Morning Headlines 11/22/19

Modernize public health surveillance to ease doctors’ reporting burden

The American Medical Association adopts a policy that calls for increased state and local funding to modernize public health IT systems.

VA insists it’s ready for initial EHR deployment at first go-live site in March

The Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane, WA is hiring 108 more employees to cover anticipated productivity losses during its Cerner go-live on March 28.

Tools to help healthcare providers deliver better care

Google Health lead David Feinberg, MD attempts to clarify the company’s HIPAA-compliant work with Ascension, pointing out that the health system is piloting an interface concept he first mentioned at the HLTH Conference last month.

Morning Headlines 11/21/19

XSOLIS Announces Acquisition of MEDarchon

Nashville-based predictive analytics company Xsolis acquires Medarchon, a messaging and analytics business also based in Nashville, for an undisclosed sum.

Kaiser Permanente’s new medical school to be named after late CEO Bernard Tyson

Kaiser Permanente will name its new medical school, scheduled to open next summer, after late CEO Bernard Tyson.

Mount Sinai Announces Expanded Capability in Medical Research

Mount Sinai Health System (NY) will use a $2 million grant from HHS to double the computing capabilities and speed of its BODE supercomputer, giving researchers enhanced infrastructure for faster results.

Morning Headlines 11/20/19

AMA adopts new policies during first day of voting at Interim Meeting

The American Medical Association adopts a policy that calls for EHRs to be able to collect the preferred name and clinically relevant, sex-specific anatomy of transgender patients.

Kareo Sells Managed Billing Services Business

Health Prime International acquires EHR and practice management vendor Kareo’s RCM services business.

Senator: ‘No Apologies’ For Deal’s Wasted $7m

Government officials in the Bahamas scramble to undo the damage done by an $18 million contract signed with Allscripts in 2016 that has yet to result in any software installations.

Governor Cooper Announces 400 New Jobs in Chapel Hill for Healthcare Technology Operations Center

A week after announcing a $25 million funding round, employee healthcare engagement company Well announces it will bring 400 jobs to a new operations center in Chapel Hill, NC.

Morning Headlines 11/19/19

Feds charge 3 former Outcome Health staffers

The US Attorney’s office in Chicago charges three former Outcome Health employees with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, all of which are related to a scheme to defraud customers and investors first uncovered in 2017.

Configo Health Launches with Investment from Texas Children’s Hospital and Children’s National Hospital

Pediatric data and analytics company Configo Health launches with an investment from Texas Children’s Hospital and Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC.

Deloitte Launches ConvergeHEALTH Connect at Dreamforce 2019

Deloitte announces ConvergeHealth, a set of Salesforce-powered engagement products tailored to patients, providers, public health officials, and payers.

CascadeMD Announces Next Generation of Medical AI-Driven Speech-to-Text Solution

Plantation, FL-based CascadeMD debuts with AI-powered, voice-dictation software that populates a patient’s EHR.

Morning Headlines 11/18/19

Trump Administration Announces Historic Price Transparency Requirements to Increase Competition and Lower Healthcare Costs for All Americans

HHS expands its previous plan to require hospitals to publicly post all of their payer-negotiated charges by also requiring insurers to do the same.

Relatient Secures Growth Capital with New Majority Investor Brighton Park Capital

Brighton Park Capital acquires a majority stake in patient engagement platform vendor Relatient and appoints former Siemens USA President Eric Spiegel as the company’s board chair.

Amazon adds new ‘Amazon Pharmacy’ branding to PillPack and promotes its CEO

PillPack CEO TJ Parker becomes an Amazon VP as the company rebrands the online pharmacy it acquired in June 2018.

Former Employee Of Hospital Charged With Compromising Dozens Of Coworkers’ Email Accounts And Stealing Their Confidential Information

The FBI arrests a former IT employee of an unnamed New York City hospital, charging him with installing a keylogger program on dozens of employee PCs to capture their email login credentials so he could steal their photos and tax records.

Morning Headlines 11/15/19

Tyto Care Launches TytoHome Nationwide at Best Buy Stores

Best Buy ups its digital health offerings with the addition of TytoCare’s at-home telemedicine exam device and companion app.

AWS Announces AWS Data Exchange

Amazon Web Services launches AWS Data Exchange, giving users the ability to find, subscribe to, and use third-party data in the cloud.

Ontario Expanding Digital and Virtual Health Care

Ontario health officials announce a Digital First for Health strategy that will give patients the ability to book appointments online, access their medical records, and take advantage of more telemedicine services within the next three to four years.

ECRI Institute and Institute for Safe Medication Practices Join Forces to Enhance Patient Safety

Patient safety groups ECRI Institute and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices will merge, with ISMP becoming an ECRI Institute subsidiary.

Yale study links electronic health record systems to physician burnout, medical errors

The American Medical Association co-sponsors a study that finds that perceived EHR usability is poor and contributes to physician burnout.

Morning Headlines 11/14/19

HHS to probe whether Google’s ‘Project Nightingale’ followed federal privacy law

The HHS Office for Civil Rights will look into the HIPAA compliance of Google’s data-gathering arrangement with Ascension.

Indiana HIEs Unify to Better Meet the Needs of the State’s Healthcare Community

The Michiana Health Information Network, Indiana Health Information Exchange, and HealthLinc will merge operations in January.

Steve Malik sells Cary firm Medfusion to California firm for $43M

NextGen will acquire patient intake, scheduling, and payment software company Medfusion for $43 million.

Morning Headlines 11/13/19

Cerner lays off 131, but its hiring tops 4,000 in 2019

Cerner lays off 131 employees in a second round of cost-cutting in nearly as many months.

Apervita Secures $22 Million Investment to Fuel Future Growth

Value-based care clinical quality platform vendor Apervita raises $22 million from an incremental investment.

Premier Inc. Forms Contigo Health™ to Help Health Systems and Employers Work Better, Together

Premier launches Contigo Health, a network of member health systems that will use EHR-integrated, evidence-based clinical decision support to optimize care for the employees of its employer members.

UST Global Acquires Contineo Health, a Leading Healthcare Technology Consulting Firm Specializing in EHR Optimization

IT solutions company UST Global acquires EHR optimization vendor Contineo Health to strengthen its appeal to providers and payers.

Health Catalyst Reports Third Quarter 2019 Results

Health Catalyst reports Q3 results: revenue up 20%, with full-year revenue expected to be between $151 million and $154 million.

Morning Headlines 11/12/19

Our partnership with Ascension

Google clarifies its HIPAA-compliant work with multi-state Ascension after multiple media outlets report that its employees have questionable access to millions of medical records through a secret data-sharing project dubbed “Project Nightingale.”

KKR Makes Formal Approach to Walgreens Boots on Record Buyout

Walgreens shares rise on the news that New York City-based private equity firm KKR has submitted a proposal to take the company private.

Healthcare Leader Jon Zimmerman Named CEO at Holon Solutions

Former Virence Health President Jon Zimmerman joins Holon Solutions as CEO.

Access Physicians Receives Investment to Expand National Acute Care Delivery via Telemedicine

Acute care-focused telemedicine vendor Access Physicians raises $9.3 million in a Series A funding round.

Morning Headlines 11/11/19

Kaiser Permanente CEO Bernard Tyson dies at 60

Kaiser Permanente Chairman and CEO Bernard Tyson died unexpectedly Sunday of unspecified causes. He was 60 years old.

Intelerad, Novacap-backed medical imaging software maker, heads to first rounds

Canada-based Intelerad Medical Systems is reportedly seeking a buyer.

U of Chicago wants hospital dismissed from class action accusing it of sharing patient data with Google

University of Chicago wants its medical center dismissed from a class action lawsuit that accuses it of sharing patient information with Google in an agreement that the plaintiff says violates his HIPAA rights.

Sony Scrubs In to Help Operating Room Devices Talk to Each Other

Sony expects to earn FDA clearance next month for Nucleus, an OR integration tool it acquired in 2016 that is sold outside the US.

Morning Headlines 11/8/19

Most patients with access to electronic medical records not using it

Just one in 10 discharged patients go online to access their medical information, according to a study that looked at data from 2,410 hospitals over a two-year period.

American Well® Acquires Aligned Telehealth to Expand Behavioral Health Virtual Care

American Well acquires behavioral telehealth and telepsychiatry service provider Aligned Telehealth.

Elizabeth Holmes dodges questions about unpaid legal bills as charges fly over case documents

Lawyers for Elizabeth Holmes contend in a hearing that the FDA destroyed emails that are vital to her defense.

Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services integrates Great Lakes Health Connect

Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services and Great Lakes Health Connect will combine their HIE operations by the end of the year.

Morning Headlines 11/7/19

Compugroup shortlisted in Agfa Gevaert unit sale: sources

Reuters reports that Compugroup Medical is one of two top bidders for Agfa’s health IT business.

Health Records on iPhone now available to veterans across the US

Nearly a year after announcing the project, the VA gives veterans access to their medical records via Apple’s Health Records app.

HCAP Partners Announces New Investment in TCS Healthcare Technologies

Private equity firm HCAP Partners makes an undisclosed investment in managed care software vendor TCS Healthcare Technologies.

Morning Headlines 11/6/19

Medical E-Records Provider Scores $19.5M IP Verdict in Miami

A federal jury orders behavioral EHR vendor ZenCharts to pay rehab EHR provider Kipu Systems $19.5 million in damages for stealing its trade secrets.

800 jobs may be headed back to Wake Forest Baptist. Hospital to bring billing services in house, rehire employees

NThrive will eliminate 839 jobs in central North Carolina following Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center’s decision to bring registration and billing back in house after signing a seven-year outsourcing deal with the vendor in 2017.

Failure to Encrypt Mobile Devices Leads to $3 Million HIPAA Settlement

University of Rochester Medical Center (NY) will pay $3 million to settle OCR charges resulting from the 2013 loss of an unencrypted flash drive and the 2017 theft of an unencrypted laptop.

Healthify Raises $16 Million to Integrate Health and Social Services

Social services coordination software vendor Healthify raises $16 million in a Series B round led by SV Health Investors.

Walgreens explores going private in what could be largest LBO in history

Walgreens is reportedly talking to some of the world’s largest private equity firms about taking the company private in a leveraged buyout.

Morning Headlines 11/5/19

Allscripts Announces Third Quarter 2019 Results

Allscripts reports Q3 results: revenue up 3%, with adjusted EPS of $0.17.

JPMorgan Tests Its Amazon-Berkshire Health Venture on Bank Employees

JPMorgan and Amazon will offer employees in select states access to deductible-free health plans administered by their Haven healthcare business.

Google Health is finally opening up about its plans, and they’re all about search

Google Health VP David Feinberg says the company hopes to develop a search bar that will assist doctors in pulling relevant content from their EHRs, as well as to improve healthcare search results for consumers.

Morning Headlines 11/4/19

Trump Administration Delays Rule Forcing Hospital-Cost Transparency

CMS delays a requirement that Medicare-accepting hospitals share their secretly negotiated insurance rates in machine-readable format and online.

Fitbit to Be Acquired by Google

Google will acquire Fitbit for $2.1 billion in cash, saying it will bring together the best hardware, software, and AI to build wearables.

The Brooklyn Hospital Center Notice of Data Security Incident

The Brooklyn Hospital (NY) says it discovered ransomware in its systems in July 2019 and found that in September 2019 some of its patient data cannot be recovered.

DAS Health Acquires Automated Medical Systems

Health IT reseller DAS Health acquires competitor Automated Medical Systems.

Morning Headlines 11/1/19

UnitedHealth, an insurance giant, just scooped up patient monitoring start-up Vivify Health

Optum acquires remote patient monitoring startup Vivify Health.

Exclusive: ‘Inappropriate’ email reveals Queensland Health’s ploy to avoid political scrutiny of hospital IT outages

Australian media outlets report that senior Queensland Health officials ordered staff at the region’s hospitals to avoid performing upgrades to digital systems – including Cerner’s problematic IEMR software – while parliament is in session so as to avoid embarrassing scrutiny from politicians.

Audacious Inquiry and The Sequoia Project Announce National Collaboration to Support States in Disaster Response Through the Patient Unified Lookup System for Emergencies (PULSE)

Audacious Inquiry will work with The Sequoia Project to expand availability of the Patient Unified Lookup System for Emergencies (PULSE) during disaster response efforts.

WMH announces 35 layoffs, reduction of services

Williamson Memorial Hospital in rural West Virginia attributes layoffs and the closure of several clinics to extreme delays in collections and an absence of cash flow stemming from its Meditech implementation several months ago.

Morning Headlines 10/31/19

Surescripts hit with another e-prescribing monopoly lawsuit

Falconer Pharmacy in New York files a class-action lawsuit against Surescripts, alleging that the company, along with co-conspirators McKesson and Allscripts, has forced the pharmacy to use its e-prescribing network to avoid higher rates as a “non-loyal customer.”

Premier Inc. Acquires Medpricer to Optimize Savings in Purchased Services

Group purchasing organization and consulting firm Premier Inc. acquires Medpricer, a developer of purchased services management technology, for $35 million.

Parthenon invests in MRO

Private equity firm Parthenon acquires an ownership stake in release-of-information vendor MRO.

Huron Announces Partnership with Medically Home Group, Inc.

Huron joins virtual hospital company Medically Home Group’s Series B round of funding, and becomes the exclusive implementation partner for its hospital-to-home care services.

Outcome Health Reaches Favorable Resolution with the DOJ Related to Past Misconduct by Former Employees

Digital patient education tech vendor Outcome Health avoids prosecution by the DoJ for the past misconduct of former employees by agreeing to pay $70 million in restitution to customers.