Morning Headlines 2/7/14

athenahealth, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2013 Results

athenahealth reports Q4 and full year 2013 results: $595 million total annual revenue, representing a 41 percent increase year-over-year. A Q4 adjusted EPS of $0.57 vs. $0.29 beat analysts estimates and drove shares up 19 percent in after hours trading.

Former TX hospital CFO charged with health care fraud in Tyler court

The former CFO of Shelby Regional Medical Center (TX) has been indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with health care fraud violations for falsely attesting to Stage 1 Meaningful Use.

Army, Air Force Tap Goodwill Industries to Scan and Send Records to VA

The Army and Air Force have contracted with Goodwill Industries to begin scanning and transmitting copies of departing service members’ medical records to the VA.

Gov sees fix for failed Mass. health care website

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick apologizes to residents over the states problematic health insurance exchange website. Development of the site was managed by CGI Group, the same company that was responsible for Healthcare.gov.

Morning Headlines 2/6/14

New MGMA research: industry coordination lagging; less than 10 percent of physician practices ready for ICD-10

According to a new study from MGMA, less than 10 percent of physician practices have made significant progress on their transition to ICD-10.

EHR incentive payments soar beyond $19 billion

$19 billion in EHR incentive payments have been distributed thus far, with 88 percent of all eligible hospitals and 78 percent of eligible providers having received a share.

Innovative Collaboration to Address Shared Challenges in Health Care

Kaiser Permanente and the VA have announced that they will pool resources and develop best practices for key emerging fields such as genomics, population health, and telehealth.

A.G. Schneiderman Applauds Success Of New York’s Innovative Program To Prevent Prescription Drug Abuse

A law in New York that requires pharmacists to update on online database anytime a narcotic prescription is filled, and then requires physicians to check the database prior to issuing new prescriptions to patients, is being credited with reducing "doctor shopping" by 75 percent. The same law mandates state-wide e-prescribing by March 2015.

Morning Headlines 2/5/14

Castlight Health Files $2 Billion IPO

Castlight Health, a health benefits management vendor working to increase cost transparency with web-based consumer tools, has filed IPO registration paperwork with the SEC for a stock offering expected to reach a $2 billion valuation. Castlight was founded by athenahealth co-founder and current US CTO Todd Park.

Imprivata Confidentially Submits Registration Statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for Initial Public Offering of Its Common Stock

Imprivata, a KLAS leading for Single Sign-on solutions vendor, confidentially files IPO registration papers. A press release from the company reports that they will execute the stock offering once the SEC has finished its review.

2013 Healthcare Provider Innovation Survey

A recent HIMSS survey measuring the state of innovation within provider organizations finds that cost reduction is the focal point of innovation initiatives for most respondents. With EHR optimization in full swing, providers are now reportedly making progress implementing systems for population health management, patient follow-up, predictive analytics, clinical decision support, and care coordination.

Cerner Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2013 Results

Cerner announces Q4 and 2013 year end results: Full year bookings were $3.77 billion, up 20 percent from 2012. Adjusted Q4 EPS $0.39 vs $034, meeting analyst expectations.

Morning Headlines 2/4/14

HHS strengthens patients’ right to access lab test reports

HHS announces changes to both HIPAA and the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 that will result in patients being able to access their laboratory results directly from the lab, rather than from the doctor that ordered the tests.

Can Healthcare IT (HIT) Deliver Value? (Part II)

David Levin, CMIO of Cleveland Clinic, discusses the ROI of health IT projects and concludes that health IT project planning tends to focus on building ideal workflows rather than realizing cost reductions or outcomes improvements. He says “if you don’t know where you expect to achieve value and you don’t have a specific plan to get there, you probably won’t.”

Health information for more than 40,000 Unity members missing

Researchers at University of Wisconsin lose an unencrypted hard drive containing the personal information of 40,000 Unity health insurance customers. The researchers had the hard drive because they were working with Unity on a benefits analysis project.

Exploring the Value of Health IT on HIMSS14 Exhibition Floor

HIMSS releases new details on the HIMSS14 Exhibit hall. New exhibits include: a startup showcase hall for first-time HIMSS exhibitors, an Intelligent Medical Home model demonstrating home monitoring solutions and real-time data exchange between the medical home and a mock hospital unit, and a revamped interoperability demonstration.

Morning Headlines 2/3/14

Castlight Health files secretly for IPO

Castlight Health, a web-based healthcare benefits management platform, files for an initial public offering. The company was founded by Todd Park, former US CTO and Athenahealth co-founder, in 2008 and is rumored to be seeking a $2 billion valuation.

Athenahealth accepts incentives deal, picks Austin for expansion

Athenahealth finalizes plans to open offices in Austin, TX after agreeing to a 10-year $670,000 incentives package offered by the City of Austin and a $5 million in incentive package from the State of Texas.

iWatch + iOS 8: Apple sets out to redefine mobile health, fitness tracking

Apple will introduce a new core health and fitness app in its next iOS release. The app will reportedly track activity, calories burned, vitals, hydration levels, and blood glucose levels. While current iPhone’s do not have the hardware necessary to capture some of the metrics reported, like blood glucose, there have been persistent rumors suggesting that the iWatch may introduce this hardware.

Morning Headlines 1/31/14

DoD Healthcare Management Systems Modernization (DHMSM): Draft Request for Proposal

The DoD publishes an open solicitation for a new EHR that will replace all of its existing legacy systems. The usability testing scenario’s outlined within the proposal describe a medic calling up evidence-based guidelines and documenting care while providing emergency treatment to a wounded marine in the field. Subsequent scenarios describe field surgeons using the system to coordinate care delivery once the Marine arrives back at the forward operating base, then medications being administered by nurses during an air medevac to a larger hospital in the US, and finally the transfer of care from the DoD to a VA rehabilitation facility. The last scenario requires vendors demonstrate the exchange of medication lists and narrative care summaries between DoD/VA facilities.

Thousands of providers rank healthcare software and services in annual Best in KLAS report

athenaHealth dethrones Epic from the top spot on the Best in KLAS 2013: Software and Service report. Epic had held the number one position for the past eight years.

eHealth Exchange Survey Reveals Dramatic Increases in Participation and Online Transactions

The eHealth Exchange, a non-profit, public-private HIE collaborative, reports that its membership has grown to include 800 hospitals, 6,000 mid-to-large medical groups, 800 dialysis centers, and 850 retail pharmacies.

Hospital’s new IT system ‘has increased waiting times and led to lost patient data’

In England, staff at Croydon University Hospital are blaming their recent Cerner go-live for increased waiting times and lost patient information. The university’s director of quality maintains that the implementation of Cerner went well in technical terms, but members of the board were not convinced and are insisting that "patient care has definitely suffered."

Morning Headlines 1/30/14

CCHIT Announces New Strategic Direction With Global Focus

CCHIT announces that it will exit the EHR certification business. The company will pivot to a consulting model that will offer services to both hospitals and HIT vendors.

Former Allscripts CPA charged with insider trading

Steven Dombrowski, former Allscripts director of corporate audits, has been indicted on 16 insider trading charges. Federal prosecutors allege that in Q1 2012, Dombrowski opened a trading account in his wife’s name, and then made $286,000 short selling Allscript stock.

Proposed Law Would Give US Chief Technology Officer Oversight Of Major IT Projects

Representatives Anna Eshoo and Gerry Connolly introduce a bill that will require the federal CTO to review all major IT project undertaken by the federal government. The CTO’s office will have the authority to manage, or co-manage, the project on behalf of the initiating agency. The bill was drafted in response to charges that CMS lacked the technical expertise to properly manage the Healthcare.gov project itself.

U-M Kellogg Eye Center performs first two retinal prosthesis implants in U.S. since FDA approval

Surgeons at the University of Michigan implant the first FDA-approved prosthetic retina which is expected to restore enough vision for the otherwise blind recipients to be able to see objects, light, and people standing before them.

Morning Headlines 1/29/14

Vista Evolution Workgroup Coordinators Sources Sought Notice

The VA is soliciting a vendor to lead the VistA Evolution Workgroup, an initiative that will update the VistA EHR platform and incorporate interoperability standards defined by the joint DoD/VA Interagency Program Office, which oversees all work done on the long awaited iEHR program. With proposals due by February 6, interested vendors have been given just nine days to prepare and submit their proposals.

Analytics Startup Health Catalyst Nets $41 Million

Data warehousing and visualization startup Health Catalyst raises a $41 million Series C investment round which the company will use the funds to develop 200 new analytics tools designed to help customers zero in on inefficiencies and evaluate care variances.

Hearst Corporation Announces Formation of Hearst Health

Hearst Corporation, parent company of First Databank, Zynx Health, MCG, Homecare Homebase, and Map of Medicine, announces a new brand called Hearst Health that will encompass all of its health IT businesses. Hearst will also launch a new innovation lab and a venture capital portfolio as part of the business unit.

TigerText Caps Record Year with $21 Million Series B Investment to Accelerate Market Penetration

TigerText raises a $21 million Series B for its healthcare focused secure messaging platform that delivers HIPAA compliant text messages which automatically delete after a pre-defined period of time.

Morning Headlines 1/28/14

Where Are We on the Diffusion Curve? Trends and Drivers of Primary Care Physicians’ Use of Health Information Technology

EHR adoption in the practice environment hit 69 percent in 2012, but a large divide still exists between solo practices, which have only reached 50 percent adoption, vs. large practices of 20 or more physicians, which have reached a 90 percent EHR adoption rate.

ACOs struggle with data sharing

The National Association of Accountable Care Organizations publishes the results of a survey that solicits the opinions of 35 ACOs. Respondents report that the average cost to transition to an ACO model was $2 million. The ACO organizations rated their IT satisfaction at 6.4 on a 10 point scale, with an “overwhelming number" of participants reporting that learning to access and process CMS data was a significant hurdle. Predicted gains from the transition range from a $9 million increase to losses of $10 million.

Epic launches at Yale Health

Yale Health (CT), a three-hospital health system, goes live on Epic, replacing Allscripts.

Morning Headlines 1/27/14

Athenahealth Seaholm deal faces tough questions at City Council

Several Austin (TX) City Council members are questioning the decision to offer athenahealth incentives to open a new office in its busy downtown business district. The council members hold the opinion that the city is capable of attracting new jobs and filling office space in the business district without offering perks.

Dynamic modeling of patient and physician eye gaze to understand the effects of electronic health records on doctor–patient communication and attention

The International Journal of Medical Informatics publishes a study that correlates EHR use with a drop in doctor-patient eye contact when compared to practices that use paper charts.

UK ministers cap government IT contracts at £100m

In England, new rules published Friday limit government IT contracts to $165 million unless there is an "exceptional reason", eliminates automatic contract renewals, caps hosting contracts at two-years, and requires that software be implemented by a company other than the software or hardware vendor.

BIDMC Aims To Engage Patients and Families in Effort to Eliminate Preventable Harm in Intensive Care Units

Researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center receive a $5.3 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation of California to develop an IT system that will help monitor for, and reduce, preventable harm in ICU patients.

Morning Headlines 1/24/14

Quality Systems, Inc. Reports Fiscal 2014 Third Quarter Results

Quality Systems Inc., parent company of NextGen, release their Q3 results: total revenue decreased five percent compared to the same period last year. Adjusted EPS was $0.11 vs $0.26, a 62 percent decline. Still, shares rose eight percent on the results by the end of trading.

Best-of-breed oncology vendors hold their own

KLAS finds that McKesson is leading the medical oncology market, while Cerner and Epic continue to improve. Best of breed vendors are still leading the radiation oncology market.

US and UK working to strengthen use of health IT for better patient care

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.K. Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt sign a bi-lateral agreement between the nations committing to: share medical data, share and co-develop quality indicators, promote the adoption of EHRs, and foster innovation in health IT.

Healthcare Information Technology and Healthcare Information Services: 2013 Year-End Review

Healthcare Growth Partners publishes its annual review of the healthcare IT market, and its current and predicted future financial drivers.

Morning Headlines 1/23/14

Results of Health IT Research Review Positive Overall, but Some Topics Need More Focus

An ONC EHR literature review finds that the number of EHR-related studies is increasing about 25 percent each year, most of them focused on clinical decision support and CPOE. Other important EHR functions, such as e-prescribing and interoperability, were the subject of fewer studies.

VMware to buy mobile security firm AirWatch for $1.54 billion

VMware announces plans to acquire mobile security company AirWatch for $1.54 billion, allowing VMware to offer PC-level security solutions for smartphones and tablets used by employees.

Government health data sharing may break EU law

In England, a plan to collect health information on all citizens, store it in a centralized database, and share it with care providers across the nation may hit a roadblock as the European Union drafts a data protection law that requires citizens to opt in for data sharing.

Morning Headlines 1/22/14

GE to Acquire API Healthcare

GE announces that it will acquire workforce management software vendor API Healthcare for an undisclosed sum. API Healthcare’s administrative solutions are used by more than 1,600 hospitals and staffing agencies in the U.S. The company’s time and attendance solution has been rated by Best in KLAS for the last 10 years.

Three EMRs lead the pack in the midsize-practice space

Epic continues to lead performance scores in the midsize physician practice market, with athenahealth and Greenway rounding out the top three.

Use and Characteristics of Electronic Health Record Systems Among Office-based Physician Practices: United States, 2001–2013

In 2013, 78 percent of office-based physicians used some form of EHR, but only 13 percent reported using systems that comply with Stage 2 Meaningful Use. In total, only 69 percent of respondents report that they intend to participate in MU.

‘Defect’ on VA benefits site shares vets’ personal details online

The VA’s online eBenefits program is suspected of exposing thousands of veterans personal information after an upgrade-related defect causes other veteran’s data to be erroneously presented to users when they logged into the system. Exposed data reportedly including past and current medical conditions, bank routing numbers, and social security numbers. The VA has shut the eBenefits system down pending an investigation, and will provide credit monitoring for affected users.

Morning Headlines 1/21/13

EDs with HIE more likely to avoid repeat imaging

One of the first large-scale studies on the links between HIE participation and imaging in hospital emergency departments finds that redundant CT scans, x-rays, and ultrasounds decreased significantly, with savings in the millions of dollars, at hospitals connected to an HIE.

How Data Analytics Helped Spark a $36.5M Turnaround at Boston Medical Center

Boston Medical Center President and CEO Kathleen Walsh attributes a data analytics project to the hospital’s financial turnaround in which it went from a $32 million loss to a $4 million surplus in two years.

Survey says: EHR incentive program is on track

National Coordinator Karen DeSalvo, MD outlines the progress made thus far under the EHR incentive program.

St. John embraces digital records

A local paper covers St. Johns Medical Center’s (WA) Epic go-live. St John’s is Part of PeaceHealth’s system-wide Epic install.

Morning Headlines 1/20/14

GE Healthcare revenue flat, earnings up 4%

GE Healthcare reports Q4 earnings, revenue declined one percent to $5.12 billion, but profits were up four percent.

Netherlands hospital staff visits St. Rita’s Medical Center

Epic appears to be expanding its presence in Europe as nine members of St Jansdal Hospital, located 40 miles from Amsterdam in the Netherlands, go on a site visit to St. Rita’s Medical Center in Lima, OH.

Girish Navani, on Why Titles Don’t Matter

Girish Navanti, CEO of eClinicalWorks, is interviewed by the New York Times on his leadership style. Navanti hires directly from college, and does not believe in firing people. He enjoys an 80 percent approval rating on employee review website Glassdoor.com, higher than the CEO’s of Greenway, Allscripts, or Epic.

Royal Berkshire Hospital booking system ‘still flawed’

In England, the new CEO of Royal Berkshire Hospital addresses employee concerns over the hospital’s $47 million Cerner Millennium system which went live in 2012.

Morning Headlines 1/17/14

Streamline Health Signs Definitive Agreement To Acquire Unibased Systems Architecture, Inc.

Streamline Health Solutions, which offers a variety of health information management and revenue cycle solutions, will acquire the St. Louis-based Unibased Systems Architecture, vendor of the ForSite2020 enterprise scheduling and surgery systems. Terms were not disclosed.

ONC Releases SAFER Guides

ONC releases the Safety Assurance Factors for EHR Resilience (SAFER) Guides, which include checklists and recommended practices to help providers assess and optimize the safety and safe use of EHRs.

Doctors sue NC over Medicaid billing system

Several North Carolina doctors sue the state and its software vendors and consultants for Medicaid payment delays caused by its $484 million NC Tracks system that was rolled out on July 1. The doctors, who have stopped accepting new Medicaid patients, said in the lawsuit, “The proof of CSC’s wrongdoing was the disastrous state of the software upon go-live.” The system has been criticized by the state auditor, but the Department of Health and Human Services says it outperforms its 35-year-old predecessor and issues are being addressed.

U.S. Hospitals Show EMR Growth Opportunities for Patient Portals, Clinical Data Warehousing and Radiology Barcoding Applications

A HIMSS Analytics report shows that among applications that support its EMR Adoption Model, those with the most five-year promise due to first-time purchases are patient portals, clinical data warehouses, and radiology barcoding applications. It also predicts high replacement sales of laboratory barcoding systems, pharmacy management systems, and radiology and laboratory department solutions.

Morning Headlines 1/16/14

Surgical Information Systems Acquires Healthcare Software Leader AmkaiSolutions

Surgical Information Systems, a perioperative specialty EHR vendor, acquires AmkaiSolutions, an ambulatory EHR vendor that provides software for ambulatory surgery centers. The partnership extends SIS’s reach into the ambulatory space within its niche EHR market segment.

Allscripts rises after giving 2014-16 outlook

Allscripts reports that it expects five to eight percent annual growth per year through 2016, while analysts were expecting the company to report a flat five percent growth rate. The aggressive forecast drove Allscripts’ share prices up seven percent by the end of the trading day Wednesday.

HHS makes progress on Health IT Safety Plan with release of the SAFER Guides

The ONC releases a set of guides and tools to help healthcare providers and organizations assess and optimize EHRs for improved safety. The guides represent a part of the Health IT Patient Safety Action and Surveillance Plan, which was published in July of 2013 to address EHR safety concerns.