Morning Headlines 9/25/13

GOP senators seek one-year delay of EHR requirements

17 Republican Senators have sent a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asking for a one-year delay in MU Stage 2, arguing that "this time pressure has raised questions about whether such a short period for Stage 2 is in the best long-term interest of the program. In order to achieve interoperability, it is critical that Stage 2 be as successful as possible."

Free Electronic Health Record Provider Practice Fusion Raises $70 Million In Oversubscribed Series D Funding

EHR freeware vendor Practice Fusion raises a $70 million series D investment round on a $700 million valuation. The company has found a revenue stream through monetization of its de-identified patient data. Pharmaceutical companies are primary customers and pay for weekly updates on aggregate prescribing trends.

eClinicalWorks and Epic Work Collaboratively to Make EHRs Interoperable

eClinicalWorks announces a partnership with Epic that will bring bi-directional interoperability between the two EHR systems. The interface enables cross-platform medical record matching, and then enables the exchange of problem lists, allergies, medications, discharge summaries and Continuity of Care Documents.

MyMedicalRecords Files Patent Infringement Complaint Against EHR and PHR Vendor Allscripts

MMRGlobal has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Allscripts seeking monetary damages as well as a permanent injunction over the patient portal that Allscripts acquired from Jardogs earlier this year. The company also has a lawsuit filed directly with what remains of Jardogs.

KLAS report examines EMRs in the 1–10 physician practice segment

The small practice EHR replacement market is picking up. Cloud-based solutions like athenaHealth and Practice Fusion are picking up new customers, while GE, Allscripts, Vitera, and McKesson are seeing the bulk of the customer loss.