Morning Headlines 7/24/23

‘Hi, Doc!’ DM’ing the doctor could cost you (or your insurance plan)

University of California San Francisco research finds that charging for patient portal messages hasn’t reduced email volume as hoped for, given that providers typically only charge for about 3% of messages.

CHC Consulting Group: Leading FQHC and Community Healthcare Consulting Firm Launches Two Subsidiaries, Turbo RCM and CHC Tech RX

FQHC-focused CHC Consulting Group launches new subsidiaries focused on RCM and healthcare technology.

MCI Onehealth Technologies Inc. Enters into Agreements with WELL Health Technologies Corp. to Sell Clinical Assets, Raise New Financing and Empower its AI-Focused Digital Healthcare Business

MCI Onehealth Technologies, which manages a Canadian primary care network and develops health IT, will sell its clinical assets to competitor Well Health Technologies, enabling it to focus solely on AI-powered health IT and clinical research.

Morning Headlines 7/21/23

Franciscan Health parent to shift 61 employees to outside firm

Franciscan Alliance will rebadge 61 IT employees of Franciscan Health Indianapolis to managed services provider R4 Solutions.

UpLift gets $11M Series A for insurance-based telemental health

Virtual mental healthcare company UpLift, which markets its services primarily to payers, raises $10.7 million in Series A funding.

HHS Office for Civil Rights and the Federal Trade Commission Warn Hospital Systems and Telehealth Providers about Privacy and Security Risks from Online Tracking Technologies

The HHS Office for Civil Rights and the FTC warn 130 hospitals and telemedicine companies of the security and privacy risks related to the use of online tracking technologies within their websites or apps, which may be sharing the sensitive personal health data of consumers without their permission to third parties.

Morning Headlines 7/20/23

TPG to Acquire Leading Specialty Healthcare IT Platform Nextech

Confirming speculation from several weeks ago, TPG acquires ambulatory healthcare IT vendor Nextech from Thomas H. Lee Partners for $1.4 billion.

GenHealth.AI Accelerates into Healthcare AI Market with New Funding, Advisor Appointments and Use Cases Across Healthcare

Financial and care management-focused generative AI startup GenHealth.AI raises $13 million.

Teladoc Health Expands Collaboration in AI with Microsoft to Address Healthcare Workforce Crisis

Teladoc Health will use Microsoft’s AI services and its Nuance DAX ambient documentation product into its virtual care platform, expecting to automate the creation of clinical documentation during virtual exams.

Morning Headlines 7/19/23

Greenwood Village-based DocBuddy secures $1.84M to scale its digital health care workflow solution

DocBuddy, which offers an EHR workflow solution, raises $1.8 million in a seed funding round.

NeuroFlow Acquires Parent Company of BHL and BHL Touch

Behavioral health technology vendor NeuroFlow acquires Capital Solution Design, whose measurement-based care solutions are used by the VA.

Request for Health Information Technology Advisory Committee (HITAC) Nominations

The GAO seeks nominations for appointments to the Health Information Technology Advisory Committee.

Researchers Develop AI Model to Better Predict Which Drugs May Cause Birth Defects

Mount Sinai data scientists develop an AI model that may predict which pre-clinical compounds and medicines, particularly those new to market, could cause birth defects.

Morning Headlines 7/18/23

Thoma Bravo Announces Strategic Growth Investment in Bluesight to Support the Company’s Acquisition of Medacist

Medication supply chain technology company Bluesight will use a strategic growth investment from Thoma Bravo in its acquisition of Medacist, a drug diversion monitoring and medication management software vendor.

Unicorn K Health raises $59 million in down round

Israeli digital primary care startup K Health raises $59 million in a funding round led by Cedars-Sinai.

These Chicago execs want their fraud convictions overturned. Here’s their argument.

Outcome Health co-founders Rishi Shah and Shradha Agarwal want their fraud convictions overturned based on the argument that prosecutors seized more of their assets than was warranted before trial, leaving them unable to employ their first-pick attorneys.

Morning Headlines 7/17/23

Electronic Health Records Vendor NextGen Healthcare Inc. to Pay $31 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations

NextGen Healthcare will pay $31 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by misrepresenting the capabilities of select versions of its EHR software, and that it offered kickbacks in the form of credits of up to $10,000 to users whose recommendations led to new sales.

Phreesia Acquires MediFind, Reinforcing its Commitment to Patient-Centered Care and Expanding its Offerings to Consumers

Patient intake and engagement software vendor Phreesia acquires MediFind, which uses AI-powered technology to help patients find best-fit physicians.

Amazon lays off about 80 workers in pharmacy division

Amazon Pharmacy, the online retailer’s standalone prescription delivery service, lays off 80 employees.

Morning Headlines 7/14/23

Department of Defense Stateside Deployment of MHS GENESIS Complete

The Defense Health Agency announces that stateside roll out of MHS Genesis has been completed on time and on budget.

VA opposed to new EHR requirements but open to more major acquisition review 

VA officials say they are opposed to proposed legislation that would impose strict requirements on the department’s EHR Modernization program, but express support for legislation that would increase oversight of future acquisitions projects.

NICU telemedicine now at North Country Hospital

North Country Hospital (VT) establishes a NICU telemedicine program that gives its pediatricians access to real-time video consults with neonatologists at University of Vermont Medical Center.

Morning Headlines 7/13/23

Fold Health streamlines admin work for primary care providers

Primary care-focused administrative software developer Fold Health raises $6 million.

Parker Health Secures $25 Million in Series A Funding to Transform American Healthcare

Parker Health, developer of FHIR-based health management software that aggregates patient data from a variety of sources, raises $25 million.

Gradia Health Secures $4.2M in Seed Funding to Improve Ongoing Care for Patients With Chronic Conditions

Virtual concierge care startup Gradia Health announces $4.2 million in seed funding.

Morning Headlines 7/12/23

Hello Pediatrics Completes Series B Funding Round Supporting Product Development Including Behavioral Health Services

After-hours pediatric telemedicine company Hello Pediatrics raises $3 million in a Series B funding round.

Data Usability Takes Root Nationwide Through a Joint Project Between The Sequoia Project and AHIMA

The Sequoia Project and AHIMA launch the Data Usability Taking Root initiative, which will bring together stakeholders committed to implementing data usability guidance developed by The Sequoia Project’s Interoperability Matters Data Usability Workgroup.

Indian health agency must improve review of patient harm data, watchdog says

A Government Accountability Office report finds that the Indian Health Service needs to review patient safety event data by location in order to improve its oversight of adverse events.

Morning Headlines 7/11/23

Verifiable validates its healthcare credentialing software with another $27M

Automated provider credentialing and compliance software vendor Verifiable raises $27 million in a Series B funding round.

HCA Healthcare Reports Data Security Incident

HCA Healthcare announces that an unauthorized and unknown entity stole patient data from an external storage site used to automate the formatting of email messages and posted it for sale on an online forum.

VA medical center in NC notifies veterans of email breach

The Charles George VA Medical Center in North Carolina notifies patients of a data breach involving an email containing the PHI of 1,541 patients that was mistakenly sent to the wrong veterans.

Morning Headlines 7/10/23

Two Years After Coding Changes Sought to Decrease Documentation, Notes Remain ‘Bloated’

An Epic analysis of 1.7 billion clinical notes written by 166,318 outpatient providers during a nearly three-year period finds that average note length increased just over 8%, while the average time spent on documentation decreased 11%.

Intermountain Pediatric Telehealth Connects Local ERs with Primary Children’s Hospital

Intermountain Health expands its Pediatric Telehealth program to give its ER doctors access to virtual consults with pediatric specialists at Primary Children’s Hospital in Utah.

Lovelace hospital using AI to improve care for patients with chronic illnesses

Lovelace Health System (NM) implements CareHarmony’s AI-powered care coordination software to help patients with two or more chronic conditions better manage their treatment, including medications.

Morning Headlines 7/7/23

Telehealth startup TytoCare lays off 10% of workforce

TytoCare will reportedly lay off 20 employees, or 10% of its workforce.

Johns Hopkins Medicine joins national move to charge patients for messaging their doctor

Johns Hopkins Medicine (MD) joins at least 14 other healthcare providers across the country in charging patients for certain types of messages sent through their patient portals.

After years of planning, Finger Lakes Health will join URMC becoming UR Medicine Finger Lakes Health

Finger Lakes Health will implement Epic when it becomes a part of the University of Rochester Medical Center (NY) system in August.

Morning Headlines 7/6/23

Mount Sinai Launches Center for Ophthalmic Artificial Intelligence and Human Health

In New York, Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine launches the Center for Ophthalmic Artificial Intelligence and Human Health to help ophthalmologists diagnose eye disease and assess underlying health conditions.

CloudMD Divests Non-Core U.S. Electronic Medical Records and Practice Management Business

Constellation Software’s Harris Computer business acquires the US-based EHR, practice management, and RCM assets of Canadian company CloudMD for $6.3 million.

ResMed Acquires Somnoware, a Leader in Digital Sleep and Respiratory Care Diagnostics Software

Sleep management technology company ResMed acquires Somnoware, a sleep and respiratory care diagnostics software vendor based in California.

BlueKey Equity Partners Invests in Telemetrix

Remote patient monitoring vendor Telemetrix secures an undisclosed amount of funding from BlueKey Equity Partners.

Anatomy IT Enhances Value-Based Care Services Through Acquisition of MIPS Business Unit from MarsdenAdvisors

Health IT and cybersecurity business Anatomy IT acquires the MIPS/value-based care business of MarsdenAdvisors.

Morning Headlines 7/4/23

Alfie nets $2.1M for obesity management

Virtual obesity management clinic Alfie raises $2.1 million in a pre-seed funding round.

WHO and HL7 collaborate to support adoption of open interoperability standards

The World Health Organization and Health Level Seven International will work together to support the global adoption of open interoperability standards.

Apple closes at $3 trillion market cap

Apple becomes the first company to close a day of trading with a $3 trillion market cap.

Morning Headlines 7/3/23

Santa Monica-based Headspace meditation app maker lays off 15% of employees

Mental health and meditation app Headspace Health lays off 181 employees, its second round of job cuts since December.

LIJ Forest Hills Hospital to implement telehealth pilot program for burn patients

Northwell Health’s Forest Hills Long Island Jewish Hospital launches a tele-burn virtual consult service, giving on-site providers the ability to virtually consult with specialists at Staten Island University Hospital’s Regional Burn Center.

Mountain View Hospital restores clinical functions; culprit behind cyberattack still unknown

Mountain View Hospital and Idaho Falls Community Hospital and its partner clinics restore their clinical systems after a cyberattack forced them offline over a month ago.

Morning Headlines 6/30/23

Optimum Healthcare IT Acquires eCloud Managed Solutions

Staffing and consulting services company Optimum Healthcare IT acquires ECloud Managed Solutions, a cloud adoption and digital transformation firm based in Milton, GA.

RxLightning opens 8,000-square-foot New Albany headquarters

Specialty medication enrollment software startup RxLightning opens an office – its first – in Indiana after having been a remote-only company since its launch in 2020.

HHS Office for Civil Rights Settles HIPAA Investigation with iHealth Solutions Regarding Disclosure of Protected Health Information on an Unsecured Server for $75,000

IHealth Solutions will pay $75,000 to settle potential HIPAA violations related to the 2017 unauthorized transfer of PHI from an unprotected server.

Morning Headlines 6/29/23

Regulations to govern use of AI in health records could come later this year

ONC hopes to finalize a rule later this year that will require EHRs that use predictive solutions like AI and algorithms to provide end users with an explanation of how that technology works, as well as a description of the data used.

Blueprint Raises $9 Million Series A to Help Therapists Deliver Higher Quality Care in Less Time

Blueprint, which offers mental health providers patient tracking and outcomes assessment technologies, raises $9 million in a Series A funding round.

Cleveland Clinic to open first telehealth hub at new Mentor Hospital

Cleveland Clinic prepares to open a new hospital in Ohio that will offer patients in each of its 57 rooms the ability to access telehealth services from off-site specialists.