News 7/19/24

Top News

UnitedHealth Group raises its estimate of the full-year company financial impact of the Change Healthcare cyberattack from $1.6 billion to $2.3 billion.

UnitedHealth Group closed its $8 billion purchase of Change Healthcare in October 2022, weeks after overcoming a challenge that had been raised by the Department of Justice. The cyberattack occurred in February 2024.  

The company reported Q2 results on Tuesday: revenue up 6.4%, adjusted EPS $6.80 versus $6.14, beating Wall Street expectations for both and valuing the company at $520 billion.

The company’s $99 billion in quarterly revenue was up $6 billion quarter over quarter, with its Optum business leading the increase. Unadjusted earnings from operations reached $7.9 billion.

Webinars

None scheduled soon. Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present or promote your own.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Freshpaint, which offers a platform for healthcare marketers to check their websites, advertising, and videos for privacy compliance, raises $30 million in a Series B funding round. The company emphasizes the warnings by HHS and FTC that website visitor tracking tools violate HIPAA. Those warnings are in question since a federal court ruled last month that HHS does not have the authority to ban use of those tools. The court also ruled that the information that is collected by most website trackers is not tied to an individual and therefore is not covered by HIPAA. 

Social care software vendor Findhelp acquires Kiip, which offers software to reduce the administrative burden of at-risk populations who are seeking community services.

GE HealthCare acquires Intelligent Ultrasound, whose AI-driven ultrasound analysis tools are used by GE HealthCare and other device manufacturers, for $51 million.

Sales

• Intermountain Health will use NeuroFlow’s behavioral health technology to identify and triage behavioral health risk within its primary care population.

People

AI-powered retinopathy screening technology company Eyenuk hires Bryan Haardt (Boehringer Ingelheim) as CEO.

Grady Health System hires Joey Meneses, MS (Akron Children’s Hospital) as executive director of technology.

Announcements and Implementations

Executives of Adventist Health confirm via LinkedIn job postings the long-reported rumor that the health system will implement Epic, which will replace Oracle Cerner. Roseville, CA-based Adventist Health has 28 hospitals and 38,000 employees.

Huma Therapeutics announces Huma Cloud Platform, a no-code system for configuring regulated disease management tools that includes pre-built modules, device connectivity, cloud hosting, APIs, and a marketplace.

UPMC researchers find that adding EHR nudges reduced the unnecessary use of lymph node biopsies in older female patients by nearly 50%. They modified the outpatient clinic EHR that is used by seven breast surgical oncologists, adding a column to the surgeon’s schedule to flag patients who meet Choosing Wisely guidelines to skip the procedure. The authors conclude that the most important takeaway is that surgeons appreciated getting the reminder on the day of the patient’s visit without having to click anything.

Government and Politics

A NEJM perspective piece says that the Supreme Court’s overturning of the so-called Chevron doctrine will impact every aspect of society, but especially HHS’s scientific and technical agencies such as CMS, CDC, FDA, NIH, and AHRQ. The authors predict that the ruling – which increases the power of courts and makes it easy for businesses to challenge the actions of federal agencies – will encourage big companies to challenge any rule or guidance that threatens their bottom lines, such as Medicare’s payment policies. They also expect companies to challenge FDA’s regulatory authority over laboratory-developed tests, which is the subject of a lawsuit that was brought by the clinical laboratory trade group. From the article, which refers to the decision under its legal name of Loper Bright:

Whereas Chevron favored the government experts charged with administering public programs, Loper Bright favors well-funded industry insiders with the resources to litigate rules that threaten to curb waste, fraud, or abuse. For example, industry-driven litigation has hampered government implementation of the No Surprises Act, which has resulted in far less savings and weaker protections for patients from surprise out-of-network bills than anticipated … Loper Bright will also most likely make it more difficult for agencies to adapt their regulatory approaches in response to changing scientific or economic circumstances. Under Chevron and related opinions, agencies retained some latitude to change their interpretations of ambiguous statutes over time.

Other

Scammers are creating deepfake videos that depict famous UK TV doctors pitching scam health products such as hemp gummies and herbal blood pressure remedies on social media platforms. Recent surveys have shown that most Americans under 26 get their health and wellness advice from TikTok because it’s fast and free, although 10% of them have experienced health issues after following influencer advice. One survey found that one in three TikTok users did not double-check the advice they got from platform users, while 10% said they would trust an influencer who has a high number of followers or likes. The platforms urge users to report misinformation, but posting a factual disclaimer triggers the influencer’s massive follower count to defend them and their medical advice.

Sponsor Updates

• Inovalon’s Converged Quality software earns HEDIS certification for the 24th consecutive year.
• EClinicalWorks releases a new podcast, “Say Hello to Easy Joint Documentation with EClinicalWorks.”
• TruBridge announces that it has received the Peer Reviewed by HFMA designation for its Complete Business Office solution for the fourth consecutive year, and for its RCM solution for the seventh consecutive year.
• Vyne Medical becomes a commercial member of MUSE.
• FinThrive releases a new episode of its HealthLeaders Cyber Resilience Podcast.
• Five9 announces that it has been named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Contact Center-as-a-Service Applications Software 2024 Vendor Assessment.
• Wolters Kluwer Health adds its Rx Transitions for Mental Health medication management tool to its UpToDate Pro clinical decision support software.
• Linus Health will exhibit at Pri-Med West through July 20 in Anaheim, CA.
• Meditech will host Meditech Live September 25-27 at its facility in Foxborough, MA.

Blog Posts

• The 2024 EClinicalWorks and Healow National Conference: Grapevine Awaits You! (EClinicalWorks)
• How Healthcare Organizations Can Improve Their Insurance Verification Process (FinThrive)
• The Risk and Rewards of Quantum Computing in Healthcare (Fortified Health Security)
• How to Get Workday Certified (Healthcare IT Leaders)
• Closing Gaps in IT Service Delivery (Impact Advisors)
• Understanding the New Price Transparency Rules: What You Need to Know (Medhost)
• An eye-opening view at the frontlines of care (Meditech)
• Advanced Wound Care: When Is It Time to Move Beyond Routine Treatments? (Net Health)

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
Get HIStalk updates.
Send news or rumors.
Contact us.