Morning Headlines 3/23/21

Digital Health Startup Ro Raised $500 Million At $5 Billion Valuation

Ro, which now markets itself as a digital health clinic, raises $500 million in a Series D funding round that brings its total raised to $876 million.

Clearlake, Insight-backed Appriss snags PatientPing

Appriss, known in healthcare for its prescription drug monitoring program interface capabilities, acquires patient event notification vendor PatientPing in a $500 million deal.

Evidation Raises $153M to Scale Virtual Health Capabilities of Achievement™ Platform

Data aggregation and analytics company Evidation Health will use a Series E funding round of $153 million to offer more virtual health programs as part of its digital health research network.

Morning Headlines 3/22/21

VA announces strategic review of Electronic Health Record Modernization program

VA Secretary Denis McDonough orders a 12-week strategic review of the VA’s Cerner EHR implementation that will include optimizing productivity and clinical workflow and looking into patient-facing functions.

Riva Health Launches, Raises $15.5M for Breakthrough Mobile Cardiology Technology

Riva Health will use a $15.5 million investment from Menlo Ventures to help launch its app for hypertension management this summer.

Omega Healthcare Acquires Himagine Solutions

RCM vendor Omega Healthcare acquires Himagine Solutions, which offers medical coding and registry services.

Morning Headlines 3/19/21

Glen Tullman Joins Transcarent as Chief Executive Officer

The executive chairman of employer health insurance cost management software vendor Transcarent takes on the CEO role as well.

Epic opens COVID-19 vaccination appointments to all employees

Epic engages VaxPro to offer on-campus immunization after the state declares its employees to be essential.

Senate narrowly confirms Xavier Becerra as Health and Human Services secretary

The former California attorney general and 24-year Congressman is confirmed in a 50-49 vote.

Morning Headlines 3/18/21

Amazon is expanding Amazon Care telehealth service nationally for its employees and other companies

Amazon plans to expand Amazon Care, its virtual and house call care service, to employees in all 50 states and other employers.

Clarify Health Announces $115m Series C Funding to Accelerate the Adoption of On-demand Healthcare Analytics

San Francisco-based analytics company Clarify Health raises $115 million, bringing its total funding to $178 million.

Unite Us Announces It Has Raised $150M to Scale Nationwide Social Care Infrastructure

Care and social services coordination software company Unite Us reaches unicorn status with a $150 million Series C funding round.

Viz.ai Raises $71 Million Series C Round Led by Scale Venture Partners and Insight Partners

Viz.ai, developer of AI-powered care coordination software for stroke patients, raises $71 million.

Harmonize Health Announces $10 Million Series A to Help Medical Groups Better Serve High Risk Patients

Harmonize Health, which offers remote patient monitoring, chronic care management, and outcomes tracking for elderly and high-risk patients, raises $10 million in a Series A funding round.

Morning Headlines 3/17/21

Tegria Acquires Cumberland To Provide New and Enhanced Offerings for Healthcare Providers and Payers

Tegria, Providence’s recently formed rollup of its nine health IT acquisitions, acquires health IT consulting firm Cumberland.

Glooko Raises $30 Million Financing Round

Digital diabetes management company Glooko raises $30 million in a Series D funding round that brings its total raised to over $100 million.

Karuna acquired by Commure

Healthcare development platform vendor Commure acquires Karuna Health, a digital patient communication startup based in San Francisco.

Strive Health Raises $140 Million Led by Alphabet’s CapitalG to Tackle $410 Billion of Unmanaged Kidney Disease Spend

Strive Health, which focuses on kidney care optimization using analytics and care navigators, raises $140 million in a Series B funding round led by CapitalG.

Grand Rounds merges with Doctor On Demand to form multibillion-dollar digital health company

Employer-focused care navigation company Grand Rounds merges with Doctor on Demand.

Morning Headlines 3/16/21

Meet Dr. B, the startup promising a better way to distribute leftover vaccines

ZocDoc founder Cyrus Massoumi launches Dr. B, a website that helps eligible people locate thawed COVID-19 vaccines in danger of going to waste.

Dagrosa Capital Partners LLC Invests in Telemedicine Company, Hoy Health LLC

DaGrosa Capital Partners invests in Hoy Health, a bilingual telemedicine, remote patient monitoring, and medication access company based in Morristown, NJ.

Well Health Provides Management Update and Makes Seed Investment in Fertility Start-up Venture

Canadian Well Health Technologies makes a seed investment in startup fertility clinic Twig Fertility, which plans to open a location in Toronto with digital health offerings

Morning Headlines 3/15/21

Healthcare artificial intelligence company establishing headquarters in Loudoun

India-based healthcare AI vendor Zasti will open its US headquarters in Loudoun County, VA.

$2.8M Deal Ends Suit Over Pocketed Health Trade Show Fees

HIMSS pays $2.8 million to settle class action charges brought by HatchMed and other HIMSS20 exhibitors who complained that they received no refund when the conference was cancelled.

Crossover Health Announces Expansion of Amazon’s Neighborhood Health Centers and Virtual Care Services

Crossover Health expands its health centers and virtual care for Amazon employees and their dependents to five regions in Texas, Arizona, Kentucky, Michigan, and California.

Morning Headlines 3/12/21

Brainlab Acquires Mint Medical to Advance Quality and Structure of Data Gathered in Clinical Routine and Research

Germany-based imaging workflow vendor Brainlab acquires Mint Medical, which provides a structured workflow for analyzing medical images.

100Plus Announces $25M Funding by Prominent Investors to Transform the Remote Patient Monitoring Market with its Rapidly Expanding Solution

AI-enhanced remote patient monitoring vendor 100Plus raises $25 million and has signed distribution agreements with AdvancedMD, DrChrono, and Athenahealth.

Forward Health Raises $225M to Expand Nationwide

Forward Health, which offers direct primary care at a flat fee of $149 per month in eight US cities, raises $225 million in a Series D funding round.

Tausight Closes $20 Million Series A Financing to Discover and Help Secure Protected Health Information (PHI)

Tausight, a Boston-based startup focused on securing PHI, raises $20 million in a Series A funding round.

WELL Health to Boost its Digital Health SaaS Revenue and to Expand EMR Business to International Markets with Proposed Acquisition of Intrahealth

Vancouver-based Well Health will acquire Intrahealth, a New Zealand EHR vendor, for $15 million.

Morning Headlines 3/11/21

MRO Announces Acquisition of Cobius Healthcare Solutions

Release-of-information and clinical data workflow software vendor MRO acquires Cobius Healthcare Solutions, which offers reimbursement and compliance risk management technologies.

PatientPoint Combines with Outcome Health to Create PatientPoint Health Technologies

Digital pharma advertising and patient education company Outcome Health has merged with competitor PatientPoint to create PatientPoint Health Technologies.

Hack of ‘150,000 cameras’ investigated by camera firm

Hackers use a “super admin” account to tap into Verkada security cameras in hospitals, clinics, manufacturing plants, jails, and businesses.

Morning Headlines 3/10/21

Cedar Closes $200M in Series D Funding to Continue Fueling Growth as a Leading Patient Financial Engagement Platform for the Healthcare Industry

Patient payment vendor Cedar raises $200 million in a Series D investment round led by Tiger Global Management, giving it a $3.2 billion valuation.

Rennova Terminates Discussions with TPT Global Tech, Inc.

Rural hospital operator Rennova Health cancels plans to sell its software and genetic testing interpretation divisions to InnovaQor, which would also include telehealth technology that Rennova had licensed from TPT Global Tech.

Health Recovery Solutions, Remote Patient Monitoring and Telehealth Leader, Completes Series C with LLR Partners

Remote patient monitoring and telemedicine vendor Health Recovery Solutions announces a Series C funding round led by LLR Partners.

Ibex Medical Analytics Raises $38 Million to Accelerate Adoption of AI-powered Cancer Diagnostics in Pathology

AI-powered cancer pathology diagnostics vendor Ibex Medical Analytics raises $38 million in a Series B funding round, increasing its total to $52 million.

Ambulnz (dba DocGo), a Leading Provider of Last-Mile TeleHealth and Integrated Medical Mobility Services, Announces Agreement to Become Publicly Traded via Merger with Motion Acquisition Corp.

Emergency medical services-focused telemedicine company DocGo will merge with Motion Acquisition Corp. to become a publicly traded company with a $1.1 billion valuation.

Morning Headlines 3/9/21

Former Practice Fusion Sales Executive Pleads Guilty To Obstructing Government Investigations Into Purdue Pharma And Practice Fusion

Former Practice Fusion Director of National Accounts Steven Mack pleads guilty to attempting to obstruct a federal investigation into the relationship between Practice Fusion and Purdue Pharma after admitting he deleted relevant computer files.

Heal Appoints Veteran Operational Leader Scott Vertrees as Chief Executive Officer

Investor Scott Vertrees joins Heal as CEO, replacing co-founder Nick Desai, who remains a shareholder.

HIE Networks Relaunches as Centralis Health

Tallahassee, FL-based health data exchange vendor HIE Networks rebrands to Centralis Health.

Morning Headlines 3/8/21

Harris acquires US-based healthcare software provider Bizmatics Inc.

Harris acquires Bizmatics, which offers the PrognoCIS EHR/PM.

Saudi-backed $2 billion health firm Babylon is selling its Canada operations as part of a $70 million licensing deal

Canadian telecommunications company Telus will acquire Babylon Health’s Canadian operations, and license virtual care technology used in the Babylon by Telus Health app since 2019.

TytoCare Extends Series D Funding with Additional $50M for a Total of $100M Raised in 10 Months

Telemedicine and related device vendor TytoCare doubles its Series D round of funding, first announced last April, to $100 million.

Morning Headlines 3/5/21

Leading Health Innovators Launch Alliance To Advance Care In The Home

Several health systems and home-based care companies form Moving Health Home, a coalition that will try to convince the federal government to permanently pay for telehealth, remote patient monitoring, virtual disease prevention and management, caregiver support, and medical record sharing as an alternative to in-hospital care.

Startup co-founded by Duke health execs aims to help people with multiple chronic health conditions

New Duke University personalized chronic care spinout ZealCare will launch later this month, co-founded by former Duke University Health System CEO Ralph Snyderman, MD and personalized healthcare research fellow Connor Drake, PhD.

Dräger Partners with Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory on Medical Device Interoperability Initiative

Medical and safety technology vendor Dräger will work with several healthcare organizations to develop medical device interoperability standards in a US Army-funded project that will use IEEE’s service-oriented device connectivity (SDC) standard.

Morning Headlines 3/4/21

Amazon Care’s health provider has quietly filed paperwork to operate in 17 more states

Care Medical, which powers the Amazon Care virtual and house-call clinic offered to Amazon employees in Seattle, has filed paperwork to operate in 17 additional states.

One Medical’s Coronavirus Vaccine Practices Spark Congressional Investigation

The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis launches an investigation into One Medical’s COVID-19 vaccination practices after NPR uncovers that it provided vaccines to ineligible patients, including some with ties to company leadership.

Post-Cyberattack, Universal Health Services Faces $67M in Losses

Universal Health Services estimates September’s cyberattack has caused $67 million in losses, according to its latest earnings report.

DispatchHealth Raises $200 Million in Series D Financing to Build Largest System of In-Home Medical Care

App-based house call company DispatchHealth raises $200 million in a Series D round of funding that brings its total raised to $417 million.

Morning Headlines 3/3/21

Health Gorilla raises $15 million to build secure APIs for medical records

Healthcare API developer Health Gorilla raises $15 million in a Series B round of funding it plans to use for market expansion and product development.

Why drug prescriptions should include diagnoses

HHS OIG Principal Deputy Inspector General Christi Grimm, MPA and HHS OIG Chief Medical Officer Julie Taitsman, MD, JD say that prescriptions should be required to include the condition for which the drug is being prescribed.

Hill-Rom accused of wrongfully pulling plug on $375 million deal

Hill-Rom cancels its plan to acquire ambulatory ECG monitoring vendor Bardy Diagnostics for $375 million, citing potentially unexpected reductions in Medicare reimbursements for patient-monitoring devices.

Preventative Wellness Startup Reperio Health Nets $6 Million in Seed Funding to Expand Proactive Health Monitoring

Reperio Health raises $6 million in seed funding to advance the rollout of its kits for employer-provided, at-home wellness screenings.

Morning Headlines 3/2/21

MTBC Announces Name Change to CareCloud, Inc., Doubles Down on Innovation & Growth

Ambulatory health IT vendor MTBC will change its name to CareCloud, which it acquired in January of last year.

Top Health Industry Leaders Launch Historic Coalition to Modernize California’s Health Information Systems

Fourteen healthcare organizations come together to form Connecting for Better Health, a California-based coalition in support of state efforts to create a unified HIE.

Babylon Expands its US-Based C-Suite Team to Lead Ambitious Growth Plans

UK-based virtual care company Babylon Health names Steve Davis (Expedia) CTO, Stacy Saal (Amazon) COO, and Paul-Henri Ferrand (Brex) chief business officer.

Morning Headlines 3/1/21

As Demand for Virtual Health Care Surges, Evernorth Announces Acquisition of Long-Term Partner, MDLive

Cigna’s Evernorth health services business will acquire telehealth vendor MDLive.

Marani Health (Formerly Odonata Health) Raises $3.7M; Appoints Health Care Veteran Jodi Hubler to the Board

Mayo Clinic-backed maternal and fetal remote patient monitoring company Marani Health raises $3.7 million.

Health Catalyst Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End 2020 Results

Health Catalyst reports Q4 results: revenue up 22%, EPS –$0.16 versus -$0.21, beating estimates for both.

Digital healthcare SPAC Blueprint Health Merger files for a $200 million IPO

Led by former Thomson Reuters and Virgin Pulse CEOs, Blueprint Health Merger’s SEC filings indicate it plans to raise $200 million in an IPO.