News 1/17/25

Top News

Canada’s Nova Scotia Health pauses its two-day-old rollout of medical appointment text reminders after the system sent incorrect information, failed to indicate whether the visit was in-person or virtual, and in some cases referred to a non-existent appointment.

The organization blames integration challenges with the 900 scheduling systems that providers use. A patient provided the above reminder for a 2:45 p.m. appointment that instead indicated 6:45 p.m.

Reader Comments

From Asking for a Friend: “Re: Baxter. Heard through the grapevine that it is discontinuing its DoseEdge product in 2028. Can you confirm? Will it be replaced with another solution?” I have emailed Baxter’s media contact for any news about the pharmacy workflow product, which Baxter acquired with its Baxa acquisition in 2011. UPDATE: Baxter provided this response:

After careful consideration due in part to third-party manufacturing constraints, Baxter will end of life the DoseEdge Pharmacy Workflow Manager after December 31, 2028. We are committed to supporting our customers throughout this transitional period.

HIStalk Announcements and Requests

HIStalk sponsors who are participating in the ViVE conference February 16-19: fill out this form with your details by February 7 and I’ll include you in my conference preview.

Dr. Jayne weighs in on the most annoying and overused trendy words, which inspired me to make my own list while not exactly following instructions since I included some phrases.

1. Suss. Somehow we got by with “understand” until recently.
2. Unpack. Did “analyze” or “explain” fail to do the job all of a sudden?
3. Utilize. You don’t look a bit smarter by not just saying “use,” and I would argue the opposite. See: “leverage.”
4. Unlock. A favorite of hack PR writers, they would have you believe that buying a company’s product will allow you to “unlock” something that is tantalizingly just out of reach until you write them that check.
5. Journey. Everything is a journey all of a sudden.
6. Gaslight. I still get confused about what it really means, especially when it seems to be misused often.
7. Curate. Everything that isn’t random has been curated by definition, and you’re no smarter just because you made a list.
8. Disinterested. Not the same as “uninterested,” instead indicating that the person has not been influenced by personal benefit.
9. Build out. Means the same as “build” with twice as many syllables. Press release people embrace it because it sounds decisive and explicitly defined when companies pledge to “build out” one thing or another.
10. LOL and LMAO. Mostly used, strangely enough, to project contempt or aggressive anger against an Internet stranger than to signal amusement.

Webinars

January 23 (Thursday) 11 ET. “Maximizing Revenue With Minimal Resources: Work Smarter, Not Harder in Claims Management.” Sponsor: Inovalon. Presenter: Travis Fawver, senior sales engineer, Inovalon. Navigating the challenge of hitting revenue goals is daunting, but billing doesn’t have to be. The presenter will explore how strategic adoption of new technology can transform claims management processes from reactive to proactive. Learn how to reduce denials while empowering staff to focus on high-value activities, and gain proven strategies to simplify workflows, automate routine tasks, and build a more efficient RCM operation to maximize reimbursement.

Stream on demand. “Healthcare Data Security: Aligning Processes with Evolving Threats & Regulations.” Sponsor: Inovalon. Presenters: Anthony Houston, MBA, senior director of security, risk, and compliance, Inovalon; Paul Wilder, MBA, executive director, CommonWell Health Alliance; Luke McNamara, MPA, deputy chief analyst, Google Cloud; Michael Quinn, VP of strategic partner development, Inovalon. Hear leaders in healthcare data security discuss some of the top recent threat evolutions and how organizations can proactively respond by making ongoing improvements to security protocols.

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

UnitedHealth Group reports Q4 results: revenue up 6.8%, EPS $6.81 versus $6.16, beating earnings expectations but falling short on revenue. Investor concern about higher medical costs sent shares down slightly. UHG finished the year with $400 billion in revenue and $32 billion in earnings from operations, with its Optum services business generating $17 billion in earnings on $253 billion in revenue. The company’s market cap is $478 billion.

Medical imaging solution vendor Core Sound Imaging raises a $80 million growth investment and gives the private equity investor the executive chair seat on the board.

Sales

• In Canada, Novia Scotia Health will deploy Novari’s surgery wait list management system in a five-year, $12 million contract.
• Denver Health chooses Nabla for ambient documentation.

People

Larry Adams, RN, MSN, MBA (ShiftMed) joins CareRev as chief nurse executive and SVP of strategy.

Announcements and Implementations

Healthmonix releases its 2025 MIPSpro Enterprise qualified clinical data registry.

Fortified Health Security publishes its healthcare cybersecurity guide for 2025.

Amazon Web Services and investment firm General Catalyst will collaborate to develop and deploy AI solutions. General Catalyst’s portfolio includes Summa Health acquirer Health Assurance Transformation Company, Commure, and Aidoc.

Government and Politics

A New York Times report finds that medication access company Apexus has earned big profits in the 20 years that it has been running the federal government’s 340B drug discount program, which gives hospitals and clinics that serve low-income or uninsured patients mandatory discounts on outpatient drugs. Apexus, a former non-profit that is now a for-profit subsidiary of Vizient, earns a fee for the drugs that are purchased, which gives it an incentive to increase use. The organization has an 80% profit margin in booking an estimated $227 million in annual revenue as the 340B program has grown to $66 billion in annual drug sales involving half the country’s non-profit hospitals.

The Washington Post reports that healthcare entrepreneur Chris Klomp is the choice of nominated CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz to run the $1 trillion Medicare program. The Salt Lake City-based Klomp became chairman and CEO of care notification technology vendor Collective Medical in 2014, which was sold to PointClickCare for $650 million in late 2020. He serves on the board of Nomi Health, Maven Clinic, InnovaCare Health, and HealthJoy.

Privacy and Security

Tech Crunch reports that UnitedHealth-owned Change Healthcare tagged its breach notice webpage with the “noindex” HTML meta tag, which would have hidden it from web searches.

Other

A University of Michigan survey finds that patient portals are the most-used digital health technology among older adults. The authors note that black patients are more reliant on portals because they don’t trust health systems enough to engage with them otherwise.

Gallup’s annual poll finds that Americans rank nurses as the most honest and ethical profession for the 23rd straight year. Pharmacists and physicians finished at #4 and #5, although trust in doctors has fallen from 77% in 2020 to 53% now. Holding the bottom spots are lobbyists, members of Congress, TV reporters, and advertising professionals, all of whom finished below car salespeople.

Sponsor Updates

• Neurogen Biomarking, which offers tools for early detection of cognitive impairment, will integrate the cognitive assessments of Linus Health.
• Black Book Research releases a new report, “The 2025 Black Book of Healthcare IT Consultants and Advisory Firms.”
• QGenda publishes a new report, ““State of Healthcare Digital Transformation: Untapped Strategies to Simplify Healthcare Workforce Management.”
• MRO offers a recap of its 2024 achievements, including recognition of its CEO and new customer partnerships.
• Rachel Pataky joins Nordic as managing director and MEDITECH practice lead.
• CloudWave appoints healthcare cybersecurity expert Lewie Dunsworth to its Board of Directors.
• Real Leaders and Built In recognize Findhelp as, respectively, a top impact company and best place to work.
• Fortified Health Security ranks ninth among leading healthcare cybersecurity vendors, according to the latest KLAS cybersecurity report.
• Goliath Technologies publishes a new case study, “Licking Memorial Health System Proactively Identifies and Resolves Citrix Slowness Issues Before Epic Hyperdrive Speed & Reliability Impacts Users.”

Blog Posts

• CloudWave’s Predictions for Healthcare IT in 2025 Part 2: Shifting from Detection to Prevention in Healthcare Cybersecurity (CloudWave)
• Why medical device connectivity needs a vendor-agnostic approach (Philips Capsule)
• A Dream Realized: It’s Time to Integrate Pharmacists into Pharmacogenomic Medication Decision-Making (First Databank)
• The High Stakes of Hospital Price Transparency Compliance (FinThrive)
• MRO Starts 2025 Strong with Top CEO Award, Major Client Wins, and Record-Breaking Growth (MRO)
• Understanding the CMS MIPS cost measure for Melanoma Resection (Healthmonix)
• The Generative AI Revolution: 9 Trends Reshaping Healthcare in 2025 (Impact Advisors)
• Full speed ahead: Interoperability at MEDITECH enters a new era (Meditech)
• Top Five Predictions for the Healthcare IT Industry for 2025 (Med Tech Solutions)

Contacts

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