Morning Headlines 1/19/22

ONC Completes Critical 21st Century Cures Act Requirement, Publishes the Trusted Exchange Framework and the Common Agreement for Health Information Networks

ONC and The Sequoia Project publish the Trusted Exchange Framework and the Common Agreement (TEFCA) that will allow entities to apply for designation as Qualified Health Information Networks.

CliniSys acquires HORIZON Lab Systems and combines with Sunquest Information Systems to create one of the world’s largest organizations dedicated to diagnostics and laboratory informatics

England-based ordering communications and laboratory information management systems vendor CliniSys — which was purchased by Sunquest owner Roper Technologies in 2015 — acquires Raleigh, NC-based Horizon Lab Systems.

WebPT acquires Clinicient

Physical therapy software vendor WebPT acquires competitor Clinicient and its Keet digital MSK care subsidiary for an undisclosed sum.

Morning Headlines 1/18/22

ContinuumCloud Acquires CaredFor to Expand Solution Offering

ContinuumCloud, a cloud-based health IT developer focused on behavioral health and human services organizations, has acquired patient engagement app vendor CaredFor.

Rosen, Respected Investor Counsel, Encourages Talkspace, Inc. Investors to Secure Counsel Before Important March 8 Deadline in Securities Class Action

A class-action lawsuit filed in early January alleges digital mental health company Talkspace misled investors just before its merger with an SPAC that ultimately provided it with $250 million in capital.

Health Tech Startup Closes Seed Round

Radiology-focused analytics company Xillum raises $1.1 million in seed funding.

Morning Headlines 1/17/22

Digital Health Leader Verana Health Secures $150M Series E Funding Round

Verana Health, which sells real-world evidence data to life sciences companies, raises $150 million in a Series E funding round, increasing its total to $289 million.

MPulse Mobile Acquires HealthCrowd and Receives Growth Investment from PSG

Healthcare conversational AI vendor MPulse Mobile acquires healthcare communications vendor HealthCrowd and secures funding from PSG.

VA pushes back second EHR deployment, citing delays in training from COVID-19

The VA pushes back its second Cerner go-live from March 5 to April 30 at its Columbus, OH facility, which it says has experienced training delays because 200 of its 1,700 employees are absent.

Morning Headlines 1/14/22

Avaneer Health Announces $50 Million in Seed Funding from Healthcare Industry Leaders

Data exchange platform vendor Avaneer Health raises $50 million in seed funding.

Medically Home raises $110M to care for patients at home

Medically Home, which provides hospital-at-home support services and technology to health systems, raises $110 million.

DexCare Closes $50M Series B Funding Led by Transformation Capital to Advance Its Digital Care Operating System

Health system patient acquisition and capacity management software vendor DexCare, which was spun off by Providence, raises $50 million in a Series B funding round.

HeyRenee Raises Another $4.4M in Oversubscribed Seed II Funding Round Led by Quiet Capital; New Capital Accelerates Mission to Enable Effective Whole Person Healthcare

Heal co-founders Renee Dua, MD and Nick Desai raise $4.4 million for HeyRenee, their new, app-based care coordination and concierge service aimed at seniors.

Morning Headlines 1/13/22

DeepScribe Raises $30M To Become First Widely Accepted Application of Voice + AI in Healthcare

DeepScribe, an automated medical transcription startup based in San Francisco, raises $30 million.

Caregility Secures $25 Million in Additional Funding

Virtual care company Caregility will use a new $25 million investment from Star Mountain to scale its team and develop a new inpatient offering.

GTCR nears $1.3 billion deal for electronic health records company Experity

Private equity firm GTCR is reportedly close to acquiring urgent care health IT vendor Experity in a deal that could value the company at up to $1.3 billion.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Partners with Google Cloud to Improve Veteran Access to Benefits and Services

The VA will leverage Google’s Apigee API management platform as part of a $13 million contract to help its developers create new digital health tools and services for veterans.

Morning Headlines 1/12/22

PerfectServe Acquires AnesthesiaGo, a First-of-Its-Kind Solution for Auto-Generating Daily Case Assignments for Anesthesia Staff

Clinical communications, collaboration, and scheduling technology company PerfectServe acquires AnesthesiaGo, a developer of automated daily case assignment software for anesthesia staff.

Transcarent Raises $200 Million in Series C Funding Highlighting Growing Demand for a Different Health and Care Experience Aligned with the Needs of Self-Insured Employers

Transcarent, the employer health insurance cost management software company led by Glen Tullman, raises $200 million in a Series C funding round that values the company at a reported $1.6 billion.

Vista Equity invests $300 mln in telehealth software firm TigerConnect

Healthcare collaboration software vendor TigerConnect secures $300 million in funding from Vista Equity Partners, bringing its total raised to $400 million.

Aledade Acquires Advance Care Planning Company Iris Healthcare as Part of New Health Services Arm

Primary care enablement company Aledade acquires Iris Healthcare, which offers advance care planning solutions.

Morning Headlines 1/11/22

R1 RCM to Acquire Cloudmed, Creating the Strategic Revenue Partner for Healthcare Providers

R1 RCM will acquire competitor Cloudmed for $4.1 billion.

BayMark Poised To Innovate Addiction Telemedicine Services Via Technology Company Acquisition

Behavioral health provider BayMark Health Services (TX) has acquired online addiction treatment vendor Kaden Health.

Celo Health Announces Opening of U.S. Headquarters in Seattle

Celo Health, a healthcare messaging app developer based in New Zealand, opens its US headquarters in Seattle.

Morning Headlines 1/10/22

Qlik files for IPO six years after being taken private for $3B

Thoma Bravo-owned analytics and data services company Qlik files for an IPO, with date, number of shares, and pricing yet to be determined.

Missouri’s CRMC brings network back online, 3 weeks after cyberattack

Capital Region Medical Center (MO) brings its systems back online after a December 17 cyberattack.

Maryland health workers, lawmakers want answers as problems persist a month after cyberattack

A December 4 cyberattack on the Maryland health department’s systems continues to impede staffers, including clinicians, from accessing several systems.

Morning Headlines 1/7/22

Stryker announces definitive agreement to acquire Vocera Communications

Stryker, a global medical technology company, will acquire digital care coordination and communications vendor Vocera in a deal worth $3 billion.

Aetion acquires synthetic data trailblazer Replica Analytics

Life sciences real-world evidence vendor Aetion acquires Replica Analytics, which generates privacy-protected copies of real world data.

B3 Group Acquired by Octo

Federal IT contractor Octo acquires B3 Group, which offers low code/no-code software development and holds a $686 million contract to develop the VA’s Digital Transformation Center.

Morning Headlines 1/6/22

Castlight Health and Vera Whole Health to Combine to Pioneer and Scale Value-Based Care in Commercial Market

Primary care company Vera Whole Health will acquire health data and benefits navigation technology company Castlight Health in a deal valued at $370 million.

Babylon Acquires Higi to Extend its Digital-First Healthcare Platform to Millions of People in the U.S.

Global digital health company Babylon acquires health kiosk vendor Higi.

Kiddo Announces $16M in Growth Investment to Address the Growing Need for Remote Patient Monitoring and Care Coordination for At-Risk Children

Pediatrics-focused remote patient monitoring vendor Kiddo raises $16 million in a Series A funding round led by Vive Collective.

Scoop: IBM tries to sell Watson Health again

After potential sale efforts floundered in early 2021, IBM is once again fielding offers for its Watson Health business.

Morning Headlines 1/5/22

Symplr to Acquire Midas Health Analytics Solutions from Conduent

Symplr will acquire Midas Health Analytics Solutions from Conduent for $340 million in cash.

Waymark closes $45M Series A to improve healthcare access and outcomes among Medicaid beneficiaries

Waymark, which supports Medicaid primary care providers with technology-enabled community care teams, raises $45 million in a Series A funding round.

Growth Continues for Carenet Health with Acquisition of Access-to-Care Innovator, OpenMed

Consumer engagement and telehealth solutions vendor Carenet Health acquires healthcare collaboration platform vendor OpenMed.

Morning Headlines 1/4/22

Jury finds Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes guilty on multiple charges in criminal fraud trial

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has been found guilty on four of 11 charges in her criminal fraud trial.

DispatchHealth Acquires Dynamic Mobile Imaging Becoming One of the Nation’s Largest Mobile Imaging Providers

On-demand house call company DispatchHealth acquires mobile medical imaging vendor Dynamic Mobile Imaging for an undisclosed sum.

Huron Closes Acquisition of Perception Health

Global consulting firm Huron will incorporate newly-acquired predictive analytics vendor Perception Health into its healthcare operations segment.

Kiira Health raises $4M to transform healthcare for young women.

Virtual women’s health clinic Kiira Health raises $4 million in seed funding.

Morning Headlines 12/31/21

Rhode Island attorney general reviewing RIPTA’s response to cyberattack

Rhode Island Public Transit Authority reports that thousands of medical records that were exposed in a breach were of people with no connection to RIPTA, which it blames on an insurer that sent someone else’s files.

Cybersecurity incident on Dec. 17

The president of Capital Region Medical Center (MO) warns of long ED wait times and overloaded phone lines as it recovers from a December 17 cybersecurity incident.

How telemedicine ruined a physician’s career

An anonymous physician who has done independent telehealth contracting work for 10 years says than the actions of an unnamed telehealth vendor have forced him to think about leaving medicine.

Morning Headlines 12/30/21

Billing software error leaks info of 1,600 Advocate Aurora patients

The health system says that a billing software error sent the billing statements of 1,600 patients to a single patient’s address, but the mail did not arrive at its destination.

Healthcare IT vet Paramore retiring from OptimizeRx

Miriam Paramore, who has been in health IT for 37 years, retires as president and chief strategy officer of OptimizeRx.

Information on the current situation — Update December 29, 2021 02:30pm CET

CompuGroup Medical says the “vast majority” of its customer systems are up and running as the company implemented its backup infrastructure.

Morning Headlines 12/29/21

Idea of national patient IDs revives privacy fight

Politico reports that even though the Senate has removed its HHS funding ban of a national patient identifier, political roadblocks remain and an ONC report that summaries its risks and benefits is overdue.

CES 2022: Amid COVID surge, AMD and OnePlus drop out, joining Microsoft, Google, Intel

The Las Vegas consumer electronics show faces big-exhibitor pullout, news sites cancelling onsite coverage, and the likelihood of far smaller attendance than the previous 2020 show that drew 170,000.

All 695 hospitals, clinics of railways connected through software

All Indian Railways facilities have been connected to Hospital Management Information System.

Morning Headlines 12/24/21

EU clears Microsoft-Nuance without conditions

The EU’s competition regulator says it has no anti-competitive concerns with the deal.

Digital Health Technologies for Remote Data Acquisition in Clinical Investigations

FDA publishes draft guidance on using digital health technology to acquire data remotely from clinical investigation participants.

FDA’s Policy Changes for COVID-19 At-Home Diagnostics—Implications for Addressing Other Infectious Diseases and Future Pandemics

Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD says in a JAMA Forum article that at-home diagnostic tests may be the most enduring technological innovation of the pandemic, so it will be critical to connect those tests with telemedicine to reduce office visits and increase access to care.

Morning Headlines 12/23/21

Technical failure — Update December 22, 2021 08:30pm CET

CompuGroup Medical reports that it was been hit by “a so-called ransomware attack” on Tuesday morning whose effects have continued.

HFRI Changes Name to ParaRev; Move Reflects Expanded Revenue Cycle Capabilities

Healthcare accounts receivable recovery and resolution management company Healthcare Financial Resources changes its name to ParaRev.

Transition Plan for Medical Devices Issued Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Public Health Emergency

FDA issues draft guidance for medical device manufacturers that are selling products approved under EUAs on how to transition to normal approvals once EUAs are discontinued.