Morning Headlines 11/23/23

Tri-City Medical Center resumes nearly full operations after cybersecurity attack

Tri-City Medical Center (CA) resumes normal operations after a ransomware attack November 9 forced it to downtime procedures.

Company operating Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital files for bankruptcy

In Texas, Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital operating company Lion Star files for bankruptcy with debts of $10 million to $50 million owed to between 200 and 1,000 vendors, including $1 million owed to an EHR vendor.

Queensland Health fixes ieMR system crash after staff unable to login for hours

Queensland Health resolves an EHR log-in issue that had prevented users at its 24 facilities from accessing the Oracle Health system for several hours.

Morning Headlines 11/22/23

Patient privacy fears as US spy tech firm Palantir wins £330m NHS contract

NHS England awards a consortium that includes Palantir and Accenture a five-year, $415 million contract to develop and operate the Federated Data Platform data-sharing platform across NHS trusts and care sites.

TCS Q3 to take $125 million hit on Epic Systems Corporation legal woes

Tata Consultancy Services will pay $140 million in punitive damages to Epic related to a 2014 case in which Epic accused TCS of downloading confidential material from UserWeb by having its employees pretend to be Epic customer consultants.

McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics researchers awarded $31M in grants for medical artificial intelligence innovation research

Fifteen faculty members of UTHealth’s bioinformatics school are awarded $31 million in grants, $19 million of which came from NIH’s National Institute on Aging.

Morning Headlines 11/21/23

Medmo Raises $9M in Funding

Medical imaging technology company Medmo, which matches patients with partner imaging centers, raises $9 million.

Reed Jobs’ Yosemite makes first digital health bet on Maia Oncology

Maia Oncology, a virtual primary care clinic for cancer patients, raises $4.25 million in seed funding.

AstraZeneca launches Evinova, a health-tech business to accelerate innovation across the life sciences sector, the delivery of clinical trials and better health outcomes

AstraZeneca’s new stand-alone Evinova business will develop and market digital products in the areas of clinical trials, remote patient monitoring, and digital therapeutics.

Morning Headlines 11/20/23

Over 80 St. Louis NextGen Healthcare workers to be laid off

NextGen Healthcare files WARN documents indicating that it will lay off 84 employees in St.Louis in the first months of next year.

Novant Health to acquire three hospitals from Tenet Healthcare

Novant Health (NC) will acquire three South Carolina-based hospitals from Tenet Healthcare in a $2.4 billion deal that includes RCM services from Tenet subsidiary Conifer Health Solutions.

Aya Healthcare Acquires Winnow AI, a Data Science Driven Platform to Recruit Passive Physicians

Digital staffing platform vendor Aya Healthcare acquires Winnow AI, which identifies physicians who are open to new positions and relocation who match open roles.

GTCR to Acquire Cloudbreak Health

Private equity firm GTCR will acquire telehealth language interpretation services company Cloudbreak Health from UpHealth for $180 million.

Morning Headlines 11/17/23

VA still has ‘significant concerns’ as Oracle works to get EHR modernization back on track

VA CIO Kurt DelBene tells a House committee that despite improvements, he has “significant concerns” about Oracle Health related to new incidents, failing to meet standards, end user responsiveness, and workflow.

AAPC Expands Its Technology Solutions Portfolio with the Acquisition of Semantic Health

RCM organization AAPC acquires Semantic Health, a Toronto-based startup specializing in AI-powered coding and auditing software.

3M Healthcare Spinoff Gets a Name: Solventum

The healthcare business that 3M will spin off in the first half of 2024 will be named Solventum.

Morning Headlines 11/16/23

Forward Raises $100M and Announces Forward CarePod

Primary care provider Forward Health announces CarePod, a self-contained, unstaffed “doctor in a box” that is available to members who pay $99 per month to access AI-powered apps that perform screening and create care plans.

UnitedHealthcare’s broken AI denied seniors’ medical claims, lawsuit alleges

The estates of two deceased men sue UnitedHealth Group, claiming that the company uses an algorithm to override physician assessments in denying care to its Medicare Advantage enrollees.

Aranscia Acquires YouScript from Invitae

Precision diagnostics vendor Aranscia acquires select assets of the YouScript personalized medication management platform from digital medical genetics company Invitae.

Health Disinformation Use Case Highlighting the Urgent Need for Artificial Intelligence Vigilance

Researchers find that ChatGPT can rapidly and effortlessly create medical disinformation blog posts about vaccines and vaping, including impressive but fake patient and clinician testimonials and literature citations.

Morning Headlines 11/15/23

Henry Schein Reports Third-Quarter 2023 Financial Results and Updates Full-Year Guidance

The medical supply vendor misses estimates for both revenue and earnings and lowers guidance even though the quarter was over before its October cyberattack.

UnitedHealth pushed employees to follow an algorithm to cut off Medicare patients’ rehab care

The company reportedly threatened to fire employees who failed to hit targets to limit the rehab care of Medicare Advantage patients to an algorithm-predicted appropriate number of days.

The Next WebMD: An LLM as Your Front Door to Healthcare

A16Z predicts that the model of Googling symptoms and then asking a medical friend or relative could be replaced by AI chatbots that could refer people to a marketplace of services offered for sale, giving the LLM company control of revenue streams worth billions.

AristaMD and Sitka Form Single Company, Secure Series C of $16.5M for the Expansion of Specialty Care Access via Electronic and Video Consultation Services

EConsult and referral management solution provider AristaMD acquires Sitka, which offers a platform for primary care providers to request video consultations from specialists.

Morning Headlines 11/14/23

Governor Hochul Announces Proposed Cybersecurity Regulations for Hospitals Throughout New York State

New York State will require hospitals to establish a cybersecurity program, implement protective measures, assign a chief information security officer role, and implement two-factor authentication for external access, with the plan including $500 million in available grants to help fund compliance.

Dutch hospital uses AI to answer patients’ questions

Groningen University’s teaching hospital UMCG rolls out chatbot to help answer patient questions, which scans their records and providers a clinician-reviewed response in what the hospital says is the first such use in Europe.

How Generative AI Could Help Us Predict the Next Pandemic

Harvard researchers develop an AI tool that can predict the emergence of concerning variants of COVID-19 and other viruses.

A majority of Americans are optimistic that AI will improve healthcare in 2024

A survey of randomly sampled Americans find that half expect AI to create major advancements in healthcare next year, especially in diagnosis and access, although few of them would prefer to work with a doctor who uses AI extensively.

Morning Headlines 11/13/23

Thoma Bravo Completes Acquisition of NextGen Healthcare

The private equity firm takes NextGen Healthcare private in closing its $1.8 billion acquisition.

Doximity Announces Fiscal 2024 Second Quarter Financial Results

The medical professional network beats expectations for revenue and earnings.

MUHC clinical platform crashes, patient appointments cancelled

A software update takes down the Oacis clinical platform of McGill University Health Centre. 

Cano Health Announces Financial Results for the Third Quarter 2023

A $92 per share loss by the value-based primary care company raises questions about its ability to remain in business.

Morning Headlines 11/10/23

IHS Selects New Enterprise Electronic Health Record System

Indian Health Service chooses General Dynamics Information Technology and Oracle Health for its new EHR, which will replace its VistA-based RPMS.

Attorney General James Secures $450,000 from Medical Company Providing Services in Western New York for Failing to Protect Patient Data

US Radiology pays $450,000 to settle New York State charges that outdated computer hardware allowed a ransomware attack that exposed the information of 92,000 state residents.

Elucid Raises $80 Million in Series C Round Led by Elevage Medical Technologies

AI-powered imaging analysis software company Elucid announces $80 million in Series C funding, bringing its total raised to $121 million.

Morning Headlines 11/9/23

Behavioral Health AI Leader Eleos Health Raises $40M Series B Round to Expand CareOps Automation Footprint

Eleos Health, which offers behavioral healthcare providers AI-powered clinical documentation and insights software, raises $40 million in a Series B funding round.

Health AI startup Cercle debuts with backing from Sheryl Sandberg

Former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg and other high-profile investors launch Cercle, which uses AI to support women’s health and organizes unstructured medical data into a standard format to help clinicians develop personalized treatment plans.

Sauk Prairie Healthcare is the latest company hit with cyber attack

Sauk Prairie Healthcare (WI) restores its computer systems after a cyberattack last week forced it to initiate downtime procedures and reschedule appointments.

Therapy iQ Secures $1.5 Million in Seed Funding to Revolutionize Mental Health Practice Management

Mental health practice management startup Therapy IQ raises $1.5 million in seed funding.

Morning Headlines 11/8/23

Bain to Buy Guidehouse in $5 Billion Deal

Bain Capital will acquire healthcare consulting firm Guidehouse from Veritas Capital for $5.3 billion.

Kythera Labs Announces $20 Million Funding to Accelerate Growth of its Wayfinder Data Technology Platform

Healthcare data insights company Kythera Labs raises $20 million in a Series A funding round.

23andMe data theft prompts DNA testing companies to switch on 2FA by default

The recent theft of 23andMe customer data prompts the company and several competitors to begin requiring customers to use two-factor authentication when signing into accounts.

Morning Headlines 11/7/23

Surescripts Acquires ActiveRADAR to Offer Therapeutic Alternatives for Prescriptions

Surescripts acquires ActiveRadar and its Clinical Catalogue of therapeutic alternatives data.

Health Catalyst Acquires ERS, Bolsters Tech-Enabled Managed Services Offering with Data Abstraction and Oncology Registry Management Capabilities

Health Catalyst acquires Electronic Registry Systems, which specializes in cancer registry services and software.

CareCloud Reports Third Quarter 2023 Results

CareCloud expects layoffs, set to wrap up by the end of the year, to help offset a 13% decline in Q3 revenue.

Morning Headlines 11/6/23

Cyber gang threatens to release Henry Schein data in ransomware attack

Ransomware hackers claim to have taken Henry Schein down again, two weeks after the medical supply distributor’s systems went offline from a similar attack that it reported on October 15.

Avail Medsystems abruptly shuts down

Avail Medsystems, which offers technology that virtually connects medical device reps with operating rooms, shuts down after reportedly failing to secure a needed funding round.

Blackbird invests in Carepatron’s ‘radically accessible’ healthcare management platform

Healthcare operating system startup Carepatron raises $4 million in seed funding, which it will use to develop AI and automation features.

Morning Headlines 11/3/23

Lawsuit Challenges Federal Rule That Ties Providers Hands in Efforts to Reach Their Communities

The American Hospital Association, Texas Hospital Association, Texas Health Resources, and United Regional Health Care System sue the federal government over an HHS rule that prohibits health systems from using web user tracking tools such as Meta Pixel and Google Analytics.

Covera Health Announces Up to $50M in Additional Series C Funding to Redefine the Role of Radiology Nationwide

AI-enabled radiology performance measurement software vendor Covera Health raises up to $50 million in a Series C funding round and finalizes its acquisition of CoRead, a hospital AI quality assurance company.

Patient data published following cyberattack against southwestern Ontario hospitals

Five hospitals in Ontario confirm that patient data that was stolen in a recent ransomware attack against their self-created shared services organization has been published online.

Morning Headlines 11/2/23

AdaptX raises $10M to expand its AI-driven medical data analysis for healthcare providers

AdaptX, which offers AI-powered EHR analytics tools, raises $10 million in funding.

Tabula Rasa HealthCare Stockholders Approve Acquisition by Nautic Partners

Private equity firm Nautic Partners acquires pharmacy services and medication management vendor Tabula Rasa HealthCare and will merge it with its ExactCare Pharmacy business.

Waystar delays US IPO to ride out market volatility

Sources report that Waystar will delay its IPO until early next year.

VA to launch artificial intelligence contest to help health care staff

The VA will launch an AI Tech Sprint competition with $1 million in prizes to discover AI-powered solutions for healthcare worker burnout.

Morning Headlines 11/1/23

Olive announces sale to Waystar and Humata Health

Healthcare robotic process automation vendor Olive AI shuts down after selling its clearinghouse and patient access assets to Waystar and its prior authorization line to Humata Health.

A Surging Epidemic: Metabolic Disease Rates Soar in Middle America – PreventScripts Secures $1.5 Million Funding to Arm Physicians with New Tools

Automated preventive health software startup PreventScripts raises $1.5 million in funding.

Patient Engagement Pioneer Rx.Health Joins Commure

Commure acquires Mount Sinai spinoff Rx.Health and will integrate the company’s care coordination software with its Commure Engage automated care coordination technology.

IKS Health Purchases AQuity Solutions to Create the Most Comprehensive Provider of Administrative, Clinical and Financial Services for Healthcare Organizations in the U.S.

Ambulatory-focused health IT vendor IKS Health acquires AQuity, which offers acute care organizations clinical documentation, coding, and RCM software and services, for $200 million.