Morning Headlines 2/28/18

EClinicalWorks Launches Acute Care EHR & Revenue Cycle Management Starting at $599 Per Bed Per Month

EClinicalWorks launches a cloud-based hospital EHR/RCM system that will start at $599 per bed per month, with the first live hospital scheduled to be 42-bed Hamilton Healthcare System (TX).

R1 to Acquire Intermedix Corporation

Revenue cycle technology company R1 RCM will acquire Intermedix’s healthcare division, which includes physician and EMS RCM, practice management, and analytics service lines, for $460 million.

Does Fitbit have time to pull off its digital healthcare transformation?

Fitbit reports Q4 revenue of $571 million – $17 million less than analyst estimates, prompting stocks to tumble 15 percent and CEO James Park to stress that the wearables company will focus on “managing down” expenses while expanding its line of smartwatches.

Shulkin: ‘There’s one agenda … and anyone who doesn’t want to do that shouldn’t be in the VA’

At the annual American Legion conference, VA Secretary David Shulkin, MD hints at unrest within the ranks when he makes it clear that those staffers who aren’t on board with the department’s priorities – replacing VistA with Cerner, increasing access to care, and suicide prevention – should get their walking papers in order.

Morning Headlines 2/27/18

New System Makes it Easier for Patients to Talk to Doctors

The Wall Street Journal describes OurNotes, the next step in the OpenNotes movement in which patients will be able to share their own notes with their doctors.

Hospital taking steps to resolve billing issues

Western Missouri Medical Center struggles with its billing system conversion to Cerner, notifying patients that they may receive catch-up bills going back to January 2017.

Apple is launching medical clinics to deliver the ‘world’s best health care experience’ to its employees

Apple will launch two employee clinics near its California headquarters called AC Wellness and is listing open positions for doctors, health coaches, and health behaviors program designers.

Morning Headlines 2/26/18

Changes in hospital bond ratings after the transition to a new electronic health record

Researchers looking at how hospital bond ratings fared after implementing a new EHR conclude that it’s tough to prove any relationship between EHR implementation and the macro financial picture provided by bond ratings, even though ratings announcements often reference either the cost or the financial benefit of a new EHR.

Cerner deal creeps closer

The VA could sign its Cerner mega-deal as early as this week, with both parties agreeing to 50 minor contract changes recommended in Mitre’s interoperability evaluation.

Your next activity tracker could be a pair of glasses

After a year of beta testing, vision care insurance company VSP will give Intel a run for its money with the launch of its Level activity-tracking smart specs.

Morning Headlines 2/23/18

Duke Health First in the US to be Recognized by HIMSS Analytics for its Advanced Analytical Capabilities

Duke Health (NC) becomes the first health system to earn all three HIMSS Analytics Stage 7 capability and maturity honors – ambulatory EHR, acute care EHR, and the new AMAM analytics model of which Duke is the first Stage 7 winner.

VA Partners With DeepMind to Build Machine Learning Tools to Identify Health Risks for Veterans 

Google’s DeepMind Health subsidiary will use de-identified veteran health records to help the VA develop machine learning algorithms that can predict patient deterioration, initially focusing on acute kidney injury.

Bon Secours Health System to merge with Mercy Health of Ohio

Bon Secours Health System and Mercy Health – both Epic shops – will merge to create an $8 billion health system serving seven states across 1,000 facilities.

Morning Headlines 2/22/18

Practice Fusion is scrapping free software model after agreeing to sell to Allscripts

Despite chief executive statements to the contrary, Practice Fusion will start charging customers $100 monthly subscription fees for its previously free EHR software.

Mayo Clinic sees big jump in 2017 earnings

Eight months after kicking off a $1.5 billion Epic implementation, Mayo Clinic officials report a 50-percent increase in earnings that they attribute to reduced Medicaid losses, greater philanthropy gains, increased efficiencies, and strong investment returns.

UVA Health System Notifies 1,882 Patients About Potential Privacy Issue

The University of Virginia Health System notifies nearly 2,000 patients of a malware attack that enabled a hacker to remotely view hospital settings, possibly including PHI, through breached devices.

Morning Headlines 2/21/18

Time to Release Medicare Advantage Claims Data

A JAMA editorial calls for CMS to release Medicare Advantage encounter data to allow taxpayers to see how their money is being spent on its growing number of beneficiaries.

Electronic Health Records Don’t Reduce Administrative Costs

Researchers find that a large academic health system’s certified EHR significantly drives up administrative costs associated with billing and insurance activities.

Leaked Nokia memo says no path forward for ‘struggling’ digital health business

Less than a week after announcing a strategic review of its digital health business, Nokia Chief Strategy Officer Kathrin Buvac tells employees that it will most likely not be a “meaningful part” of the company’s future.

Morning Headlines 2/20/18

21st Century Oncology’s new CEO seeks to rehab company image, expand operations

21st Century Oncology announces it will expand operations after emerging from bankruptcy and tackling legal issues related to a privacy breach of 2.2 million patient records and an investigation into improper Meaningful Use reporting.

There’s No Stopping the $50 Billion IPO With a Silly Name

Siemens confirms that the IPO of its Healthineers business will take place in the first half of this year.

Google AI can scan your eyes to predict heart disease

Verily researchers develop an early-stage algorithm that can evaluate retinal scans and, aided by machine learning, predict cardiovascular risk factors.

Partners HealthCare outsourcing coding jobs to India

Partners HealthCare (MA) will lay off 100 coders and outsource their jobs to India as part of a three-year plan to cut up to $800 million in costs.

Morning Headlines 2/19/18

Holy Cross CEO covers payroll, seeks more cuts

Holy Cross Hospital (NM) says its financial problems are due to a problematic software rollout, its conversion to a critical access fee structure, Medicaid payment delays, and a lawsuit judgment that raised its malpractice insurance by $600,000.

US Department of Veterans Affairs Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2019

Last Thursday’s meeting of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs covered the VA’s FY2019 budget request, with much of the discussion focused on the cost and timing of the Cerner roll out.

MCH’s Cerner implementation showing progress

Texas-based Medical Center Health’s $47 million Cerner roll out suffers implementation problems that Cerner has attributed to hospital clinicians and administrators.

Morning Headlines 2/16/18

Alphabet-backed Flatiron Health is being acquired by Roche

Drug maker Roche will acquire oncology EHR and personalized medicine vendor Flatiron Health for $1.9 billion in cash, giving the company a $2.1 billion valuation that includes Roche’s previous investment in it.

Allscripts to sell OneContent business to Hyland

Allscripts will sell the OneContent document management software business it acquired as part of McKesson EIS to Hyland Software for undisclosed terms.

Nokia announces strategic review of its Digital Health business

Nokia conducts a strategic review of its digital health business just two years after it created it by acquiring connected health hardware vendor Withings for $212 million.

Morning Headlines 2/15/18

NJII, Dept. of Health hope to create info exchange

The New Jersey Innovation Institute will partner with the New Jersey Department of Health to develop the grant-funded New Jersey Health Information Network, an HIE that will initially go live in Newark and then expand to other parts of the state.

On-Screen, On-Demand, On-Time: The Future of Telemedicine at Penn Medicine

Penn Medicine (PA) brings its telemedicine initiatives under one roof at the new Center for Connected Care, creating one of the country’s largest telehealth hubs.

US can sue UnitedHealth in $1 billion Medicare case, judge rules

A federal judge rules that the DOJ can move forward with a lawsuit against UnitedHealth that claims the payer bilked Medicare out of $1.4 billion by submitting invalid diagnostic data for Medicare Advantage plan members.

Morning Headlines 2/14/18

Fitbit buys Twine Health in bid to become a more serious health care tool

Fitbit acquires app-powered health coaching provider Twine Health, hoping to tie Fitbit’s wearables into the management of chronic conditions.

Hospital supplier shares dive as Amazon reportedly ramps up medical supply business

A Wall Street Journal report says Amazon will expand its Amazon Business program to sell medical supplies to hospitals and clinics, sending shares of McKesson and other wholesalers down sharply.

StayWell Acquires Provata Health

Population health management and patient education technology vendor StayWell acquires Provata Health, which offers lifestyle and chronic disease management apps.

Morning Headlines 2/13/18

VA wants new budget line for commercial health record

In his 2019 budget proposal, President Trump earmarks $1.2 billion for the VA’s new EHR, including $675 million for the contract with Cerner, $412 million for infrastructure support, and $120 million for program management.

HealthStream Announces Divestiture of its Patient Experience (PX) Business to Press Ganey Associates

Healthcare learning and performance improvement systems vendor HealthStream decides to sell its patient experience business to Press Ganey for $65.5 million in cash.

Congressional Budget Pact Includes Telehealth Sweetener

President Trump signs into law a funding bill that will expand telemedicine access for ACOs and Medicare Advantage plans, and allow for reimbursement of telestroke care and home dialysis.

Banner Health ‘underestimated’ scope of computer conversion in Tucson

State officials in Arizona look into patient complaints about Banner Health’s conversion from Epic to Cerner at its Tucson hospitals, including delays with patient processing and prescriptions.

Morning Headlines 2/12/18

HealthInsight and Qualis Health Announce Intent to Merge

Medicare and Medicaid-focused population health management companies HealthInsight and Qualis Health will merge later this spring.

AAFP Outlines Steps to Reduce Administrative Burden

American Academy of Family Physicians asks HHS and ONC to reduce the health IT burden of clinicians with a series of recommendations it plans to reiterate during a meeting with CMS later this month as part of the Patients over Paperwork Initiative.

MD settles with computer contractor over Medicaid failures

Computer Sciences Corp. pays an $81 million settlement to the state of Maryland for its failure to build a new computer system for the state’s Medicaid program per its 2012 contract.

Morning Headlines 2/9/18

Cryptomining Software Discovered on Tennessee Hospital’s EMR Server

Decatur County General Hospital (TN) notifies patients of a September data breach in which an unknown hacker installed cryptocurrency mining software on its vendor-maintained EHR server.

The Apple Watch can detect diabetes with an 85% accuracy, Cardiogram study says

A study of 14,000 Apple Watch users finds that the device’s heart rate sensor is capable of detecting diabetes in users already diagnosed with the disease.

Atrium Health and Navicent Health Announce Plans to Form Strategic Combination to Serve Communities in Central and South Georgia

Carolinas HealthCare System announces one day after renaming itself to Atrium Health that it will merge with Navicent Health (GA).

Morning Headlines 2/8/18

Immelt’s Life After GE Leads to Health Firm Targeted by Activist

Athenahealth continues its leadership restructuring with the appointment of Jeff Immelt as chairman – a position previously held by CEO Jonathan Bush.

US Judge Dismisses Whistleblower Claim Against Epic

A US District Court Judge tosses out a 2015 lawsuit claiming Epic’s anesthesia module enabled hospitals to overbill Medicare and Medicaid.

Cerner will boost Kansas City workforce by 600

Cerner will use reinvested tax break money to hire 600 workers at its headquarters in Kansas City, MO.

Morning Headlines 2/7/18

Strange Bedfellows? Group Unites Old Foes in Hunt for Health Fix

Former CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt joins several luminaries to launch a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that will push for federal healthcare policies its members believe are nearly universally supported despite political differences.

Cerner posts record bookings of new business after stumbling three months ago

Cerner’s Q4 results in a mixed bag of record bookings and disappointing profits.

Computer problems in the NHS could be blamed for hundreds of deaths, experts say

British academics call for a public inquiry into the state of NHS hospital software after combing through clinical negligence claims related to old, low-quality computers.

Morning Headlines 2/6/18

Beneficiary Engagement and Incentives: Direct Decision Support (DDS) Model

Three months after cancelling its Shared Decision-Making Model, CMS scraps the Direct Decision Support Model, which would have encouraged non-provider organizations to involve beneficiaries in care decision making using tools like digital health apps. 

Malware incident discovered in May, 2017 affected 2,600 patients: Partners HealthCare System

Partners HealthCare (MA) reveals a May 2017 data breach that may have exposed the information of 2,600 patients.

Agility Health Announces Definitive Agreement to sell US-Based Operations

Alliance Physical Therapy Management will acquire outpatient rehab and PM software company Agility Health’s US operations for $45 million.

International Olympic Committee and GE Healthcare Launch Analytics Tool to Help Drive Precision Health at the Olympic Winter Games

GE Healthcare develops an Athlete Management Solution for the upcoming Olympic Winter and Summer Games that will offer athletes personalized medicine using aggregated data, dashboards, and analytics.

Embrace by Empatica is the world’s first smart watch to be cleared by FDA for use in Neurology

MIT Media Lab spin-off Empatica receives FDA clearance for its smart watch that has been shown to detect the onset of seizures in patients 100 percent of the time.