Morning Headlines 11/18/15

Policy: Certified Technology Comparison Task Force

ONC holds its first Certified Technology Task Force meeting. The group will research and make recommendations on the development of an EHR comparison tool. It will present its findings on January 20.

Cerner raises concerns about Loftin’s new role

Cerner sends a letter to the University of Missouri expressing concerns over its transition plan for Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin in the wake of his announced resignation. Loftin was offered a position as the director of university research at the Tiger Institute for Health Innovation, an organization co-managed by Cerner and UofM.

Does Cambridge University Hospital’s Epic project indicate NHS lacks capacity?

In England, insiders working at Cambridge University Hospital describe the internal culture during an Epic implementation that ultimately led to the resignation of the Trust’s CEO and CFO, saying “There was a plan, there was a vision and it was going to happen. There was no sense or reason to the process, it was bloody-mindedness.”

App Orchard – Trademark Details

Epic secures a trademark for “app orchard,” the name it will use for its upcoming app store.

Morning Headlines 11/17/15

FDA Says More Regulation Needed on Lab Tests

The FDA will testify in favor of regulating laboratory developed tests at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee meeting on Tuesday. The agency put out a collection of case studies supporting the position ahead of its testimony.

Telemedicine is already working in Texas

Texas Medical Board president Michael Arambula, MD publishes a letter in the Statesman responding to recent criticism of its telemedicine policies. The board requires an in-person visit establishing a patient-provider relationship before remote visits are authorized. Though there are situational exceptions to the rule, the policy has the effect of restricting telehealth vendors, like Dallas-based Teladoc, from effectively operating in the state.

As Hawaii Health Systems Corp. founders, CIO/CFO Money Atwal mulls next move

Healthcare Finance profiles Money Atwal, former CIO/CFO of Hawaii Health Systems. Atwal oversaw the health system’s Meditech 6.0 implementation, earning HIMSS Stage 7 status and a 2015 Davies Award. As a CFO, he used technology to drive accounts receivable days down from 200 to 54.

Morning Headlines 11/16/15

OH Muhlenberg, LLC Identifies and Contains a Security Incident at Muhlenberg Hospital

Muhlenberg Community Hospital (KY) discovers keystroke loggers installed on several hospital computers after receiving a notice from the FBI warning of suspicious network activity. A forensics investigation conceded that the breach could have happened as early as January 2012.

Many Say High Deductibles Make Their Health Law Insurance All but Useless

The New York Times covers the rise of high-deductible insurance plans on ACA marketplaces, which in some states make up more than half of the available options. One customer explains their experience, “The deductible, $3,000 a year, makes it impossible to actually go to the doctor. We have insurance, but can’t afford to use it.”

HHS calls in all players for health IT strategic plan

In an interview with Federal Times, Karen DeSalvo, MD discusses the efforts that went into creating the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan and the influence that ongoing VA/DoD interoperability issues had on the final product.

HealthCare.gov sign-ups top 500K

Healthcare.gov enrolled 540,000 people into health plans during the first week of open enrollment, one-third of which were new customers. The results represent a modest increase over week one 2015 enrollment figures.

Morning Headlines 11/13/15

It’s Way Too Easy to Hack the Hospital

Bloomberg Business profiles white hat hacker Billy Rios, the analyst whose work exposing cybersecurity vulnerabilities in medical devices led to the recent FDA safety warning on Hospira infusion pumps. He says, “hospitals seemed at least a decade behind the standard security curve.”

Epic Systems forum addresses hot topic in medical records: interoperability

Cerner and Epic square off on interoperability at a Madison, WI health IT conference, with Cerner once again inviting Epic to join CommonWell, and Epic declining, saying it should not have to buy into an exchange network that wouldn’t be good for its customers or patient care.

NHS children monitored using McLaren Formula One technology

In England, patients at the Birmingham Children’s Hospital are being monitored with technology designed for racecar drivers from the McLaren Formula One team. The system monitors heart rate, respiration rate, and oxygen levels in real time and alerts the care team if the patient’s condition deteriorates.

Morning Headlines 11/12/15

The Path Forward for Meaningful Use

John Halamka, MD and CIO of BIDMC, publishes a blog outlining his assessment of the MU program. He explains, “Clinicians cannot get through a 12 minute visit, enter the necessary Stage 3 data elements, reconcile problems/allergies/medications from multiple institutions, meet the demands of the  Stage 3 clinical quality measures, make eye contact with patients, and deliver safe medical care. There needs to be a new approach.” 

For US Hospitals, A Mixed Report In Electronic Health Record Adoption

A study published in Health Affairs finds that by 2014, 75 percent of US hospitals had adopted a basic EHR, while 40 percent had implemented the functionality needed to meet MU2 criteria.

Boston Children’s looks to IBM’s Watson for rare-disease help

Boston Children’s Hospital will work with IBM’s Watson team to bolster the supercomputer’s nephrology database and enhance its logic to help spot rare kidney disorders..

Safeway, Theranos Split After $350 Million Deal Fizzles

The Wall Street Journal continues with its Theranos coverage, recounting a failed deal with Safeway that cost the grocery store merchant $350 million spent on in-store clinics designed to house Theranos analyzers that were never delivered.

Morning Headlines 11/11/15

Walgreens Announces New Digital Health Initiatives

Walgreens updates its app to provide users from 25 states integrated telehealth services. The company is also launching a program that will pay users 20 Walgreens Balance Points per day to sync their blood pressure or glucose monitor with the Walgreens app and log daily readings.

Physicians Use Nuance Cloud-Based Voice Recognition Solutions to Tell More than 100 Million Patient Stories Annually

Nuance reports that its cloud-based clinical voice recognition service sales are up 30 percent month-over-month since the start of the year.  Stock prices are up 20 percent over the same timeframe.

Proposed National Patient Matching Framework Dramatically Increases Health Exchange Partner Match Rates

The Sequoia Project and Care Connectivity Consortium publish a proposed framework for a national patient matching solution. They are now soliciting public feedback.

2016 Top 10 Health Technology Hazards

ECRI publishes its annual top 10 list of healthcare technology hazards, with improperly sterilized endoscope tubes topping the list. Missed alarms, poorly configured HIT workflows, and misuse of USB ports on medical devices also made the list.

Morning Headlines 11/10/15

GE Healthcare Acquires Leading Healthcare Advisory Firm, The Camden Group, to Enable Healthcare Organizations to Navigate Industry Transformation

General Electric acquires the Camden Group for an undisclosed sum. GE will integrate the Camden Group into its healthcare consulting business unit, GE Healthcare Partners.

Differences in the Prevalence of Obesity, Smoking and Alcohol in the United States Nationwide Inpatient Sample and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

Johns Hopkins researchers find that the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, the dataset used by CMS to calculate hospital reimbursement rates, has substantially lower rates of obesity, overweight, tobacco smoking, and alcohol abuse and is an inaccurate representation of the actual population.

Remote Telemonitoring in HF Patients Fails to Reduce Hospitalizations

Researchers from UCLA and Cedars Sinai Medical Center conclude that remote patient monitoring technology has no effect on 30-day readmission rates or six-month mortality rates for heart failure patients.

Google, American Heart Association Announce Joint Research Effort

Google’s Life Sciences unit announces a five-year, $50 million partnership with the American Heart Association that will focus on bringing new tools to heart disease research.

Morning Headlines 11/9/15

Quality Systems, Inc. Board of Directors Elects Jeffrey H. Margolis as Chairman of Board

Sheldon Razin, founder and board chairman at Quality Systems, Inc., retires after 41 years leading the company’s board of directors. He will be replaced by Jeffrey Margolis, a QSI board member, as well as the CEO of Welltok and founder of Trizetto.

Hartford Hospital, contractor to pay $90,000 in 2012 data theft

Hartford Hospital (CT) and its contractor, EMC, will pay the state a $90,000 settlement stemming from the 2012 theft of an EMC employees unencrypted laptop. The laptop, which was stolen from the EMC employees home,  containing PHI on 8,000 patients.

In 5 Minutes, He Lets the Blind See

The New York Times profiles Sanduk Ruit, MD, an ophthalmologist working in Nepal that has reduced the cost of a cataract replacement procedure to just $25 per patient. The American Journal of Ophthalmology published an RCT study confirming Ruit’s technique has exactly the same outcomes as modern Western techniques, both resulting in 98 percent success rates at a six-month follow-up.

Bellevue doctor sues patient who blasted him on Yelp

In Washington, a surgeon acting as his own lawyer sues a patient over a bad Yelp review, citing defamation of character and damage to his business and reputation.

Morning Headlines 11/6/15

Allscripts Announces Third Quarter 2015 Results

Allscripts reports Q3 results: revenue increased three percent to $355 million, adjusted EPS $0.13 vs. –$0.06.

Walgreens Healthcare Clinics to Implement Epic Electronic Health Record Platform

Walgreens will implement Epic across all of its health clinics, citing access to Epic’s Care Everywhere network as a key benefit. The rollout will begin in early 2016.

The November HIT Standards Committee

John Halamka, MD and CIO of BIDMC, recaps the November HIT Standards Committee meeting while advocating for an end to the Meaningful Use program and a consolidation of Stage 3 requirements within upcoming Merit-Based Incentive Programs.

Medivo Forms Agreement with Quest Diagnostics to Analyze Laboratory Data to Help Pharmaceutical Companies Match Caregivers with Therapies

Quest Diagnostics will begin selling de-identified lab results to Medivo, an analytics company that will use the information to help drug makers run targeted marketing campaigns aimed at individual providers.

Morning Headlines 11/5/15

Cerner Reports Third Quarter 2015 Results

Cerner stock closed down 6.75 percent today after missing revenue expectations in its Q3 financial results and projecting lower Q4 earnings than analysts had forecasted. Quarterly revenue rose 34 percent to $1.1 billion, adjusted EPS $0.54 vs. $0.42.

Prestigious medical journals rejected stunning study on deaths among middle-aged whites

Two Princeton economists, one a recent Nobel Laureate, have discovered that mortality rates for whites in the US between the ages of 45 and 54 rose dramatically from 1999 to 2013. The findings, which are unseen elsewhere in the developed world, were rejected for publication by both JAMA and NEJM, before being accepted by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Better Together: High Tech and High Touch

A new study conducted by Nielsen Strategic Health Perspectives surveyed 5,000 patients and 630 providers on consumer attitudes toward a wide variety of technologies used in healthcare, including EHRs in the exam room, telehealth services, and text-based appointment reminders.

Many patients ok linking social media to medical records

In a study published in BMJ Quality and Safety, researchers ask adult ED patients if they would be willing to link their social media accounts to their EHR for medical research purposes, to which 71 percent of the patients agreed.

Morning Headlines 11/4/15

$2.7 billion MedAssets sale shakes up healthcare group-purchasing market

Private equity firm Pamplona Capital Management acquires MedAssets for $2.7 billion, absorbing its revenue cycle management business and selling its group purchasing and consulting business to the VHA-UHC Alliance.

VA team blasts Phoenix personnel office

A task force sent by the VA’s headquarters to help reform the Phoenix VA medical center, which was at the center of the patient wait-time scandal last year, was sent back to Washington DC by the hospital’s director. The team reports that the Phoenix VA is being run by “a leadership team that displayed obstructionist attitudes, and clearly lacked integrity.”

Medical Information Technology, Inc. Form 10-Q

Meditech reports Q3 results: revenue down 3.5 percent to $119 million, EPS $0.37 vs. $0.50. Net income dropped 26 percent to $13.5 million.

Teladoc Announces Third Quarter 2015 Results

Telehealth vendor Teladoc announces Q3 results: revenue is up 83 percent to $20 million, EPS –$0.37 vs. –$2.68, meeting expectations on both. The company booked a quarterly net loss of $13.2 million. Share prices fell 10 percent in trading Tuesday.

Morning Headlines 11/3/15

Geisinger study: Access to doctors’ notes increases med adherence

Researchers working with the Open Notes project at Geisinger Health System report a small improvement in medication adherence among patients with access to their doctors notes. Lead investigator Eric Wright, PharmD and MPH, explains “Providing patients access to their doctors’ notes and reminding them to read them before visiting their doctor is key to reinforcing the doctors’ rationale for prescribing specific medications and dosage."

Combining Search, Social Media, and Traditional Data Sources to Improve Influenza Surveillance

Researchers from Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard University have combined data from Twitter, Google, Athenahealth, and Boston Children’s Hospital’s HealthMap project to create a machine learning algorithm capable of tracking national flu trends with a 90 percent accuracy compared to CDC reports of actual flu activity.

Medicare Program; Revisions to Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule

CMS released its final Physician Fee Schedule rule, which adds several new telehealth billing codes and limits CQM performance data from being published to the Physician Compare website until each metric is proven to be reliable and appropriately risk adjusted.

Morning Headlines 11/2/15

Francisco Partners to Sell Medication Management Company Aesynt to Omnicell

Omnicell acquires Aesynt, a company making medication robots and pharmacy automation systems, for $275 million.

CPSI Announces Third Quarter 2015 Results

CPS reports Q3 results: revenue is down 16 percent at $44.6 million, EPS $0.31 vs. $0.83. Stock prices fell 15 percent after the results were published.

Quality Systems, Inc. Announces Agreement to Acquire HealthFusion Holdings, Inc.

Quality Systems, which sold off its NextGen hospital EHR business last week, will acquire the cloud-based HealthFusion EHR for up to $190 million.

Healthcare IT Trends in England | 2015

Peer60 publishes a report on the UK EHR market, finding that Epic, Cerner, and Allscripts have replacement vendor mindshare among hospital executives, with Epic leading among the three. Epic’s only live customer in the UK is Cambridge University Hospital, where its $300 million implementation resulted in the resignation of the hospital’s CEO and CFO, and an investigation from the NHS Monitor.

Morning Headlines 10/30/15

Lawmaker Hits DoD Over Failure to Merge Defense, VA Records Systems

The Government Reform and Oversight Committee met alongside the House Veterans Affairs Committee to hear the testimony from DHMSM and GAO representatives on why the VA and DoD has failed to integrate its EHR systems, despite having spent billions in taxpayer dollars.

McKesson Raises Outlook, Unveils Buyback, Profit Rises 32%

McKesson repots Q2 results: revenue up 10 percent to $49 billion, adjusted EPS $3.31 vs. $2.79, beating analyst expectations on both.  McKesson also announces that its board has approved a $2 billion stock buy back plan.

ICD-10 Transition Moves Forward

CMS reports that the total claims submitted and total claims rejected since the ICD-10 transition are trending in line with historical ICD-9 averages.

Theranos, Facing Criticism, Says It Has Changed Board Structure

Theranos announces a restructuring of its board of directors, reducing it from 12 to just five members and establishing a supplementary board of counselors and another board that will give medical advice.

Morning Headlines 10/29/15

Senate passes cybersecurity information sharing bill despite privacy fears

The Senate passes the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, a bill designed to curb cyberattacks by providing US companies legal immunity for sharing protected information with the federal government. CHIME published a statement of support just after the bill cleared the Senate.

EHR User-Centered Design Evaluation Framework

AMA publishes findings from its EHR user-centered design study, with McKesson and Allscripts finishing at the top with perfect scores, and Epic falling behind both Cerner and Meditech’s legacy system. AMA evaluated 20 EHRs in the study, choosing a mix of inpatient, ambulatory, current, and legacy systems.

HealthTap wants to provide hospitals with their own ‘operating system’

HealthTap launches an all-in-one patient engagement platform designed to help health systems roll out telehealth, secure messaging, online appointment booking, appointment reminders, and a population health analytics system.

Morning Headlines 10/28/15

FDA Inspectors Call Theranos Blood Vial ‘Uncleared Medical Device’

The FDA releases the findings from its unannounced inspection of the Theranos laboratory, concluding that the proprietary blood draw container used by Theranos is an “uncleared medical device” that will require a full review.

Chinese hackers target Anthem for healthcare know-how

US investigators conclude that Chinese hackers targeted Anthem to learn how medical coverage is setup in the US, as the country struggles to deliver on a promise of providing universal healthcare to its aging population by 2020.

Walgreens, Rite Aid Unite to Create Drugstore Giant

Walgreens will reportedly acquire Rite Aid for $9.4 billion, offering $9 per share, a 48 percent premium to Rite Aids closing price Monday. The acquisition will also transfer Rite Aid’s $7.4 billion in debt to Walgreens. An announcement is expected as early as Wednesday.

Sunquest Announces Roper Technologies’ Acquisition of CliniSys and Atlas Medical

Roper Technologies, the parent company of Sunquest Information Systems, acquires CliniSys Group, a European laboratory information systems vendor, and Atlas Medical, which connects diagnostic testing facilities with patients.

Morning Headlines 10/27/15

Medication errors found in 1 out of 2 surgeries

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital analyze records from 277 operations and observed that 124 of the operations included at least one medication error, one-third of which resulted in harm to patients.

Two KC health care giants team up for ‘living lab’

Truman Medical Center (MO) expands its partnership with Cerner, a fellow Kansas City organization. Under the new partnership, Truman’s IT staff will become Cerner employees and TMC will provide Cerner with a nearby “living lab” to research new solutions.

UMass Memorial to relocate 500-person IT team to downtown Worcester

In preparation for its Epic implementation, UMass Memorial Health Care (MA) will relocate its 250 employee IT staff to a new 94,000 square foot office space in Worcester, MA that will provide enough room to expand the department to 500 people.