Morning Headlines 8/15/18

Alphabet puts another $375 million into Josh Kushner’s Oscar Health, just months after previous investment

Alphabet invests $375 million in data- and technology-focused insurance startup Oscar, following participation by two Alphabet subsidiaries in a funding round a few months ago that valued the company at over $3 billion.

Geisinger and Merck Unveil New Applications Developed to Help Improve Patient Communication and Care Delivery

Geisinger and Merck launch a patient-caregiver communication, and medication reconciliation and adherence app, both of which will use SMART on FHIR to connect to EHRs.

Sansoro Health Raises $8M to Accelerate Electronic Health Record Interoperability

Digital health-EHR integration platform vendor Sansoro Health raises $8 million in a Series B investment round, increasing its total to $14 million.

Morning Headlines 8/14/18

Watson Health: Setting the Record Straight

IBM SVP John Kelly rebuts a Wall Street Journal article that called Watson Health’s effectiveness in oncology into question, saying that, “To suggest there has been no patient benefit is to ignore both what we know The Wall Street Journal was told by a number of physicians around the world and these institutions’ own public comments.”

Microsoft, Amazon, Google, IBM, Oracle, and Salesforce issue joint statement for healthcare interoperability

Amazon, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, and Salesforce pledge to break down barriers to interoperability at the CMS Blue Button 2.0 Developer Conference in Washington, DC.

Staffers are fleeing as central Maine hospital system is roiled by turmoil

Central Maine Healthcare EVP David Tupponce admits the health system’s Cerner EHR has been a big contributing factor to high physician turnover.

Google DeepMind’s AI can detect over 50 sight-threatening eye conditions

A study conducted at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London reveals that DeepMind’s algorithms can detect over 50 eye conditions with 94-percent accuracy.

Morning Headlines 8/13/18

IBM Has a Watson Dilemma

The Wall Street Journal posts another critical review of IBM Watson Health for oncology, saying that “the diagnosis is gloomy” for Watson’s ability to improve cancer treatments.

Cory Wiegert Named New CEO of CancerLinQ LLC

CancerLinQ, a non-profit data initiative of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, hires Corey Wiegert (IBM Watson Health) as CEO.

Lawmakers Decry Trump “Cronyism” at the VA

Legislators call for VA Secretary Robert Wilkie to provide unredacted copies of his correspondence with President Trump’s informal VA advisors following ProPublica’s piece on the “Mar-a-Lago Crowd” and its influence on VA politics and programs.

FDA allows marketing of first direct-to-consumer app for contraceptive use to prevent pregnancy

In an agency first, the FDA approves marketing of the Natural Cycles birth control app as part of its fast-track approval program for digital health devices.

Morning Headlines 8/10/18

Pathways To Success: A New Start For Medicare’s Accountable Care Organizations

CMS Administrator Seema Verma summarizes the 600-page, just-published proposed rule that would overhaul the Medicare Shared Savings Program.

Amazon has plans to open its own health clinics for Seattle employees 

Amazon will open primary care clinics for employees at its Seattle headquarters with a pilot getting underway this year.

Connecting to Epic: Un-Users Group Meeting

Epic will hold its first Un-Users Group Meeting at its Verona campus on September 26, with an agenda aimed at non-Epic using provider leaders who want to exchange information with Epic customers.

UnitedHealth in second round of bidding for athenahealth

UnitedHealth Group, Bain Capital, and TPG are among the second-round bidders in the running to acquire Athenahealth.

Morning Headlines 8/9/18

CVS Health’s MinuteClinic Introduces New Virtual Care Offering

CVS Health adds MinuteClinic-branded virtual consults from Teladoc to its CVS Pharmacy app.

Northwestern Medicine lays off 60 IT workers after launch of new electronic medical records system

After hiring “hundreds” to implement its Epic system, which went live in March, Northwestern Medicine (IL) reorganizes and lays off 60 IT employees.

OpenEMR security flaws could have exposed millions of patient records

OpenEMR patches nearly 20 security vulnerabilities brought to its attention by a team of Project Insecurity researchers.

Morning Headlines 8/8/18

Digital health start-up Zocdoc is wrestling with a price change that could cripple doctors

Doctor appointment booking service Zocdoc postpones its announced pricing changes after practices complain about being charged for each booked appointment instead of paying just an annual fee.

Bluetree Network, an Epic consultant firm, adds staff, branches out

Bluetree Network moves to a 15,000-square-foot office in Madison, WI as it expands headcount to an eventual 450 and annual revenue to $55 million.

GoodRx valued at about $2.8 billion after Silver Lake investment, sources say

Prescription discount card vendor GoodRx takes a private equity investment that values the company at $2.8 billion.

Tenet shares dive 15% as company reveals subsidiary sale still in process

Tenet Healthcare misses its self-imposed deadline concerning the sale of subsidiary Conifer Health Solutions, sending shares tumbling by over 15 percent during Tuesday trading.

Morning Headlines 8/7/18

Careexpand to Transition Its Full-Service Chronic Care Management Business to Chronic Care Management, Inc.

Chronic Care Management acquires Careexpand’s CCM assets for an undisclosed amount.

Apple records keep on expanding

Apple Clinical & Health Informatics Lead Ricky Bloomfield announces that several new health systems have joined the company’s health record project, including Texas Health Resources and UCLA Health (CA).

In a first for Michigan, Henry Ford Health signs direct contract with GM

Henry Ford Health (MI) signs its first direct contract with an employer, touting Epic’s MyChart as a patient perk for GM employees.

Morning Headlines 8/6/18

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (MDRX) Q2 2018 Results

Allscripts will sell its joint venture stake in behavioral technology vendor Netsmart.

LRHC taking steps to seek new electronic health records software

Lexington Regional Health Center (NE) gets board approval to replace its unnamed EHR vendors, explaining that it can’t deal with poorly integrated integrated inpatient, ambulatory, and ED systems and such systems hurt its recruiting efforts.

SmartER Acquires ConciergeStat

Patient engagement software company SmartER acquires care coordination tech vendor ConciergeStat for an undisclosed amount.

Morning Headlines 8/3/18

Global Payments to Acquire AdvancedMD, a Leading Provider of Cloud-Based, Enterprise Software Solutions to Physician Practices

Global Payments will acquire AdvancedMD from Marlin Equity Partners for $700 million.

Jury Convicts Man Who Hacked Boston Children’s Hospital And Wayside Youth & Family Support Network

A federal jury convicts Martin Gottesfeld for masterminding DDOS attacks on Boston Children’s Hospital and Wayside Youth and Family Support Network (MA).

Go-Live Support 2018 The Bar Has Been Raised; Which Firms Can Meet It?

A new KLAS report covering go-live support finds that Medasource, Optimum Healthcare IT, and CSI Healthcare IT are top satisfaction scorers.

Cerner Reports Second Quarter 2018 Results

Cerner reports Q2 results: revenue up 6 percent, adjusted EPS $0.62 vs. $0.61, beating analyst expectations for both.

Morning Headlines 8/2/18

Cannae Holdings, Inc. Announces T-System’s Appointment of New Chief Executive Officer

Bob Wilhelm (Adreima) joins emergency and urgent care IT vendor T-System as CEO.

Silicon Valley just made this South Florida company a whole lot richer

MDLive raises $50 million in a funding round led by Health Velocity Capital.

Mediware® Acquires BlueStrata EHR

Health and human services health IT vendor Mediware Information Systems acquires long-term, post-acute care-focused BlueStrata EHR.

Verana Health Raises $30 Million Series C Led by GV to Accelerate Innovation in Healthcare

Verana Health secures $30 million and brings on new CEO Miki Kapoor (Tea Leaves Health).

Morning Headlines 8/1/18

Virginia Launches First-in-the-Nation Program to Connect Emergency Departments Across the Commonwealth

Virginia launches the Emergency Department Care Coordination Program, using Collective Medical technology to connect EDs across its 129 hospitals.

athenahealth Reports Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2018 Results

Athenahealth reports Q2 results: revenue up 10 percent, adjusted EPS $1.08 vs. $0.51 (both based on a new revenue recognition standard), beating earnings estimates but falling short on revenue.

Teladoc Announces Corporate Name Change to Teladoc Health

Teladoc will change its name to Teladoc Health.

MEDICAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, INC. SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION JULY 31, 2018

Meditech reports Q2 results: revenue up 7.1 percent, EPS $0.65 vs. $0.39.

Ancestry and 23andMe Agree to Rules on Providing DNA to Third Parties

Ancestry.com and 23andMed will provide consumers with a separate consent form to convey their permission for their genetic information to be shared with third parties.

Morning Headlines 7/31/18

Stipulated Penalties and Exclusion for Material Breach

OIG fines EClinicalWorks $132,500 for failing to report patient safety issues as reportable events, per its corporate integrity agreement signed as part of its $155 million settlement with the DoJ last year.

Trump Picks Marine Vet To Take Over Veterans Affairs IT

President Trump nominates Marine Corps veteran James Gfrerer to be the VA’s assistant secretary for IT, commonly referred to as its CIO.

CMS Shares MA Data with Wonks

CMS finally releases an initial year’s worth of Medicare Advantage data with help from health data research organization CareSet.

Morning Headlines 7/30/18

Defense Healthcare Management System Modernization – Standard Solution Baseline

The DoD justifies paying Leidos up to $1.1 billion more for its EHR implementation by mentioning the unstated cost of adding the Coast Guard while redacting the list of “as a service” requirements and their associated costs.

Vocera Announces Second Quarter Revenue of $42.7 Million

Vocera announces Q2 results: revenue up 8 percent, adjusted EPS $0.09 vs. $0.02.

Beyond Dr. Google: the evidence on consumer-facing digital tools for diagnosis

A literature review finds that consumer-facing diagnostic websites and apps are poorly supported by clinical studies and sometimes offer low accuracy rates.

Morning Headlines 7/27/18

Startup Raises $100 Million To Allow College, Hospital And Business Bills To Be Paid In Foreign Currency

Financial technology vendor Flywire raises $100 million in a Series D funding round.

CMS Empowers Patients and Ensures Site-Neutral Payment in Proposed Rule

CMS’s proposed outpatient reimbursement takes aim at hospitals that have bought physician practices to take advantage of a billing loophole that allows them to immediately raise prices by declaring the practice a hospital outpatient department.

Mon Health Medical Center freeze staff salary, begin improvement plan due to ‘significant financial challenges’

Mon Health Medical Center (WV) freezes employee pay as it begins implementing an operations improvement plan, which includes rolling out a new EHR at its ambulatory facilities.

Morning Headlines 7/26/18

IBM’s Watson supercomputer recommended ‘unsafe and incorrect’ cancer treatments, internal documents show

Internal IBM documents reveal that Watson Health employees and customers identified “multiple examples of unsafe and incorrect treatment recommendations” as the company promoted the software to prospects.

Some Epic workers will continue to fight for overtime pay as individuals

Epic employees working in quality assurance and tech writing begin filing individual overtime claims after the Supreme Court ruled they cannot file them as a group.

Patientco Primed to Help More Health Systems Rethink Patient Payments with Strategic Growth Investment Led by Accel-KKR

Patient billing company Patientco raises $28 million in a Series B round.

Trump Administration, in Reversal, Will Resume Risk Payments to Health Insurers

The White House reverses its decision to suspend the Affordable Care Act’s risk adjustment payments, citing the need to keep payers from becoming insolvent or withdrawing from the market.

Morning Headlines 7/25/18

Pentagon to Increase Health Records Contract Ceiling By Another Billion

The Department of Defense will increase its EHR contract ceiling by $1.1 billion in expanding MHS Genesis to cover implementation of Cerner by the Coast Guard.

Identity Automation Announces Acquisition of HealthCast Inc.

Identity and access management technology vendor Identity Automation acquires HealthCast, which offers single sign-on and virtual desktop systems for healthcare.

Making healthcare better for everyone—including providers

Google Cloud announces that former Cleveland Clinic President and CEO Toby Cosgrove, MD has signed on as an advisor to its healthcare and life sciences team.

Scoop: 23andMe is raising up to $300M

23andMe prepares for the sale of up to $300 million in new shares, potentially driving up its value to $2.5 billion.

Morning Headlines 7/24/18

Senate Confirms Pentagon Official To Head Veterans Affairs Department

The Senate confirms Robert Wilkie as VA secretary in a vote of 86 to 9.

Cerner adds 100 more employees on its way to hiring 600 in KC

Cerner fills half of the 600 positions it announced it would staff as part of its new CernerWorks managed services business.

Theranos Investors, Founder Holmes Resolve Shareholder Suit

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes settles a 2016 lawsuit brought by disgruntled shareholders who had indirectly invested in the company through investment funds.