Morning Headlines 10/8/24

Eleanor Health Raises $30 Million to Transform Delivery of Substance Use Disorder Care

Hybrid outpatient addiction treatment provider Eleanor Health raises $30 million in a Series D funding round led by General Catalyst.

Brooklyn Heights firm raises $15M to save patients from chronic googling

Roon, a medical information website curated by clinical experts, announces $15 million in funding.

Health-Care Software Company Sues Staffing Firm Using Same Name

Epic sues healthcare and life sciences staffing company Epic Staffing Group for trademark infringement.

Morning Headlines 10/7/24

‘Too early to for us to say’: FTC won’t rule out action in Epic Systems antitrust lawsuit

Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan tells a Madison TV station at a Wisconsin event that it’s too early to tell whether FTC will involve itself in Particle Health’s antitrust lawsuit against Epic, adding that FTC doesn’t usually get involved in litigation between companies.

‘Deeply sorry’: Alberta investigates causes in delayed AHS referrals to community specialists

In Canada, Alberta Health Services determines that its Connect Care system has failed to process thousands of referrals to community specialists, impacting 14,000 patients.

Founder of Alleged Adderall ‘Pill Mill’ Sent Back to Jail

A federal judge revokes the bail of Ruthia He, the founder and CEO of telehealth company Done Global, for failing to disclose to authorities that she possessed documents that would have allowed her to return to China.

Morning Headlines 10/4/24

Diabetes startup Omada Health has confidentially filed its S-1 to go public

Virtual care chronic disease management vendor Omada Health, most recently valued at $1 billion, files SEC paperwork for an IPO that is planned for early 2025.

HHS Office for Civil Rights Imposes a $240,000 Civil Monetary Penalty Against Providence Medical Institute in HIPAA Ransomware Cybersecurity Investigation

Providence Medical Institute (CA), which experienced a series of ransomware attacks in 2018, will pay $240,000 to settle federal allegations that it violated HIPAA by failing to have a business associate agreement in place and failing to allow only authorized entities access to digital PHI.

Rezilient Health Announces $10M Series A Funding Round Led by Govo Venture Partners to Fuel a New Way to Care For Patients and Their Families

Employer-focused telemedicine clinic company Rezilient Health raises $10 million in a Series A funding.

Morning Headlines 10/3/24

RXNT Acquires Scalabull, Streamlining Clinical Lab and Facility Interfacing For Providers Nationwide

Ambulatory health IT vendor RXNT acquires diagnostic services interface developer Scalabull.

iCoreConnect Inc. Announces Agreement to Divest MSP Division to T20 in an Asset Sale, Expecting to Deliver Strategic and Financial Advantages for Investors

ICoreConnect sells its managed services division to The 20, an IT service management company based in Texas.

Rippl Raises $23 Million in Fresh Series A Capital to Fund Multi-State Expansion

Virtual dementia care services company Rippl announces $23 million in Series A funding.

TTUHSC gives update on patient impact following IT outage

Texas Tech Physicians and parent organization Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center deal with what appears to be the same ransomware attack that is affecting affiliate UMC Health.

Morning Headlines 10/2/24

VisiQuate Joins Forces with Accel-KKR to Propel Growth and Innovation

Private equity firm Accel KKR acquires VisiQuate, which offers revenue cycle analytics and workflow automation.

Autonomous Medical Coding Engine Nym Announces $47 Million Growth Investment Led by PSG 

Autonomous medical coding company Nym secures $47 million in new funding.

Surescripts Announces Strategic Partnership with TPG to Enhance Patient Care and Meet Evolving Healthcare Needs Nationwide

Private equity firm TPG takes a majority position in Surescripts, which hired an investment bank to search for potential buyers in April 2024.

StrataPT Secures $25MM to Help Outpatient Therapy Practices Improve Clinical Efficiency and Realize Highest Reimbursement Rates

Billing and practice management software vendor StrataPT announces $25 million in funding.

Morning Headlines 10/1/24

Major CVS shareholder plans activist push, will meet with management, sources say

CVS shares rise on the news that Glenview Capital executives meet with CVS leaders to discuss rescuing the floundering business, which has seen its stock plummet amidst layoffs, store closures, and other efforts to cut $2 billion in expenses.

VieCure Secures $45 Million Financing to Accelerate Adoption of First AI-Enabled Community Oncology Care Platform

VieCure, which offers AI-powered clinical decision support and EHR software for community-based oncology providers, announces $45 million in new funding.

HHS Finalizes Federal Health IT Strategy to Drive Systemic Improvements in Health and Care

HHS publishes the final 2024-2030 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan, which outlines goals around improving experiences and outcomes for health IT users and the policy and technology components needed to support them.

Morning Headlines 9/30/24

Epic calls on Particle Health to approve release of resolution in patient privacy dispute

Epic asks Carequality to publicly release its resolution regarding the dispute between Epic and Particle Health.

Physical therapy startup Hinge Health hires Moran Stanley as it prepares to confidentially files its S-1

Digital musculoskeletal therapy provider Hinge Health, last valued at $6 billion in October 2021, hires investment bankers to take the company public next year.

EQT to exit AGS Health, eyes $750 million valuation

The investment firm owner of US-based, 12,000-employee health IT services firm AGS Health will seek a buyer for its five-year-old investment at a valuation of $780 million.

A US Crackdown Targeted an Adderall ‘Pill Mill.’ Secretly, It Had Already Moved to China.

California-based telehealth startup Done Global, which prosecutors allege has operated as an Adderall pill mill, has reportedly moved its operations to China and shifted management to employees there to continue business as usual despite the arrest of its US executives.

Morning Headlines 9/27/24

Graybill to separate from Palomar Medical group, citing cyber attack

Graybill, a California-based primary care group, will split from Palomar Health Medical Group, citing that organization’s inadequate support following an April 2024 cyberattack that took systems offline for months.

Dimer Health raises $2.95M to cut down hospital readmissions

Dimer Health, a startup that specializes in healthcare facility discharge and post-acute care coordination, raises $3 million in a seed funding round.

VA makes tele-emergency care available nationwide, offering Veterans more virtual care options

After a successful pilot, the VA expands its tele-emergency virtual triage service to veterans nationwide through its VA Health Connect program.

Wyden and Warner Introduce Bill to Set Strong Cybersecurity Standards for American Health Care System

Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Mark Warner (D-VA) introduce cybersecurity legislation that, if passed, would mandate the development and enforcement of tougher minimum cybersecurity standards for healthcare organizations, remove the current cap on HIPAA fines, and provide cybersecurity funding for select hospitals.

Lubbock UMC experiences ransomware attack, diverts patients to other hospitals

University Medical Center (TX) diverts patients and enacts downtime procedures as it deals with a ransomware attack.

Morning Headlines 9/26/24

Global healthcare AI innovator Qure.ai completes $65 million Series D funding round led by Lightspeed and 360One Asset

Global healthcare AI company Qure.ai raises $65 million in a Series D funding round.

Pomelo Care Acquires The Doula Network, Becoming The Only National Maternity Care Model to Offer Virtual & In-Person Care, Greatly Expanding Access Across the United States

Pomelo Care acquires The Doula Network to add wrap-around doula services to its virtual and now in-person maternity care offerings.

UAB Health System to invest in new EHR platform

UAB Health System will spend $380 million over the next seven years to implement and operate Epic.

Morning Headlines 9/25/24

VA’s new EHR saw 826 ‘major’ incidents since its launch

A new report from the VA OIG finds that the VA’s Oracle Health-based EHR that has been implemented at six facilities experienced 826 major performance incidents between October 2020 and March 2024.

Indian Health Service aims to avoid VA’s pitfalls while adopting computer system that has hampered Northwest veterans’ care

The Indian Health Service outlines the ways in which it will avoid the VA’s mistakes with its own Oracle Health project, including requiring implementation only at those clinics that it manages directly.

Introducing the 2024 Draft Federal FHIR Action Plan

ASTP publishes a draft of the 2024 Federal FHIR Action Plan.

Morning Headlines 9/24/24

Epic Systems’ ‘Stranglehold’ on U.S. Medical Records Harms Patient Care: Lawsuit

Particle Health files a federal antitrust lawsuit against Epic that alleges the Wisconsin-based company is using its dominance in the EHR market to edge Particle out of the payer platform market.

Hancock Health transitioning nearly 50 employees to work for third-party vendor

Forty-nine Hancock Health (IN) employees will transition to working for Revology, the hospital’s RCM vendor, in November.

Women Leaders Across Tech, Entertainment, Sports, Media, and Fashion Come Together to Invest in Midi Health

Women’s virtual care company Midi Health adds $5 million to its now $63 million round of Series B of funding, bringing its total raised to over $88 million.

Morning Headlines 9/23/24

Hippocratic AI Receives Investment From NVentures to Build Generative AI Healthcare Agents

Healthcare AI call agent developer Hippocratic AI adds $17 million to its Series A funding round, increasing its total raised to $137 million.

In Historic Step, HRSA Makes First Ever Multi-Vendor Awards to Modernize the Nation’s Organ Transplant System and End the Current Contract Monopoly

HRSA awards contracts to Arbor Research Collaborative for Health, General Dynamic Information Technology, Maximus Federal, Deloitte, and Guidehouse Digital to overhaul the national Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.

Cardinal Health to acquire Integrated Oncology Network, a physician-led independent community oncology network

Cardinal Health will acquire Integrated Oncology Network for $1 billion and incorporate its member practices and practice management and growth services into Cardinal’s Navista oncology practice alliance.

Morning Headlines 9/20/24

Microsoft: Vanilla Tempest hackers hit healthcare with INC ransomware

Microsoft warns that a ransomware-as-a-service hacker group called Vanilla Tempest is using a new ransomware strain to target the healthcare sector.

Ferrum Health nabs $16M to get FDA-cleared AI into hospitals

Radiology-focused healthcare AI integration startup Ferrum Health raises $16 million in a Series A funding round.

CorroHealth Finalizes Acquisition of Healthcare Revenue Cycle Management Business from Navient

CorroHealth, parent brand of TrustHCS, T-System, RevCycle+, Visionary RCM, and Versalus Health, acquires Navient’s Xtend RCM business.

TribalNet 2024: Indian Health Service Announces PATH EHR Pilots

The Indian Health Service will begin piloting its new, Oracle Health-based EHR at three facilities in Oklahoma next year.

Morning Headlines 9/19/24

RLDatix Acquires SocialClimb, Empowering Healthcare Organizations with Enhanced Provider Reputation Management and Patient Experience Data Insights

Healthcare governance, risk, and compliance solutions company RLDatix acquires SocialClimb, which specializes in provider reputation management and patient satisfaction data.

Fabric Makes Fourth Acquisition in 18 Months, Now Covers Over 100 Million Lives

Care enablement vendor Fabric acquires TeamHealth’s virtual care service less than three months after acquiring virtual care provider MeMD from Walmart Health.

Attor­ney Gen­er­al Ken Pax­ton Reach­es Set­tle­ment in First-of-its-Kind Health­care Gen­er­a­tive AI Investigation

Pieces Technologies will take corrective action to settle allegations by the Office of the Texas Attorney General that it misrepresented the accuracy of its healthcare AI products to gain the business of four Texas hospitals.

Morning Headlines 9/18/24

Vyne Medical Acquires Extract Systems to Bring the Most Comprehensive Document and Clinical Automation Solution to Healthcare

Healthcare automation vendor Vyne Medical acquires Extract Systems, which specializes in automated data classification and indexing, extraction, and redaction.

DirectTrust Announces Launch of New Cybersecurity Workgroup

DirectTrust launches a cybersecurity workgroup that will address healthcare cybersecurity challenges, shaping accreditation standards, identifying advocacy priorities, and promoting industry-wide best practices through collaboration and advocacy.

Oracle Supports the Veteran Interoperability Pledge

Oracle Health releases a free framework that allows VA and community providers to securely share patient health information in support of the Veteran Interoperability Pledge.

Morning Headlines 9/17/24

Great Plains Regional Medical Center Victim of Ransomware Attack

The local news reports that Great Plains Regional Medical Center (OK) has experienced a ransomware attack that has curtailed its operations.

Scriptology Acquires RxLive to Enhance Medication Management Solutions and Expand Telehealth Capabilities

Medication management vendor Scriptology acquires RxLive, which offers medication management, virtual care, and analytics.

Jack Nathan Health Signs Letter of Intent

Jack Nathan Health, which operates 240 virtual and in-person clinics in Walmart Supercenters in Canada and Mexico, will sell itself to an undisclosed buyer.

Morning Headlines 9/16/24

Ozempic Is Selling So Well An Insurer Wants $1 Million In Payments Back

Elevance Health’s Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield accuses physicians of falsifying patient medical records with the intention of getting the insurer to pay for improper prescribing of the diabetes drug Ozempic for weight loss, a use that is not approved by the FDA.

Phishing Email May Have Impacted Personal Information

Atrium Health notifies patients that an unauthorized third party gained access to multiple employee email accounts in a two-day phishing attack.

Nirvana Raises $24.2M Series A to Revolutionize Health Insurance Verification

Nirvana, a New York City-based startup specializing in AI-powered health insurance verification software, raises $24.2 million.

23andMe settles data breach lawsuit for $30 million

23andMe will pay $30 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the company of failing to protect the records of 6.9 million of its users whose information was exposed in a 2023 breach.