Morning Headlines 8/28/19

WebPT Announces Significant Investment from Warburg Pincus

Private equity firm Warburg Pincus acquires a majority interest in therapy EHR vendor WebPT from Battery Ventures.

JLL Partners And Water Street Acquire THREAD

A PE firm and a strategic investment firm acquire Thread, which offers virtual clinical trials tools such as electronic consent, telehealth, sensor integration, surveys, and patient authentication and engagement.

2019 Black Book Advisory Survey: Bluetree Network Earns Top Strategy, Implementation & Support Consultants Rating Among Epic Systems Users

Black Book names Bluetree Network #1 among 33 Epic consulting firms.

Morning Headlines 8/27/19

Visibly (formerly Opternative) recalls online vision test

Facing pressure from the American Optometric Association and the FDA, Visibly recalls its online vision screening test over lack of FDA marketing approval, and concerns with safety and efficacy.

HHS Proposes 42 CFR Part 2 Reforms to Increase Coordinated Care, Reduce Provider Burden, and Improve Substance Use Disorder Treatment

HHS publishes a proposed rule that will give providers greater access to the medical records of patients seeking treatment for addiction while ensuring privacy guardrails stay in place.

ACT Health opens tender for digital health record with full EMR and PAS capabilities

The Australian Capital Territory Health Directorate wants to replace its patient administration system with a new EHR that has helped other health systems achieve HIMSS Stage 7 EMRAM.

Morning Headlines 8/26/19

Health Catalyst Reports Second Quarter 2019 Results

Health Catalyst reports Q2 results: revenue up 60%, adjusted EBITDA –$5.7 million vs. –$8 million.

$16B veterans’ health project hits major snag

The VA’s $16 billion Cerner rollout at three medical centers will likely be delayed from March 2020 to until October 2020.

Privacy Incident at Massachusetts General Hospital’s Neurology Department

Massachusetts General Hospital notifies 10,000 people that their information, which was stored in the databases of two neurology research applications, was accessed by an unauthorized third party.

Morning Headlines 8/23/19

Crew Obtains New Docs on Mar-a-Lago Member’s VA Influence

Emails from VA officials obtained by a watchdog group provide greater insight into the influence President Trump’s “Mar-a-Lago crowd” had on the VA’s contract with Cerner.

Ontario Systems Announces Investment from New Mountain Capital

New Mountain Capital acquires revenue recovery software vendor Ontario Systems, which counts over 600 hospitals among its enterprise healthcare and government customers.

Apple Health Records Available for Allscripts Clients

Allscripts releases access to Apple Health Records to users of Sunrise, TouchWorks, and Professional EHRs.

Former military records technician accused of bilking millions of dollars from US soldiers and vets

The Justice Department arrests five people for stealing millions of dollars from soldiers and veterans by taking photos of their AHLTA EHR screens at an Army base in South Korea, then using that information to log in to DoD’s self-service system to steal bank account details.

Morning Headlines 8/22/19

HHS Awards $107 Million to Support Health Center Quality Improvement

HHS awards $107 million in Quality Improvement Awards to 1,273 health centers across the country that have, among other improvements, advanced the use of health IT.

Mobile EKG maker AliveCor has cut ties with Apple amid rising tensions over wearable EKGs

AliveCor takes its Apple Watch-compatible KardiaBand off the market to focus more on expanding the capabilities of its KardiaMobile EKG products.

Fitbit wins contract with Singapore to supply trackers to potentially hundreds of thousands of citizens

Fitbit edges out Apple in a contract win that will see the wearables company provide devices to Singaporeans who enroll in the country’s Live Healthy SG program.

VA scheduling tool enhancement ‘almost complete,’ just in time to be replaced

A report from the Department of Veterans Affairs Inspector General finds that enhancements to the VA’s scheduling software are four years overdue, over budget, and soon to be replaced by capabilities within the department’s new Cerner EHR.

Morning Headlines 8/21/19

Veterans Health Administration, AdventHealth, OCHIN, & InterCommunity CCO Pioneer New eHealth Exchange Health Information Network Infrastructure

EHealth Exchange announces go-live of a national, single-connection, InterSystems-powered gateway service whose charter members include the VA, AdventHealth, InterCommunity CCO, and OCHIN.

Health2047 Spins Out Zing Health to Improve Health Outcomes for Underserved Populations

AMA-backed Health2047 launches Zing Health to offer community-focused and analytics-driven Medicare Advantage plans that take into account social determinants of health.

Hospital website hijacked by ‘pirates’

The URL of Sonoma Valley Hospital (CA) is “maliciously acquired,” forcing the hospital to change its prized three-letter domain name of “svh.com” to “sonomavalleyhospital.org.”

New Tampa General Hospital center uses human and artificial intelligence to improve patient care

Tampa General Hospital (FL) joins the “Mission Control” club with the launch of CareComm, an 8,000 square-foot center the hospital will use to coordinate patient care using AI and predictive analytics.

Healthcare Embracing New Era of Compliance and Analytics

Healthcare analytics company Protenus raises $17 million in a Series C funding round led by LTP.

Morning Headlines 8/20/19

US healthcare BPO may be valued at $225 million: PE firms in race to acquire emids Technologies

Several investment firms, including Everstone Capital and ChrysCapital Advisors, are in talks to buy Nashville-based health IT vendor Emids Technologies for between $200 million and $225 million.

athenahealth Appoints Simon Mouyal as Chief Marketing Officer

Simon Mouyal (Medidata Solutions) joins Athenahealth as chief marketing officer.

Two Chairs raises $21M to continue to build out its mental health clinics

Mental healthcare company Two Chairs will use a $21 million Series B funding round to expand its clinic footprint in California, and improve and expand upon its patient/provider matching technology.

Morning Headlines 8/19/19

Starboard Value shrinks stake in Cerner

Activist investor Starboard Value, which scared Cerner into giving it board seats in a “cooperation agreement” in April 2019, has sold CERN shares as the price moves up.

Cape Cod Healthcare to build $180M patient tower on Hyannis Harbor

Cape Cod Healthcare will build a $180 million patient tower in Hyannis and will implement Epic.

The Patient Record Scorecard: What is it and Why we did it.

Consumer health data platform vendor Ciitizen rates hospitals on how well they respond to patient requests for copies of their own information.

Morning Headlines 8/16/19

Nurx Secures $52 Million to Expand Access to Sensitive Health Needs

Contraceptive and at-home STI testing telemedicine company Nurx raises $52 million in a Series C round led by Kleiner Perkins Digital Growth Fund and Union Square Ventures.

Accenture Federal Services Wins U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery Contract to Help Transform Healthcare Delivery for Sailors, Marines and their Families

Navy Medicine awards Accenture a $79 million contract for program and project management support for EHR optimization and health informatics, virtual health, and AI initiatives.

Computer blunder forces Queensland hospitals back to paper records

A handful of Queensland Health hospitals in Australia revert to paper for several hours after a routine overnight update to the state’s beleaguered IEMR system goes awry, making the medical records of male patients inaccessible.

Morning Headlines 8/15/19

Grays Harbor Community Hospital Provides Notice of Recent Ransomware Attack

Grays Harbor Community Hospital and Harbor Medical Group in Washington confirm that a ransomware attack caused their downtime in June.

The founder of a startup that charged $8,000 to fill your veins with young blood says he’s shuttering the company and starting a new one

Controversial blood transfusion startup Ambrosia shuts down for good after receiving an FDA warning that prompted it to close its operations in all but three states earlier this year.

Ancestry’s CEO signals a major healthcare play is on the horizon

Genealogy and consumer DNA testing company Ancestry is actively building out its health team as it prepares to move into precision medicine.

Morning Headlines 8/14/19

Mercy’s Tech Arm Launches a Nationwide Real-World Evidence Network to Pool Clinical Data for Advanced Analysis

Mercy Technology Services launches a real-world evidence database in which de-identified data from a consortium of health systems will be sold to drug and medical device manufacturers.

Microsoft welcomes new Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Rhew

David Rhew, MD (Samsung Electronics) joins Microsoft as chief medical officer/VP of healthcare.

Q-State Biosciences and 2bPrecise Announce Partnership

Allscripts backs a partnership that will combine the precision medicine data tools of 2bPrecise (in which Allscripts is the primary investor) with those of genetic sequencing vendor Q-State Biosciences.

Morning Headlines 8/13/19

Akira Health Acquired by Telus Health

Canadian health IT company Telus Health acquires Toronto-based Akira Health, which offers app-based and in-person care.

CHI Franciscan introduces new healthcare hub at its acute care hospitals

CHI Franciscan (WA) goes live with a new Mission Control Center that uses predictive analytics from GE Healthcare to streamline patient care at eight of its hospitals.

Internet Brands’ WebMD Acquires QxMD

WebMD acquires QxMD, a Canadian company that offers providers digital point-of-care educational resources and medical calculators.

These health-tech veterans want to avert the next Theranos disaster with ‘medical diligence’

Former 23andMe VP Ruby Gadelrab and former Color Genomics CMO Jill Hagenkord, MD launch MDisrupt to help investors thoroughly vet health IT companies looking for financing.

Morning Headlines 8/12/19

Mueller: Centra’s Billing a Top Priority

The president and CEO of Centra Health (VA) apologizes to the community for billing problems that followed its September 2018 rollout of Cerner, which it also blames for recent operating losses.

Nuance Communications (NUAN) Q3 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates

Nuance reports Q3 results, noting that although its healthcare revenue increased 2%, its HIM and EHR implementation businesses underperformed.

Gates Foundation snaps up top Apple Health researcher to run a new digital health group

Apple healthcare expert and radiation oncologist Andrew Trister, MD, PhD leaves the company after three years to join the Gates Foundation, where he will help US digital health entrepreneurs take their products to the developing world.

Morning Headlines 8/9/19

Allscripts Announces Second Quarter 2019 Results

Allscripts announces Q2 results that include a $145 million charge to settle all criminal and civil liability related to the Department of Justice’s Meaningful Use investigations into its Practice Fusion unit.

Experian acquires MyHealthDirect, strengthening leadership position in patient access and engagement

Experian Health acquires care coordination and appointment scheduling software vendor MyHealthDirect.

NHS to set up national artificial intelligence lab

In England, Prime Minister Boris Johnson allocates $303 million for the development of a National Artificial Intelligence Lab that will operate within the national health service’s digital innovation unit.

Castlight Health Announces New Customer Center of Excellence in Utah

Castlight Health will open a new Customer Center of Excellence in Salt Lake City next year, and hire up to 200 new staff by 2022.

Morning Headlines 8/8/19

Apple and Eli Lilly are studying whether data from iPhones and Apple Watches can detect signs of dementia

Apple, Eli Lilly, and data collection company Evidation Health are working together to determine if information from Apple’s devices can be used to detect early signs of dementia.

Women’s health startup Genneve lands $4M to grow telemedicine service for menopause

Menopause-focused telemedicine and wellness company Genneve raises $4 million in a seed round led by BlueRun Ventures.

IN BRIEF: Merck says U.S. probing ties to electronic health record vendors

Drug maker Merck has received a series of subpoenas related to a federal investigation into an unnamed EHR vendor – presumably Practice Fusion – acquired by Allscripts last year.

Amazon’s AWS will help health researchers diagnose patients and monitor disease

The Pittsburgh Health Data Alliance will use machine learning technology from AWS in its development of diagnostic and disease-monitoring technologies.

Morning Headlines 8/7/19

Cerner, Duke Clinical Research Institute Launch New Solution to Innovate Clinical Research

Cerner will work with Duke Clinical Research Institute to develop the Cerner Learning Health Network, which will aggregate de-identified patient data from both Cerner and non-Cerner EHRs to provide treatment insights to providers and drug and life science companies.

Optimum Healthcare IT Announces Expansion of Staffing Business with OptimumTech

Optimum Healthcare IT launches OptimumTech, a Nashville-based IT staffing division.

Truman Medical Center hit with ransomware, pays to get system access back

Truman Medical Center (MO) pays hackers a “small amount of money” to restore access to operational systems impacted by a ransomware attack early Tuesday morning.

Morning Headlines 8/6/19

DirectTrust Reports Explosive Growth in Number of Secure Transactions During Second Quarter

DirectTrust announces that more than 1 billion messages have been sent and received using Direct messaging since it began tracking transmissions in 2014.

EHNAC Announces Launch of Consulting and Advisory Services

The nonprofit Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission will offer consulting and advisory services to help healthcare stakeholders prepare for compliance certification, readiness assessments, audits, and accreditations.

Flagler Health+ and Optima Curis Partner to Build Virtual Health Village of the Future

Flagler Health (FL) will use technology from Optima Curis to develop a telemedicine platform that will include virtual care, provider messaging, appointment scheduling, social networking, and the ability to view and update health records.