, information technology, marketing, payroll and accounting services.

Dr. David Snodgrass and Dr. John King will serve in leadership roles with NADG as Group Founders, lending their clinical expertise to other supported doctors at affiliated practices.