News 4/19/24

Top News

Medication management vendor DrFirst acquires Myndshft Technologies, which specializes in real-time eligibility and benefits verification and expediting prior authorizations.

Reader Comments

From Not a Data Blocker: “Re: Epic/Particle Health/Carequality. Internal discussions at Epic about the ongoing Carequality dispute point toward the continued suspension of Particle Health while all this gets sorted out.” Not a Data Blocker forwarded an email from members of Epic’s Care Everywhere Governing Council that mentions several healthcare organizations that could be processed as treatment-based entries, and several others that are questionable and should be validated through dialogue with Particle. It seems like the sorting out will take some time.

Webinars

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Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

After three years as a public company, 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki expresses interest in taking the company private. Analysts say the move is likely the result of a decline in interest in its at-home DNA test kits, a bottomed out stock that has plunged the company’s value to below zero, a data breach last year (that it blamed on its users) that generated dozens of lawsuits, and prescription drug development efforts that haven’t paid off.

AngelEye Health, developer of neonatal and pediatric patient and family engagement technology, acquires NICU care coordination and patient engagement company NICU2Home.

People

Michelle Moran (Involta) joins HCTec as chief growth officer.

Government and Politics

VA Secretary Denis McDonough says the joint DoD-VA roll out of Oracle Health EHR technology last month at the Lovell Federal Health Care Center in Chicago has been successful thus far, due in part to additional on-site personnel and enhanced training. While he wouldn’t go so far as to say the software is running without issue, he did express cautious optimism about resuming roll outs of Oracle Health at additional VA facilities next year.

Meanwhile, the Government Accountability Office issues several recommendations in light of the DoD’s facility-wide roll out of its Oracle Health-based MHS Genesis system, including the establishment of user satisfaction goals for progress measurement and improvement planning, and resolving problems with its Dentrix module. It also recommends that both the DoD and VA address the last mile of integration issues at Lovell, largely related to legal and policy issues.

Privacy and Security

RansomHub makes good on its threat to put stolen Change Healthcare data, including files from MetLife, CVS Caremark, Davis Vision, Health Net, and Teachers Health Trust, up for sale on the dark web. The ransomware group says it will allow insurance companies to pay ransoms to prevent the sale of their specific files.

Sponsor Updates

• FinThrive publishes its “2024 RCM Transformative Trends Report.”
• Fortified Health Security welcomes Paul Connelly to its Board of Directors.
• InterSystems achieves HITRUST r2 certification.
• Meditech customer Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital achieves HIMSS Stage 6.
• Artera publishes a new guide, “Your Guide to Governance: Best Practices to Effectively Manage Your Enterprise-Wide Patient Communications Strategy.”
• FountainRx Specialty Pharmacy expands its implementation of the Inovalon One platform to include ScriptMed pharmacy management software.
• Elsevier Health develops Sherpath AI, a generative AI educational chat tool designed for nursing students.

Blog Posts

• How to Get More Patients and Faster Throughput in Urgent Care (Experity)
• Enhancing Healthcare Revenue Streams: Key Steps for Your RCM Team to Improve Patient Collections (FinThrive)
• Five9 Senior Partner Program Manager Earns Cloud Girls Rising Award for Leadership (Five9)
• From Insight to Action: Lessons Learned at Rise National 2024 (Inovalon)
• Community Voices Shaping Clinical Solutions (Medhost)
• Navigating MSSP Quality Reporting (MRO Corp.)
• Building a Better Skin Substitute Strategy: The Role of Specialty EHRs (Net Health)

Contacts

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