Weekender 11/19/21

Weekly News Recap

• Athenahealth’s private equity owners are reportedly in final discussions to sell the company for up to $20 billion.
• Healthcare payment options platform vendor PayZen raises $15 million.
• HIMSS estimates that modernizing public health IT systems will cost $30 billion.
• The US Coast Guard completes its Cerner implementation.
• Healthcare API company Ribbon Health raises $43.5 million.
• QGenda acquires Schedule360.
• Lightbeam Health Solutions acquires CareSignal.
• Medidata Solutions co-founder Glen de Vries dies in a plane crash.

Best Reader Comments

[Amazon Care] sounds like how employees get care from their local doctor’s office through employer-provided insurance? Except with another megacorp inserted into the mix to soak up some healthcare dollars. I guess the home visits are unique but that will last only as long as the option doesn’t have any real utilization. (IANAL)

Just to be clear, Teladoc paid almost no cash for Livongo — about $11 cash a share which was then valued at $150. The rest was in stock. Still a great sale by Glen Tullman but there’s doubtless an alternative universe where the two companies are going after each other, with one paying up to build out a chronic care management operation and the other building a telehealth service. (Matthew Holt)

Medicine shouldn’t be a lousy job, but from what you write, it clearly is in many cases. I would think that telemedicine will become very common particularly in true health systems where providers across the whole system are using the same EHR – telemedicine, urgent care, ER, PCPs, specialists, and everyone else. I get my care from a such a system and it is comforting to know that however I need to get care for a particular thing, my up-to-date and comprehensive records will be available as long as I’m getting care in system. (West Coast Vendor Mgmt)

Watercooler Talk Tidbits

Readers funded the Donors Choose teacher grant request of Ms. D in Arkansas, who asked for supplies, furniture, and math kits for her special education high school class. She reports, “I can’t tell you how much your donations have impacted my class. Being in special education, I deal with a low budget and many needs. So many of them have excess energy and now they are able to fidget around on their new stools without disturbing others. This has given them the opportunity to focus on the assignment rather than being constantly distracted by being redirected for making noise. The analog clock has been used by every class as we work in calculating the time and the time difference in word problems. The foam bag is a favorite of every student! They can relax, read and enjoy a break from the typical chairs and tables. Our students learn best with hands-on activities and the construction paper has given us the ability to build and create scenes from books, work geometry, and bring numerous projects to life in science. We are forever grateful for your kind generosity and will pay you back with our success in the future as productive members of society.”

Hospitals in Israel are dealing with incidents of mass violence such as parking lot gunfights, mobs attempting to force their way into EDs that are treating crime victims, and a funeral that turned into a shootout in which participants then stormed a hospital.

CDC predicts that when total ICU bed capacity reaches 75% in the US, 12,000 excess deaths can be expected in the following two weeks, while exceeding 100% of ICU capacity could be associated with 80,000 excess deaths.

Apple profiles Northwell Health’s use of T6, an IPad trauma care app that was previously used only by the military. The app’s name refers to the six hours in which a traumatic injury requires medical intervention to achieve the best outcome. Northwell Health trauma surgeon Omar Bholat, MD, MS – who is also an Army reserves command surgeon who has deployed on six combat tours – says, “T6 is going to help streamline the flow of data from the point of injury to the ICU and everywhere in between. That’s going to be huge for trauma medicine, whether that’s civilian or military.”

In Case You Missed It

• News 11/19/21
• EPtalk by Dr. Jayne 11/18/21
• Readers Write: Protect Hospital Workers Now for a Safer and Brighter Future of Caring
• Readers Write: Artificial Intelligence and Healthcare: What the Future Holds?
• Readers Write: Digital Healthcare Needs To Evolve, and the Cloud Is the Catalyst
• HIStalk Interviews Bret Larsen, CEO, EVisit
• News 11/17/21
• Curbside Consult with Dr. Jayne 11/15/21
• HIStalk Interviews Tom Cox, President, Experian Health
• Monday Morning Update 11/15/21

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