Morning Headlines 2/13/19

Partners Healthcare system back up following IT issue

Partners Healthcare (MA) rectifies Citrix connectivity issues that affected clinical and administrative systems at its 12 hospitals.

RTI International Launches Center for Health Care Advancement to Provide Evidence-Based Solutions to Problems in Health Care

Nonprofit research institute RTI International will develop the Center for Health Care Advancement to offer providers and payers insight into health IT, data analytics, population health, policy, delivery, and financing as they transition to value-based care.

MediQuant acquires DataEmerge, HeF Solutions

Medical records archiving vendor MediQuant acquires data extraction company DataEmerge and health data conversion business HeF Solutions.

Morning Headlines 2/12/19

Francisco Partners Acquires Qualcomm Life

Francisco Partners acquires Qualcomm Life from Qualcomm and will restore the name of Capsule Technologies, the medical device connectivity business that Qualcomm acquired in 2015.

HHS Proposes New Rules to Improve the Interoperability of Electronic Health Information

HHS proposes a new rule that would give patients instant electronic access to their health data from federally-funded providers at no cost, and that would require providers and payers to adopt technology to make this real-time data-sharing possible.

Critical Alert Systems to Acquire Sphere3® Consulting

Patient communications and nurse call vendor Critical Alert Systems will acquire nurse call analytics vendor Sphere3 Consulting.

Apple announces Health Records feature coming to veterans

Apple solidifies plans with the VA to give veterans access to their medical records via the Health Records app.

ImageMoverMD Raises $4 Million to Automatically Connect Medical Images with Electronic Patient Records

Medical image management startup ImageMoverMD raises $4 million in a financing round led by Bain Capital Ventures, Cultivation Capital, and Health X Ventures.

Morning Headlines 2/11/19

Catholic Health plows $100M into electronic records

Catholic Health (NY) will spend $100 million to implement Epic over the next 18 months – its most expensive health IT project to date.

OCR Concludes All-Time Record Year for HIPAA Enforcement with $3 Million Cottage Health Settlement

OCR wraps up its record-setting  $29 million year for HIPAA fines with a settlement from Cottage Health, a California-based hospital operator that experienced breaches in 2013 and 2015.

R1 Develops Technology and Innovation Center in Collaboration with Intermountain Healthcare

After taking on hundreds of Intermountain employees last year, RCM vendor R1 will again partner with the health system to build a technology and innovation center in Salt Lake City.

VA announces mortality data collaboration with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The VA will use FHIR-based standards to share mortality data from its VistA EHR with the CDC’s Modernizing Death Reporting project.

Morning Headlines 2/8/19

Health Catalyst Secures up to $100 Million with Financing Led By OrbiMed

Health Catalyst secures up to $100 million in a Series F round led by OrbiMed, increasing its total to $392 million.

Leidos, Mayo Clinic to collaborate on scaling transformative innovation to benefit patients

Mayo Clinic and Leidos will build an accelerator that will foster research, development, and commercialization of technologies and therapeutics.

Facebook is about to launch a tool in the US that pings you to donate blood when there are shortages

Facebook will launch a tool that will allow hospitals, blood banks, and the Red Cross to ask for blood donations; and users to receive notifications of shortages in their areas.

Morning Headlines 2/7/19

Electronic Health Records Vendor to Pay $57.25 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations

Greenway Health will pay $57 million to settle DoJ allegations that include misrepresenting the capabilities of its software during the certification process and doling out kickbacks to customers who recommended its products.

Alphabet’s Verily is building a high-tech rehab campus to combat opioid addiction

Verily, Kettering Health Network, and Premier Health will develop a campus of addiction recovery services in Dayton, OH that will use technology to analyze and measure the effectiveness of interventions.

Trinity Health Announces Technology Changes and Revenue Initiatives Expected to Improve Patient Experiences

Trinity Health will offer 450 IT employees positions with its managed services partner, Leidos, as part of a multi-year restructuring effort that coincides with its transition to Epic.

Orion Health’s McCrae to take firm private – again

Orion Health Group founder Ian McCrae hopes to take the company private after a disappointing four years as a public business.

Morning Headlines 2/6/19

Cerner Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2018 Results and Announces Plan to Initiate Quarterly Cash Dividend

Cerner reports Q4 results: revenue up 4 percent, adjusted EPS $0.63 vs., $0.58, meeting earnings expectations but falling short on revenue.

CommonWell Health Alliance Launches CommonWell Connector™Program

CommonWell announces a Connector program in which health IT vendors can connect to its services through a CommonWell integration member without joining CommonWell themselves.

VA’s Health Record Overhaul Could Get Even More Expensive, Officials Say

After learning that the VA’s EHR project could balloon beyond its estimated $16 billion, lawmakers call for a much needed interagency leader to oversee the EHR overhaul and integration efforts of the VA and DoD.

Design and build digital services for the NHS

NHS Digital publishes its front-end code in GitHub to help third parties build mockups, prototypes, and working applications that connect to NHS’s websites and services.

PerfectServe Acquires Lightning Bolt and CareWire, Reinforces Vision of Care Team Collaboration Platform

PerfectServe acquires scheduling software vendor Lightning Bolt and patient engagement company CareWire.

Morning Headlines 2/5/19

Amazon-led health venture hires technology chief to work under Gawande

The healthcare venture of Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JP Morgan hires former Zocdoc CTO Serkan Kutan to head up technology efforts.

Providence St. Joseph Health Announces New Enterprise Population Health Company, Ayin Health Solutions

Providence St. Joseph Health spins off new population health management company Ayin Health Solutions.

Slack is setting itself up for the $3.5 trillion health-care sector

Slack files a confidential IPO and adds HIPAA compliance language to its security page, leading analysts to predict a foray into enterprise healthcare messaging.

Google Has Its Own EHR Plan

Google submits a patent for an EHR that incorporates predictive analytics to give physicians a better idea of which patients need their immediate attention, and what data is most relevant to that patient’s care at that time.

Morning Headlines 2/4/19

3M Completes Acquisition of M*Modal’s Technology Business

First announced last December, 3M wraps up its acquisition of MModal’s technology business for $1 billion.

Why You Should Be Careful About 23andMe’s Health Test

The New York Times warns that 23andMe’s consumer DNA testing performs poorly in predicting the risk of developing chronic diseases because it only recognizes a few relevant genetic mutations and thus isn’t a substitute for medical office testing.

‘Flawed’ privacy in Queensland Health’s electronic medical record, expert says

A law professor questions why any doctor at Queensland Health in Australia can change the medical record of any patient in the nine hospitals where IEMR is live.

CommonSpirit Health™ Launches as New Health System

Dignity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives complete their merger to form the 142-hospital, $29 billion CommonSpirit Health.

These 3 high-profile DOD systems have persistent operational flaws, according to testing

The DOD Office of the Director of Operational Test & Evaluation’s 2018 report finds cybersecurity vulnerabilities within MHS Genesis that lead it conclude that the EHR “is not survivable in a cyber-contested environment.”

Morning Headlines 2/1/19

eMDs Acquires Aprima, Further Strengthening Position as a Leading Healthcare Ambulatory Solutions Organization

EHR and practice management company EMDs acquires competitor Aprima.

Freshman Lawmaker Will Oversee VA’s Multibillion-dollar EHR Overhaul

Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) will take over as head of the House Veterans Affairs Committee’s Technology Modernization subcommittee.

Nordic adds Healthtech Consultants, enters Canadian market

Nordic acquires Canada-based Healthtech Consultants, increasing its headcount to over 1,000.

Harris Healthcare, Through Iatric Systems, Acquires Haystack Informatics

Iatric Systems acquires Haystack Informatics, a patient privacy monitoring startup spun out of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in 2014.

VA Going with Cerner Scheduling Software

The VA will scrap its successful MASS pilot of Epic scheduling and instead use Cerner at all of its facilities.

Morning Headlines 1/31/19

Secretary Wilkie: Revolutionizing VA Health Care

VA Secretary Robert Wilkie downplays the notion that the agency is moving towards privatization in his remarks announcing new standards that will allow veterans to seek care outside of the VA system.

EPAS no more as SA govt moves to reset patient records system

SA Health in Australia will make immediate changes to its Allscripts-powered EPAS project after an external report criticized the project’s lack of accountability, poorly articulated clinical benefits, underuse of expert consultants, and lack of physician involvement.

UnitedHealthcare stops sharing data with research group

Healthcare pricing transparency advocates cry foul over UnitedHealthcare’s decision to stop sharing de-identified claims data with the Health Care Cost Institute, which expects a similar move from Humana next year.

Livongo Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire myStrength to Address Behavioral Health Needs for People with Chronic Conditions

Livongo acquires digital mental health therapy startup MyStrength in an effort to bolster its chronic condition management services.

Morning Headlines 1/30/19

Breaking Down Barriers Between Clinical Trials and Clinical Care: Incorporating Real World Evidence into Regulatory Decision Making

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD outlines several ways in which the agency will use digital systems to make healthcare more efficient and patient-focused.

Doctor booking app Zocdoc will start charging a new patient fee despite objections from some providers

Patient scheduling website Zocdoc will start charging physician subscribers for each new patient who books an appointment, abandoning the flat-priced subscription model that has been in place since 2012.

Queenslanders’ health at risk from electronic medical record software, clinicians say

In Australia, Queensland Health’s nearly $1 billion Cerner ieEMR EHR project continues to struggle with mislabeled specimens, missing data, medication errors, and missing test results.

Zebra Technologies to Acquire Temptime Corporation

Zebra Technologies will acquire healthcare temperature monitoring solutions vendor Temptime.

Morning Headlines 1/29/19

Leading Hospital Supply Chain Management Solution Rebrands as Syft®

Management Health Solutions celebrates its twentieth anniversary by rebranding to Syft.

Investcorp Announces Acquisition of Health Plus Management

Global investment company Investcorp acquires practice management business Health Plus Management for an undisclosed amount.

New App Displays What Original Medicare Covers

CMS launches the What’s Covered Medicare app to give members easier access to program resources and coverage information.

Cork-based healthcare group secures contract for 15 US hospitals

Ireland-based healthcare supply chain software company Genesis Automation signs its first US health system deal with 15-hospital Novant Health (NC).

HIV Status of More Than 14,000 People Leaked in Singapore Data Breach

Health Ministry officials in Singapore say an American man who formerly worked in the country leaked the records of over 14,000 HIV patients.

Morning Headlines 1/28/19

ResMed Inc. Announces Results for the Second Quarter of Fiscal Year 2019

Sleep apnea equipment and connected health vendor ResMed’s Q2 results fall short on revenue, sending shares down an alarming 19 percent for a market cap of $13.5 billion.

Phynd Technologies, Inc. Announces Completion of Series B Funding

Phynd raises $8 million in a Series B funding round, with three of the four investors representing health systems.

Aetna, Anthem, Health Care Service Corporation, PNC Bank and IBM announce collaboration to establish blockchain-based ecosystem for the healthcare industry

IBM announces a collaborative that will use blockchain technology to process claims and payments more efficiently, exchange health data more easily, and maintain more accurate provider directories.

University of Iowa hospitals reviewing parent-child records access

University of Iowa Health Care administrators consider revising a practice that prohibits parents of children over 12 from viewing their medical records.

Lead a revolution in Veterans’ healthcare records modernization as a Deputy Chief Medical Officer in the Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization

As its transition to Cerner gets underway, the VA seeks candidates to become deputy chief medical officers in St. Louis, Seattle, and Washington, DC.

Morning Headlines 1/25/19

Hospitals Are Asking Their Own Patients to Donate Money

Hospitals are running nightly “wealth screening” analytics on inpatients who they then deem affluent enough to ask for donations before discharge.

Rhode Island Docs Alarmed by Subpoenas

The Rhode Island Health Department charges four Rhode Island Hospital ED physicians with medical misconduct after they voluntarily report errors that caused wrong scans to be ordered.

EBSCO Health Acquires HealthDecision

Healthcare content company Ebsco Health acquires HealthDecision, a clinical decision-support and shared decision-making software vendor, for an unspecified amount.

U.S. Uninsured Rate Rises to Four-Year High

The US uninsured rate rises to a four-year high of nearly 14 percent thanks to higher premiums, less competition, elimination of the individual mandate, and shortened enrollment periods.

Morning Headlines 1/24/19

Nextech Acquires SRS Health, a Specialty EMR Solution for Orthopedic Practices

Health IT company Nextech expands its ambulatory reach with the purchase of orthopedic EHR vendor SRS Health.

With an eye on pioneering the future of Health IT, Greenway Health appoints Kali Durgampudi as chief technology and innovation officer

Greenway Health names former Nuance executive Kali Durgampudi chief technology and innovation officer.

In a sign of its concerns about Atul Gawande’s new venture, Optum sues over trade secrets

Citing a direct threat to its trade secrets and confidential corporate information, Optum sues a former VP now employed by Amazon-Berkshire Hathaway-JPMorgan’s healthcare venture.

NantHealth Could Recover In 2019

Nasdaq gives NantHealth six months to increase its stock price to above $1 for 10 consecutive days, a 43-percent recovery that just might happen if the company’s clinical trials go well, and it receives FDA approval and increased CMS reimbursements for its GPS Cancer Test.

Morning Headlines 1/23/19

Hospitals Stopped Readmitting So Many Medicare Patients. Did That Cost Lives?

Medicare patient readmissions within 30 days dropped sharply after CMS started penalizing hospitals financially, but the death rate appears to have increased during the same period.

NantHealth warned over de-listing

NantHealth, whose shares have fallen to $0.70, receives a Nasdaq de-listing notice now that the stock has closed at under $1 for 30 consecutive trading days.

Manhattan’s Largest Automated Parking System Puts More Cars in Less Space

ParkPlus installs an automated parking garage at a hospital in Manhattan, giving patients the ability to retrieve their cars and pay for their space via tablets integrated with the facility’s IT system.

She scammed dozens into giving up their savings so she could stay at the Ritz

A Virginia woman is sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for scamming $5 million from 50 investors in her phony telemedicine company.

Morning Headlines 1/22/19

Health IT company consolidates headquarters into new Northwest Austin office

EHR and practice management company EMDs consolidates operations and relocates its headquarters to new office space in Austin, TX.

Kaia Health gets $10M support for AI-powered management of chronic pain

Kaia Health raises $10 million to further scale its chronic pain treatment app.

The VA Wants to use DeepMind’s AI to Prevent Kidney Disease

The VA is working with Alphabet’s DeepMind unit to develop AI software that predicts which patients will suffer from acute kidney injury.