Morning Headlines 9/13/22

Technology Company Akido Labs Launches New Medical Network Focused on Preventive Care for Chronic Disease

Akido Labs acquires Chaparral Medical Group to create a medical network that will leverage Akido’s predictive analytics-focused Care Delivery Platform.

PurpleLab, Inc. Raises $40M in Funding from Primus Capital

Healthcare analytics company PurpleLab raises $40 million in a Series B funding round.

St. Elizabeth launching Innovation Center

St. Elizabeth Healthcare (KY) launches an innovation center with a $25 million venture fund that it will use to invest in new healthcare companies and technology.

Morning Headlines 9/12/22

State lines should no longer be barriers to health care

Former VA Secretary David Shulkin, MD advocates for the creation of a licensure compact program that would allow states to recognize each other’s medical licensees.

Nearly 400 workers in Washington state will be laid off due to Amazon Care shutdown

The shutdown of Amazon Care will drive 159 Amazon layoffs in Washington, while another 236 will be let go from its medical provider Care Medical, according to company notifications to the state.

Genetic testing service cuts 23 jobs, CEO steps down as patient volume grows

Telegenetics company Genome Medical lays off 23 employees and announces the departure of its founder and CEO Lisa Alderson.

Verily Announces $1 Billion Investment Round to Fund Continued Growth and Shares Changes to Leadership Team

Verily announces $1 billion in funding earmarked for expanded precision health efforts, the replacement of its CEO, and the resignation of its CFO.

Morning Headlines 9/9/22

Walmart, UnitedHealth to offer preventive healthcare program for seniors

Walmart and UnitedHealth Group sign a 10-year deal to jointly offer preventive care for seniors and virtual healthcare for all age groups.

Morgan Health Announces New Investment in LetsGetChecked, Expanding Access to At-Home Health Care

At-home testing and virtual care company LetsGetChecked secures a $20 million investment from Morgan Health.

Vera Whole Health and Castlight Health Announce Health Tech Leader Donald Trigg as CEO, Rebrand Company Apree Health

Vera Whole Health and Castlight Health rename their combined value-based care and navigation company Apree Health and hire former Cerner President Donald Trigg as CEO.

Morning Headlines 9/8/22

CertifyOS Closes $14.5 Million Series A Funding Round Led by General Catalyst

Provider credentialing and licensure company CertifyOS raises $14.5 million in a Series A funding round led by General Catalyst.

Regenstrief and IU developing one of first population-based surveillance systems for long COVID to determine prevalence, trends and outcomes

The CDC awards a $9 million, five-year grant to researchers at Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University to enhance surveillance of and detect trends related to symptoms of long COVID using EHR data.

Noble Introduces Mental Health Technology To Reduce Misdiagnosed And Underserved Patients In Primary Care

Mental health app developer Noble develops remote patient monitoring capabilities to help primary care physicians better care for patients experiencing mental health issues.

Morning Headlines 9/7/22

Amazon is secretly testing another virtual-care venture that aims to treat common conditions online

Amazon is reportedly internally testing a direct-to-consumer telemedicine and online prescription drug service that will compete with the likes of Hims and Ro.

‘Critical’ network failure at all 3 campuses of The Ottawa Hospital resolved

The Ottawa Hospital in Canada recovers from an unspecified hardware issue that took its Epic, Cerner, PACs, Rhapsody, and Spok systems offline over the weekend.

Upfront Raises $10.5 Million in Oversubscribed Series C

Less than a month after its acquisition of PatientBond, patient engagement and access software vendor Upfront Healthcare raises $10.5 million as part of a Series C funding round.

Morning Headlines 9/6/22

CVS Health to Acquire Signify Health

CVS Health will acquire Signify Health in a deal valued at $8 billion.

98point6 Announces New Strategic Direction To License Primary Care Platform

98point6 will use $20 million in new funding to help scale the licensing of its virtual primary care service to health systems.

U.S. FTC asks Amazon, One Medical for more information on $3.49-bln deal

The Federal Trade Commission launches an anti-trust investigation into Amazon’s plan to acquire One Medical as part of the deal’s regulatory approval process.

Morning Headlines 9/2/22

ESO Acquires Occam Technologies, Leading Provider of Enterprise Master Patient Index (EMPI) Solution

Emergency medical services technology vendor ESO acquires Occam Technologies, which offers an EMPI platform.

Sectra extends medical diagnostics business to include genomics IT

Sectra creates a genomics IT business unit and will work with University of Pennsylvania Health System to develop a precision medicine solution.

Tiger Global-Backed Healthtech Unicorn Innovaccer Lays Off 120 Employees

Innovaccer reportedly lays off 120 employees, about 8% of its workforce, nine months after it ran a $150 million Series E funding round that valued the company at $3 billion.

SOC Telemed Expands Behavioral Health Offering with Acquisition of Forefront Telecare

Specialty acute care telemedicine vendor SOC Telemed acquires Forefront Telecare, which offers virtual behavioral health services.

Morning Headlines 9/1/22

InterWell Health, Cricket Health, and Fresenius Health Partners Complete Three-Way Merger, Creating Premier, Value-based Kidney Care Provider

Tech-enabled kidney care companies Cricket Health, InterWell Health, and Fresenius Health Partners finalize their $2.4 billion merger and begin operating under the InterWell brand.

MindCare Solutions Group, Inc. Announces Acquisition of Psych360

Telepsychiatry company MindCare Solutions Group acquires hybrid mental healthcare provider Psych360 for an undisclosed sum.

TECHealth Debuts With Full Range Of Services For Emergency Medicine Providers

The Emergency Center launches TECHealth to offer emergency medicine providers staffing, EHR software, and freestanding emergency room partnerships.

Morning Headlines 8/31/22

Software Firm Everbridge Is Exploring Potential Sale

Critical event management technology company Everbridge reportedly considers putting itself up for sale, causing its share price to jump in after-hours trading.

Healee lands $2M to grow customizable telehealth solution in the U.S.

White-label digital health technology startup Healee raises $2 million in a seed funding round led by Nina Capital.

Genesis Growth Tech (GGAA) to Combine with Biolog-id in $312M Deal

Medical product RFID tracking vendor Biolog-ID announces plans to go public in a $312 million SPAC merger.

$1 billion digital-health startup Wheel cut 17% of its staff in August. Read the CEO’s full memo announcing the layoffs.

White-label telemedicine and staffing company Wheel reportedly lays off 17% of its staff.

Morning Headlines 8/30/22

Fulcrum Equity Partners Announces $13M Series A Growth Equity Round for Olio Health

Olio Health, which specializes in care coordination software for post-acute care, raises $13 million in a Series A funding round.

Psych Hub Expands the Nation’s Go-To Mental Health Education & Navigation Platform

Psych Hub, a digital mental healthcare education and navigation resource for providers and patients, raises $16 million and announces plans to offer provider-patient matching.

Theranica Secures $45 Million Series C Funding Round

Migraine-focused digital therapeutic company Theranica raises $45 million in a Series C funding round, bringing its total raised to $86 million.

Morning Headlines 8/29/22

NHS cyberattack causing ‘total chaos’ in hospitals could take a year to recover

An August 5 ransomware attack on software vendor Advanced that took down England’s 111 service along with mental health and community systems may not be resolved for several weeks, hospital employees are told.

PRL Launches Nationwide Expansion Adding Strategic Advisory Services

Specialty practice- and ambulatory surgery center-focused RCM company PRL rebrands to Koha Health and adds strategic advisory services.

Hackers have laid siege to U.S. health care and a tiny HHS office is buckling under the pressure

Politico points out that the HHS Office for Civil Rights can’t keep up with enforcing HIPAA and helping healthcare organizations better protect themselves against cyberattacks due to a lack of funding, staff, and other resources.

Morning Headlines 8/26/22

Alma Raises $130M in Series D Funding led by Thoma Bravo to Advance its Mission to Simplify Access to High Quality, Affordable Mental Health Care

Mental healthcare network development company Alma raises $130 million, bringing its total raised to $220.5 million.

Breakthroughs for All: Delivering Equitable Access to America’s Research

The White House eliminates the optional 12-month journal article paywall embargo for federally-funded research projects, requiring journal publishers to make the articles and their associated data promptly available at no charge starting in 2026.

MediCardia Health Inc. with Human Longevity Inc. to Deploy Nation’s First Remote Monitoring Platform for Precision Medicine

Cardiology virtual care vendor MediCardia Health and aging-related genomics company Human Longevity launch a platform that uses extracted EHR data for patient risk assessment and remote patient monitoring.

Morning Headlines 8/25/22

Amazon is shutting down its telehealth service, Amazon Care

Amazon decides to shut down Amazon Care, its employer-focused virtual care company, after determining that it is not a “complete enough offering for the large enterprise customers” the retail giant has been targeting.

Firmament Backs Healthcare Revenue Integrity Technology Platform Panacea Healthcare Solutions

Firmament makes an undisclosed investment in Panacea Healthcare Solutions, a revenue cycle software and services company that recently acquired competitors Holliday & Associates and First Healthcare Compliance.

Epic’s Judy Faulkner dresses as Amelia Earhart for global conference

Epic announces a new Cosmos “look-alikes” feature that will enable providers to diagnose rare diseases more quickly using its database of 149 million patients.

Morning Headlines 8/24/22

Babylon Disrupted the UK’s Health System. Then It Left

Struggling Babylon Health cancels its last NHS contract eight years early, saying that the projects aren’t profitable enough to continue in a cost-cutting environment.

HITRUST Selected for TEFCA Security Certification

The Sequoia Project selects HITRUST as the certifying body for organizations looking to prove compliance with TEFCA security requirements for designation as Qualified Health Information Networks.

Sanford breaks ground on transformative Virtual Care Center

Sanford Health (SD) begins construction on a 60,000 square-foot Virtual Care Center that will serve as a hub for the health system’s virtual clinics and telemedicine services.

Morning Headlines 8/23/22

Signify Health stock surges 32% on reports Amazon is bidding for the company

The shares of home healthcare company Signify Health jump on the news that Amazon is reportedly interested in acquiring the company, along with CVS Health and UnitedHealth.

Recuro Health’s Acquisition of Competitive Health Adds End-to-End Integrated Benefits to its Digital Medical Home and Portfolio of Digital Health Solutions

Virtual care company Recuro Health acquires Competitive Health, which offers digital health programs to employers.

Akili wraps up $1B deal with Palihapitiya-led SPAC

Akili Interactive, which has developed an FDA-approved video game to treat children with ADHD, goes public via a merger with Social Capital Suvretta Holdings Corp.

Morning Headlines 8/22/22

VA data shows Oracle Cerner EHR hit with nearly 500 major incidents since initial rollout

VA data obtained by FedScoop under the Freedom of Information Act shows that the VA has had at least 45 days of Oracle Cerner downtime and 498 major incidents since its first rollout in September 2020.

Alpha II, LLC Accelerates Revenue Cycle Management Solutions with Acquisition of Health EFilings

RCM software vendor Alpha II acquires Health EFilings, which offers analytics and automated MIPS reporting.

Russian hackers plan to release data stolen from McKinney hospital onto dark web

Methodist McKinney Hospital (TX) refuses to pay hackers to retrieve 360 gigabytes of data stolen in a recent ransomware attack.

Morning Headlines 8/19/22

Upfront acquires PatientBond; expands capabilities for market-leading personalized patient access and engagement platform

Patient engagement and access platform vendor Upfront acquires PatientBond, which offers patient relationship solutions.

Idaho Health Data Exchange files for bankruptcy, with $4 million owed to creditors

The Idaho Health Data Exchange has filed for bankruptcy after accumulating $4 million in debt since launching in 2009, despite receiving an $8 million federal grant in May.

Impact Advisors Acquires Chicago-Based C2 Healthcare

Impact Advisors acquires business intelligence consulting firm C2 Healthcare.

Motivo Health closes $14M Series A to solve shortage of mental health therapists

Motivo Health, which has developed an online marketplace to help aspiring mental health therapists obtain licensure, has raised $14 million in a Series A funding round.