Morning Headlines 12/14/22

‘Out of control’: Dozens of telehealth startups sent sensitive health information to big tech companies

An analysis of 50 direct-to-consumer telehealth sites finds that 35 share personal information with big tech advertising platforms, and 13 send answers to potentially sensitive user questionnaires.

Cyberattack Hits Brooklyn Hospitals That Serve Poor New Yorkers

One Brooklyn Health continues to bring systems back online at its three hospitals after a November 19 cybersecurity incident.

CorroHealth and Versalus Health Join Forces to Bring More Solutions to Hospitals

CorroHealth, parent brand of TrustHCS, T-System, Visionary RCM, and RevCycle+, acquires healthcare analytics and physician advisory services company Versalus Health.

Morning Headlines 12/13/22

Oracle Sales Top Estimates on Growth at Cerner Health-Records Unit

Cerner’s $1.5 billion in quarterly sales help parent company Oracle’s sales jump 18% to $12.3 billion.

Commons Clinic clinches $11M for specialty care

Commons Clinic, which is building out a network of specialty physician practices that will offer integrated virtual care programs, raises $11 million in seed funding.

Semler Announces Investment in Monarch Medical Technologies

Semler Scientific will invest up to $5 million in digital diabetes management company Monarch Medical Technologies.

Morning Headlines 12/12/22

Epic Launches Connection Hub: Open to All Developers

Epic announces that it will shut down its App Market until sometime next year, and that it will launch Connection Hub on January 9, enabling software vendors that connect to Epic to list their apps and self-report the successful exchange of data.

VA will use Silicon Valley hiring spree to bring fresh talent into EHR program, CIO DelBene says

The VA plans to hire 1,000 new employees to work on its Oracle Cerner implementation as it recruits from Silicon Valley.

Juno Medical Raises $12M Series A Led by Next Ventures and Serena Ventures; Funding Will Fuel Juno’s National Expansion

Tech-enabled healthcare provider Juno Medical raises $12 million in a Series A round, enabling it to expand into Atlanta, Tulsa, and Los Angeles.

Morning Headlines 12/9/22

CompuGroup Medical confirms market-leading position with strategic acquisition of Medicus LIS

CompuGroup Medical acquires Medicus, adding a fourth laboratory information system to its roster that includes Labdaq, Schuylab, and AP Easy.

Sonde Health Raises $19.25 Million Series B to Build the Next Generation of Voice-Based Health Monitoring

Voice-based health monitoring company Sonde Health raises $19 million in a Series B round, bringing its total raised to $35 million.

CereCore expands healthcare technology services into the UK

CereCore expands its health IT services to the United Kingdom.

SaVia Health Raises $8.5M in Seed Funding

SaVia Health, which offers software that converts paper-based care pathway information into EHR-friendly clinical decision support content, raises $8.5 million.

Morning Headlines 12/8/22

Apple scores victory in dispute over heart monitoring technologies in Apple Watch

AliveCor will appeal a patent court ruling that has found three of its patents covering heart monitoring technologies for wearable devices are unpatentable, negating its allegation that Apple copied those technologies for use in the Apple Watch.

Theranos exec Sunny Balwani sentenced to 13 years in prison for defrauding patients and investors

Former Theranos COO Sunny Balwani is sentenced to 13 years in prison after being found guilty of 12 charges related to defrauding investors and patients and conspiracy to commit fraud.

Blaze Advisors Rebrands as Alera Health

Population health management consulting firm Blaze Advisors rebrands to Alera Health.

ACM medical clinic closed in Clarksville as employees go without pay, lose access to records

Advance Care Medical employees in Clarksville, TN close the clinic after corporate owner Healthcare Solutions Management Group stopped paying them – and the bill for the clinic’s EHR – on October 1.

Morning Headlines 12/7/22

Carle Health Partners with Health Catalyst to Achieve Data-Informed Improvement

Carle Health (IL) will transition its Clinical and Business Intelligence team to employment with Health Catalyst, which will continue to provide it with analytical support through 2028.

Amazon to End Support Next Week for Third Party Healthcare Alexa Skills with HIPAA Requirements

Citing ongoing evaluation of its offerings and less than a month out from layoffs within its Alexa division, Amazon tells third-party developers that it will stop supporting Alexa 3P HIPAA-eligible skills on December 9.

CMS Proposes Rule to Expand Access to Health Information and Improve the Prior Authorization Process

CMS publishes a proposed rule that would require some payers to implement digital prior authorization processes, shorten the time frame to reply to PA requests, and establish payer-to-payer data exchange, among several other requirements.

Morning Headlines 12/6/22

Rhythm Management Group Announces Acquisition of Equis Consulting Group

Remote patient monitoring consulting and management company Rhythm Management Group acquires competitor Equis Consulting Group.

Medication Intelligence Leader Kit Check Rebrands as Bluesight

Medication supply chain software vendor Kit Check changes its name to Bluesight.

UCSF is First to Integrate Records Across Medical and Dental

University of California San Francisco Health and UCSF Dentistry announce they have become the first academic health system in the West to merge medical and dental records into one EHR.

Morning Headlines 12/5/22

National 988 mental health hotline back up after outage

The FCC and HHS will investigate the cause of the daylong outage of the national mental health emergency phone hotline, which is managed by emergency communications software vendor Intrado.

Telehealth department dissolving, Marshfield Clinic Health System facing financial difficulties

Citing financial reasons – some of which stem from the expense of its new EHR, Marshfield Clinic Health System (WI) lays off 18 employees as its closes down its telehealth service.

Hackers dump more customer data from Australian insurer Medibank

Hackers release onto the dark web what they say is the entirety of Medibank patient data stolen in an early November ransomware attack.

Morning Headlines 12/2/22

Carenet Health Acquires Stericycle Communication Solutions, Creating Industry’s Most Comprehensive Healthcare Consumer Engagement Company

Patient engagement vendor Carenet Health acquires competitor Stericycle’s Communications Solutions business.

UpStream Raises $140 Million Series B Round to Scale Value-Based Care Model Nationwide

Tech-enabled primary care services company UpStream Healthcare raises $140 million in a Series B round, bringing its total raised to $185 million.

Widespread outage shuts down 988 mental health hotline

Communications technology company Intrado works to restore service that powers the national 9-8-8 mental health hotline.

Morning Headlines 12/1/22

NextGen Healthcare Announces Agreement to Acquire TSI Healthcare

NextGen Healthcare acquires practice-focused health IT reseller TSI Healthcare for $68 million.

Therapy Brands Acquires New Hampshire-Based The Echo Group

Therapy Brands acquires The Echo Group, a behavioral health EHR vendor based in New Hampshire.

Automatic roll-out of Citizen Access to GP records halted at eleventh hour

Citing patient safety concerns and a lack of preparedness, NHS England halts plans to give patients access to their medical records via the NHS app.

Morning Headlines 11/30/22

Athenahealth CEO looks to take Watertown health IT company public, for a second time

Athenahealth CEO Bob Segert is preparing to take the company public for a second time.

Talkspace – value destruction created by greed for a big and quick exit

Virtual mental therapy provider Talkspace is reportedly in talks to be acquired by Amwell for $200 million in shares.

Medical Informatics Corp. Raises $27 Million in Financing to Help Hospitals Manage Staff Shortages and Create New Standard of Data-driven Care

Virtual care and analytics vendor Medical Informatics secures $27 million in financing, bringing its total funding to $39 million.

Canon strengthens medical business with establishment of Canon Healthcare USA Inc.

Canon launches Canon Healthcare USA, hoping to strengthen its business in imaging diagnostics, health IT, and in vitro diagnostics.

Morning Headlines 11/29/22

CloudWave Expands Its Healthcare Cybersecurity Portfolio with the Acquisition of Sensato Cybersecurity; Appoints John Gomez as Chief Security and Engineering Officer

Healthcare data security company CloudWave acquires competitor Sensato for an undisclosed sum.

CentralReach Joins Bell Works in ‘Office of the Future’

Behavioral health EHR vendor CentralReach expands with the opening of a 25,000 square-foot collaborative work space in the Bell Works development in Holmdel, NJ.

HHS Proposes New Protections to Increase Care Coordination and Confidentiality for Patients With Substance Use Challenges

HHS seeks feedback on a proposed rule concerning the confidentiality of substance use disorder patient records.

Morning Headlines 11/23/22

South County Hospital Announces “Phone and Network Issues” Resolved

South County Hospital in Rhode Island resolves phone and network issues that forced it to revert to downtime procedures and cancel surgeries last week.

PayZen Raises $220 Million Growth Round for Personalized Healthcare Affordability

Patient financing solutions vendor PayZen raises $20 million in equity financing.

San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital Back Online After Malware Attack

San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital (CA) recovers from a malware attack that caused it to shut down its EHR for six days.

Morning Headlines 11/22/22

Gallant Capital Invests in Lightning Step to Support Growth

Behavioral health IT vendor Lightning Step secures an undisclosed amount of funding from Gallant Capital Partners.

Interstate Health Systems Launches with Oversold Pre-Seed Investment Round

Interstate Health Systems launches with pre-seed funding to develop a network of primary care, urgent care, and telemedicine services along the nation’s highway system.

Care.ai Secures $27M from Crescent Cove Advisors to Introduce Ambient Intelligence to Healthcare

Care.ai, which offers AI-powered ambient facility monitoring technology for hospitals, raises $27 million.

Morning Headlines 11/18/22

DirectTrust and EHNAC Announce Merger Agreement

EHNAC (Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission) will merge with DirectTrust on January 4, 2023, giving DirectTrust access to EHNAC’s accreditation programs.

Hospital info hacked at NY-P/Flushing

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital notifies patients of a recent data breach that occurred when an unauthorized third-party used a cloud-based, remote IT customer support program to access and then copy and delete files from employee laptops.

Cyber incident shuts down paramedic record system

An unspecified cybersecurity incident prompts EMS health IT vendor ESO to shut down the EHR used by paramedics in several counties in Ontario. 

Morning Headlines 11/17/22

Telehealth Sites Put Addiction Patient Data at Risk

A 16-month analysis of a dozen online addiction and substance use disorder treatment companies finds that each one collects, identifies, and shares information about users with third parties; and engages in ad tracking.

Electronic records issue delaying gynecological referrals on P.E.I.

On Canada’s Prince Edward Island, health officials warn patients that a data entry issue with the island’s newly implemented clinic EHR has caused delays for 700 gynecological referrals.

Cognoa Appoints Pediatric Neurologist and AI in Healthcare Pioneer Dr. Sharief Taraman as CEO to Spearhead the Next Stage of the Company’s Growth

Digital behavioral health vendor Cognoa promotes physician informaticist Sharief Taraman, MD to CEO.

Morning Headlines 11/16/22

Introducing Amazon Clinic, a virtual health service that delivers convenient, affordable care for common conditions

Amazon officially launches Amazon Clinic, a message-based service that connects customers with Amazon-approved, third-party virtual care services for more than 20 common health conditions.

Cleveland Clinic to soon bill for MyChart messages

Cleveland Clinic will begin billing patients for certain messages sent through its MyChart patient portal that take physicians longer than five minutes to answer and require a certain amount of clinical expertise.

Hackensack Meridian Health Aims to Boost Innovation, Increase Efficiencies and Strengthen Security with Plans to Run Epic on Google Cloud

Epic customers can now move their medical records to Google Cloud.