Morning Headlines 3/27/24

Brightside Health Raises Strategic Series C, Welcomes Trip Hofer to Board of Directors

Virtual mental healthcare company Brightside Health announces a $33 million Series C investment, bringing its total raised to over $107 million.

Sagility Acquires BirchAI, a GenAI Company in the Healthcare Space

RCM and business process engineering company Sagility acquires BirchAI, a startup that offers AI-powered call center automation technology.

Tennr Raises $18M in Series A Funding

Tennr will use $18 million in Series A funding to further develop and market its AI-based document automation software geared towards providers who rely on digital faxing.

Morning Headlines 3/26/24

Arches Medical Partners Acquires 11 Primary Care Practices in Rhode Island

Walgreens-owned VillageMD sells its 11 primary care clinics in Rhode Island to Arches Medical Partners, which owns IPA-focused software company New Era Medical Operations.

Responding to Change Healthcare, Warner Introduces Legislation to Protect Providers in the Event of Future Hacks, Requiring Minimum Cybersecurity Standards

Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) introduces the “Health Care Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2024,” which, if passed, will enable eligible providers to receive advanced and accelerated payments in the wake of a cyberattack.

Masimo plans to spinoff consumer business

Masimo considers spinning off its consumer business, which includes consumer health and audio products, and retaining its healthcare and telehealth solutions.

Morning Headlines 3/25/24

Information on the Change Healthcare Cyber Response

UnitedHealth Group posts target dates for restoring Change Healthcare’s systems from its February 21 cyberattack.

Global Payments wants $3 billion for AdvancedMD—but may have to settle for half of that

Global Payments is reportedly seeking a buyer for its AdvancedMD business at an asking price of $3 billion.

Issues with VA’s new EHR have contributed to patient harms and one death, watchdog says

VA OIG issues three reports related to the VA’s implementation of Oracle Health, each of which highlight system shortcomings.

Trinity Hunt Partners Establishes Healthcare Advisory Platform with Investment in Coker

Private equity firm Trinity Hunt acquires a majority stake in Atlanta-based healthcare consulting firm Coker Group.

Morning Headlines 3/22/24

New Report Finds That Digital Diabetes Management Tools Fail to Deliver Meaningful Health Benefits to Patients While Increasing Spending

Digital diabetes management solutions increase healthcare spending without delivering meaningful clinical benefits, according to a review of evidence by the Peterson Health Technology Institute.

Sharp, UCSD affected by computer outage that briefly diverted ambulance deliveries

A power outage at an Epic data center in California knocks several hospitals offline for two hours, prompting them to temporarily divert ambulances.

Syllable Corporation Announces Purchase of Actium Health

Process automation vendor Syllable acquires Actium Health, whose system reviews EHR data to identify patients who may need specific medical services.

Use of Online Tracking Technologies by HIPAA Covered Entities and Business Associates

New HHS guidance reiterates that covered entities can’t use web tracking technologies that might result in PHI disclosure, but clarifies that webpages that don’t require users to log in and that don’t have access to PHI don’t fall under HIPAA’s purview even if the user can be tied to an IP address.

Morning Headlines 3/21/24

Conduce Health Secures $3 Million in Seed Funding to Power Multi-Specialty Value-Based Care Marketplace

Conduce Health will use $3 million in seed funding to further develop its marketplace for primary care physicians looking to transition to value-based care through partnerships with specialty care providers.

PocketHealth Raises $33M USD in Series B Funding to Transform Medical Image Exchange and Patient Experience

Patient-centric image exchange platform Pocket Health raises $33 million in Series B funding.

Healthcare platform Anima brings Salesforce-like capabilities to clinics, raises $12M

Automated care enablement technology startup Anima, which works with NHS clinics in England, raises $12 million in Series A funding.

Morning Headlines 3/20/24

Abridge to Deliver Generative AI Microservices to Millions of Clinicians and Their Patients with Nvidia

Nvidia invests an unspecified sum in conversational AI system vendor Abridge, which will expand its use of Nvidia’s technologies.

Hippocratic AI Raises $53 Million Series A at a $500 Million Valuation

Hippocratic AI raises $53 million in a Series A funding round that values the company at $500 million.

R1 RCM Tells Two Top Holders to End Buyout Talks

R1 RCM’s recently formed advisory committee calls a halt to any further consideration of the acquisition offer made by majority shareholder New Mountain Capital.

Morning Headlines 3/19/24

Phreesia Announces Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2024 Results

Patient intake and engagement software vendor Phreesia reports a 24% increase in Q4 earnings and a similar bump in fiscal year revenue.

UnitedHealth Group Cyberattack Status Update

UnitedHealth Group reports in a March 18 status update that it has paid out $2 billion in financial aid to cash-strapped providers, and that it will begin releasing medical claims preparation software as a part of Change Healthcare’s system restoration process.

Thyme Care Unveils “Thyme Care Oncology Partners,” a Provider-Powered Value-Based Care Model in Partnership with More than 400 Oncologists Nationwide

Care collaboration company Thyme Care launches Thyme Care Oncology Partners to help oncology clinics transition to value-based care.

Morning Headlines 3/18/24

Veradigm Announces Initial Financial Guidance for Fiscal 2024

Veradigm reports that, despite having its shares delisted, its fundamentals are healthy and that it anticipates a small growth in GAAP revenue and a small decrease in earnings.

Lurie Children’s Hospital reactivating patient portal after network outage

Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago begins bringing its MyChart patient portal back online after a ransomware attack took it and other systems offline six weeks ago.

AHA Urges More Congressional Action to Help Providers Affected By Change Healthcare Cyberattack

The American Hospital Association tells the Senate Finance Committee that it cannot support budget proposals that call for the federal government to impose financial penalties on hospitals that have been the victim of cyberattacks.

Morning Headlines 3/15/24

UnitedHealth unit Change Healthcare’s pharmacy network back online

UnitedHealth Group reports that Change Healthcare’s pharmacy network is up and running, with nearly all pre-incident claim volume flowing.

From Wait Times to Real-Time: Assort Health Secures $3.5 Million to Scale First Generative AI for Healthcare Call Centers

Assort Health, which has developed healthcare call center software powered by AI, announces $3.5 million in funding.

Zephyr AI Raises $111 Million in Series A Financing

Precision medicine software vendor Zephyr AI secures $111 million in a Series A funding round, bringing its total raised to $129.5 million.

Morning Headlines 3/14/24

Anatomy IT Expands Healthcare Specialties Expertise with Acquisition of Managed IT Services Leader

Anatomy IT acquires Manta HealthTech, which offers managed IT services to medical, dental, optometry, and veterinary care providers.

HHS Office for Civil Rights Issues Letter and Opens Investigation of Change Healthcare Cyberattack

The HHS Office of Civil rights launches an investigation into the Change Healthcare attack to determine if patient data was breached and what, if any, HIPAA violations have been committed by Change and parent company UnitedHealth Group.

Lurie Children’s Hospital investigating claims that stolen data was sold online

Lurie Children’s Hospital (IL) investigates claims made by the Rhysida ransomware group that it sold data stolen from the hospital.

Biden budget cuts funding for health record refresh amid ongoing program ‘reset’

Proposed fiscal year 2025 budgeting for the VA does not include any new funding for the continued roll out of the department’s stalled EHR modernization program.

Morning Headlines 3/12/24

Linus Health Acquires Aural Analytics

Cognitive assessment software vendor Linus Health acquires Aural Analytics, which offers clinical-grade speech analytics.

Access, a Leader in Information Management Services, to Significantly Accelerate Its Digital Solutions Strategy with Acquisition of Triyam, an Innovative Data and Software Business

Information management services company Access acquires healthcare data conversion, migration, and archiving vendor Triyam.

Divurgent Announces Formal Expansion into the Canadian Healthcare Market

Virginia Beach-based healthcare technology consulting firm Divurgent announces its expansion into Canada.

R1 RCM Forms Special Committee to Evaluate Strategic Alternatives

R1 forms an advisory committee to consider the acquisition offer made by majority shareholder New Mountain Capital, a deal that would value the technology and services company at $5.8 billion.

Morning Headlines 3/11/24

UnitedHealth Group Update on Change Healthcare Cyberattack

UnitedHealth Group hopes to restore Change Healthcare’s electronic payments systems by March 15 and its medical claims platform the week of March 18.

MPath Health Raises $1.1 Million to Improve Cancer Screening and Save Lives

MPath, an automated cancer screening technology startup that got its start at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, announces $1.1 million in new funding.

Emory Healthcare transforms clinician access to health records with Epic and MacBook Air

Emory Healthcare goes live on Epic on MacBook Air via Epic’s just-announced native Hyperspace app that is available in the Mac App Store.

VA, DoD launch new EHR at joint site — a major milestone for each agency’s rollout

DoD goes live on Oracle Health in the Lovell FHCC that it operates in conjunction with the VA.

Morning Headlines 3/8/24

First round bids collected for Netsmart, sources say

The private equity owners of Netsmart are reportedly reviewing first-round bids for the company that could value it at $5 billion.

Patients struggle to get lifesaving medication after cyberattack on a major health care company

The Change Healthcare hack is preventing pharmacists from processing manufacturer co-pay assistance cards and prescription discount cards.

PreemptiveAI Emerges From Stealth With a Groundbreaking Biomedical Foundation Model For Health Prediction

Seattle-based health prediction and monitoring startup PreemptiveAI launches with $6.4 million in funding.

Morning Headlines 3/7/24

Healthy Together Acquires Kinsa Health To Build AI Illness Forecasting & Expand Into New Markets

Health and human services software vendor Healthy Together acquires Kinsa Health, which offers AI-powered epidemiological prediction models using consumer smart thermometers as well as healthcare demand forecasting.

BrainCheck Secures $15 Million to Fuel Expansion and Adoption of its Next Generation Digital Cognitive Assessment and Care Planning Platform

Cognitive health technology company BrainCheck announces $15 million in new funding.

Carenet Health Acquiring Health Dialog, Enhancing Clinical Team and Advancing Insights-driven Platform Dedicated to the Business of Healthcare

Healthcare consumer engagement company Carenet Health acquires the majority of population health management business Health Dialog from Rite Aid, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last October.

Limbic nets $14M for AI mental health triage

Limbic AI, which offers mental health triage and support tools, raises $14 million in a Series A funding round.

Morning Headlines 3/6/24

‘Exit scam’ – hackers that hit UnitedHealth pull disappearing act

The BlackCat ransomware group appears to have shut down its infrastructure, leading some cybersecurity experts to predict that the hackers will begin operating under a new name.

HHS Statement Regarding the Cyberattack on Change Healthcare

HHS says that it has made clear that Change Healthcare owner UnitedHealth Group needs to do everything it can to ensure provider continuity of operations, and that it “is taking direct action” to support providers who are experiencing cash flow problems as a result of the downtime.

Whistleblower Accuses Aledade, Largest US Independent Primary Care Network, of Medicare Fraud

A whistleblower lawsuit accuses primary care practice network Aledade of rigging its coding software to overbill Medicare by inflating diagnoses to earn higher payments.

VA budget bill maintains EHR funding but imposes additional ‘reset’ oversight

Lawmakers propose a fiscal year 2024 budget package that includes $1.3 billion for the VA’s continued rollout of its Oracle Health EHR, with a contingency that 25% of that funding be tied to transparency with Congress about efforts to address ongoing performance issues.

Morning Headlines 3/5/24

Hackers Behind the Change Healthcare Ransomware Attack Just Received a $22 Million Payment

Cybersecurity analysts surmise from underground forum chatter and evidence of a Bitcoin deposit that Change Healthcare may have paid a $22 million ransom to the BlackCat ransomware group on March 1.

Direct Recruiters, Inc. and INNOVA People Merge to Launch Healthcare and Tech Staffing Divisions

Starfish Partners companies Direct Recruiters and Innova People will merge their healthcare and technology staffing divisions to create Innova Healthcare and Innova Tech staffing practices.

Cybersecurity Matter

Lurie Children’s Hospital (IL) announces that it has restored its Epic EHR and other key systems after a January 31 ransomware attack forced them offline.

Kaiser to Lay Off Dozens of Bay Area Employees

Kaiser Foundation Hospitals will lay off several dozen IT workers in California’s Bay Area.

Morning Headlines 3/4/24

Change Healthcare cyberattack outage could persist for weeks, UnitedHealth Group executive suggests

Change Healthcare executives hint that the company’s ransomware-crippled data exchange systems could remain down for weeks, as the financial and operational impact on provides ripples throughout the industry.

WebMD Health Corp. Acquires Healthwise, Incorporated’s Operating Assets, Building on Leadership in Member and Patient Engagement Solutions

WebMD acquires the assets of Healthwise, the non-profit provider of patient educational resources.

State is taking an ‘important step’ for planned EHR, as key lawmaker moves to speed it up

The State Department’s Bureau of Medical Services is, after a 10-year delay, finally working towards digitizing its paper-based medical record-keeping system.

Larry Ellison’s Cancer Software Startup Project Ronin Is Closing

Project Ronin – which offered oncologists and their patients a platform to plan, personalize, and manage their care journey – shuts down after running out of money due to sales challenges.