MercyOne launches patient-provider matching tool in Central Iowa

MercyOne has piloted a new patient-provider matching tool that aims to make it easier for patients to connect with a primary care physician. MercyOne worked with Patient Bond, started by former Procter & Gamble employees, to develop the online tool, said Janell Pittman, chief marketing and digital strategy officer for MercyOne….

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MercyOne’s AI-enabled system supports new statewide hospital transfer center

MercyOne announced last week it has signed an agreement with Hospital IQ, a Boston-based provider of predictive hospital operations software, to expand its use of artificial intelligence to improve coordination of patient access to care as Iowa’s COVID-19 hospitalizations and patient transfers surge.   The new system provides an unprecedented level…

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VIDA Diagnostics leverages prior expertise in pandemic research

In Coralville, the artificial intelligence company VIDA Diagnostics is adapting. Beyond sending the staff of about 30 home for remote work, VIDA Diagnostics also sent home a few heavy-duty computers so staff could continue processing data streaming from 35 countries.  “We call it business as unusual and just accept it,”…

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Healthtech startup Apollo pivots, waives fees to assist hospitals respond to COVID-19

Iowa startup Apollo is repurposing its online platform to aid hospitals that need increased health care workers to battle the COVID-19 coronavirus in the midst of a labor shortage — while waiving all fees associated with the platform use for the next four weeks, Apollo co-founder and CEO Jon Lensing…

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New CPT code for automated point-of-care retinal imaging

IDx, a Coralville startup that developed the first FDA-authorized artificial intelligence diagnostics system, announced this week that the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Editorial Panel has accepted a new category 1 CPT code for automated point-of-care retinal imaging. This new code, submitted by the American Academy of…

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Troubled birth control telemedicine startup to launch service in Iowa

Nurx, a San Francisco-based telemedicine startup offering birth control online, plans to launch in Iowa — after a recent report alleging company practices have put patients at risk through the handling of medication ordered in the app. Nurx (pronounced nur-ex) sells prescription drugs online, including birth control, HIV PrEP, HPV…

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