Morning Headlines 10/2/18

Advisory council stunned to learn about parallel health information exchange efforts

Tasked with overseeing Connecticut’s latest HIE effort, members of the Health IT Advisory Council express disbelief and frustration when they learn that a separate state-run agency has been developing its own HIE.

DAS Health Announces Record 3 Concurrent Acquisitions

EHR reseller DAS Health acquires M E Computer Systems, MECS Billing Services, and the Aprima business of consulting firm CriticalKey.

MediQuant Receives Significant Growth Investment from Silversmith Capital Partners

Health data archiving company MediQuant promotes Jim Jacobs to CEO, coinciding with an investment from Silversmith Capital Partners.

Audit Highlights Erlanger’s Continued Net Patient Revenue Growth Of 13%; New Ventures Carried Out Despite $124 Million Uncompensated Care Expense

Erlanger Health System (TN) reports positive year-end income despite predicted shortfalls related to the implementation of its $100 million Epic system last year.

Morning Headlines 10/1/18

Facing Crisis, Sloan Kettering Tells Exec to Hand Over Profits From Biotech

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center tells VP Gregory Raskin, MD to turn over $1.4 million worth of biotech company shares that he personally owns, and promises to revise its commercialization and investment policies so that it will retain any proceeds accruing from the involvement of its executives instead of enriching those execs.

Diagnosing the Orion Health buyout deal: Q&A

Orion Health shareholders approve the company’s plan to sell its only profitable division, which offers the Rhapsody integration engine, to a private equity firm that will run it as a private company.

Health care payments firm wants to merge with Athenahealth

Revenue cycle technology vendor NThrive (the former MedAssets and Precyse) is the previously unnamed strategic bidder that has offered to buy Athenahealth.

SingHealth COI hearing: Former IHiS CEO dismissed staff for ethical breach, didn’t probe alleged vulnerability

The former CEO of SingHealth’s IT services organization IHIS, testifying in hearings about its recent massive IT breach, says she immediately fired an employee who in 2014 discovered a security vulnerability in Allscripts Sunrise Clinical Manager and then emailed Epic to suggest using his information to increase market share.

Morning Headlines 9/28/18

Athenahealth fields multiple bids, but offers not much higher than current stock price, sources say

Shares of Athenahealth rise slightly after CNBC reports that two private equity firms and one strategic buyer have expressed interest in acquiring the company for close to $131 a share.

‘State of the VA is better,’ Wilkie says, but not ‘good’ or ‘excellent’

VA Secretary Robert Wilkie tells the Senate VA Committee that he and representatives at the DoD are working to create a “single point of authority” for their respective EHR projects with Cerner.

Dozens more jobs being cut at Adventist Health Bakersfield

Adventist Health Bakersfield (CA) will do away with 60 financial services jobs early next year as part of a billing and collections outsourcing deal with Cerner that has already impacted 175 employees over the last six months.

Wearables pioneer Jawbone is back with a new mission: Warning you about health problems you didn’t know you had

Jawbone founder and CEO Hosain Rahman says the company has pivoted from fitness trackers to a device-agnostic remote patient monitoring business that will act as a health check-engine light for monthly subscribers.

Morning Headlines 9/27/18

Maven Raises $27 Million in Series B Financing to Bridge the Gap Between Working Women and Families and Modern Health Benefits

Women’s virtual health company Maven raises $27 million in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital and Oak HC/FT.

Nordic CEO Bruce Cerullo announces long-term leadership succession plan

Nordic begins looking for a new CEO after Bruce Cerullo announces he will transition from the role to chairman of the board.

Healthcare IT Company Cerner Opening Office in Rosslyn

Cerner leases office space in Rosslyn, VA to house employees working on the company’s contract with the VA and DoD.

Morning Headlines 9/26/18

New Tool Can Help Patients and Family Caregivers Get, Use, and Share Health Records

Several provider organizations develop Health Record Request Wizard, an online tool that walks patients through submitting a request to providers for electronic copies of their medical records.

CenTrak Bolsters Security Solutions through Elpas Acquisition

CenTrak acquires the security solutions assets of Elpas Solutions, which include infant protection, wireless call, staff duress, man down, and wander management.

Google Assistant Investment Program Invests in Aiva Health, First Voice Platform for End-to-End Care

The Google Assistant Investment Program makes its first foray into healthcare with an investment in Aiva Health, which has developed virtual assistant-based patient engagement and care coordination software.

StartUp Health Raises $31M From Novartis, Ping An Group, Chiesi Group, GuideWell and Otsuka

Digital health investment collaborative StartUp Health closes a $31 million fund that it will use to invest in “healthcare moonshots.”

Morning Headlines 9/25/18

UMass Memorial Health Care Entities to Pay $230,000 to Resolve AG’s Lawsuit Over Data Breaches

UMass Memorial Medical Group and UMass Memorial Medical Center will pay $230,000 to settle a lawsuit related to employees improperly accessing patient medical records, and then using their data to open cell phone and credit card accounts.

Memorial Regional Health to request approval to sell dirt lot, wins $200K grant

Memorial Regional Health (CO) will move to Epic as part of a new affiliation with SCL Health St. Mary’s Regional Health System (CO).

Ochsner Health System, LSU Health Shreveport join forces to improve healthcare in north Louisiana

Ochsner Health System (LA) and LSU Health Shreveport will invest in EHR, digital health, and telemedicine enhancements as part of a new joint operations agreement.

Morning Headlines 9/24/18

.@sloan_kettering sent a note to staff today after my story with @katie_thomas @nytimes.

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center leadership defends itself to its employees following reports that it gave for-profit AI startup Paige.AI exclusive access to its 25 million pathology slides in return for an equity stake for itself and several MSKCC executives

Longmont-based software company helped hospitals keep track of patients during Florence evacuations

Emergency response software vendor Knowledge Center played a vital role in the evacuation of 313 patients from hospitals in the path of Hurricane Florence.

Biden Cancer Initiative Recognizes MITRE Partnership’s Core Cancer Model

MITRE partners with Intermountain Healthcare, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and ASCO’s CancerLinq subsidiary to develop a set of cancer data elements culled from EHRs that will help providers make better treatment decisions at the point of care.

Morning Headlines 9/21/18

Sloan Kettering’s Cozy Deal With Start-Up Ignites a New Uproar

Pathologists at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center object to a deal that gave several MSKCC higher-ups an equity stake in pathology clinical decision support startup Paige.AI after it gave the company exclusive access to its archive of patient tissue slides.

Town Hall Ventures, Investment Firm Focused on Improving Health of Underserved Populations, Brings Together Providers, Payors, and Leaders to Announce Close of First Fund At $115 Million

Andy Slavitt’s Town Hall Ventures closes a $115 million fund and makes unspecified investments in payer Bright Health, home health provider Landmark Health, and chronic kidney disease company Strive Health.

Unauthorized Disclosure of Patients’ Protected Health Information During ABC Television Filming Results in Multiple HIPAA Settlements Totaling $999,000

Boston Medical Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Massachusetts General Hospital collectively pay $999,000 to OCR to settle potential privacy violations related to the taping of TV show “Boston Med” without prior patient approval.

Gawande-led venture taps consulting giant to hone strategy for chronically ill

The Amazon/Berkshire Hathway/JPMorgan healthcare venture led by Atul Gawande, MD hires Deloitte’s Monitor Group to help bring to fruition a strategy for improving care for the chronically ill.

Morning Headlines 9/20/18

Hacking attempt troubles Lutheran

Lutheran Health Network (IN) brings IT systems back online after an attempted data breach forces Lutheran Hospital to divert patients to other facilities.

Mercy Health Funds Cloud Medical Image Management Company NucleusHealth™

Mercy Health becomes a minority investor in cloud-based medical image management vendor NucleusHealth.

Nest’s digital health ambitions revealed in records from secretive purchase of Seattle startup Senosis

Newly released documents confirm Nest’s hush-hush acquisition of Senosis Health, an app-based health monitoring startup out of the University of Washington, is likely part of a broader move into digital health.

Morning Headlines 9/19/18

Paul Singer balks at $160-per-share Athenahealth bid

Athenahealth shares drop sharply on the news that activist investor Elliott Management will pass on acquiring the company at its previously offered price of $160 per share.

Local health care technology startup Valify makes acquisition

Hospital purchased services technology vendor Valify acquires Lucro, which offers a hospital-vendor marketplace.

Kleiner Perkins is splitting up

Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins will spin off its digital health group – which includes some of its most prominent partners, who have invested in Uber and Stripe – into an independent group.

Morning Headlines 9/18/18

Apple has hired a top exec from a hospital chain to help run its employee health clinics

Apple hires M. Osman Akhtar away from Fairview Health Services in Minnesota to run its AC Wellness employee clinics.

Aramark Announces Agreement for Sale of Healthcare Technologies Business to TRIMEDX

To better focus on its food, facilities and uniforms segments, Aramark sells its Healthcare Technologies business to clinical engineering and asset management company TriMedx for $300 million.

Waystar to Acquire Connance, Expanding Powerful Revenue Cycle and Predictive Analytics Technology for Health Systems and Hospitals

Waystar acquires RCM software competitor Connance for an undisclosed sum.

Congress Doesn’t Know Who’s in Charge of VA’s $10 Billion Health Records Overhaul

Lawmakers are convinced that a lack of accountability among the various government agencies, offices, and committees created to oversee the VA’s transition to Cerner will lead to wasted taxpayer dollars and project delays.

Morning Headlines 9/17/18

GRAChIE Using eHealth Exchange to Mobilize Connection Points for Hurricane Florence Evacuees

Georgia’s GRAChIE HIE is working to connect Southeast providers via the EHealth Exchange to meet care needs that are being challenged by Hurricane Florence.

etHIN Establishes Connection to North Carolina HIE to Support Medical Records Exchange for Evacuees

HIEs in Tennessee and North Carolina take just 48 hours to connect their respective systems to allow Tennessee providers to pull up records for North Carolina evacuees who require medical care there.

Hurricane Florence and HIPAA Bulletin: Limited Waiver of HIPAA Sanctions and Penalties During a Declared Emergency

HHS reminds hospitals in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia that it is temporarily waiving several HIPAA Privacy Rule sanctions and penalties.

Morning Headlines 9/14/18

Introducing WellSky — A New Approach to Health and Community Care

MediWare Information Systems rebrands to WellSky in an effort to better unify 30 brands across multiple companies in the US and abroad.

Babylon Healthcare targets chronic disease in $100 million expansion

Babylon Health will spend $100 million to double its workforce, aiming to hire 500 additional staff within the next nine months.

Alameda Health System Names Mark Amey as Chief Information Officer

Mark Amey (UC San Diego Health) joins Alameda Health System as CIO ahead of its $200 million Epic implementation.

Morning Headlines 9/13/18

With OneOncology, Flatiron and Cancer Docs Aim to Boost Community Care

General Atlantic invests $200 million in new cancer care company OneOncology, which aims to bring the latest in oncology care to patients in community settings using technology from Flatiron Health.

Cigna Announces Cigna Ventures with $250 Million to Fund Transformative Innovation and Growth for Health Care

Cigna invests $250 million in a new corporate venture fund that will target companies working in the areas of care delivery and management, digital health and retail, and insights and analytics.

Apple Watch Series 4 can detect falls, take ECGs, and lead you through breathing exercises

Apple introduces the fourth iteration of the Apple Watch, featuring fall detection and heart monitoring features that include the ability to record ECGs.

Morning Headlines 9/12/18

FDA Designates AliveCor’s Bloodless Hyperkalemia Test a “Breakthrough Device.”

The FDA grants “breakthrough device” status to heart health technology company AliveCor for an algorithm it has developed that can detect high blood potassium levels through EKG analysis.

Former VA leader David Shulkin joins Sanford Health

Former VA Secretary David Shulkin, MD joins Sanford Health (SD) as chief innovation officer.

Nellis first base to use Tele-ICU

The Mike O’Callaghan Military Medical Center on Nevada’s Nellis Air Force Base becomes the first base to connect with the VA’s Tele-ICU center in Minneapolis.

Morning Headlines 9/11/18

Cerner President Zane Burke to Step Down

Cerner EVP of Worldwide Client Relationships John Peterzalek will assume the responsibilities of President Zane Burke when he steps down November 2.

Clarify Health Solutions Raises $57 Million in Series B Financing Round Led by KKR

Clarify Health Solutions raises $57 million to further develop and scale its analytics-based Care Journey software.

FDA awards $225M IT contract to track drug performance

The FDA awards Acumen, Dovel Technologies, and IQVIA Government Solutions $75 million apiece to develop data, tools, and infrastructure for its Biologics Effectiveness and Safety Initiative, which will ultimately include a network that can analyze large health data sets from sources like EHRs and claims.

Morning Headlines 9/10/18

Notable Health Closes $13.5 Million Series A Financing to Expand Artificial Intelligence Powered Physician-Patient Interaction Platform

Notable Health raises $13.5 million to further develop its physician-patient interaction software delivered via Apple Watch.

Medical Records Co. Reaches $4.9M Deal To Resolve OT Suit

Optimum Healthcare IT settles a class-action lawsuit related to unpaid overtime filed last year by two employees for $4.9 million.

Top cancer researcher didn’t list corporate ties when he published studies

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (NY) CMO José Baselga, MD comes under fire after media outlets report he failed to disclose his financial ties to research journals in which he was published.