Morning Headlines 4/18/23

Best Buy lays off hundreds of store employees as shopping trends shift

Best Buy will lay off hundreds of store workers, citing a shift in consumer shopping habits and a desire to prioritize its health business and Totaltech membership program.

Global Healthcare Exchange Announces Plan to Acquire Prodigo Solutions

GHX will acquire UPMC-backed supply chain and data enablement technology company Prodigo Solutions.

Microsoft and Epic expand strategic collaboration with integration of Azure OpenAI Service

Epic integrates Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service with its EHR, offering end users ChatGPT-enhanced workflows in the initial areas of drafting message responses and self-service reporting.

HHS Launches New Cybersecurity Awareness Resources

HHS develops new resources for cybersecurity best practices to help healthcare organizations secure their digital networks.

Morning Headlines 4/17/23

VA Pauses Rollout of $16 Billion Health Record System

The VA pauses its $16 billion roll out of Oracle’s Cerner EHR software as it renegotiates its contract with Oracle.

Weight-Loss Telehealth Startup Calibrate Health Cuts 18% of Jobs

Calibrate Health lays off 18% of its workforce as it pivots from a direct-to-consumer online obesity drug prescriber to a telemedicine company that offers its weight-loss services to employers.

Froedtert, ThedaCare plan to merge, hope to launch combined health system by end of 2023

Wisconsin’s Froedtert and ThedaCare, both Epic customers, will merge by the end of 2023 to create an 18-hospital system with $4 billion in revenue.

Morning Headlines 4/14/23

Arcadia Raises $125 Million in New Financing from Vista Credit Partners

Health data analytics firm Arcadia announces $125 million in financing from Vista Credit Partners.

Verisma and ScanSTAT Announce Merger, Providing the Strength and Know-How that HIM Departments Need for the Path Ahead

Release of information vendor Verisma acquires competitor ScanStat.

Celebrating a New Season at Spring Health

Digital mental healthcare company Spring Health, which markets its platform to employers and payers, raises $71 million, bringing its total funding to $366.5 million.

Morning Headlines 4/13/23

Recuro Health Closes $47 Million Series B Financing Led By Arch Ventures

Virtual care services company Recuro Health secures $47 million in a Series B investment round.

98point6 nabs $32M to pivot from provider to licensor

Telehealth company 98point6 raises $32 million less than two months after selling its self-insured employer business and physician group to Transcarent.

Health Data Cloud Leader 1upHealth Raises $40 Million Series C led by Sixth Street Growth

FHIR-based health data vendor 1upHealth announces a $40 million Series C funding round, bringing its total raised to $75.5 million.

Scene Health Secures $17.7 Million Series B Financing Led by ABS Capital Partners

Medication adherence vendor Scene Health, formerly known as Emocha, raises $17.7 million in a Series B funding round.

Morning Headlines 4/12/23

Former Outcome Health Executives Found Guilty of Fraud

A federal jury convicts three former executives of waiting room advertising company Outcome Health, which was valued at one time at over $5 billion, of several fraud charges involving inflating the number of ad impressions to advertisers and investors from 2011 to 2017.

Oshi Health Raises $30M Series B Funding to Scale Access to Its Virtual Multidisciplinary Digestive Care

Virtual digestive care provider Oshi Health raises $30 million in a Series B funding round, bringing its total raised to $60 million.

Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: Certification Program Updates, Algorithm Transparency, and Information Sharing (HTI-1) Proposed Rule

HHS and ONC issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking  with changes to the Cures Act and ONC’s certification program.

DHA preps for MHS Genesis follow-on contract

The Defense Health Agency begins researching a support contract for MHS Genesis as its original 10-year, $5.5 billion agreement ends.

Veritas, Carlyle End Talks on Cotiviti Stake Sale

Veritas Capital rejects Carlyle Group’s offer to purchase a 50% stake in its Cotiviti healthcare technology business, which Veritas-backed Verscend Technologies acquired in 2018 in a deal valued at $5 billion.

Morning Headlines 4/11/23

Availity to Acquire Utilization Management Solution and Business Unit from Olive

Confirming earlier rumors of a sale, healthcare automation vendor Olive sells its payer-facing prior authorization business to health information network Availity.

Cerner Enviza Collaborates with FDA to Develop Innovative AI Tools for Drug Safety and Real-World Evidence Studies

Cerner Enviza and John Snow Labs will work with the FDA to develop AI solutions that extract relevant data from clinical notes within EHRs so that the agency can better understand the effects of medications on large populations.

Culbertson Memorial Hospital hit by cyber-attack

Culbertson Memorial Hospital (IL) recovers from a cybersecurity incident last week that forced it to take its computer systems offline.

CommonSpirit Health Provides Cyberattack Notification of Data Breach

CommonSpirit Health issues an update on last year’s ransomware attack, which wound up impacting over 100 facilities in 13 states and compromising patient data stolen from two file share servers.

Morning Headlines 4/10/23

Pear Therapeutics Files for Chapter 11 and Will Seek to Sell Assets Through Sales Process

Pear Health, which offers prescription-based digital therapeutics, files Chapter 11 bankruptcy, lays off nearly all of its employees, and seeks buyers for the business or its assets.

Virtual SUD Provider Workit Lays Off 100 Employees in Anticipation of DEA Crackdown

Virtual substance abuse disorder provider Workit Health will lay off 100 employees, anticipating that the DEA will reinstate a pandemic-relaxed rule that requires patients to undergo an in-person visit before having controlled substances prescribed via telehealth.

Study: ChatGPT Has Potential to Help Cirrhosis, Liver Cancer Patients

According to a study conducted by Cedars-Sinai, ChatGPT is effective at translating medical information about cirrhosis and liver cancer in a way that patients and caregivers can comprehend.

Morning Headlines 4/7/23

VA’s new EHR ‘not ready’ for next go-live, extending pause in rollouts

The VA postpones its Oracle Cerner go-live at VA Saginaw Health Care that was planned for June, saying that the software isn’t ready for the next wave of deployments.

Microsoft, hospital group use court order to disrupt ransomware attacks aimed at health sector

Microsoft, the Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center, and software firm Fortra obtain a court order that allows Microsoft to seize the Internet infrastructure that Russia-based ransomware hackers use to launch healthcare attacks.

Wisconsin Supreme Court: Health care systems cannot charge fees for electronic records

The Wisconsin Supreme Court rules that Ciox inappropriately billed a UW Health patient $110 for giving her an electronic copy of her medical records.

Morning Headlines 4/6/23

Computer outage causes CVS customers big headaches

An unspecified computer network issue briefly impacts the ability of some CVS pharmacies to fill medications.

Engage Technologies Group and APX Platform Formally Merge to Create an Industry-Disrupting, Complete Practice Performance System Focused on Patient Engagement and Practice Optimization

Practice management and patient engagement vendor Engage Technologies Group acquires APX Platform, which specializes in practice management software for aesthetic practices.

Clinovera Introduces New Healthcare and Life Sciences Services that Harness Technology Breakthroughs for Better Care and Outcomes

First Line Software will launch its Clinovera division to offer technology and services to healthcare and life sciences companies.

Morning Headlines 4/5/23

A message from Bill Priemer

Content services platform vendor Hyland Software lays off 1,000 employees, 20% of its workforce.

Coalition for Health AI Unveils Blueprint for Trustworthy AI in Healthcare

The Coalition for Health AI releases its “Blueprint for Trustworthy AI Implementation Guidance and Assurance for Healthcare.”

2023 Q1 digital health funding: Investing like it’s 2019

A Rock Health analysis finds that six Q1 digital health funding rounds accounted for 40% of the quarter’s total.

Morning Headlines 4/4/23

Global Interoperability Leader Lyniate Rebrands as Rhapsody

Health data exchange vendor Lyniate changes its name back to Rhapsody, the original moniker of the company before it merged with Corepoint Health in 2019.

Health Tech Startup Wellth Raises $20M Series B Funding for Continued Growth of Behavioral Science-Based Platform

Wellth will use $20 million in new funding to further scale its behavior-change app, which incentivizes users to build and maintain healthy habits.

Widespread Third-Party Tracking On Hospital Websites Poses Privacy Risks For Patients And Legal Liability For Hospitals

A University of Pennsylvania analysis determines that 98.6 percent of hospital websites use computer code that enables data transfers to third-parties that include tech companies, social media platforms, advertising firms, and data brokers.

Morning Headlines 4/3/23

Novant Health lays off executive team members

Novant Health (NC) lays off 50 employees, including EVP/Chief Transformation and Digital Officer Angela Yochem, MS.

Vendor Breach Event Notice: Adelanto Healthcare Ventures (AHCV)

Northwest Texas Healthcare System notifies patients that a phishing incident at Adelanto Healthcare Ventures, a consulting firm with ties to one of the health system’s business associates, may have exposed sensitive patient information.

FDA proposes a new plan to streamline updates to medical devices that use AI

The FDA publishes proposed guidance that will enable developers of AI-reliant medical devices to automatically update products already being used in clinical settings.

Morning Headlines 3/31/23

Murray, Tester, Brown Announce Comprehensive Bill to Overhaul VA’s Electronic Health Record Modernization Program

Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Jon Tester (D-MT), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduce legislation to overhaul the VA’s Oracle Cerner project.

Columbus-based CoverMyMeds to cut more than 800 jobs, close Arizona office

McKesson-owned CoverMyMeds will lay off 815 employees; close its Scottsdale, AZ patient support center; and rent out space in its $240 million Columbus, OH headquarters.

Florence Launches Modern Healthcare Experience With $20M Seed Round Led by Thrive Capital, GV, and Salesforce Ventures

Florence, which offers a patient engagement app, emerges from stealth with a $20 million seed funding round.

Cassidy, Moran Introduce Legislation to Improve Electronic Health Record System Before Rollout Continues

A group of Republican senators introduces legislation that would halt further VA go-lives on Oracle Cerner until significant improvements are made from a rigorous list of requirements.

Morning Headlines 3/30/23

DoseSpot Acquires Bravado Health’s ePrescribing Platform TreatRx to Expand Solution Set for Healthcare Providers

E-prescribing vendor DoseSpot acquires Bravado Health’s TreatRx e-prescribing technology.

RhythmScience Secures $6M Series A Investment Led by Cedars-Sinai Health Ventures

Cardiac data integration and analytics startup RhythmScience raises $6 million in a Series A funding round led by Cedars-Sinai Health Ventures.

VA Secretary warns budget cap could hit agency’s telehealth and cyber programs

VA Secretary Denis McDonough says proposals to cap the department’s budget at fiscal 2022 levels will have a major impact on its telehealth and cybersecurity capabilities.

Morning Headlines 3/29/23

Primary Children’s Hospital launches new Neuro NICU telehealth program to better care for babies

Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital’s new Neuro NICU telehealth service enables its pediatric neurologists to remotely monitor and suggest treatments for babies at several NICUs in Utah and Montana.

Mercy and Perry County Approve Lease Agreement for Perry County Memorial Hospital

In Missouri, Mercy will take over management of county-owned Perry County Memorial Hospital and will invest $6.5 million to transition the facility from Cerner to Epic this fall.

Philips Virtual Care Management offers a comprehensive approach to telehealth for patients, providers and payers

Philips launches its Virtual Care Management suite of technologies and services for providers, payers, and employers within the US.

Morning Headlines 3/28/23

Wellvana Health announces $84 million capital raise to drive innovation in value-based care enablement

Value-based care enablement startup Wellvana Health raises $84 million, bringing its total raised to $140 million.

CVS Health to Close Acquisition of Signify Health

CVS Health will wrap up its $8 billion acquisition of home healthcare provider Signify Health this week.

Atlantic General Hospital Provides Notice of Data Privacy Event

Atlantic General Hospital (MD) notifies patients of a data breach after discovering hackers had encrypted files on certain computer systems.

Morning Headlines 3/27/23

How Cigna Saves Millions by Having Its Doctors Reject Claims Without Reading Them

Cigna’s reviewing doctors reportedly use “auto-denial” software that allows them to declare a patient’s test as medically unnecessary in an average of 1.2 seconds, without ever looking at the patient’s medical records.

Successful User’s Guide to High EHR Satisfaction

A new KLAS report finds that EHR personalization is the biggest driver of provider satisfaction, although providers often feel they don’t get much support in that area and resort instead to personal initiative.

US Organ Transplant System, Troubled by Long Wait Times, Faces an Overhaul

The federal government will solicit bids to provide services that have been offered by United Network for Organ Sharing, the top priority of which is to replace the organ-matching computer system in hopes of shortening transplant wait lists and addressing racial inequity.