LENEXA, Kan.—Mediware Information Systems, Inc., announced that it has acquired Fazzi Associates, aiming to combine strengths for growth and greater capacity to help post-acute and community-based providers, and further the company's position in the home health and hospice market.
Founded in 1978, Fazzi Associates is well known for its consulting services, compliance and outsourced services, and education and research, as well as its best practice and patient satisfaction survey work. The company serves more than 1,400 agencies nationwide, according to its statement.
Core Mediware offerings include blood management technologies for hospitals and blood centers; cell therapy solutions for cord blood banks, cancer treatment centers, and research facilities; medication management solutions for hospitals, behavioral health facilities, infusion and specialty pharmacy providers; and rehabilitation therapy and respiratory care solutions.
The Mediware Fazzi acquisition plays to the movement toward value-based care, aiming to improve clinical, financial and operational performance, to advance patient care, as well as foster well-trained and highly capable professionals working in home health, hospice and post-acute care, said Tim Ashe, RN, MS, MBA, and president of Fazzi Associates.
The evolving use of technology and analytics in the context of the operating model and the clinical model continues to be a challenge for providers, Ashe said. "Organizations have to constantly be thinking, 'how can we do more at a lower cost, and return higher quality and higher patient satisfaction. And, at the same time, make sure our staff is balanced, well-trained and successful so that we can retain them.' That's the huge challenge."
Over the past five to six years, Fazzi has developed a certification program, Ashe said, and the company has become an accredited IACET provider. IACET stands for International Association for Continuing Education and Training.
"The IACET accreditation is an exciting update. We're striving to go deep with meaningful certifications and education; we want to get to the core competencies that lead to success for home health and hospice providers, and be able to certify staff. Staffing is one of the major issues that the field is facing."
In addition to training in core home health competencies, such as ICD-10 and OASIS, Fazzi has developed parallel focus on paraprofessional training, Ashe said. The company also provides executive level leadership training.
The acquisition of Fazzi Associates enables Mediware to offer new, comprehensive services and solutions—including medical coding, revenue cycle management, education, CAHPS, consulting and ancillary solutions that address key challenges and evolving complexities affecting the post-acute care sectors, according to the company’s press statement.
In mid-2017, Mediware moved to acquire Kinnser Software, Inc., and its products for hospice, homecare and private duty care electronic record keeping and financials. Some 4,000 home health and hospice agencies currently utilize insights and analytics through the company's electronic health record (EHR) platform, according to Ben Chapman, senior vice president and general manager of Home Health and Hospice for Mediware, "with the broader Mediware story of being able to further the continuum through patient information flowing from one sector to another and providing specialized insights."
In January 2018, the addition of MEDTranDirect, Inc., an approved Medicare network services vendor (NSV), enhanced Mediware's ability to provide health care revenue cycle management services and claims processing support for the increasing challenges of reimbursement.
Founded in 1970, Mediware started as a specialized blood banking information system. Today, it is a portfolio company of TPG Capital. Mediware plans to maintain Fazzi Associates’ brand and western Massachusetts headquarters; the firm’s leadership team will continue to lead Fazzi Associates' lines of business. The company's founder, Dr. Bob Fazzi, will serve in a strategic advisory role with Mediware, consulting on industry relations, home health advocacy, growth opportunities and innovation.
—HomeCare Staff
