News 2/10/23

Top News

CVS Health will acquire primary care company Oak Street Health for $10.6 billion in cash.

Oak Street Health’s 600 primary care providers work from 169 medical centers in 21 states.

Meanwhile, CVS Health reports Q4 results: revenue up 9.5%, adjusted EPS $1.99 versus $1.98, beating Wall Street expectations for both. CVS shares are down 20% in the past 12 months versus the Dow’s 5% loss.

Reader Comments

From Another Company Debacle: “Re: Allscripts / Veradigm. Major layoffs this week in R&D and solutions involving employees in both the US and India. Veradigm (formerly Allscripts) Practice Management took a big hit. Veradigm Interface Engine too.” Unverified.

From Jay Glick: “Re: Oracle Cerner. Fared poorly in Best in KLAS, wouldn’t you say?” Agreed. Oracle Cerner finished last among software suites, 20 points behind Epic and mostly “well below average” scores in every product segment except for attaining “average” in virtual care. In the all-important large hospital market, Epic scored 89.4 versus Oracle Cerner’s 70.0. Oracle Cerner finished first in no categories versus its last-place showing in a bunch of them. In trying to come up with a “glass half full” conclusion, I have two thoughts: (a) at least Oracle Cerner will keep making a lot of money from the federal government unless it gets shown the VA’s door and loses its only prime contractor deal, not to mention that a lot of Oracle’s recent revenue and earnings growth came from the former Cerner; and (b) perhaps the corporate stumbles that followed Neal Patterson’s death, along with high-visibility revenue cycle product problems, made it inevitable that the keys needed to be turned over to a new owner who has the money and objectivity to right the ship. From the “glass half empty” perspective, few health IT examples exist where a big outside company improved a vendor by acquiring it. Another sobering thought for Oracle is that KLAS reports only what customers are saying, and some of the older Cerner sites may re-muster the fortitude and cash that would be needed to move to Epic.

HIStalk Announcements and Requests

I suppressed my HIMSS23 indifference long enough to book my hotel, so the “am I going or not” question has been answered. The exhibit hall will be open full days on Tuesday (April 18), Wednesday, and a slightly shortened day Thursday. The hotel I was considering was nearly $500 per night on Expedia and on the chain’s loyalty club site, which would have kept me home, so kudos to HIMSS for making it available to attendees at barely more than half that price for the same dates. The website shows 764 exhibitors. I don’t think I’ve been to Chicago since HIMSS15. Opening day temperature highs going back from 2022 were 42, 55, 42, 76, and 43 degrees, and of course many remember the HIMSS09 opening reception near-blizzard where the McCormick Place coat check people had actual coats to manage instead of just last-day luggage holds.

I realized that I wasn’t seeing Altera Digital Health Sunrise (the former Allscripts Sunrise that is now owned by N. Harris) on the Best in KLAS report, where for years it topped the list of large-hospital inpatient EHRs. It had too few customers surveyed to be stacked up against Epic and Oracle Cerner (the only two products that were ranked), but its performance score was the lowest of all at 63.8. In the midsize category, it performed even worse at 54.6 (and Altera’s Paragon got a 37.6 score, also with too few responses to compare, and also pegged the lowest score in the small hospital category at 49.0). Also on the KLAS report, I also didn’t see segment categories for ED, anesthesia, laboratory, radiology, and pharmacy management systems, so I guess those products are no longer reported as part of Best in KLAS.

Webinars

March 7 (Tuesday) noon ET.  “Prescribe RPA 2.0 to Treat Healthcare Worker Burnout.” Sponsor: Keysight Technologies. Presenters: Anne Foster, MS, technical consultant manager, Eggplant; Emily Yan, MPA, product marketing manager, Keysight Technologies. Half of US health systems plan to invest in robotic process automation by the end of this year, per Gartner. The concept is evolving to help with staff burnout and physician productivity. The presenters will introduce RPA 2.0, explain how to maximize its value, demonstrate how to quickly start on RPA 2.0 and test automation in one platform, and answer questions about healthcare automation.

Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present your own.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Olive lays off a reported 215 employees, about one-third of the company. The company has reduced its headcount from a one-time peak of 1,400. The robotic process automation vendor, which once had a valuation of $4 billion, has been plagued by customer and executive defections along with reports that its promises of hospital savings have rarely materialized. 

A leaked internal email indicates that healthcare will remain a top priority of Oracle and is the primary focus on CTO and executive chair Larry Ellison. The company is also moving its data and AI unit under its cloud business.

Google’s valuation drops by $100 billion the day that its newly announced Bard chatbot was found to have given an inaccurate response in a company promotional video, raising questions about Google’s competitive position against Microsoft, which has already integrated ChatGPT functionality into its Bing search.

Virtual behavioral service company Mindstrong, which has raised $160 million in funding from high-profile investors, will wind down its operation and lay off 130 employees starting in late March.

Healthcare staffing marketplace operator Nomad reportedly lays off 20% of its headcount as pandemic-fueled demand and payment rates cool. The company has raised $200 million, including $105 million seven months ago.

Sales

• McClow, Clark, and Berk, PA Radiology Services (FL) selects Healthcare Administrative Partners for revenue cycle management.
• Southern Illinois Healthcare will implement Xealth to allow clinicians to find and order digital health tools and programs.
• Southern New England Health chooses Koan Health’s Datalyst for population health and medical economics.

Announcements and Implementations

Highlights from KLAS’s Best in KLAS in software and services for 2023:

• Epic, Impact Advisors, Nordic, Medasource, and Chartis were named for notable performances.
• Software suite rankings were topped by Epic and Meditech.
• Most improved software products were Veradigm’s FollowMyHealth and KPMG’s ERP business transformation and implementation leadership services.
• Top physician practice ranking went to Epic, followed by Meditech and Athenahealth.
• The overall IT services category was a tie between Impact Advisors and Nordic.

CareCloud integrates the Quippe Clinical Data Engine of Medicomp Systems into its EHR platforms.

Researchers at University of Missouri School of Medicine find that a small group of EHR testers identified 2.5 usability concerns for each new function, 70% of which were correctable before rollout.

Government and Politics

A KHN investigation finds that HHS has ignored repeated congressional mandates, going back to 2006, to implement a public health network that can detect and address infectious disease outbreaks. Experts say HHS didn’t follow through because the task is complex, funding is inadequate, consensus is lacking on the data that is needed in an emergency, and HHS can’t decide which of its operating divisions should lead the project.

Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL), chair of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs — who is involved with two bills that would change or end the VA’s Oracle Cerner implementation – says he will listen to more moderate proposals that are submitted by Democrat lawmakers to hold the company and the VA more accountable, but adds via a spokesperson that “the time for half-measures and tinkering around the edges is over.”

Other

NHS England’s technology budget has reportedly been cut in half to just over $1 billion, which will likely impact requests for electronic patient records. 

A survey of 9,500 consumers in six countries, including the US, finds that far fewer of them feel “cared for” than their primary care doctors believe. Key consumer issues are faster and more accurate diagnosis, convenient access, a focus on long-term health, and making healthcare more affordable. China leads the other countries in use of health portals, digital health apps, and telehealth. Half of consumers think that doctors and hospitals should be leading the charge to connect health information, but US physicians say they don’t do that because they aren’t paid extra, obtaining patient consent is a pain, they are experiencing data overload, they don’t know how to use the data, and technology doesn’t work well. Only 40 to 50% of US consumer respondents say they would share their health information even if the result was improved health, better-tailored services, safer treatments, or lower costs.

Sponsor Updates

• Healthcare consumer platform operator League will offer healthcare cost and quality information from Kyruus-owned HealthSparq.
• Everbridge adds DigitalOps Insights, a new AI-powered situational awareness tool, to its Digital Operations solutions bundle.
• Southern Ohio Medical Center reports a 30% drop in hospital-acquired C. difficile infections following the development of expedited testing tools by Meditech Professional Services.
• First Databank names Joe Bodkin (Franciscan Health) clinical informatics pharmacist specialist, Angela Johnston (Astra Zeneca) regional representative, and Shafer Grytness (Insight Global) software engineer.
• OSF HealthCare releases a new podcast featuring Get Well Supervisor of Clinical Digital Care Kate Johnson and Digital Patient Care Manager Kara Roat.
• InterSystems releases a new Healthy Data Podcast, “FFS vs. Integrated Care.”
• Intelligent Medical Objects secures SOC 2 Type 2+ HIPAA certification.
• Meditech shares the ways in which Valley Health System (NJ) clinicians have used its Surveillance tool to quickly identify patient conditions, provide relevant data, and expedite orders to initiate treatment.
• NeuroFlow completes its SOC 2 audit, reinforcing its commitment to protecting health data.
• Everest Group names NTT Data a Leader in its Provider Digital Services Peak Matrix Assessment 2023 report.

Blog Posts

• Unlocking the Power of Meditech Through a Robust Health IT Infrastructure (Healthcare Triangle)
• EHR Integrations: To Build or Not to Build (Healthjump)
• Most Popular Healthcare Technology Trends of 2023 (HealthTech Resources)
• Optimum CareerPath Spotlight: Meet Pratik Shekade (Optimum Healthcare IT)
• Newly Minted Rural Emergency Hospitals Face Old RCM Challenges (Medhost)
• Celebrating #1 Best in KLAS for image exchange: Innovative ways patients and providers are sharing without boundaries (Nuance)

HIStalk sponsors that were named as Best in KLAS Software and Services 2023 or Best in KLAS Global Software 2023:

• Agfa HealthCare (PACS Middle East / Africa)
• Arcadia (value-based care managed services)
• Azara Healthcare (population health management)
• Findhelp (social determinants of care network)
• Fortified Health Security (security and privacy managed services)
• Impact Advisors (security and privacy consulting services, ERP implementation leadership, financial improvement consulting)
• InterSystems (clinical portals Europe)
• Lyniate (integration engines)
• Meditech (acute care EMR small)
• Nordic (HIT core clinical implementation leadership)
• Nuance (computer-assisted physician documentation, speech recognition front-end EMR, image exchange)
• Oracle Health (acute care EHR Middle East /Africa)
• Pivot Point Consulting, a Vaco Company (managed IT services)
• Premier / PINC AI (value-based care consulting)
• Sectra (PACS large, PACS small, PACS Asia / Oceania, PACS Canada)
• Visage Imaging (universal viewer)
• Wolters Kluwer (infection control and monitoring, patient-driven care management)
• Zynx Health (clinical decision support care plans and order sets)

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
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