Morning Headlines 1/16/23

GAO rules Booz Allen has no conflict in $860M VA award

The Government Accountability Office rejects bid protests involving the VA’s selection of Booz Allen to continue managing its Oracle Cerner implementation for another five years.

Definitive Healthcare lays off 6% of staff despite revenue growth

Healthcare market intelligence company Definitive Healthcare, which went public in 2021, will lay off 55 employees as it struggles to balance hiring and expenses with revenue.

Owensboro Health and Optum Launch Comprehensive Partnership to Enhance Patient Care and Experience in Western Kentucky and Southern Indiana

Owensboro Health (KY) outsources revenue cycle management and IT to Optum, which will take on 575 health system employees.

Morning Headlines 1/13/23

Censinet Secures $9M in New Funding to Accelerate Third Party Risk Management in Healthcare

Healthcare risk management company Censinet raises $9 million in new funding, bringing its total raised to $22 million.

Talent Group Acquires Queen Consulting Group

IT staffing company Talent Group acquires Queen Consulting Group, which specializes in pharma and healthcare IT, including EHR implementations.

Alpine Investors Announces Partnership with Leading Revenue Cycle Management Provider, Medusind

Alpine Investors acquires RCM, practice management, and analytics company Medusind from HIG Capital.

Morning Headlines 1/12/23

Array Behavioral Care Secures $25 Million from CVS Health to Help Address National Mental Health Crisis through Virtual Care

Telepsychiatry provider Array Behavioral Care raises $25 million in a Series C funding round led by CVS Health, which will look for ways in which Array’s capabilities can complement its own healthcare delivery services.

OpenLoop Acquires Reliant.MD Practice Group, Expanding Services and Strengthening Position in Insured Care Market

OpenLoop, a white label telehealth services company focused on payers and employers, acquires Reliant.MD’s practice group.

Alphabet to cut staff of health sciences unit Verily by 15%

Verily will lay off 240 employees and shutter several product lines, including remote patient monitoring for heart failure, in an effort to streamline operations and achieve financial independence from parent company Alphabet.

Morning Headlines 1/11/23

LeanTaaS Acquires Hospital IQ to Create AI Innovator for Hospital Operations Optimization

Capacity management and patient flow software vendor LeanTaaS acquires Hospital IQ, which offers hospital automation solutions.

Avel eCare Announces the Acquisition of NightWatch to Expand Pharmacy Telemedicine Services

National telemedicine provider Avel ECare acquires after-hours remote pharmacy service NightWatch.

20 Ontario Hospitals Transition to Meditech Expanse as Members of the ONE Shared Service Organization

In Canada, 23 hospitals form a shared services IT organization as they implement a shared instance of Meditech Expanse.

Morning Headlines 1/10/23

Carbon Health Secures Series D Investment to Drive Primary and Urgent Care Expansion

Carbon Health announces a $100 million investment from CVS Health Ventures as part of a Series D funding round, and that CVS will pilot the primary care company’s operating model and software within several of its CVS Health locations.

Veradigm Announces Strategic Investment in Holmusk

Behavioral health clinical database company Holmusk raises $45 million in a Series B funding round led by Veradigm.

Monogram Health Closes $375M Growth Capital Raise to Support Continued Expansion of Innovative In-Home Kidney and Polychronic Care Model

Tech-enabled kidney care company Monogram Health raises $375 million, bringing its total raised to $547 million.

CVS Is Exploring a $10 Billion-Plus Acquisition of Oak Street Health

Bloomberg reports that CVS Health may acquire senior-focused primary care provider Oak Street Health in a deal that could be worth $10 billion.

Morning Headlines 1/9/23

Carbon Health to cut more than 200 jobs, narrow focus

Primary and urgent care company Carbon Health lays off 200 employees and will end its initiatives in public health, remote patient monitoring, and chronic care.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Walgreens says during its most recent earnings call that it will pause M&A activities short term and will eventually consider smaller acquisitions that advance its core business, stressing that it won’t “go out and do a $2 billion or $3 billion acquisition on a health tech company.”

Codex IT Acquires Utah Managed Services Provider

Healthcare IT consulting and managed services company Codex IT acquires competitor Intranet Consulting.

Morning Headlines 1/6/23

KeyCare Completes $27M Series A Investment Round to Expand Adoption and Grow Capabilities of its Epic-based Virtual Care Platform

Epic-integrated virtual care platform vendor KeyCare completes its $27 million Series A funding round.

Onc.AI Raises $25 Million Series A Financing Co-Led by MassMutual and Action Potential Venture Capital

Onc.AI, which offers a medical oncologist clinical decision-making platform, raises $25 million in Series A funding.

Porter Raises $5.4M in Seed Funding

Porter, a Miami-based software and services startup specializing in care coordination and quality optimization, raises $5 million in seed funding.

Careficient Acquires Home Health, Hospice, Home Care, Palliative and RCM Solutions and Services from Net Health

Home health, hospice, and home care management company Careficient acquires Net Health’s HealthWyse, Hospicesoft, and RCM division.

Morning Headlines 1/5/23

HealthStream Acquires Electronic Education Documentation System, LLC (d/b/a “eeds”)

Healthcare workforce management company HealthStream acquires continuing education management vendor Electronic Education Documentation System for $7 million.

CommonSpirit Health sued over data breach involving 600,000 patients

Multistate CommonSpirit Health faces a proposed class action lawsuit over its alleged negligence in protecting the private data of 600,000 patients during an October ransomware attack.

Salesforce to cut workforce by 10% after hiring ‘too many people’ during the pandemic

CRM software vendor Salesforce, which includes healthcare among its verticals, will lay off 7,000 employees and close offices in certain markets.

Morning Headlines 1/4/23

Allscripts Announces Corporate Name Change to Veradigm Inc.

Allscripts rebrands to Veradigm after transitioning many of its products over the last year to the Veradigm name.

Ransomware gang gives decryptor to Toronto’s SickKids Hospital

The LockBit ransomware group apologizes for a cyberattack on Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children and gives the hospital a free decryptor to release their files.

EHNAC Announces Finalized 2023 Accreditation Criteria Versions for All Accreditation Programs

The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission finalizes and publishes criteria for its accreditation programs focused on the electronic exchange of healthcare data.

Morning Headlines 1/3/23

Nectar Raises over $24M in Funding to Scale Personalized Allergy Care Platform Nationally

Web-based allergy care company Nectar will use a $24 million Series A funding round to expand its online business and open its first brick-and-mortar clinic.

Howard Memorial Hospital in Southwest Arkansas says patient and employee data stolen in cybersecurity attack

Howard Memorial Hospital (AR) officials believe data pertaining to patients and current and former employees may have been stolen during an early December cyberattack.

Rapid NHS rollout sees 200,000 diabetes patients get lifechanging devices

NHS England equips 200,000 diabetic patients with glucose monitoring devices and companion apps as part of a program that will eventually offer the technology across all NHS facilities.

Morning Headlines 1/2/23

Possible cyberattack at CentraState prompts hospital to divert ambulances

CentraState Medical Center (NJ) suspends outpatient services and diverts ambulances after uncovering a cyberattack on Friday.

Despite Issues, VA’s EHR Deployment Remains Scheduled to Pick Up in Mid-2023

Congress approves an omnibus spending bill that includes $300 billion in 2023 funding for the VA – $1.8 billion of which is earmarked to continue to support the roll out of the department’s Oracle Cerner-based EHR across 25 facilities beginning in June.

GE Healthcare will join S&P 500 as soon as it begins trading

GE Healthcare Technologies, a new company spun out of General Electric focused on patient care solutions, imaging, ultrasound, and pharmaceutical diagnostics, will join the S&P 500 on January 4.

Morning Headlines 12/30/22

Data Breach at Louisiana Healthcare Provider Impacts 270,000 Patients

Lake Charles Memorial Health System begins notifying 270,000 patients that their information was compromised in an October 20 ransomware attack.

Rural patients struggle to access expert sexual assault exams. Telehealth services are closing that gap

Sexual assault nurse examiners are using telehealth to help with examinations and evidence collection.

Morning Headlines 12/29/22

Settlement: Scripps Health agrees to pay $3.5 million to patients affected in 2021 data breach

The health system settles with the 1 million patients who were affected by a May 2021 ransomware attack.

Stroke victims up to 48 PER CENT more likely to make full recovery when diagnosed using AI technology, trials suggest

Analysis of the data of 100,000 stroke patients suggests that 48% made a full recovery when AI was used to diagnose and treat them faster, versus 16% without the technology.

Ohio Supreme Court says insurance policy does not cover ransomware attack on software

The Ohio Supreme Court overrules a previous ruling that the property insurer of medical billing software vendor EMOI should cover a ransomware attack.

Morning Headlines 12/28/22

Spokane VA has reduced staff despite ongoing effects of troubled computer system as veterans wait longer for care

The local paper reports that the cost of extra staff who have been hired to offset a loss of productivity with Oracle-Cerner has delayed care and pushed veterans into the private healthcare system.

CapVest’s GLO Healthcare completes acquisition of Calyx, a Global leader in the delivery of improved outcomes from clinical trials

A private equity firm acquires Calyx, which offers medical imaging, interactive response, and clinical trials management software.

Patient access to full general practice health records

An editorial in BMJ calls for NHS England to move head with its delayed program to give patients access to their records, saying that patients will need to become more self-reliant as access to care in the UK continues to worsen.

Morning Headlines 12/22/22

Biden-Harris Administration Continues Unprecedented Efforts to Increase Ownership Transparency in Health Care Settings

HHS publishes ownership data for all 7,000 Medicare-certified hospitals.

Congress Unveils Two Year Extension of Telehealth Flexibilities – As Urged by the ATA and ATA Action – As Part of Omnibus Bill

The omnibus appropriations bill includes a two-year extension for Medicare telehealth provisions and two-year delay in implementing the in-person requirement, although it would  not extend the Ryan Haight waiver for remote prescribing of controlled substances.

Morning Headlines 12/21/22

Administrative Simplification: Adoption of Standards for Health Care Attachments Transactions and Electronic Signatures, and Modification to Referral Certification and Authorization Transaction Standard

HHS proposes to adopt standards for health care attachment transactions for claims and prior authorizations.

HHS urges prompt patch of critical Citrix flaw after healthcare entities exploited

HHS warns that a vulnerability in Application Delivery Controller and Gateway has allowed hackers to compromise multiple healthcare entities by executing commands without being authenticated.

New Hires and Internal Transitions Reflect Health System’s Growth Strategies and Commitment to Enhancing the Community’s Health

RWJBarnabas Health announces the hiring or promotion of five C-level executives, three of whom are pharmacists, including former SVP/Chief Pharmacy Officer Robert Adamson, PharmD, who as EVP/CIO will serve as operational leader for its Epic implementation.

Morning Headlines 12/20/22

GAO Makes Appointments to the Health Information Technology Advisory Committee

The General Accounting Office appoints seven members to HITAC.

Fujifilm Announces Asset Purchase Agreement with Inspirata, Inc. to acquire the company’s Digital Pathology Business

Fujifilm will expand its Synapse Enterprise Imaging with the integration of pathology images and data using the technology of Tampa-based Inspirata.

Google can now read your doctor’s bad handwriting

Google is working with pharmacists in India to decipher handwritten prescriptions by snapping a photo of the document that is then analyzed by Google Lens.

The Failed Promise of Online Mental-Health Treatment

A Wall Street Journal report finds that investor-backed digital mental health services have sacrificed quality in their focus on growth, advertising, and the use of questionably qualified contractors.

Epic Defeats Another Prolific Patent Troll, Protecting Members of the Epic Community From Vexatious Patent Litigation

A US District Court invalidates the patents of non-practicing entity (patent troll) Decapolis Systems, which had sued Epic customers in claiming patent infringement, after Epic files a declaratory judgment lawsuit in the company’s South Florida home town.