Morning Headlines 8/11/15

Booz Allen Hamilton tapped as lead HealthCare.gov contractor, but CMS can’t quit Optum yet

Booz Allen Hamilton will replace Optum as the next lead contractor to maintain Healthcare.gov, winning a five-year contract worth $202 million. Optum will continue on in its role as quality tester while protests from losing bidders for that segment of work are resolved.

How Identity Theft Sticks You With Hospital Bills

The Wall Street Journal correlates increased health data breaches and instances of medical identity theft with the rapid adoption of EHRs across the country in a story that presents both empirical and anecdotal evidence of the cost that poor IT security compliance has on the people who are victims of medical identity theft.

Health IT Policy Committee and Health IT Standards Committee; Call for Applications

ONC is soliciting applications to fill a variety of volunteer positions on its HITPC and HITSC panels. Selected applicants will serve on the panels for three years.

President Obama Hosts the First-Ever White House Demo Day

The Obama Administration hosts the first-ever White House Demo Day, highlighting entrepreneurs working in a variety of industries, including a number of healthcare startups.

Morning Headlines 8/10/15

Statement on FCC Decision to Allow Unlicensed Devices in Dedicated Health Care Spectrum

AHA sends a letter to the FCC criticizing a recent decision to open up new frequency bands for use by unlicensed devices because those frequencies had previously been reserved for use by patient monitoring devices.

Usefulness of Pharmacy Claims for Medication Reconciliation in Primary Care

A comparison between pharmacy claims data and EHR medication lists finds discrepancies between the two data sources 77 percent of the time. Researchers conclude that embedding pharmacy claims data into medication reconciliation workflows within EHRs could help increase medication list accuracy.

MedicineBall is the new Moneyball. WikiLeaks meets the #data scalpel

Healthloop founder Jordan Shlain, MD comments on the recent ProPublica surgeon scorecard publication, saying “the outcomes data feedback loop is in effect; forcing the house of medicine to take a data perspective on its future.”

Texas Health Resources Names New Chief Information Officer

Texas Health Resources names Joey Sudomir as its new CIO. Sudomir has held the position as acting CIO since April, when his predecessor Ed Marx, CHIME’s 2013 CIO of the Year, departed  to join the Advisory Board Company.

Morning Headlines 8/7/15

Watson to Gain Ability to “See” with Planned $1B Acquisition of Merge Healthcare

IBM announces plans to acquire Merge Healthcare for $1 billion, with the goal of integrating Merge’s imaging services with IBM’s Watson initiative so that Watson customers could review diagnostic images with analytical assistance.

Karen DeSalvo nomination moves to the Senate floor

The Senate HELP Committee unanimously approves Karen DeSalvo, MD’s nomination for assistant secretary of HHS, a position she has filled in an interim capacity since last fall. Her nomination will now move to the Senate floor for consideration.

US hospitals urge DOJ antitrust probe of Anthem-Cigna deal

In a letter to the Department of Justice, AHA lobbies for a review of the proposed Anthem-Cigna merger, citing concerns that the shrinking payer market will inevitably reduce competition and drive up insurance costs.

Computer algorithm could aid in early detection of life-threatening sepsis

Researchers from Johns Hopkins have developed a new algorithm that detects early sepsis with an 85 percent accuracy, and without increasing false positives over current methods.

Morning Headlines 8/6/15

Primary Care Providers’ Views of Recent Trends in Health Care Delivery and Payment

Survey results from The Commonwealth Fund and The Kaiser Family Foundation measuring primary care provider attitudes toward payment and care delivery reform finds that while views on health IT are generally positive, patient-centered medical homes and ACOs are met with mixed feelings, and the use of quality metrics to assess performance and rationalize financial penalties generates negative feelings.

Yelp’s Consumer Protection Initiative: ProPublica Partnership Brings Medical Info to Yelp

Yelp partners with ProPublica to begin embedding a subset of health care statistics into its listings pages for hospitals, nursing homes, and dialysis clinics.

SEC gives green light to new CEO pay ratio rule

Five years after its initial passage, the SEC has approved a highly-contested regulatory requirement included in the Dodd-Frank Act that requires publically traded companies to report the ratio of CEO compensation to median employee compensation, effective January 1, 2017.

AG Zoeller urges credit freeze in wake of data breach affecting 1.5 million Hoosiers

Cloud-based EHR vendor Medical Informatics Engineering updates an earlier disclosure to clarify that as many as 3.9 million patient records were potentially exposed during a May 2015 cybersecurity breach.

Morning Headlines 8/5/15

Cerner profit falls as operating costs surge

Cerner reports Q2 results: revenue increased 32 percent to $1.13 billion, adjusted EPS $0.52 vs. $0.40, missing analyst estimates for revenue and reporting a 53 percent increase in operating expenses.

Allscripts earnings rise on bookings growth

Allscripts reports Q2 results: revenue was flat at $352 million vs $351 million for Q2 2014, adjusted EPS $0.12 vs. $0.09. Bookings for the quarter increased 11 percent to $260 million, but the company still posted a net loss of $3.2 million.

MEDITECH United States SEC Form 10-Q

Meditech reports Q2 results: revenue falls 16 percent to $117 million, EPS of $0.46 vs. $0.63. Service revenue increased five percent to $80 million, while sales revenue dropped 42 percent to $37 million for the quarter.

Papworth says no to Epic

In England, Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust rescinds its Epic selection following recently reported problems with the Epic install at Cambridge University Hospitals. Papworth had entered into a joint procurement process with Cambridge in 2012 and was slated to install Epic in 2016.

Morning Headlines 8/4/15

Community Health Systems to spin off 38 hospitals, shift focus to larger markets

Community Health Systems will shed 38 of its 196 hospitals as it restructures to focus on larger markets. The health system, which currently owns 196 hospitals, will lose its status as the largest health system in the process.

FDA Clears First 3D-Printed Drug

The FDA has cleared a new 3D-printed oral epilepsy drug designed to dissolve with just a sip of water, even at doses as large as 1000 mg. The drug marks the first 3D printed medication to earn FDA approval.

Impact of the HITECH act on physicians’ adoption of electronic health records

A study published in JAMIA looks back on EHR adoption rates during  the five years since the passage of the HITECH Act, Surprisingly, researchers claim that the MU program only spurred EHR adoption by seven percent above the anticipated adoption rate given pre-MU adoption trajectories.

Morning Headlines 8/3/15

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust investigated over finances

In England, the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will be investigated by Monitor, the primary regulator within the NHS, over financial problems, including the introduction and management of its $300 million Epic install.

FDA warns of security flaw in Hospira infusion pumps

The FDA has issued a safety alert warning that Hospira’s Symbiq infusion pumps contain software vulnerabilities that allow attackers to take remote control of them over hospital networks. The alert recommends discontinuing use of the pumps and moving to a new infusion system as soon as possible.

Health Care Scheduling and Access: A Report From the IOM

The Institute of Medicine publishes a report on issues related to access, scheduling, and wait times in healthcare. The report outlines ten strategic initiatives it hopes will improve access and care delivery options for patients.

Morning Headlines 7/31/15

Ellmers Legislation Delivers Relief to Healthcare Providers

Congresswoman Renee Ellmers (R-NC) introduces the Flex-IT 2 Act, which proposes delaying MU Stage 3 rulemaking until at least 2017, citing as a reason the fact that only 19 percent of providers have met Stage 2 attestation requirements thus far.

Health IT & Health Information Services 2015 Midyear Market Review

Healthcare Growth Partners publishes its 2015 midyear review, focusing on health IT investments and IPOs. The report finds that private investments have increased 509 percent since 2007, while the number of IPOs has climbed 367 percent.

BJC HealthCare hobbled by system wide computer outage that lasted 20 hours

13-hospital BJC HealthCare (MO) experiences 20 hours of network downtime that impacted both its EHR system and its corporate email across all of its facilities.

McKesson Reports Fiscal 2016 First-Quarter Results

McKesson reports Q1 results: revenue grew nine percent to $47.5 billion, adjusted EPS $3.14 vs $2.47. Revenue from the company’s technology solutions business unit fell four percent.

Morning Headlines 7/31/15

Leidos Wins Massive Pentagon Health Care Records Contract

DoD announces it will implement Cerner as its next EHR in a $4.3 billion initial contract through Leidos that is anticipated to be worth up to $9 billion over the next 18 years. Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics noted that at the conclusion of the procurement process, there was “a clear best-value solution for us.”

Clarifying Questions and Answers Related to the July 6, 2015 CMS/AMA Joint Announcement and Guidance Regarding ICD-10 Flexibilities

CMS publishes clarifications to the ICD-10 Flexibility announcement that it made earlier this month.

Minnesota data analytics IDs potential savings

The Minnesota Department of Health analyzes emergency department visits, as well as hospital admissions and readmissions from 2012 claims data, finding that 1.3 million visits, generating $2 billion in spending, were potentially preventable. Pneumonia, heart failure, and COPD were the leading conditions driving up preventable ER visits.

Answers to Questions for the Record Following a Hearing on The 2015 Long-Term Budget Outlook Conducted by the Senate Committee on the Budget

In a follow up report from its 2015 Long-Term Budget Outlook report, the CBO discusses telehealth services and the potential financial costs or savings increased access would have on overall Medicare spending.

Morning Headlines 7/29/15

Harvard tech guru funds collaborative medical software

A Harvard Business professor invests $8.4 million in digital health startup ACT.md, a company focused on building collaboration tools to improve handoff communications and care coordination among providers.

NantKwest a huge IPO, but watch the small float

In the largest biotech IPO in a decade, Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD’s NantKwest started trading on the NASDAQ today, opening at $37 per share for an initial market capitalization of $2.6 billion. Soon-Shoing acquired the company less than a year ago for just $48 million.

Community Hospital EHR  – 2015

Peer60 publishes survey results from 277 community hospital providers, finding that 20 percent of community hospitals are actively looking to replace their current EHR, with Epic, Cerner, and Meditech most frequently named as likely replacement vendors.

UMass Memorial Health Care plans big patient record upgrade

UMass Memorial Health Care CEO Eric Dickson, MD reports that the health system will invest $700 million over $10 years in its transition from Sorian to Epic, representing the largest capital investment in its history.

Morning Headlines 7/28/15

Senate panel will push HHS to delay Stage 3 MU rules

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will submit a series of recommendations to the Obama administration focused on expanding EHR use through directives and rule changes, rather than legislative actions that can take years to pass. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), who chairs the committee, reports that the submission will include a recommendation that MU3 be delayed.

Health care will have its own Internet soon, Athenahealth chief says

CNBC interviews Athenahealth CEO Jonathan Bush, who predicts that “the lion’s share of routine health care” will be managed online in the future. Bush cites Amazon’s transformation of the retail market as an example of how to build consumer trust.  “Amazon took a piece of the Internet and made it safe enough, reliable enough, and connected enough that Main Street Americans use it for retail. We’re going to do the exact same thing. We know how to do this now. We’ve done it in other sectors."

Number of 5-star hospitals doubles in updated CMS ratings

CMS updates its five-star rating system for hospitals, which is based entirely on patient-satisfaction surveys, to reflect newly collected survey results. The scores will be updated quarterly moving forward.

Morning Headlines 7/27/15

Electronic Health Records on Mobile Devices

Cybersecurity experts at the National Institute of Standards and Technology publish a draft guide on securing mobile devices for use in the health care industry.

Another Big Earnings Beat for Athenahealth, Inc.

Athena publishes Q2 results: revenue climbed 21 percent to $224.7 million, EPS $0.32 vs. $0.32, missing revenue projections but beating earnings estimates. Stock prices, which had jumped five percent earlier in the day on news that Athena signed NewYork-Presbyterian Physician Services Organization, lost two percent of those gains in after hours trading.

The Health IT Safety Center Roadmap: What’s Next?

In a Health Affairs blog, Dean Sittig and Hardeep Singh publish an assessment of ONC’s Health IT Safety Center Roadmap.

Modernizing Medicine to acquire Weston electronic medical records firm

Cloud-based dermatology EHR vendor Modernizing Medicine acquires gMed, a gastroenterology EHR vendor, for an undisclosed sum.

Morning Headlines 7/24/15

UMass Memorial’s medical records upgrade won’t be cheap

UMass Memorial Health Care (MA) announces that it will replace its Sorian EHR with Epic, with CEO Eric Dickinson commenting that it was “one of the most important contracts I have signed since becoming CEO.”

Clinical, Technical, Organizational and Financial Barriers to Interoperability Task Force

ONC launches its new Clinical, Technical, Organizational and Financial Barriers to Interoperability Task Force, which will develop a report on interoperability challenges by October 2015.

Cerner Announces Industry-First, EHR-Agnostic Tool to Improve Accuracy of Fall Risk Detection

Cerner releases a vendor-agnostic EHR tool that identifies fall-risk patients with a 90 degree accuracy.

NewYork-Presbyterian Selects athenahealth as the Technology Platform for Its Physician Services Organization

NewYork-Presbyterian Medical Group will implement Athenahealth’s EHR, practice management, and patient portal solutions across all of its practices, servicing 800 physicians.

Morning Headlines 7/23/15

Anthem Nears Deal to Buy Cigna for $48 Billion

Anthem and Cigna are, once again, nearing an acquisition deal.The deal will be worth $48 billion, or $188 per share for Cigna. Cigna shares closed at $151 per share Wednesday, but climbed eight percent in after hours trading following the acquisition rumors. An announcement could be made as early as Thursday afternoon.

2015 Top Markets Report Health IT

The Department of Commerce releases a report on health IT, calling it a strong export opportunity for the US, and forecasting that the top five markets over over the next three years will be: Finland, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, and Switzerland.

Contractor for Maryland health exchange website to pay $45M

Noridian Healthcare Solutions agrees to pay $45 million to Maryland to avoid legal action after failing to deliver a functional state health insurance exchange.

Morning Headlines 7/22/15

Break the Red Tape: Electronic Health Records Town Hall (video)

AMA of Georgia holds a town hall-style meeting hosted by Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) and AMA President Steven Stack, MD  to discuss ongoing usability issues with EHRs and looming MU3 regulations.

UVA, MITRE partner to improve health data analysis

University of Virginia Health System and The MITRE Corporation have partnered to develop advanced warning systems to help identify early changes to hemorrhages or lung failure.

Thomas Verbeck: Sharing medical data saves lives

Thomas Verbeck, a retired US Air Force brigadier general and CIO, calls for a to halt the DoD EHR procurement until a congressional review can be conducted to evaluate the problems that a non-integrated system will cause for soldiers, veterans, and care providers across the DoD, VA, and civilian health systems.

Virtual Reality Now Being Used To Treat Bipolar Disorder

In England, Oculus Rift Virtual Reality headsets are being piloted by the NHS to help patients with mental health disorders learn to cope with environmental stressors. Using VR, researchers are immersing patients in everyday scenarios, such as riding the subway or the bus, in hopes of triggering controlled emotional responses that can then be analyzed.

Morning Headlines 7/21/15

How Not to Fix the F.D.A.

The New York Times Editorial Board publishes a piece critical of the 21st Century Cures Act, pointing out problematic provisions that weaken FDA oversight on medical devices and strip the drug review process of important safety measures, recommending that the Senate “either eliminate or rewrite the flawed provisions before passing its version of the legislation.”

Hacked? Big deal: I made my most personal data public

John Halamka, MD and CIO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, recounts his decision to publish both his complete medical record and sequenced genome, in an article he writes calling for a patients-centric platform that would allow anyone to voluntarily share their own health data.

Project ECHO: Force Multiplier For Community Health Centers

GE Foundation will fund the Project ECHO initiative with a $14 million, three-year grant designed to help the project continue growing. Project ECHO is a web-based forum that helps community providers address complex conditions in their local populations by connecting them with experts who provide disease management education sessions and patient-specific treatment advice.

Federal Grant Awarded to Support State Medical Boards in Developing Infrastructure for Interstate Medical Licensure Compact

The Federation of State Medical Boards announces that it has received a $225,000 grant to help states adopt the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, an agreement it drafted last year that eases licensure restrictions on cross-state care delivery in an effort reduce barriers to telehealth expansion.

Morning Headlines 7/20/15

UCLA Health Victim of a Criminal Cyber Attack

UCLA Health announces that 4.5 million patient records have been compromised after discovering that during a September 2014 cyber attack,  hackers had accessed secure parts of the network where medical records were stored.

Allscripts Shares Soar After Preliminary Results Beat Estimates

Allscripts reports preliminary Q2 results: expected revenue is projected at $350-$354 million, EPS $0.12, beating analyst expectations on both. Share prices climbed nine percent on the news.

Health IT Safety Center Roadmap

ONC publishes its Health IT Safety Center Roadmap which calls for the creation of a Health IT Safety Center where industry stakeholders would analyze emerging safety issues and generate evidence-based solutions and resources. The center is expected to generate $20 million in costs over its first five years of operation.

Drone Drug Delivery Flights Add International Research Element to Health Outreach

The first FAA-approved drone delivery system goes live, delivering pharmaceuticals  to a free health clinic running in the rural community of Wise, VA.