In April 2015, the Mental Health Parity & Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) was extended to Medicaid recipients. It applies to Medicaid managed care and Medicaid extended care plans. In this webinar, speaker Suki Norris will define parity, review how it is being applied, and provide guidance on the steps to take to review parity in your state. Finally, we will review how to help your clients...
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WEBINAR ON DEMAND: Leveling the Playing Field: Understanding the Mental Health Parity & Addiction Equity Act
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EXECUTIVE WEB BRIEFING ON-DEMAND: The Excellence In Mental Health Act & The CCBHC Process
The Excellence in Mental Health Act (EMHA) is comprehensive legislation written specifically for the behavioral health care industry. Learn why the #CCBHC is relevant even if you’re in one of the other 42 states. The spirit of the act provides a renewed focus on the quality of delivery and person-centered care. Health care professionals must understand that the quality objectives in the EMHA...
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The Echo Group Promotes Matthew Caggiano to CEO
CONWAY, NH — The Echo Group, a New Hampshire company providing software and services to Behavioral Healthcare organizations nationwide since 1980, has promoted Matthew Caggiano to Chief Executive Officer. Caggiano is an accomplished Healthcare IT sales and operations executive with over 20 years of industry experience. Caggiano came to Echo as Chief Operating Officer in December 2015 charged...
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WEBINAR ON DEMAND: An Ounce Of Prevention: Strategic Planning With Confidence In Uncertain Times
Change for behavioral healthcare providers has been fast and furious. The challenge facing many organizations is how to strategically plan while managing immediate challenges amid so many federal and state regulatory concerns. In this webinar, the folks from Heritage Behavioral Health Center in Decatur, Illinois share insights, best practices, and the processes they adopted while developing their...
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WEBINAR: Billing for Behavioral Health in 2018 – Nov. 1
Attend Billing for Behavioral Health in 2018 and discover the top billing changes & challenges that may affect reimbursement in 2018 Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017 | 1:00 p.m. ET, 12:00 p.m. CT This webinar has already taken place. You can however view a recorded version at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c3g90RqbMk Do you know the difference between “Pay for Performance” versus...
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Echo Group partners, Alexander Youth Network & Monarch, successfully transfer Electronic Health Information data to NC HealthConnex
CHARLOTTE, NC — Two Echo Group partners, Alexander Youth Network and Monarch, have successfully completed the initial technology build to transfer electronic health information data files to NC HealthConnex, the North Carolina state-designated Health Information Exchange (HIE). Alexander Youth Network and Monarch are among the first behavioral health organizations to complete the Continuity of...
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The Echo Group Releases EchoVantage – A Visual, Innovative, and Intuitive EHR
EchoVantage Creates the Next Generation EHR for Behavioral Healthcare CONWAY, NH – The Echo Group announced today the release of EchoVantage, the only visual Continuum of Care timeline in the industry. This new software is designed to achieve increased productivity, speed, and flexibility for a world of care where focus needs to be on the client, not the computer. EchoVantage is a web-based...
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PatientPay and The Echo Group Partner to Add Paperless Billing and Payment Capabilities for Behavioral Health Clients
Patient Pay Leading Revenue Cycle Management provider integrates PatientPay to help behavioral health specialists better manage growing patient balances Conway, NH – The Echo Group has partnered with PatientPay to deliver simple and secure billing, and online patient payment solutions. Echo’s clients will be able to use an integrated PatientPay solution to help patients better manage their...
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Block Grants… A Heavy Lift?
A Webinar Sponsored by The Echo Group
Thursday, May 23, 2019 | 1:00 PM ET
The session will introduce Block Grants as a proposed method for funding Medicaid. The introduction will include a deep dive into the use of historical and current use of block grants, and the pros and cons learned from prior use. Finally, we will look at what can be done if block grants are in your future.
As a result of this presentation, attendees will be able to:
- Define block grants
- Identify the use of block grants in funding Medicaid
- Provide action steps in response to block grant funding
The recorded version of this webinar is available online on our YouTube channel. Visit our videos page for this and other presentations.
About The Speaker
Suki Norris, JD
Senior Knowledge Engineer
The Echo Group
Suki has 35 years of experience in Healthcare including Healthcare law, Managed Care, and Behavioral Health. She has been with the Echo Group for 20 years. Suki has extensive experience with Medicaid waivers, Meaningful Use, and the Excellence in Mental Health Act. She has worked extensively in data analysis including working with big data in support of clients and ongoing research. Her knowledge of Behavioral Health law has been sought by customers across the country as they address specific needs such as the use of an Electronic Health Record and the challenges of HIE and the inclusion behavioral health data. She has presented on a variety of topics including 42CFR Part 2, the challenge of parity, quality measures in behavioral health, value-based payment, and integrated/collaborated care.
Addiction Professionals
This course has been approved by NACCME, LLC, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #182840, NACCME is responsible for all aspects of the programming.
The recorded version of this webinar is available online on our YouTube channel. Visit our videos page for this and other presentations.
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A Colorful Mashup of Highlights from the 2019 Quarter 1 Meeting
A Colorful Mashup of Highlights from the 2019 Quarter 1 Meeting
The Echo Group’s first quarterly meeting of 2019 shed light, and candy, on the company’s first quarter successes.
This past Friday brought together two cultural celebrations to help kick off The Echo Group’s 2019 first quarter meeting—Cinco de Mayo and the Kentucky Derby turned into Cinco de Derby at the Echo offices. The Echo team took full creative license with the combined theme by setting up festive food tables, decorations, and several pinatas to break open throughout the meeting.
After everyone had a full plate and the first pinata was broken, CEO Matt Caggiano started off the meeting with Q1 highlights of exceeding overall total revenue expectations while keeping expenses down and ending with a total EBITDA at more than 5% above budget. Of particular interest were departmental successes such as positive Customer Support feedback and performance, notable Development milestones, and in the Revenue Cycle Management department, the highest collections numbers ever achieved.
Many thanks to individual employees were shouted out along with the newly introduced concept of Employees of the Quarter. This honor went to Jayson Rines, Network Administrator, and Kali Zumpfe, Director of Business Relations. Both Jayson and Kali were overwhelmingly recognized for their dedication, knowledge, and enthusiasm for Echo and its customers.
Across all departments, the first quarter message was clear: Echo is moving from strength to strength with many exciting developments to welcome in the coming months.
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The Echo Group Partners with Mend to Offer Virtual Appointments
The Echo Group Partners with Mend to Offer Virtual Appointments
Mend’s telehealth platform will allow Echo’s customers to connect with their clients via flexible and secure video appointments.
Conway, New Hampshire—The Echo Group, a leading provider of software and services for behavioral health, today announced a transformative new partnership with Mend, a telehealth solutions company. Mend’s HIPAA approved video conferencing will be integrated with EchoVantage, Echo’s clinical and fiscal behavioral health software. This will create a robust solution for Echo’s customers that will allow virtual face-to-face encounters between agencies and their clients.
“Mend is very excited to have been selected as The Echo Group’s exclusive telemedicine solution provider,” said Brandon Worley, Mend’s President and Co-founder. “This partnership will allow Echo’s providers and their patients to have increased access to care, making it easier for everyone to lead healthier and happier lives.”
With Mend, once a virtual appointment is made, a secure link and date-of-birth are all that are needed for clients to instantly and effortlessly link to their agency via a mobile device, tablet, or computer with video capability. Providers will be able to deliver exceptional care anytime, anywhere and make sure no one is lost in the system.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Mend,” said Matt Caggiano, Chief Executive Officer of The Echo Group. “The seamless integration between Mend and EchoVantage will allow our clinicians to launch a telemedicine session directly from within the client’s chart. This will lead to increased productivity for the clinician and more importantly, better care for the client.”
To find out more about how your facility can enhance your client care with Echo’s Virtual Appointments, click here to request a demo.
ABOUT ECHO
The Echo Group revolutionized electronic health records in the behavioral health industry with EchoVantage, the only EHR featuring a visual continuum of care timeline. EchoVantage is a core, integrated EHR platform with a complete suite of tools designed to conform to your workflow, meet compliance requirements, and increase productivity, enabling you to spend more time putting your clients first. Privately held since 1980, The Echo Group is located in Conway, New Hampshire with an additional office in California. Echo’s more than 80 employees are dedicated to making the best behavioral health technology in the industry.
ABOUT MEND
Mend is the highest-rated, most robust, easiest-to-use communication and patient engagement platform offered in the healthcare industry. Headquartered in Orland, Florida, Mend offers a comprehensive custom platform including telemedicine, appointment reminders, patient scheduling, and digital patient intake forms. Mend is changing the way healthcare providers and their patients communicate and engage with one another leading to increased access to care and better patient experiences.
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PRESS CONTACTS
Suki Norris, Senior Knowledge Engineer
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A Thousand Thanks!
To all of our customers who attended our annual Peer to Peer Summit!
We networked, we learned. We bowled, we danced. It was an amazing three days and all of us at Echo truly enjoyed every minute of P2P 2019. From game-changing sessions like Power BI to the thought-provoking Social Determinants of Health and Population Management, the rooms were full of invaluable insights, open dialogue, and new ideas for system utilization.
Special thanks to our Peer to Peer customer presenters:
- Jennifer McClaren, Adelphoi – Outcomes Data and Patient Matching
- Mark Mortimer, Adelphoi – Outcomes Data and Patient Matching
- Kurt Brecheisen, Coos County – A New Way to Look at Mobile Assessment
- Carolyn Spence, Alexander Youth Network – EchoConnect – Online Forms: What Are They and How Do They Help?
- Sara Steckbeck, Abraxas – Implementing EchoVantage: Ways to Engage and Prepare End Users
- Erin Aldrich, Grand Lake Mental Health Center – Improving Provider Productivity in Integrated Health; PowerBI II
- Josh Cantwell, Grand Lake Mental Health Center – Improving Provider Productivity in Integrated Health
- Jason Cagle, Grand Lake Mental Health Center – PowerBI II
If you were unable to attend P2P 2019, you missed out, and we missed you! Here are a few highlights to entice you to join in next year:
- Extended Office Hours gave customers the chance to have individual time with developers and subject area experts to ask questions, solve problems, and share new ideas.
- A Clinical track of sessions allowed for a deeper dive into how EchoVantage can solve more of your agency’s needs and an update on current clinical topics.
- Our newest offering of TeleHealth was revealed to show how you can connect with your clients anytime, anywhere.
- We introduced EchoReach, our new app that allows your clients fast, easy, and secure access to their information.
To view and download your favorite P2P PowerPoint presentations and those you missed, click here: https://p2p365.echoman.com/index.php/folder/96/p2p19
To remember the learning, fun, and networking we all shared, make sure to visit our P2P 2019 Album on The Echo Group Facebook page to see images of learning, bowling, gaming, and the powerful closing ceremony by local Pequot dancers.
We know we have big shoes to fill for next year so we are excited to say we will see you in…
boston for p2p 2020!
save the Dates of September 27-30th, 2020
it’ll be Wicked Good!
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What’s Next with ShareCare
The upcoming enhancements of ShareCare Release 8.14 will go a long way in making our ShareCare community more efficient.
The ShareCare development team is steadfastly working on Release 8.14, which will include the following:
- Staff will be able to create service clusters. Clusters will be used for Admission’s auto-created authorization.
- A new Guarantor screen will allow users to enter a guarantor and see all associated clients.
- Med Coordinator and ID will be added to the Admissions screen.
- The Rebill screen will now have PCCN as an additional search option.
- The Guarantor Balance will be available on the Invoice Lookup on the Receivables screen.
- The MMEF Share of Cost Report will include the consumer’s last service date and the Partial Match Report will not contain the client’s CIN.
- A new Patient Statement, together with setup screen, will be available. A Global Variable is added to allow customers to select between the two Gurarantor statements.
Additionally, we are excited to announce that ShareCare will support ColdFusion 2018 and SQL Server 2017. Look for this release in the first quarter of 2020.
We are also working on the specification of the new 274 for review by the user group. Counties can use the 274 to submit Managed Care Provider data to DHCS.
These updates are huge differentiators for ShareCare and will prove to be critical to the long term success of our ShareCare customers. Stay tuned for the actual release notes coming soon.
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The Echo Group Welcomes White Horse Recovery As Its Newest Partner
The Echo Group Welcomes White Horse Recovery As Its Newest Partner
Two local Mount Washington Valley area businesses that support behavioral health treatment team up to offer top-notch care and support.
Conway, New Hampshire—The Echo Group, the only provider of visual electronic health record technology for the behavioral health industry, is excited to announce that it has partnered with local behavioral health facility, White Horse Recovery, located nearby in Ossipee and North Conway, New Hampshire. Echo is providing electronic health record (EHR) technology and billing services for White Horse, allowing White Horse to focus on offering the best care, support, and behavioral health programs to its clients.
“We are excited to partner with White Horse Recovery as we look to make more local connections,” said Allan Normandin, Echo’s Interim Chief Executive Officer. “White Horse is known for doing great work in our community and we are thrilled to be able to offer them an EHR and billing technology. Our combined solution will give them all the tools they need to build and grow a successful agency.”
EchoVantage, Echo’s electronic health record technology, will enable White Horse to convert all of their paper charts to electronic versions that capture client information, appointments, diagnoses, prescriptions, treatment plans, and more into one central location that can be viewed and used in real-time.
“We are thrilled to finally be able to toss our paper charts and folders,” said Mitch Yeaton, Chief Executive Officer at White Horse Recovery. “EchoVantage will allow us to better track, treat, and collaborate with our clinicians and clients in a way we never have before.”
With this partnership, White Horse Recovery will elevate its services and functions for those affected by behavioral health concerns in the Mount Washington Valley community.
For more information about EchoVantage and The Echo Group, visit www.echobh.com.
For more information about White Horse Recovery, visit www.whitehorseac.com.
ABOUT ECHO
The Echo Group revolutionized electronic health records in the behavioral health industry with EchoVantage, the only EHR featuring a visual continuum of care timeline. EchoVantage is a core, integrated EHR platform with a complete suite of tools designed to conform to your workflow, meet compliance requirements, and increase productivity, enabling you to spend more time putting your clients first. Privately held since 1980, The Echo Group is located in Conway, New Hampshire with an additional office in California. Echo’s more than 80 employees are dedicated to making the best behavioral health technology in the industry.
ABOUT WHITE HORSE RECOVERY
White Horse Recovery is a non-profit, 501c3, whose mission is to provide behavioral health services that meet the individual needs of those served, offering a path to a better tomorrow. Mental health counseling and substance use disorder counseling are available for age 6 and up in North Conway and Ossipee, NH. Walk-in Recovery Support Centers for adults are also available at both locations. White Horse accepts most insurances, Medicaid, commercial insurance and has a sliding scale fee for those without insurance. Everyone is treated equally and accepted as they are.
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PRESS CONTACT
Jacqueline Carr, Marketing Specialist
603.447.8600
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What’s Next With ShareCare: Release 8.15
Echo’s ShareCare development team is constantly working to improve your experience. Here’s a summary of the upcoming changes coming for Release 8.15:
- Diagnosis Code Begin/End Dates
- Enhancement to Clinician’s Gateway Diagnosis Upload
- Enhancements to Cost Report and other fiscal reports
- Ability to run 837 P/I as separate claim files
- ColdFusion 2018
These updates will make a big difference for our ShareCare customers as they look to maintain efficiencies with their claims and reporting. Stay tuned for actual release notes coming soon.
Coming in Quarter Two:
- License Type Group Begin/End Dates
- Windows Server 2019
- SQL Server 2019
The post What’s Next With ShareCare: Release 8.15 appeared first on Leading Behavioral Health EHR/EMR Software | The Echo Group.
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Upcoming Quarter One Release Notes: EchoVantage
The Echo development team is constantly working to improve the EchoVantage experience for our customers. Here is a summary of upcoming new features, updates, and bug fixes to expect this quarter:
- Basic 837I billing method for electronic institutional claims
- Password signatures to make signing forms more efficient
We are also working on many customer/state-specific updates:
- Oregon MOTS service reporting
- North Carolina HIE reporting
- Wisconsin billing
- Wisconsin state reporting
Stay tuned for when these functionalities will be live.
The post Upcoming Quarter One Release Notes: EchoVantage appeared first on Leading Behavioral Health EHR/EMR Software | The Echo Group.
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Block Grants: An Alternative Method For Funding Medicaid
A basic overview of block grants and what to know if your state is moving in that direction.
Following the recent government announcement of Block Grants as an alternative method to fund Medicaid, we are resharing Echo’s Senior Knowledge Engineer, Suki Norris’ past webinar: Block Grants: A Heavy Lift?
This webinar introduces Block Grants as a proposed method for funding Medicaid. The introduction includes a deep dive into their historical and current use along with the pros and cons. A particular focus on the challenges presented with Block Grants—they generally provide more choice and less funding—is also explored. Finally, Suki looks at what can be done if block grants are in your future.
Webinar takeaways include:
- Defining block grants
- Identifying the use of block grants in funding Medicaid
- Providing action steps in response to block grant funding
This webinar includes a bibliography and question/answer session.
Presenter information: Suki Norris, JD Senior Knowledge Engineer, The Echo Group Suki has 35 years of experience in Healthcare including Healthcare law, Managed Care, and Behavioral Health. She has been with the Echo Group for 20 years. Suki has extensive experience with Medicaid waivers, Meaningful Use, and the Excellence in Mental Health Act. She has worked extensively in data analysis including working with big data in support of clients and ongoing research. Her knowledge of Behavioral Health law has been sought by customers across the country as they address specific needs such as the use of an Electronic Health Record and the challenges of HIE and the inclusion of behavioral health data. She has presented on a variety of topics including 42CFR Part 2, the challenge of parity, quality measures in behavioral health, value-based payment, and integrated/collaborated care.
The post Block Grants: An Alternative Method For Funding Medicaid appeared first on Leading Behavioral Health EHR/EMR Software | The Echo Group.
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Is Your EHR Safe from Ransomware?
Ransomware attacks are on the rise. Did you choose an EHR vendor to protect your agency’s data?
The attack starts, well before anyone realizes it. An open of an intriguing email, a click on a promising attachment or link. Almost instantly, the computer is infected, files are encrypted, and the hackers are in. You were sure it would never happen to your agency—your employees have been instructed on best practices when it comes to suspicious emails.
Unfortunately, there is no guarantee. Even organizations with the best intentions and seemingly best-laid plans are not immune to sophisticated and crippling ransomware attacks that are gripping organizations of all types and sizes. The anger, then fear, of realizing your agency has been infiltrated by a clever digital diversion is terrifying and daunting.
Solutions for ransomware attacks on healthcare-related organizations have proven to be quite tricky as most technology systems are locked down by their electronic health record (EHR) vendors. This leads to an important question: when choosing your organization’s EHR provider, did you choose one who offers ransomware attack solutions?
Echo has identified the critical need for ransomware attack solutions and the importance of offering these solutions as part of its core services. Our response team is quick and actionable and is by your side throughout the data recovery process. As we move through the recovery, we set your organization up with an uncompromised database to allow your employees to put away the paper and pens they were temporarily forced to use and get back to working online. Our recovery solutions include offering professional services to rebuild your network, scanning for exposure, and adding Sophos
to protect against future attacks, among other proprietary security measures.
We hope that you never need our ransomware attack services, but if you do, know that Echo views each customer as a true partner and will use our expertise to protect your agency and its clients.
The post Is Your EHR Safe from Ransomware? appeared first on Leading Behavioral Health EHR/EMR Software | The Echo Group.
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In Memoriam: DeAnn Murphy
It is with a heavy hearts that we share the passing of our friend and colleague, DeAnn Murphy. She passed away on February 15th after a brief illness.
As the Product Manager for Echo’s ShareCare product that is based in California, DeAnn was well known for her intelligence, respect, and devotion to her job and those she worked with. Following is a Memoriam of DeAnn, written by her fellow Echo colleague, David Allen:
I have known DeAnn for approximately the 9 years she has been with the company. Although we worked three thousand miles apart, in different time zones, we worked very closely together as she progressed through her Support, QA, conversion, implementation, and product management roles. She was an extremely hard worker who was quick to pick up new skills and willing to go the extra mile for both her co-workers and our customers. I often commented to her and others that she had “a memory like a steel trap.” I also have fond memories of conversations we had at times after she had gone home from a full day’s work to catch up on matters needing attention.
DeAnn was well-liked by our California customers who appreciated her intelligence and commitment to meeting their needs. She had an active role with them and truly exemplifies our commitment to our partnership with those we support. I have already received many thoughtful comments from different customers who appreciated their relationships with her and were very moved by our sudden loss.
I cherish the memories of picking DeAnn up from the airport when she made a trip west, the attendance together at a conference in Southern California, or meeting on-site with customers the rare times we were able to do so. Her voice on the phone was more the norm on an extended basis. I will miss that so much… —David Allen
Even at work, DeAnn’s devotion to her family was very evident as she was always sharing their accomplishments and proud moments. Our greatest condolences are with her husband Tom and her children, Joe and Reagan.
DeAnn’s obituary can be found here. Please add your thoughts or memories in the comments below to share with her colleagues and family.
The post In Memoriam: DeAnn Murphy appeared first on Leading Behavioral Health EHR/EMR Software | The Echo Group.
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COVID-19 Update: A Message to Our Customers
Times of uncertainty brings the most important things into focus. At Echo, as we see the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) in the U.S., our priority is the well-being of our community–each of our employees, our customers, their staff, and clients. This note is to share a few things that we are doing, so far, in order to continue daily operations to support everyone.
In the Echo offices, the safety and health of our employees is top of mind. Therefore, Echo is doing its best to maintain a safe and healthy work environment:
- We have increased the availability of cleaning supplies and sanitary actions within our offices.
- We have instated a travel advisory requiring staff who are returning from any trips to self-quarantine for 14 days.
- Effective immediately all staff have the option of remote work environments. All staff have the same connectivity, network, and phone as they do in the office.
For our customers, we want to offer meaningful services in these uncertain times. We are aware of the increase in remote staff that many of you are experiencing as you look to limit in-person interactions as a precaution against COVID-19. In response, Echo has rolled out virtual support options to help you protect your staff and clients. If you are a customer of Echo, please contact your account manager for details on these.
While we can’t know what will happen in the coming days and weeks, I do know that Echo will do everything we can to be true partners for you and your community. Take care out there.
Allan Normandin, CEO + The Echo Team
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The post COVID-19 Update: A Message to Our Customers appeared first on Leading Behavioral Health EHR/EMR Software | The Echo Group.
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