Morning Headlines 2/3/15

Cerner Completes Acquisition of Siemens Health Services

Cerner announces the completion of its acquisition of Siemens Health Services. The new merged organization has a combined customer base of 21,000 facilities and an annual R&D budget of $650 million.

Community Health Systems Professional Services Corporation and Three Affiliated New Mexico Hospitals to Pay $75 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations

For-profit hospital chain Community Health Systems will pay $75 million to settle False Claims Act charges with the DOJ. Three New Mexico hospitals are accused of making illegal donations to county governments. The funds were used to pay the state’s share of Medicaid payments to the accused hospitals, in an effort to drive up local spending and take advantage of a federal program that reimbursed New Mexico $0.75 for ever dollar spent on rural Medicaid services.

ONC Annual Meeting, February 2 – 3

ONC’s Annual Meeting kicked off in Washington DC today. Tomorrow morning Karen DeSalvo, MD will join the former National Coordinators for an hour long round table on the state of the HIT nation.

Cost Comparison Between Home Telemonitoring and Usual Care of Older Adults: A Randomized Trial

Researcher compare the total cost of care for 205 patients over the age of 60 and find that, over the course of a 12-month period, traditional care costs the same as care supplemented with remote patient monitoring services.