Morning Headlines 2/4/20

Epic Wins Disability Suit

A federal judge grants Epic’s motion to dismiss a case brought by the National Federation of the Blind, which argued that the company’s software is designed in a way that hampers blind people from effective healthcare employment.

James Byrne out as No. 2 at VA

VA Secretary Robert Wilkie fires Deputy Secretary James Byrne, who was working closely with Wilkie on the department’s EHR transition, due to a “loss of confidence.”

MedStar Health First to Join Innovative Cerner Network of Health Systems to Conduct Clinical Research

MedStar Health (MD) becomes the first member of Cerner’s new Learning Health Network, a collaboration between health systems and clinical research organizations that aims to better enable its members to conduct medical studies.

Morning Headlines 2/3/20

Best in KLAS 2020 Software/Services

KLAS announces its “Best in KLAS Software & Services 2020” winners, with Epic winning top Overall Software Suite for the tenth straight year as well as awards in numerous other categories.

AMN Healthcare to Acquire Stratus Video

Healthcare staffing firm AMN Healthcare will pay $475 million to acquire video-based hospital interpreter provider Stratus Video.

Google-Backed 1Life Healthcare Surges 58% in Trading Debut

Membership-based primary care company One Medical raises $245 million after seeing its shares surge 58% during its first day of trading.

Morning Headlines 1/31/20

1Life Healthcare (One Medical) Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering

Primary care company One Medical will price its January 31 IPO at $14 a share for expected gross proceeds of $245 million.

OxyContin maker Purdue is ‘Pharma Co X’ in U.S. opioid kickback probe –sources

Reuters names OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma as the opioid vendor that paid Practice Fusion $1 million to program its EHR to encourage doctors to prescribe its products inappropriately.

Exclusive: SoftBank leads latest Alto Pharmacy funding round at over $1 billion valuation

Silicon Valley prescription technology and delivery vendor Alto reportedly raises $250 million at a valuation of over $1 billion.

Intermountain’s Marc Probst to Receive CIO of the Year Award from CHIME and HIMSS

CHIME and HIMSS honor Intermountain Healthcare CIO Marc Probst with the 2019 John E. Gall Jr. CIO of the Year award.

Morning Headlines 1/30/20

Important Notice Regarding Individuals’ Right of Access to Health Records

A federal judge overrules a policy that places limits on the fees providers and businesses can charge patients when they request that their records be sent to a third party.

Using AI to advance the health of people and communities around the world

Microsoft will devote $40 million to its AI for Health Initiative, a five-year project that will use artificial intelligence to help partner organizations study, prevent, and treat diseases; prepare for and protect against future pandemics; and reduce healthcare inequities.

Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield gives $817,000 to upgrade digital health network in state’s rural hospitals

Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield donates nearly $1 million to the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership, which will work with the state’s rural hospitals to ensure they are connected to the SHARE HIE.

Morning Headlines 1/29/20

Marlin Equity readies $2 bln-plus sale of VirginPulse

The private equity owner of wearables-powered employee wellness vendor VirginPulse reportedly is preparing to sell the company for up to $2 billion.

Imprivata Acquires GroundControl to Expand its Mobile Solutions

Imprivata acquires GroundControl, which offers enterprise digital identity authorization and access management for mobile devices.

Intelerad to be sold to Hg

The private equity owner of imaging and radiology workflow systems vendor Intelerad sells a majority stake in the company to investment fund manager Hg Capital.

LabCorp security lapse exposed thousands of medical documents

TechCrunch notifies LabCorp that a since-fixed website vulnerability left its patient CRM system and at least 10,000 documents containing patient information exposed to Internet searches.

Austin’s Enzyme Health lands $13.9M, rebrands as Wheel

Telemedicine startup Enzyme Health rebrands to Wheel in the wake of a $13.9 million funding round that will enable it to expand its offerings for providers looking to bolster their virtual care offerings.

Morning Headlines 1/27/20

Epic ramps up campaign against HHS interop rules

Epic downplays potential plans to sue HHS over terms in its proposed data-sharing rules, instead saying it would prefer to work with HHS to fix the proposed regulations.

Evive Acquires Treatment-Guidance Tool WiserTogether

Benefits engagement technology vendor Evive acquires WiserTogether, which offers a personalized treatment guidance tool to guide people to the most-recommended, most-effective treatments.

Nextgen Healthcare (NXGN) Beats Q3 Earnings and Revenue Estimates

NextGen Healthcare reports Q3 results: revenue up 5.3%, adjusted EPS $0.23 vs. $0.18, beating Wall Street expectations for both.

Centene and WellCare complete giant health insurance merger

St. Louis-based insurer Centene completes its acquisition of WellCare Health Plans, creating the country’s largest health insurer with 23.4 million covered people and $100 billion in annual revenue

Morning Headlines 1/24/20

23andMe lays off 100 people as DNA test sales decline, CEO says she was ‘surprised’ to see market turn

Consumer DNA testing company 23andMe lays off 100 employees as it struggles with declining sales.

Babylon Health is building an integrated, AI-based health app to serve a city of 300K in England

Babylon Health signs a 10-year agreement with the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust to develop an app that will offer the city’s residents diagnoses, virtual care, and monitoring of chronic conditions; plus appointment booking, prescription refills, and other care management capabilities.

Wuhan Coronavirus: Epic Sends Automatic Travel Screening Update to Spot New Cases

Epic updates its software to include travel screening prompts for patients who may have traveled from China or who are experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus.

Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities in Certain GE Healthcare Clinical Information Central Stations and Telemetry Servers: Safety Communication

The FDA alerts hospitals to cybersecurity flaws found in some GE Healthcare Clinical Information Central Stations and Telemetry Servers that could enable hackers to effectively take over devices and gain access to PHI.

Morning Headlines 1/23/20

Epic’s CEO is urging hospital customers to oppose rules that would make it easier to share medical info

Judy Faulkner urges CEOs at some of Epic’s largest hospital customers to sign a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar protesting the proposed interoperability rule published last year.

Gentem raises $3.7 million to fund future growth

San Francisco-based Gentem raises $3.7 million in a seed funding round that will help the company scale its RCM technology for physician practices.

DoctorLogic Secures $7 Million Series A Financing From Unbundled Capital

Medical marketing software and services vendor DoctorLogic raises $7 million in a Series A round.

Morning Headlines 1/22/20

Snohomish County man is first US case of new coronavirus

Providence Health & Services in Washington is working to install screening for the Novel Coronavirus in its Epic EHR after caring for the first US citizen to contract the infection.

Amazon just filed a bunch of international trademarks for ‘Amazon Pharmacy’

Amazon files trademarks for “Amazon Pharmacy” in the UK, Canada, and Australia.

Operations back to normal at Great Plains Health after cyberattack

Great Plains Health (NE) nears full recovery from the November 25 ransomware attack that forced it to pen and paper for several days, and to cancel some services and appointments.

Morning Headlines 1/21/20

Two Former Outcome Health Employees Plead Guilty

Former Outcome Health analysts Kathryn Choi and Oliver Han change their pleas to guilty of charges related to felony conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Health Scholars, the Virtual Reality Healthcare Training Platform, Raises $17M in Series B funding.

VR medical training and simulation company Health Scholars raises $17M in a Series B round.

Apple working on preventative healthcare technology, CEO Cook reveals

Apple CEO Tim Cook says he is hopeful the yet-to-be-revealed work the company is doing to further incorporate preventative healthcare technologies into products like the Apple Watch will improve lives and cut healthcare costs.

Morning Headlines 1/20/20

Epic Systems, a major medical records vendor, is warning customers it will stop working with Google Cloud

Epic decides to stop pursuing integrations with Google Cloud based on a lack of customer interest.

Cox Enterprises Invests in Aver’s $27M Series C to Accelerate Implementation and Execution of Value-based and Bundled Payments Programs

Columbus, OH-based analytics company Aver raises $27 million in a Series C round led by Cox Enterprises.

Surescripts Can’t Sink FTC’s Monopoly Case

A federal court turns down Surescript’s motion to dismiss the FTC’s antitrust lawsuit against.

Morning Headlines 1/17/20

Buoy Health Raises Investment from Cigna Ventures

Digital triage startup Buoy Health raises $20 million in an oversubscribed Series B round.

The Future of Healthcare Tech Support, Black Book Research Releases 2020 Outlook

Cerner achieves top marks for hospital technology support services for the fourth year in a row, according to Black Book Research’s latest survey of senior-level health IT end users.

Piedmont Names New Chief Health Information Officer

Piedmont Healthcare (GA) names Lacy Knight, MD (Northwestern Medicine) chief health information officer.

Morning Headlines 1/16/20

2020-2025 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan

ONC publishes a draft of its “2020-2025 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan” for public comments, due March 18.

Fellow Health Partners Acquires Billing Services, Inc.

Fellow Health Partners acquires New York-based competitor Billing Services for an undisclosed amount.

Bon Secours Mercy Health and Lirio Announce Partnership and Investment

Bon Secours Mercy Health adopts behavioral change software programs from Lirio and makes an undisclosed investment in the company.

Morning Headlines 1/15/20

Physician Time Spent Using the Electronic Health Record During Outpatient Encounters: A Descriptive Study

Physicians spend 16 minutes per encounter doing EHR work, according to a Cerner study that reviewed client data from its Lights On Network.

Medsphere to Grow Interoperable Healthcare IT Platform with $40 Million Preferred Equity Investment from TPG Sixth Street Partners

Medsphere raises $40 million in new funding to support growth and pursue acquisitions.

Masimo to Acquire Connected Care Business from NantHealth

Masimo buys NantHealth’s Connected Care business for $47 million in cash.

AHRQ Advances New Frontiers in Digital Healthcare

AHRQ launches a Division of Digital Healthcare Research, which will produce and disseminate evidence about how digital health can support healthcare quality, safety, and effectiveness.

Morning Headlines 1/14/20

Bill Frist launches CareBridge, a new health care tech company backed by Google

Former US Senator Bill Frist, MD launches CareBridge, a Nashville-based technology company that will use an initial $40 million in funding to improve home healthcare.

DrChrono Raises $20 Million Growth Capital Round to Accelerate Growth

EHR, practice management, and RCM vendor DrChrono raises $20 million from Orix Growth Capital.

R1 Announces Agreement to Acquire SCI Solutions, a Leading Provider of Digital Patient Engagement Solutions

R1 RCM acquires SCI Solutions for $190 million just days after SCI announced its acquisition of Tonic Health.

Arcadia Finishes Strongest Performance Year Ever by Closing Fully-Subscribed Growth Equity Investment

Population health management vendor Arcadia raises $29.5 million through an investment from Cigna.

Framingham’s Definitive Healthcare expands its data business by acquiring PatientFinder

Market intelligence company Definitive Healthcare acquires PatientFinder, which has developed software companies can use to find physicians with patients who would benefit from their products.

Morning Headlines 1/13/20

Teladoc Health to acquire InTouch Health

Teladoc will acquire telehealth platform vendor InTouch Health for $600 million in cash and TDOC shares.

Inside Google’s Quest for Millions of Medical Records

The Wall Street Journal reports that Cerner passed on Google’s offer of $250 million in incentives to use its cloud storage system because Google wouldn’t fully divulge its plans for using Cerner-stored patient EHR data, leading Cerner to choose Amazon instead.

SCI Solutions Acquires Tonic Health

Digital engagement technology vendor SCI Solutions acquires Tonic Health, which offers a mobile patient intake, survey, and payments platform.

A billion medical images are exposed online, as doctors ignore warnings

Researchers determine that lax cybersecurity at hundreds of healthcare facilities have left over 1 billion medical images exposed on the Internet.

HCA Healthcare Acquires Technology and Analytics Company Valify

HCA Healthcare acquires purchased services analytics vendor Valify.

Morning Headlines 1/10/20

Kyruus Raises $42 Million in New Financing After Delivering Another Year of Record Growth

Kyruus raises $42 million in a Series D funding round, increasing its total to $125 million.

Support for Windows 7 is nearing the end

Microsoft’s support of Windows 7 will end on January 14, leaving some significant number of hospital and practice users without security updates.

Premier process on hold as ownership structure is considered

Premier postpones its sale for six months so it can poll its health system shareholders on whether they plan to roll their equity to a new owner or to cash out.

Apple Stole Tech for Watch, Masimo Claims in Patent Suit

Patient monitoring technology vendor Masimo files a lawsuit claiming that Apple hired away key employees in order to steal trade secrets that it used in the development of the Apple Watch.