Morning Headlines 3/7/24

Healthy Together Acquires Kinsa Health To Build AI Illness Forecasting & Expand Into New Markets

Health and human services software vendor Healthy Together acquires Kinsa Health, which offers AI-powered epidemiological prediction models using consumer smart thermometers as well as healthcare demand forecasting.

BrainCheck Secures $15 Million to Fuel Expansion and Adoption of its Next Generation Digital Cognitive Assessment and Care Planning Platform

Cognitive health technology company BrainCheck announces $15 million in new funding.

Carenet Health Acquiring Health Dialog, Enhancing Clinical Team and Advancing Insights-driven Platform Dedicated to the Business of Healthcare

Healthcare consumer engagement company Carenet Health acquires the majority of population health management business Health Dialog from Rite Aid, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last October.

Limbic nets $14M for AI mental health triage

Limbic AI, which offers mental health triage and support tools, raises $14 million in a Series A funding round.

Morning Headlines 3/6/24

‘Exit scam’ – hackers that hit UnitedHealth pull disappearing act

The BlackCat ransomware group appears to have shut down its infrastructure, leading some cybersecurity experts to predict that the hackers will begin operating under a new name.

HHS Statement Regarding the Cyberattack on Change Healthcare

HHS says that it has made clear that Change Healthcare owner UnitedHealth Group needs to do everything it can to ensure provider continuity of operations, and that it “is taking direct action” to support providers who are experiencing cash flow problems as a result of the downtime.

Whistleblower Accuses Aledade, Largest US Independent Primary Care Network, of Medicare Fraud

A whistleblower lawsuit accuses primary care practice network Aledade of rigging its coding software to overbill Medicare by inflating diagnoses to earn higher payments.

VA budget bill maintains EHR funding but imposes additional ‘reset’ oversight

Lawmakers propose a fiscal year 2024 budget package that includes $1.3 billion for the VA’s continued rollout of its Oracle Health EHR, with a contingency that 25% of that funding be tied to transparency with Congress about efforts to address ongoing performance issues.

Morning Headlines 3/5/24

Hackers Behind the Change Healthcare Ransomware Attack Just Received a $22 Million Payment

Cybersecurity analysts surmise from underground forum chatter and evidence of a Bitcoin deposit that Change Healthcare may have paid a $22 million ransom to the BlackCat ransomware group on March 1.

Direct Recruiters, Inc. and INNOVA People Merge to Launch Healthcare and Tech Staffing Divisions

Starfish Partners companies Direct Recruiters and Innova People will merge their healthcare and technology staffing divisions to create Innova Healthcare and Innova Tech staffing practices.

Cybersecurity Matter

Lurie Children’s Hospital (IL) announces that it has restored its Epic EHR and other key systems after a January 31 ransomware attack forced them offline.

Kaiser to Lay Off Dozens of Bay Area Employees

Kaiser Foundation Hospitals will lay off several dozen IT workers in California’s Bay Area.

Morning Headlines 3/4/24

Change Healthcare cyberattack outage could persist for weeks, UnitedHealth Group executive suggests

Change Healthcare executives hint that the company’s ransomware-crippled data exchange systems could remain down for weeks, as the financial and operational impact on provides ripples throughout the industry.

WebMD Health Corp. Acquires Healthwise, Incorporated’s Operating Assets, Building on Leadership in Member and Patient Engagement Solutions

WebMD acquires the assets of Healthwise, the non-profit provider of patient educational resources.

State is taking an ‘important step’ for planned EHR, as key lawmaker moves to speed it up

The State Department’s Bureau of Medical Services is, after a 10-year delay, finally working towards digitizing its paper-based medical record-keeping system.

Larry Ellison’s Cancer Software Startup Project Ronin Is Closing

Project Ronin – which offered oncologists and their patients a platform to plan, personalize, and manage their care journey – shuts down after running out of money due to sales challenges.

Morning Headlines 3/1/24

AHA Letter to HHS on Implications of Change Healthcare Cyberattack

The American Hospital Association asks HHS for help with the Change Healthcare attack, requesting better communication and transparency from Change, help with payments that will be delayed, pausing of citations related to wait times, enforcement discretion for the lack of ability to create good faith estimates, and added flexibility in e-prescribing regulations.

Trinity Capital Inc. Provides $25 Million Growth Capital to Moxe Health

Healthcare interoperability vendor Moxe Health receives $25 million in growth capital.

Salvo Health raises $5M to expand GI Provider Enablement for Wraparound Care

Virtual gastrointestinal clinic Salvo Health raises $5 million, bringing its total raised to $15.5 million.

The Sequoia Project and HL7 Enter Strategic Collaboration to Advance FHIR Implementations Nationwide

The Sequoia Project and HL7 will collaborate to accelerate the adoption of FHIR standards in the US.

Morning Headlines 2/29/24

Redi Health nabs $14M for patient medication support

Medication adherence and patient engagement app startup Redi Health raises $14 million in a Series B funding round.

Ransomware gang claims they stole 6TB of Change Healthcare data

The BlackCat ransomware group says it has stolen 6 terabytes of data from Change Healthcare’s network, including product source code.

CHI RPM Transforms as VitalCare Sync, Revolutionizing Remote Patient Monitoring with Decades of Clinical Expertise

Pennsylvania-based Cognitive Healthcare International RPM rebrands to VitalCare Sync.

Morning Headlines 2/28/24

Veradigm to Acquire ScienceIO

Veradigm will acquire healthcare AI company ScienceIO for $140 million.

Military health records system Genesis out of action ‘intermittently,’ agency says

Several Defense Health Agency hospitals in Japan and Alaska have reported intermittent MHS Genesis outages lasting for several hours on Tuesday.

Outages from cyberattack at UnitedHealth’s Change Healthcare extend to seventh day as pharmacies deploy workarounds

Change Healthcare parent company UnitedHealth Group says 90% of the nation’s pharmacies have set up electronic workarounds to handle prescription processing while they wait for Change’s systems to come back online.

Ransomware gang seeks $3.4 million after attacking children’s hospital

The Rhysida ransomware group attempts to sell data stolen from Lurie Children’s Hospital (IL) on the dark web for a total of $3.4 million.

Morning Headlines 2/27/24

B.well Connected Health Secures $40M to Power The Connected Health Ecosystem

B.well Connected Health raises $40 million in a Series C funding round, more than doubling the consumer-focused health data aggregator’s total raised since launching in 2015.

Reveleer Secures $65 Million in Financing to Drive Strategic Expansion and Enhance Product Offerings

Payer and provider data and analytics company Reveleer announces $65 million in new funding.

R1 RCM majority shareholders consider taking company private

R1 RCM shares jump on the news that majority shareholder New Mountain Capital has offered to acquire it in a deal valued at $5.8 billion.

Change Healthcare / Optum Network Connectivity and Additional Recommendations

The Health-Information Sharing and Analysis Center publishes a Threat Bulletin on the Change Healthcare cyberattack that includes details on its possible connection to recent ConnectWise ScreenConnect vulnerabilities and suggested mitigation steps.

Morning Headlines 2/26/24

Abridge scores $150M Series C as race to save doctor’s appointment heats up

AI clinical documentation company Abridge raises $150 million in a Series C funding round.

UnitedHealth subsidiary Change Healthcare down for a fourth day following cyberattack

Change Healthcare continues efforts to recover from a cyberattack that parent company UnitedHealth Group suspects is the brainchild of a “nation-state,” according to its Thursday filing with the SEC.

Tuned Secures $3.2M Seed Extension to Scale Hearing Health Benefits for Modern Workforce

Employer-focused digital hearing health company Tuned raises $3.2 million in an investment round led by Unum Group.

Morning Headlines 2/23/24

Dario and Twill Join Forces to Shape the Future of Digital Health

DarioHealth, which offers digital solutions for the management of chronic conditions, will acquire mental health and wellness app company Twill.

CPSI To Rebrand as TruBridge Inc.

CPSI will rebrand to TruBridge, the RCM, business management, consulting, and managed IT services subsidiary it created in 2017.

HHS’ Office for Civil Rights Settles Second Ever Ransomware Cyber-Attack

Greenridge Behavioral Health will pay $40,000 and implement a corrective action plan to settle HIPAA-related charges stemming from a 2019 ransomware attack on the practice that exposed the PHI of 14,000 patients.

Morning Headlines 2/22/24

Fabric announces $60M Series A led by General Catalyst

AI-powered healthcare enablement software vendor Fabric raises $60 million in a Series A funding round.

US health tech giant Change Healthcare hit by cyberattack

Change Healthcare works to recover from an unspecified cybersecurity issue that has compromised the ability of some pharmacies to fill prescriptions.

Elektra Health seeded $3M for virtual menopause care

Virtual menopause care company Elektra Health announces $3.3 million in extended seed funding, with UPMC Enterprises leading the round.

HealthSnap Closes $25 Million Series B Funding Amidst Continued Triple Digit Growth of Remote Patient Monitoring and Chronic Care Management Platform

HealthSnap, a remote patient monitoring and chronic care management company based in Miami, raises $25 million in a funding round led by Sands Capital.

Morning Headlines 2/21/24

UnityAI Secures $4 Million in Seed Funding to Revolutionize Hospital Flow

UnityAI, an AI-powered hospital bed management software startup, raises $4 million in seed funding.

US and UK Disrupt LockBit Ransomware Variant

The DoJ and international law enforcement partner agencies announce they have effectively taken down the LockBit ransomware group, which has targeted numerous healthcare organizations since surfacing in 2019.

9amHealth raises $9.5M extension for virtual metabolic care

9amHealth extends its $16 million Series A funding round with the addition of a $9.5 million investment from The Cigna Group Ventures.

Morning Headlines 2/20/24

To Avoid Bankruptcy, EMR Firm Settles Lawsuit for $4M

Connexin Software, parent company of pediatric health IT vendor Office Practicum, agrees to settle a series of class-action lawsuits related to a 2022 data breach for $4 million.

The doctor will see you now: Auburn’s Rural Health Initiative provides innovative health care access

Auburn University’s Rural Health Initiative will use a USDA telemedicine grant to install telemedicine carts at 14 locations across Alabama.

Omni Family Health experiences ‘attempted cybersecurity incident,’ says no data stolen

Omni Family Health (CA) works to bring its NextGen EHR and other internal systems back online after an attempted cyberattack forced it to downtime procedures last week.

Morning Headlines 2/19/24

Dina Raises $7 Million to Expand Digital Care-at-Home Platform and Network

Virtual and in-home care software vendor Dina raises $7 million in a Series A funding round led by Osage Venture Partners.

Independent pediatricians who can’t bill patients during Lurie Children’s outage can apply for loans

Lurie Children’s is offering community pediatric practices emergency loans to help see them through any billing gaps that might occur as a result of the cyberattack that has forced Lurie’s Epic system offline since January 31.

Twin Cities hospital data company hit with cyber attack

Consulting Radiologists says it thwarted a cyberattack last weekend that temporarily interrupted some imaging services at several hospitals.

Morning Headlines 2/16/24

250,000 VA Patients Are at Risk of Receiving Wrong Medication Due to Electronic Health Records Issue

The VA Office of the Inspector General reveals that patient medication histories are not transferring between the Oracle Health EHR used at five VA hospitals and the VistA system used at the VA’s other facilities, putting 250,000 veterans at risk of potential medication errors.

Revolutionizing the Emergency Department: MUSC Health’s new frontier in patient care

MUSC Health (SC) pilots a telehealth triage service at two of its emergency rooms in an effort to help patients get care more quickly, resulting in the rate of patients who leave without being seen dropping to almost zero.

Using AI to automate healthcare claims, RapidClaims launches with $3.1M

Automated medical coding and documentation software startup RapidClaims raises $3.1 million.

Morning Headlines 2/15/24

KKR paying $10.5B for Cotiviti stake

Veritas Capital sells a co-ownership stake in healthcare payments and analytics vendor Cotiviti to investment firm KKR for $10.5 billion.

Lurie Children’s Hospital restores parts of communications network knocked offline by ‘criminal threat’

Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago restores external email capabilities and most of its phone lines two weeks after a ransomware attack on its communication systems.

Anatomy Unveils AI-Powered Financial Automation for Healthcare Organizations

AI-powered financial automation software vendor Anatomy Financial launches with $7.6 million in funding.

Morning Headlines 2/14/24

OCH Evergreen Clinic transitions to telehealth hub; Employees say patients are in limbo

Ozarks Community Hospital (MO) abruptly transitions its Evergreen Clinic to a telehealth assistance hub.

Meridian Analytics Rebrands to Discern Health, Focused on Human-Centric Predictive Care

Predictive care analytics startup Meridian Analytics rebrands to Discern Health.

Revolutionary Nursing Practice TogetherTeam Virtual Connected Care comes to MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center

MercyOne rolls out its TogetherTeam Virtual Connected Care virtual nursing program at all five of its hospitals in Iowa.