Morning Headlines 6/23/23

Tennessee attorney general says seeking clinic’s transgender patient records part of fraud probe

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office, which compelled Vanderbilt University Medical Center to turn over the medical records of transgender patients to support its fraud investigation, has also demanded that VUMC provide copies of its physician contracts, their resumes, and their W2 and 1099 tax forms.

Jesse Jones: New charges for some MyChart messages

University of Washington Medicine will begin charging patients for answering MyChart messages that require more than 10 minutes  – including requests to complete medical forms or for referrals – at prices ranging from $7 for Medicaid patients to $98 for those without insurance.

VA official expects Oracle Cerner to deliver on $10B EHR contract despite layoffs

A VA EHR executive says that it continues to expect Oracle Cerner to deliver on newly strengthened contractual requirements even though the company’s recent significant layoffs reportedly include experienced members of its clinical teams.

ChatGPT and the clinical informatics board examination: the end of unproctored maintenance of certification?

ChatGPT passes the clinical informatics board exam, raising questions about how the unproctored, multiple-choice test will be used to evaluate proficiency.

Morning Headlines 6/22/23

AccurKardia Announces Final Closing of $2.7 Million Series Seed Round

AccurKardia, which sells AI-powered clinical-grade ECG interpretation software, completes a $2.7 million seed funding round.

AMA announces organizations selected for grants to research EHR use

The American Medical Association awards $589,000 in grants to nine organizations that will study EHR use for solutions that can prevent clinician burnout, enhance care, and improve workflows.

‘You’re not God’: Doctors and patient families say HCA hospitals push hospice care

An NBC News report says that publicly traded hospital operator HCA Healthcare used an algorithm to identify hospitalized inpatients who were likely to die, then pushed them into palliative or hospice care to improve hospital performance measures that are tied to executive bonuses.

Doctors urge ‘pause’ on Federated Data Platform bidding amid Palantir data security concerns

Doctors in England call for the government to pause the tender process for a new $600 million national federated data platform, saying that frontrunner Palantir is a private US company with ties to US security agencies that would discourage participation and that the procurement process favors the company because of its lobbying efforts and the waiving of procurement procedures during the pandemic.

DexCare Closes $75M in Series C Funding, Led by ICONIQ Growth, to Accelerate Market Expansion of its Care Access Platform

Providence spinout DexCare, which offers a customer acquisition and healthcare navigation system, raises $75 million.

Morning Headlines 6/21/23

Vanderbilt turns over transgender patient records to state in attorney general probe

VUMC notifies some of its patients that it has sent their medical records to the state’s attorney general, whose office is conducting an investigation into billing state-insured patients for transgender care services.

Creating the world’s largest medical imaging library – Gradient Health closes $2.75M round

Raleigh, NC-based Gradient Health, which offers developers a library of 350 million medical images for AI training, raises $2.75 million.

Caraway Secures $16.75M Series A Funding

Virtual care company Caraway – which offers mental, physical, and reproductive health services in six states, primarily to women aged 18-27 — raises $16.75 million in a Series A funding round.

Morning Headlines 6/20/23

How Palantir is helping hospitals with tasks that used to require spreadsheets and whiteboards

A CNBC report looks at Cleveland Clinic’s work with Palantir’s AI software to manage resource allocation.

CareRev Plans to Cut Roughly a Third of Staff

Healthcare shift-bidding platform vendor CareRev will reportedly lay off one-third of its corporate workforce, about 100 employees, following the departure of CEO Will Patterson over claimed conduct issues.

Biden picks North Carolina’s former health chief, Mandy Cohen, to run CDC

As previously speculated, the White House will name Aledade EVP Mandy Cohen, MD, MPH as new CDC director effective with the resignation of Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH on June 30.

Morning Headlines 6/19/23

Optum health startup incubator on ice

Optum dissolves its Startup Studio incubator after three years and 100 health companies incubated.

Amazon called to account – on health data

Senators Peter Welch (D-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) express concern to Amazon President and CEO Andy Jaffy that the company’s virtual Amazon Clinic may be collecting and sharing health data from customers.

Hackers claim responsibility for Norton Healthcare ‘cyber event’ as Louisville patients await answers

The BlackCat ransomware group claims responsibility for last month’s attack on Norton Healthcare (KY), the effects of which are still impacting the health system’s network and services.

Morning Headlines 6/16/23

Oracle Cerner cuts more jobs, focusing on roles with VA, federal contracts

Oracle conducts another round of layoffs in the former Cerner business, according to employee reports on Reddit and LinkedIn.

Snooping in Medical Records by Hospital Security Guards Leads to $240,000 HIPAA Settlement

Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital (WA) pays $240,000 to settle allegations that several of its security guards accessed without permission the medical records of 419 patients.

Veradigm’s plan to regain compliance with Nasdaq receives approval

Nasdaq gives Veradigm another extension to submit its annual and quarterly reports, with the company expecting to file Form 10-K on September 18, 2023 rather than June 14.

Morning Headlines 6/15/23

BurstIQ Acquires Business Intelligence Platform from Olive AI

Healthcare analytics vendor BurstIQ acquires Olive AI’s business intelligence solution, now known as LifeGraph Intelligence.

Hackensack Meridian Health Invests in Canary Speech, Company with AI Software to Assess Anxiety, Wellness in Spoken Words

Hackensack Meridian Health (NJ) invests in speech analysis technology startup Canary Speech through its Bear’s Den accelerator program.

Apixio and ClaimLogiq Merge to Create a Leading Connected Care Platform

Healthcare analytics vendor Apixio acquires ClaimLogiq, which offers health plan claims technology.

Healthcare Triangle Maintains Compliance with Nasdaq Listing Requirements as Nasdaq Resolves Delisting Determination Error

Healthcare Triangle regains its Nasdaq compliance after the financial services organization determined the health IT vendor had been de-listed in error.

Morning Headlines 6/14/23

American College of Gastroenterology and American Gastroenterological Association Invest in Oshi Health to Accelerate Adoption of Hybrid Digestive Health Care

Shortly after the close of a $30 million funding round, virtual digestive care provider Oshi Health announces investments from the American College of Gastroenterology and the American Gastroenterological Association’s GI Opportunity Fund.

Oracle beats on top and bottom lines as cloud revenue jumps

Oracle reports Q4 results: revenue up 17%, adjusted EPS $1.67 versus $1.54, beating Wall Street expectations for both and sending shares to an all-time high.

Penn State Health enhancing access to primary care through subscription-based virtual service

Penn State Health launches a subscription-based virtual primary care service, initially available to employees and Penn State College of Medicine students and their dependents.

Morning Headlines 6/13/23

An Illinois hospital is the first health care facility to link its closing to a ransomware attack

St. Margaret’s Health will close its doors this week after failing to overcome staff shortages, the lingering effects of the pandemic, and a 2021 ransomware attack that prevented it from submitting claims to payers for nearly three months.

Oracle beats quarterly revenue estimates on cloud services demand

Oracle attributes its 17% increase in Q4 revenue to demand for cloud products by companies deploying AI, coupled with the boost its Cerner acquisition has given it against competitors like Microsoft and Amazon.

Iowa invests $1.5 million in innovative Centers of Excellence to boost rural health care access

The State of Iowa’s Centers of Excellence program offers providers the opportunity to qualify for grant funding that will enable them to invest in new technology.

Morning Headlines 6/12/23

A Message From Our CEO: Cityblock’s Next Chapter

Cityblock Health, a tech-enabled primary and behavioral healthcare provider serving Medicaid and Medicare patients, will lay off 155 employees.

Pomelo Care collects $33M for maternal and newborn VBC

Pomelo Care, a virtual clinic specializing in pregnancy and newborn care, raises $33 million.

23andMe to cut roughly 9% of workforce, or about 75 employees

Consumer genetics and research company 23andMe will eliminate 75 jobs in early 2024 as part of a restructuring plan it estimates will save $13 million.

Morning Headlines 6/9/23

Carta Healthcare Secures $25 Million in Series B Funding with Additional Investments from Memorial Hermann Health System and UnityPoint Health

Carta Healthcare, which offers registry data abstraction and analytics, closes a $25 million Series B funding round.

Loopback Analytics Announces Strategic Growth Investment by PSG

Specialty pharmacy analytics vendor Loopback Analytics secures funding from PSG Equity.

US medi-tech firm plans ‘major UK campus’ on edge of Bristol

Epic will build a campus in Bristol, England to house its 350 employees there along with others in the UK.

No staff cuts at Spokane VA due to budget deficit, regional director says after visiting Mann-Grandstaff

Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center will not be required to reduce staffing or services to address its expected $35 million budget shortfall that was mostly caused by its problematic implementation of Oracle Cerner.

Laudio Announces $13 Million Series B for its AI Solution that Drives Productivity and Reduces Burnout in Health Systems

Healthcare workforce software vendor Laudio raises $13 million in Series B funding, brining its total raised to $25 million.

Morning Headlines 6/8/23

Wolters Kluwer acquires U.S. AI-enabled drug diversion detection software

Wolters Kluwer Health acquires Invistics Corporation, which offers AI-enabled software for drug diversion detection.

Karoo Health seeds $3M for value-based heart care

Tech-enabled, value-based cardiac care startup Karoo Health raises $3 million in seed funding.

Healthcare Triangle Receives Nasdaq Delisting Notice; Appeals Determination

Healthcare Triangle appeals Nasdaq’s decision to de-list the company after its failure to comply with listing requirements by the May 30 deadline.

Yuvo Health Raises $20.2 Million Series A Financing To Advance Innovation in Value-Based Care for Federally Qualified Health Centers

Yuvo Health, which offers FQHCs technology-based operational and administrative expertise for value-based care, raises $20 million in a Series A round of financing.

Significo Secures 12 Million USD Series A Funding to Revolutionize Personalized Health Recommendations and Strengthens Leadership Team

Significo will use $12 million in new funding to further scale its personalized health recommendation API for employee wellbeing companies.

Morning Headlines 6/7/23

RxLightning Closes $17.5M Series A to Accelerate Growth and Remove Barriers to Essential Specialty Medications

RxLightning, which specializes in digital specialty medication enrollment solutions, raises $17.5 million in a Series A funding round.

Digital Technologies in Cardiac Rehabilitation: A Science Advisory From the American Heart Association

An American Heart Association science advisory group says that digital technology can address many of the challenges faced by center-based cardiac rehabilitation and care programs.

Codex IT Acquires Professional Services Company

Eye care-focused health IT firm Codex IT acquires EyeDeal Consulting, marking its third acquisition of 2023.

Cardinal Health announces the merger of its Outcomes business into Transaction Data Systems and related partnership

Cardinal Health sells its Outcomes business to pharmacy software vendor Transaction Data Systems.

Morning Headlines 6/5/23

Eating disorder group pulls chatbot sharing diet advice

The National Eating Disorder Association shuts down its chatbot after users report that it gave them inappropriate advice for managing eating disorders, such as advising them to diet.

Fuse Oncology Closes Funding Round with Support from Leading Health Systems in the Southern US

Fuse Oncology, a Cone Health spin-off specializing in radiation oncology software, closes a $9 million Series A funding round led by Cone Health Ventures and Northeast Georgia Health Ventures.

Software snafu leads to 400 Grail patients getting bogus letters saying they might have cancer

Cancer screening company Grail blames third-party telemedicine vendor PWNHealth for sending 400 people letters inappropriately warning them that they may have cancer.

HHS’ big data-sharing decision

Politico reports that HHS is accepting proposals from organizations interested in taking over management of the TEFCA data-sharing initiative, which is currently overseen by the nonprofit Sequoia Project.

Morning Headlines 6/2/23

FDA-approved Alzheimer’s drugs will be covered by Medicare, with some limitations, CMS says

CMS announces that Medicare Part B will cover the use of FDA-approved monoclonal antibodies to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, but will require doctors to populate patient registries for real-world tracking of the performance of those treatments.

Biden plans to pick physician Mandy Cohen to lead CDC

President Biden will reportedly choose Aledade executive and former North Carolina health secretary Mandy Cohen, MD, MPH as director of the CDC.

Lightning Step Divests AVA Billing & Consulting, Reinforcing Focus on Core Behavioral Health Software Solutions

Behavioral healthcare software vendor Lightning Step sells its Ava Billing & Consulting subsidiary to RCM company Medusind.

Morning Headlines 6/1/23

Hyro Raises $20M in Funding to Advance Responsible AI-Powered Communications for Enterprise

Hyro, which offers conversational AI-powered healthcare workflow and conversation solutions, raises $20 million in a Series B funding round.

Wellstar to open innovation center in Midtown Atlanta

Wellstar Health System will open an innovation center in Atlanta this fall to house its recently launched Catalyst venture firm.

Axuall Secures $20 Million Series B Capital Raise after Accelerated Market Growth and Healthcare Enterprise Adoption

Healthcare workforce software firm Axuall raises $20 million in a Series B funding round.

Strive Health Raises $166 Million in Series C Funding from NEA, CVS Health Ventures and Others

Kidney care company Strive Health raises $166 million in a Series C funding round, bringing its total raised to $386 million since launching five years ago.

Morning Headlines 5/31/23

Carrum Health Raises $45M in Series B Funding

Carrum Health, whose platform helps employers manage employee healthcare costs, raises $45 million in a Series B funding round.

Anatomy IT Acquires Iris Solutions to Expand Presence in Ambulatory Healthcare

Health IT and cybersecurity solutions vendor Anatomy IT acquires dental and medical software company Iris Solutions.

Florida Bans Offshoring of Certain Patient Information

A new Florida law prohibits the state’s providers from storing EHR data outside the US, its territories, or Canada, including those patient records that are hosted in the cloud or by a third party.