Morning Headlines 12/28/15

Why the AMA president wants the government to back off

AMA president and emergency room physician Steven Stack, MD calls EHRs the leading frustration of providers today, saying that they decimate efficiency and cripple communication.

Faster Medical Attention With App

In Jersey City, public health officials are rolling out an app that will alert nearby first responders if someone calls 911 in need of emergency medical assistance. The project will cost $2 million and includes costs to train and equip volunteer first responders.

Top Defense Contractors have Paid more than $7 Billion in Misconduct Penalties Since 1995

McKesson appears in a watchdog report on government spending for being the most penalized DoD contractor for misconduct, having paid $2.05 billion in fines across 24 instances of misconduct since 1995.

Morning Headlines 12/24/15

Outcomes From Health Information Exchange: Systematic Review and Future Research Needs

OHSU researchers systematically review studies on health information exchange outcomes, concluding that the full impact of HIEs on outcomes are inadequately studied. The researchers recommend more rigorous study designs and creation of standards by which to describe the various types of HIEs.

Mount Sinai Hospital Launches Initiative to Improve Transitions of Care for Venous Thromboembolism Patients

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine will receive a $500,000 grant to develop an app for patients recently diagnosed with VTE. The app will support patients as they transition out of the hospital by offering medication adherence support, symptom tracking, and a way of communicating with a dedicated clinical worker that can answer questions.

Bribery probe nets $12M and more than two dozen doctors

Investigators in New Jersey are charging Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services with paying monthly cash bribes to more than two dozen local physicians in exchange for blood work referrals that resulted in more than $100 million in Medicare payments.

Morning Headlines 12/23/15

The 2016 Interoperability Standards Advisory is Here

ONC releases its 2016 Interoperability Standards Advisory, a catalog of federally recognized interoperability standards and specifications.

Defense Healthcare Management System Modernization (DHMSM) – Hosting Scope

DoD modifies the scope of its DHMSM program, adding a no-bid contract to Leidos for hosting services that are expected to cost $5 million per year.

Medicare Drug Spending Dashboard

CMS releases an online dashboard that highlights drug-specific spending trends for Medicare Part B and Part D prescriptions.

Baby Boomers Set Another Trend: More Golden Years In Poorer Health

A USC report predicts that Medicare spending will more than double to $1.2 trillion by 2013, with cost increases attributed to an aging baby-boomer generation that is in poorer health than prior generations, but has a longer life expectancy.

Morning Headlines 12/22/15

Congress passes blanket MU hardship exemption

The House and Senate pass S. 2425, a bill that provides blanket hardship exemptions that will allow practices and hospitals attesting to meaningful use to avoid 2017 reimbursement penalties.

US Probes Theranos Complaints

The Wall Street Journal reports that the FDA is investigating several new complaints it has received from former Theranos employees, including one that questions the accuracy of the company’s only FDA approved blood test.

GOP senator lifts hold on health nominees

Freshman GOP Senator Ben Sasse (NE) has lifted his hold on HHS confirmation hearings after the administration releases documents about ACA co-op performance. The decision paves the way for National Coordinator Karen DeSalvo, MD to be confirmed as the Assistant Secretary for Health.

Shkreli fired from KaloBios

Former Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli has been fired from his position as CEO at KaloBios Pharmaceuticals as he awaits his trial for securities fraud.

Morning Headlines 12/21/15

Vendor for VUMC clinical systems upgrade named

Vanderbilt University Medical Center will implement Epic, replacing its existing McKesson Horizon system, with a projected go-live of November 2017.

Coloradans Will Put Single-Payer Health Care To A Vote

Next fall, Colorado residents will vote on a proposal to establish a state-run, no deductible, single-payer health system expected to cost $25 billion annually.

Albany health care tech hub could still move forward, despite lack of state funds

Capital Region (NY) loses its bit to secure $500 million in state revitalization funding that would have been used to turn the city into a technology startup hotspot, but still hopes to move forward on a smaller plan to establish an active digital health ecosystem.

Morning Headlines 12/18/15

Report To Congress: Challenges and Barriers to Interoperability

ONC’s Health IT Policy Committee publishes its congressionally-mandated report on interoperability, covering the technical, operational, and financial barriers to interoperability.

Most Cerner employees are giving up the right to sue — to stay eligible for merit raises

Cerner has reportedly persuaded 93 percent of its 17,000 employees to sign arbitration agreements with the promise of $500 in stock options for those that agree, and the threat of withheld merit-based raises for those that refuse.

Shkreli, Drug Price Gouger, Denies Fraud and Posts Bail

Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli is arrested by the FBI on fraud charges stemming from his time as a hedge fund owner and manager.

HHS wants more states to data-mine for Medicaid fraud

HHS reports that few states have taken it up on its offer to receive federal funding to bolster data-mining programs in state Medicare fraud units, despite fraudulent payment rates continuing to climb.

Morning Headlines 12/17/15

Long-delayed cyber bill included in omnibus

House leaders have reached a deal on the 2016 omnibus spending bill. The bill, which was introduced Wednesday, includes the last minute addition of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, a controversial bill with government surveillance implications that was designed to help the federal investigators work with private industry to combat hackers.

FDA Launches precisionFDA to Harness the Power of Scientific Collaboration

The FDA launches its web-based, genetics research platform, precisionFDA.

New data shows experts were wrong about where healthcare costs less

A study investigating geographical differences in the cost of care have analyzed 92 billion private health insurance claims and have found that spending patterns for the privately insured are not the same as those for Medicare.

RWJF releases massive health exchange data set

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has published a dataset containing pricing information for public exchange insurance plans, concluding that the average premium will spike between 11 and 16 percent between 2015 and 2016.

Morning Headlines 12/16/15

Foundations Unite to Support Access to Clinical Notes for 50 Million Patients Nationwide

A group of foundations will spend $10 million funding the expansion of the OpenNotes project with the goal of expanding access to 50 million patients over the next three years.

Dell Looks to Sell Perot Systems for More Than $5 Billion to Raise Cash for EMC Deal

Dells is seeking a buyer for its Perot Systems business unit, hoping to raise $5 billion from the sale to help cover the cost of its EMC acquisition.

Is Your Doctor Getting Too Much Screen Time?

The Wall Street Journal covers a recent study finding that patients rated the care they received lower when doctors looked at a computer screen more during patient examinations.

The Corporate Takeover of the Red Cross

A ProPublica report analyzes corporate challenges at the Red Cross five years after an executive team from AT&T was brought in to streamline operations. Since their arrival, the Red Cross has cut payroll by a third, eliminated thousands of jobs, and closed 450 of its 700 chapters.

Morning Headlines 12/15/15

Top health industry issues of 2016 Thriving in the New Health Economy

PwC publishes its annual report on health industry issues, in which it predicts 2016 will bring expanded patient engagement through mobile technologies, heightened cybersecurity threats, and expanded adoption of non-relational databases.

Digital Health Funding: 2015 Year in Review

$4.3 billion was invested in digital health startups in 2015, matching 2014’s funding levels, according to Rock Health’s annual VC funding report.

CMS expands quality data on Physician Compare and Hospital Compare

CMS updates both its Physician Compare and Hospital Compare websites, adding quality metrics for individual health care professionals and updating performance scores for ACOs and several hundred provider groups.

Where Are STDs Rampant? Google Wants To Help Researchers Find Out

Researchers at the University of Illinois are mining Google search data to create a Flu Trends-like map that will track the spread of STDs.

Morning Headlines 12/14/15

Johnson & Johnson Announces Formation Of Verb Surgical Inc., In Collaboration With Verily

Google’s newly renamed life sciences division, Verily, partners with Johnson & Johnson to build a new, independent robotic surgical solutions company.

Connect for Care

In an ONC blog post, National Coordinator Karen DeSalvo, MD, MPH calls on health IT stakeholders to back her vision for a connected health information ecosystem by focusing on consumer access, information blocking, and adopting national interoperability standards.

The Health of Obamacare

The Wall Street Journal dissects the impact ACA has had on the cost of care in the US and its resulting benefit to patients. The article highlights a reduction in the overall number of uninsured citizens but also points out that the ACA establishes a financial system that looks “more like welfare for the medical-industrial complex than support for the needy.”

Introducing OpenAI

A group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs donates $1 billion to establish OpenAI, a non-profit artificial intelligence research company that will work on projects that are “most likely to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return.”

Morning Headlines 12/11/15

Maryland fires firm upgrading Medicaid technology, may seek money back

Maryland fires and then sues CSC for unacceptable performance during a $300 million Medicaid computer system upgrade contract.

Cerner Corporation offers US employees tough choice: Agree to arbitration or give up merit raises

Cerner is asking employees to sign an arbitration agreement that bars them from filing lawsuits against the company for any reason. Those that refuse are being told they will give up merit-based raises, while those that comply are being given $500 in stock options.

LabMD Loses Sanctions Bid Against Tiversa Over Info Leak

A judge denies LabMD’s request for sanctions against Tiversa, the cybersecurity firm that illegally breached its network and then reported the breach to the FTC.

Patient data compromised after cyberattack hits MaineGeneral Health

The FBI notifies MaineGeneral Health that an undisclosed number of patient records has turned up online after a cyberattack on its network last month.

Morning Headlines 12/10/15

Athenahealth Reaffirms Fiscal Year 2015 Guidance and Initiates Guidance for Fiscal Year 2016

Athenahealth forecasts a FY16 EPS of between $1.65 and $1.85 on $1.13 billion in revenue, topping analyst estimates on earnings but forecasting a lower than expected revenue. In a statement ahead of its investor day, the company explained that it planned to scale its operations to increase revenue and improve margins.

ACA Update: Effects On Ability To Pay Medical Bills And Labor Supply; Enrollment Snapshot; And More

Health Affairs recaps a number of ACA-related reports, one from the CDC finding that the percent of adults struggling to pay medical bills is steadily declining, another from the CBO forecasts a 1.7 percent decline in labor supply caused by ACA coverage expansions, and a third from CMS announcing that one million new Healthcare.gov users have selected plans this year.

Tufts Medical Center Is Bringing Virtual Reality to Patient Care

In an effort to alleviate pre-surgical anxiety and improve patient education, Tufts Medical Center (MA) will begin using virtual reality headsets to help prepare patients for surgery, giving them a 360-degree tour of the facility and introductions to the staff.

Changes in Burnout and Satisfaction With Work-Life Balance in Physicians and the General US Working Population Between

A report on physician job satisfaction between 2011 and 2014 finds that burnout is increasing across the board, but at rates that vary heavily between specialties. Burnout rates in the general population have remained flat over the same period.

Morning Headlines 12/9/15

Public health gets least money, but does most

Karen DeSalvo, MD and acting assistant secretary of health discusses the need for increased public health funding, noting that 97 percent of funds are spent on care delivery, while 80 percent of people’s health needs are influenced by what happens outside of the doctor’s office.

Debunking common myths about healthcare consumerism

A review of McKinsey studies focused on healthcare consumerism finds that patient satisfaction is most influenced by nurse empathy and keeping patients informed about their treatments.

Hospitals Face Budget Woes With Switch To Electronic Records

Brigham and Women’s Hospital falls $53 million short of its projected 2015 surplus, blaming in part its Epic implementation, which was expected to cost $47 million but ultimately ran $27 million over budget due to lower patient volumes and coding issues.

Startups ZocDoc, Oscar to Help Obama Advertise Obamacare

ZocDoc and Oscar Health have both been contracted to begin running Healthcare.gov ads in hopes of bolstering sign ups as the final weeks of open enrollment wind down.

Morning Headlines 12/8/15

1 in 4 Doctors Aren’t Coordinating Care Despite Obamacare Demands

A Commonwealth Fund study comparing care coordination across ten developed nations finds that only about 30 percent of family providers in the US are “always notified” when a patient is seen in the ED or discharged from the hospital. The report concludes that US physicians are “among the least prepared to manage conditions associated with aging outside of hospital or nursing home settings.”

Announcing the winners of the Top 50 in Digital Health

Rock Health announces the winners of its Top 50 in Digital Health, a summary of the most influential people and businesses working in the health IT startup space.

2015 Healthcare Information Technology Salary Report

A small HealthITJobs survey finds that the average healthcare IT professional earns $87,000 a year in the US, a drop from 2014’s $89,000 average. Respondents were largely dissatisfied with their earnings and more than 50 percent reported that they would change jobs within a year.

As Aging Population Grows, So Do Robotic Health Aides

The New York Times covers the role drones may one day play in supporting elder care.

Morning Headlines 12/7/15

Seattle-Based Group Health To Be Acquired By The Larger Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente will acquire Seattle-based insurer and provider Group Health Cooperative for $1.8 billion upfront, plus an additional $1 billion paid out over the next several years.

Fit as fiddles

The Economist reports on the US health insurance industry in the post-ACA marketplace, noting that all five major insurers have seen triple-digit stock price growth since the law was passed.

California Attorney General grants conditional approval for Daughters of Charity hospital deal

BlueMountain Capital Management, a New York City-based hedge fund, gets approval to invest in nonprofit Daughters of Charity Health System.

Indegene Further Strengthens Presence in U.S. Healthcare Analytics Market Acquiring SmartCare Population Health Analytics Platform

India-based Indegene Lifesystems acquires population health analytics platform SmartCare from Vantage Point. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Morning Headlines 12/4/15

Welltok Acquires Silverlink to Enable Multi-Channel, Targeted Engagement

Welltok raises a $45 million funding round and acquires Siverlink, a consumer engagement vendor.

UK Ministry of Defence selects CGI to provide integrated electronic health record information service

In England, the Ministry of Defence contracts with CGI to implement the EMIS EHR across its 400 medical facilities.

The Growing Gap in Electronic Medical Record Satisfaction Between Clinicians and Information Technology Professionals

The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery presents survey data highlighting the gap in EHR satisfaction scores between clinicians and hospital IT professionals.

Community Health Systems and American Well Collaborate on Telemedicine Initiative

Community Health Systems contracts with American Well to begin offering telehealth visits to residents served by its 198-hospital, 29-state area of operations.

Morning Headlines 12/3/15

National Health Spending Growth Accelerates In 2014

The CMS Office of the Actuary publishes new data showing that healthcare expenditures rose 5.3 percent in 2014, after five consecutive years of historically low growth. Health spending now accounts for 17.5 percent of national GDP.

UnitedHealth Says It Should Have Avoided Obamacare Longer

UnitedHealth CEO Stephen Hemsley says the company will lose about $500 million on public insurance exchanges between 2015 and 2016. He explains, “It was for us a bad decision. I take accountability for sitting out the exchange market in year one so we could in theory observe, learn and see how the market experience would develop. This was a prudent going-in position. In retrospect, we should have stayed out longer.”

Health Care Providers Need a Value Management Office

Harvard Business Review analyzes the role a “value management office” would play in health systems migrating to new value-based reimbursement models, citing MD Anderson Cancer Center (TX) and Hospital for Special Surgery (NY) as examples of organizations where such offices are working well.

E-mails reveal concerns about Theranos’s FDA compliance date back years

Internal emails from Theranos reveal that the DoD reported the company to the FDA in 2012 after evaluating the technology for use in theater. CEO Elizabeth Holmes called on Theranos board member and four-star Marine Corps General (ret.) James Mattis to intervene on the company’s behalf.