Morning Headlines 10/18/19

Microsoft and Nuance join forces in quest to help doctors turn their focus back to patients

Nuance and Microsoft will co-develop ambient sensing and conversational AI software to enable physicians to pay more attention to their patients instead of on administrative tasks.

Google appoints former Obama health official Karen DeSalvo to new chief health officer role

Google hires Dell Medical School professor and former National Coordinator Karen DeSalvo, MD as its first chief health officer.

More than 190,000 without power as nor’easter lashes Maine

A Nor’easter takes down the EHR and other systems Thursday morning at hospitals that are part of Northern Light Health in Maine.

Change Healthcare kicks off process for Connected Analytics unit

Change Healthcare is reportedly looking to sell its Connected Analytics unit, which markets Ansos staff scheduling software, in a deal that could value the unit at between $250 million and $330 million.

Morning Headlines 10/17/19

NFL, players taking strides to address pain management

The NFL is rolling out a prescription drug monitoring program as part of its more focused efforts on monitoring pain management and medications.

I Ran the VA Under President Trump Until He Fired Me. Our First Trump Tower Meeting Was a Job Interview Unlike Any Other

Former VA Secretary David Shulkin, MD releases “It Shouldn’t be This Hard to Serve Your Country,” a book about his 13 months working in the Trump Administration.

VFW Post 6786 First Site in Innovative Initiative Giving Veterans Access to VA Health Services Close to Home

The VA launches a multi-site pilot program that will give veterans access to telemedicine services using Philips technology at local VFW Posts.

Morning Headlines 10/16/19

Northwell Health extends partnership with comprehensive Allscripts Sunrise™ platform through 2027

Northwell Health extends its Allscripts Sunrise contract through December 2027.

Cerner workers to become Adventist Health employees

Cerner will lay off 350 California employees following Adventist Health’s decision to bring its revenue cycle operation back in house from Cerner RevWorks.

Introducing AncestryHealth®: Actionable Health Insights for You and Your Family

Family history vendor Ancestry launches AncestryHealth, which will sell a $149 profile of genetic screening results that are matched to specific medical health conditions, plus a costlier membership-based service that provides deeper screening and quarterly screening updates.

Queensland Health’s IT problems can be overcome, new eHealth head says

In Australia, the new head of EHealth Queensland says its struggling Cerner implementation can be turned into a showcase project, but urges all of the state’s health bodies to help in getting new sites live while optimizing existing ones.

Morning Headlines 10/15/19

Parsley Health Launches New Digital Services on Tail of $26M in Series B Raise

Membership-based primary care company Parsley Health raises $26 million and launches an online version of its brick-and-mortar practice.

Claus Torp Jensen Has Been Appointed First Chief Digital Officer and Head of Technology for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Former CVS Health CTO Claus Jensen joins Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (NY) as its first chief digital officer and head of technology.

Prairieville pediatrics clinic working with FBI, notifying patients after computer attack

Magnolia Pediatrics (LA) alerts patients to an August ransomware attack that infiltrated the practice through its unnamed IT vendor, which wound up paying the ransom.

Morning Headlines 10/14/19

Centra begins issuing bills after almost three-month hiatus

Centra (VA) resumes billing and collections after a three-month hiatus caused by glitchy Cerner software that hospital officials say led to rejected claims, delayed billing, incorrect bills, and prematurely sending patients to collections for lack of payment.

UCSF Launches Artificial Intelligence Center to Advance Medical Imaging

Researchers at UC San Francisco’s new Center for Intelligent Imaging will work with Nvidia’s AI computing technology to develop new solutions for radiology.

Topcon Healthcare Selected to Ease Transition for IBM® Merge Eye Station and Merge Eye Care PACS Customers

IBM Watson Health Imaging will discontinue support for its Merge Eye Station digital imaging technology and Merge Eye Care PACS by the end of 2020.

Morning Headlines 10/11/19

MEDNAX Reaches Agreement to Sell MedData Business to Frazier Healthcare Partners

Mednax will sell its MedData RCM software and services business to private equity firm Frasier Healthcare Partners for between $250 million and $300 million.

Relatient Acquires Everseat, A Leading Patient Self-Scheduling and Waitlist Software Company

Patient engagement vendor Relatient acquires patient self-scheduling and waitlist software developer Everseat.

Persivia Secures $15 Million Growth Financing from Petrichor Healthcare Capital Management

Care coordination, analytics, and value-based care software company Persivia raises $15 million in a Series C funding round.

Harris Healthcare Acquires Connecture, Inc.

Harris Computer’s healthcare group acquires Brookfield, WI-based insurance enrollment technology vendor Connecture.

Morning Headlines 10/10/19

This startup just raised $8 million to help busy doctors assess the cognitive health of 50 million seniors

BrainCheck raises $8 million in a Series A funding round that will enable it to further develop its cognitive assessment software for seniors.

Marathon Health and General Atlantic Announce Strategic Partnership

General Atlantic acquires onsite health center and technology company Marathon Health from Goldman Sachs.

Top 10 Health Technology Hazards for 2020

The ECRI Institute includes alert fatigue, cybersecurity risks, and medication errors from dosing discrepancies in EHRs on its list of top HIT hazards for 2020.

Morning Headlines 10/9/19

WellSky to Acquire ClearCare, Solidify Position in Personal Care Market

WellSky will acquire ClearCare, a San Francisco-based developer of cloud-based management software for home care agencies.

One Medical, the health clinic chain backed by Alphabet, has hired banks ahead of an IPO

Membership-based primary care company One Medical reportedly hires several banks to help it prepare for an IPO next year.

Cerner CEO Unveils Next-Generation Cognitive Platform in Health Conference Keynote

Cerner CEO Brent Shafer reveals details about “Project Apollo,” new cloud-based technology that will leverage the company’s previously announced partnership with AWS.

Morning Headlines 10/8/19

Private Medicare plan Devoted Health says it is the first to cover Apple Watch as a benefit

Devoted Health becomes the first Medicare Advantage plan to subsidize the Apple Watch purchases of its 4,000 members.

Livongo Awarded Diabetes Contract for Eligible Population for Approximately 5.3 Million Beneficiaries Through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program

Livongo’s stock jumps 18% on the news that it has signed a two-year contract with the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program to offer its remote diabetes monitoring and coaching program to eligible beneficiaries.

Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Publishes Humana Study on Health Care Spending

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Humana determine that 25% of healthcare spending – between $760 billion and $935 billion per year – can be characterized as wasteful.

Morning Headlines 10/7/19

DCH Hospital System pays Russian hackers in ransomware attack

DCH Health System in Alabama agrees to pay Russian hackers after an October 1 ransomware attack forced it to divert patients and revert to paper processes.

3 lawyers defending Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes say they haven’t been paid in over a year and would like to quit

Court documents reveal that attorneys defending ex-Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes in a civil suit filed by former Theranos patients have asked to withdraw from the case because they haven’t been paid in over a year.

MUHC computer crash caused by two successive malfunctions

Hardware malfunctions in the sub-basement data center of $1.3 billion “superhospital” McGill University Health Centre in Montreal cause its computers and back-up system to crash.

A hospital’s ‘Wall of Shame’ used private records to mock disabled patients. Now officials are apologizing.

St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center (ME) officials apologize for a semi-secret collage kept by employees that mockingly showcased pictures and details of patients with disabilities.

Morning Headlines 10/4/19

New Associate Benefits Aim to Simplify Health Care and Focus on Appropriate Care

Walmart will pilot several programs across the country to connect its employees to healthcare services that it hopes will offer quality care at more affordable prices.

Epic Systems gearing up for yet another expansion in Verona

Filings with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources show that Epic intends to expand its Verona campus to accommodate another 1,200 employees over the next five years.

abeo Acquires Computer-Assisted Coding Platform, Trusted i10, LLC

Practice management and billing vendor Abeo acquires AI-powered coding company Trusted i10 for an undisclosed sum.

Morning Headlines 10/3/19

22C Capital Announces Investment in Definitive Healthcare

22C Capital joins health data marketing and research firm Definitive Healthcare’s recapitalization with an undisclosed investment.

MEDITECH Announces Collaboration with Google Cloud to Bring EHRs to the Public Cloud

Meditech will offer select EHR software on Google Public Cloud, and will work with Google Cloud to develop native cloud products and APIs.

GraniteOne Health moves forward with Dartmouth-Hitchcock collaboration

In New Hampshire, GraniteOne Health system will leverage Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health’s Epic software and telemedicine expertise once their merger agreement is approved.

Elizabeth Holmes’ attorneys blast prosecution over withholding government documents

Defense lawyers for former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes and former president and COO Sunny Balwani insist the prosecution is refusing to turn over documents that would clear the pair of any wrongdoing.

Morning Headlines 10/2/19

Northwell, Allscripts to jointly develop next-gen electronic health record

Northwell Health (NY) will work with Allscripts to develop a cloud-based EHR incorporating voice recognition and artificial intelligence.

VA shares electronic health records

Beginning next year, the VA will automatically share health data with community providers using the Veterans Health Information Exchange.

FDA informs patients, providers and manufacturers about potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities for connected medical devices and health care networks that use certain communication software

FDA issues an alert about Urgent/11, a cybersecurity vulnerability found in IPnet third-party software that attackers may exploit to take over medical devices and hospital networks.

All 3 DCH Health System Hospitals Closed to New Patients Due to Ransomware Attack

An early-morning ransomware attack forces DCH Health System (AL) to divert patients from its hospitals.

BREAKING: Bankrupt microbiome-testing startup uBiome is shutting down

After laying off half its staff this summer and filing for Chapter 11 earlier this month, UBiome will cease operations and liquidate assets.

Morning Headlines 10/1/19

Francisco Partners to Acquire Orchard Software

Private equity firm Francisco Partners will acquire laboratory information systems vendor Orchard Software.

ECG Reinforces Client Focus, Joining Siemens Healthineers

Siemens Healthineers subsidiary Siemens Medical USA will acquire ECG Management Consultants from Gryphon Investors.

Alphabet taps former FDA commissioner to oversee health strategy and policy

Alphabet names Robert Califf, MD (Duke Health) to head of strategy and policy for its Google Health and Verily Life Sciences Divisions.

Athenahealth campus is for sale, but it aims to stay put in Watertown – as a tenant

Athenahealth decides to sell its Arsenal-on-the-Charles headquarters outside of Boston, but intends to remain in the area as a long-term tenant.

Morning Headlines 9/30/19

Province gives up on single e-health records provider for doctors’ offices

Canada’s New Brunswick Medical Society will close Velante, the for-profit company it created in 2012 as the sole EHR provider for the province’s doctors, few of whom signed up for the system.

Federal Law Enforcement Action Involving Fraudulent Genetic Testing Results in Charges Against 35 Individuals Responsible for Over $2.1 Billion in Losses in One of the Largest Health Care Fraud Schemes Ever Charged

The Department of Justice charges 35 defendants for fraudulently billing Medicare $2 billion by running phony telemedicine companies whose doctors ordered unnecessary cancer genetic screening tests that were processed by private labs in on the scheme.

March, October Targeted for VA Cerner Implementation

The VA will push back its Cerner go-live date from March to October at several facilities in the Pacific Northwest because of staffing and infrastructure problems.

23andMe, moving beyond consumer DNA tests, is building a clinical trial recruitment business

23andMe will work with clinical trial recruitment startup TrialSpark to offer customers enrollment in clinical trials in their areas.

Baptist Health coding jobs being outsourced to company with locations in US and India

Baptist Health (KY) lays off 37 as it outsources some of its coding jobs to AGS Health.

Morning Headlines 9/27/19

Statement on new steps to advance digital health policies that encourage innovation and enable efficient and modern regulatory oversight

The FDA releases new draft guidance documents that cover the safe and effective use of digital health technologies, using a risk-based framework under its Digital Health Innovation Action Plan that addresses provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act.

emids Announces Investment from New Mountain Capital

New Mountain Capital acquires Nashville-based healthcare technology, services, and consulting company Emids.

GoodRx Expands Healthcare Services With Introduction of GoodRx Care

GoodRx acquires telemedicine vendor HeyDoctor, enabling it to add virtual visits to its prescription drug discount website and app.

VA to Pilot New Scheduling System at Same Ohio Facility that Tested the Last Solution

The Chalmers P. Wylie Ambulatory Care Center in Columbus, OH will become the first VA facility to replace Epic scheduling with Cerner next April.

Trump Administration Puts Patients Over Paperwork by Reducing Healthcare Administrative Costs

CMS releases the Omnibus Burden Reduction Final Rule to scale back regulatory requirements that the agency projects will save providers 4.4 million hours and $8 billion over the next 10 years.

Morning Headlines 9/26/19

WELL Health Announces Agreement to Acquire EMR Service Provider OSCARwest

Canadian primary care and software company Well Health Technologies acquires consulting firm OSCARwest EMR Services.

How Best Buy plans to expand into home healthcare services, remote monitoring to help seniors age in place

Best Buy expects to take in $50 billion in revenue by 2025, a move that will be driven in large part by a more aggressive push into senior-focused home healthcare services.

AI-Powered Digital Health Company Eko Closes $20 Million Series B to Continue the Fight Against Heart Disease

Digital stethoscope and ECG technology company Eko raises $20 million in a funding round led by Artis Ventures.

UK HealthCare resumes diverting ambulance patients to other hospitals

After a similar situation several days ago, UK HealthCare once again diverts ambulance patients due to unspecified issues with its computer system.