Investor Newsletter July 2022

From the KLASroom

Patients Share Anticipated Future Use of Virtual Visits

In our recently published report featuring patients’ perspectives of patient engagement, KLAS surveyed nearly 13,000 patients and found that 64% of those who received care virtually in the past year are likely to maintain or increase their number of virtual visits in the future. Additionally, 40% of patients who didn’t have a virtual visit this past year report they are likely to receive care virtually in the future as more virtual care options become available.

EMR-Centric Virtual Care Platforms

In 2020, the long-standing methods for treating patients in person were upended with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual care quickly became a prominent topic in healthcare as providers sought to treat patients safely and continue to drive outcomes. Many provider organizations who hadn’t already adopted a virtual care solution chose to use the platform offered and developed (sometimes hastily) by their EMR vendor, and KLAS spoke with several of these organizations for our EMR-Centric Virtual Care Platforms report. Respondents shared that the EMR-centric platforms largely served as stopgaps, and though they proved to be sufficient, many organizations are now looking at third-party options, which are believed to meet delivery and quality-of-care needs better than EMR-centric solutions. Many organizations have already moved away from their EMR solutions due to functionality gaps around group scenarios, specialty workflows and capabilities, on-demand capabilities, patient flow, and audio/video quality, along with other reasons. Two-thirds of respondents say they would likely consider their EMR vendor’s virtual care platform in the future if the functionality were improved, and several respondents believe their EMR vendor is making significant strides to compete with third parties.

KLAS Report Highlights

Each week, dozens of new companies are knocking on the doors of provider organizations and health systems to present their latest innovative solutions. KLAS publishes 90+ individual reports annually that provide early performance data on these solutions designated as emerging, disruptive, or innovative.

To view the KLAS reports library, visit our website.

Sneak Peek of Recently Published Emerging Technology Reports

Specialty Reports Published June 2022

KLAS publishes 75+ specialty reports annually, providing market insight based on customer perceptions of and experiences with the vendor/consultant solutions they employ. KLAS also validates industry trends, emerging technologies, purchasing decision insights, and market energy.

Interested in KLAS report purchase options? Contact the KLAS Investment Advisory team at investorservices@klasresearch.com.

Recently Released and Upcoming KLAS Specialty & Emerging Technology Reports

Midsize/Large Ambulatory EMR 2022:
Healthcare Organizations’ Hierarchy of Needs

Technology needs are constantly evolving in healthcare, yet vendor development efforts may not always align with provider organizations’ top priorities. To better understand what these priorities are in midsize and large ambulatory practices (11+ physicians), KLAS interviewed over 500 respondents from such organizations regarding the areas most in need of improvement from their EMR vendor.

Europe PACS 2022:
Technology & Partnership Crucial in Evolving Market

The PACS market in Europe is evolving. To unify care delivery, many countries are pushing for HIT consolidation across regional groups of hospitals. At the same time, healthcare organizations are increasingly looking to expand their imaging strategies outside of radiology to bring together more departments and facilities at an enterprise level. This report leverages the perspectives of 199 individuals representing 168 unique organizations across 25 European countries to determine which PACS vendors are delivering the technology and partnerships needed to drive imaging progress in Europe.

Global (Non-US) EMR Market Share 2022:
The Impact of the Pandemic’s Second Year

2021 was an active year for EMR purchasing despite the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 150 provider organizations outside the US signed an EMR contract in 2021, covering 31 different vendors and impacting over 430 hospitals. While total decisions were lower in 2021 than in any other of the last five years, the number of beds impacted was above average thanks to a number of larger organizations making EMR purchase decisions. Europe remains the most active region, though Africa and Asia both saw increased purchase energy from 2020. The pandemic continues to hinder EMR decisions most in Oceania and Latin America (especially Spanish-speaking countries).

Patient Communications Landscape 2022:
Leveraging Communication Tools to Drive Outcomes

As patients’ expectations have evolved and provider organizations’ technology has matured, the need for quick, easy, ongoing patient/provider communication has become even more prevalent. It is often no longer sufficient to merely push communications to patients (e.g., appointment reminders). This study examines and defines the current landscape of patient communications solutions—including how they are used; how easy they are to set up, customize, and use on an ongoing basis; and what outcomes they are helping organizations to achieve.

Remote Patient Monitoring Perception 2022:
Growing Energy and Early Outcomes

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) solutions have the potential to give healthcare organizations the data they need to offer interventions, improve outcomes, and reduce the cost of care (e.g., by limiting ED visits and hospitalizations). Energy is high, especially among large organizations, and RPM investment is growing. Today, the technology market is highly fragmented, and the future depends on the ongoing reimbursement landscape. This report details healthcare organizations’ plans for RPM, the vendors they are using or considering, and what organizations need from their vendors to maximize the technology’s clinical impact.

Telehealth Performance 2022:
What Is the State of Telehealth Post-Pandemic?

At the onset of the pandemic, telehealth solutions became critical for healthcare organizations to maintain appointments, offer safe care, and increase patients’ access to care. Now, with many patients still wanting to use telehealth (see recently published report on the patient perspective), provider organizations are at a crossroads as they evaluate telehealth’s value and long-term use, especially if the US government’s emergency telehealth use policy isn’t renewed past summer 2022. This report examines how well vendors facilitate a quality customer experience and what outcomes customers have achieved, particularly as they have overseen patients’ involvement with the technology (i.e., accommodating patients’ differing devices, connection bandwidths, and levels of digital literacy).

Forcura:
First Look 2022

For home health agencies, there is a premium need for the streamlining of the patient referral process, digital management of required patient documents, eSignatures on orders from physicians, secure messaging between the home office and nurses in the field, and analytics tools that drive efficiency gains. Home health agencies will find all of these things in Forcura's suite of offerings. This report seeks to validate customer adoption and satisfaction across a number of categories.

Multiview:
First Look 2022

Many healthcare organizations, especially smaller community institutions, struggle to find effective enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions at an affordable cost. Multiview Financial Software seeks to provide easy-to-use, comprehensive financial applications for healthcare organizations of all sizes. This report examines customers’ use of and satisfaction with Multiview ERP and its primary functionalities, which include core accounting, business insights, business automation, and inventory management capabilities.

SocialClimb:
Emerging Technology Spotlight 2022

Improving access to quality provider organizations is imperative for all patients. Many patients use online reviews to select provider organizations, so in order to attract clients, physicians need to improve their online reputation and deliver targeted advertisements to the right patients. SocialClimb’s HIPAA-compliant marketing software assists provider organizations with their online presence and physician accessibility and enables them to measure the ROI from their marketing efforts. This report examines customers’ experience with the SocialClimb solution.

Surescripts Interoperability Solutions (Vendor Customers):
First Look 2022

Surescripts has been well known in the industry for their ePrescribing work for many years. What is not as well known is that they have capabilities to help with other interoperability challenges their customers face, including locating records, getting patient event notifications, and using Direct messaging. This report highlights what capabilities customers have been able to use as well as what their experiences have been. The customers highlighted in this report are vendors with solutions that leverage Surescripts’ interoperability capabilities.

Surfacide:
First Look 2022

The development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a significant problem for all healthcare facilities. The Surfacide Helios UV-C System, which is used for low-level disinfection, is used in unoccupied environments to provide line of sight disinfection to nonporous surfaces through UV-C.^† This report examines customers’ experiences using Surfacide’s Helios UV-C System.

† The system is an adjunct to currently existing and recommended cleaning practices and is not intended as a replacement for or modification to such practices.

VoiceFriend:
Emerging Technology Spotlight 2022

Clinical communications solutions, initially aimed at tackling HIPAA compliance concerns, have grown to cover many workflows and use cases around communication in healthcare organizations. VoiceFriend is one of these solutions, and it is specifically tailored for organizations providing care to seniors—such as skilled nursing, assisted living, or memory care facilities. In these settings, communication between residents’ loved ones and caregivers is an essential part of their stewardship and care. This report details the experience of organizations using the VoiceFriend platform.

To make a purchase or find more information on KLAS reports, contact the KLAS Investment Advisory team at investorservices@klasresearch.com.

Market Activities Impacting Investments

How PE Firms Will Navigate Today’s Complex Macro Environment

A recent report by PitchBook explains how today’s high inflation and rising interest rates are driving negative fund performance and portfolio company valuations. Higher discount rates put downward pressure on all assets, especially for higher growth companies.

Solving Health IT Labor Gaps with Strategic Interoperability Partnerships

By leveraging aligned interoperability partners, health systems can alleviate the inevitable pressures of IT personnel shortages and the strains that labor fluctuation puts on organizational technology transformation and growth.

Who Are the Most Active PE Investors in Healthcare?

PitchBook provides a listing of the most active PE investors for healthcare assets globally. Rising interest rates and a declining stock market will provide several opportunities in 2022.

Series A and Seed Start-Ups Face Market Valuation Corrections

A PitchBook report indicates that start-ups will need to meet higher revenue expectations to access capital. Founders are accepting increased dilution of the stakes they hold in their own companies.

M&A Deal Making Dynamics

A report from Citizens identifies key approaches for successful mid-market M&A activities. As deal competition intensifies, PE firms are focusing their efforts on specific market segments where they have experience and/or an investment thesis, which allows them to move more quickly and with conviction on potential deals.

June 2022 Investment & Acquisition Activity

June 2022 Investments

June 2022 Acquisitions

Sources: Becker’s Healthcare, Crunchbase, Forbes, Fortune, MedCity News, PitchBook.

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