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.

Morning Headlines 11/15/22

Data breach of pediatricians’ computer network ‘may’ have exposed patient data

Pediatric health IT company Connexin Software, parent company of the Office Practicum brand, notifies over 100 customers and their patients of a data breach in late August.

Maven’s Second Act

Tech-enabled women’s and family care company Maven Clinic raises $90 million in a Series E funding round, bringing its total raised to $300 million.

Validic Inc. raises $12 million in its latest funding round

Digital health integration and remote patient monitoring technology vendor Validic secures $12 million in a financing round led by Kaiser Permanente Ventures.

Morning Headlines 11/14/22

Controversial £360m NHS England data platform ‘lined up’ for Trump backer’s firm

England’s The Guardian reports that a $425 million contract for a national shared patient data system is likely to be issued soon to Palantir.

AngelEye Health Announces Series B Funding to Support Company’s Rapid Growth

AngelEye Health, which offers patient and family engagement software for hospital neonatal, pediatric intensive care, and nursery units, raises $20 million in a Series B funding round.

SocialClimb Secures $8.5 Million in Growth Funding from Spring Capital and Resolve Growth Partners

Healthcare marketing and patient relationship management software firm SocialClimb secures $8.5 million in growth funding.

Morning Headlines 11/11/22

Amazon’s leaked ‘Clinic’ would connect patients to telemedicine

Amazon posts and then quickly unpublishes a video on its YouTube page describing Amazon Clinic, an online care program for common conditions.

Northwell Holdings and Aegis Ventures Sign Strategic Collaboration Agreement to Launch Upliv, a Comprehensive Digital Health Company for Menopause

Northwell Holdings and Aegis Ventures launch Upliv, which will offer video consults and care for managing the symptoms of menopause.

CommonSpirit Update

CommonSpirit Health says that access to its EHR and patient portal has been restored for most users following an October 4 ransomware attack.

Virtual care startup Wheel buys GoodRx tech for $20M

Virtual care company Wheel will acquire prescription savings company GoodRx’s virtual care technology for $20 million.

Morning Headlines 11/10/22

Hackers Are Posting Australian Health Insurance Data on the Dark Web

Hackers begin publishing patient data stolen from Australian company Medibank after the insurance company refused to pay the requested ransom.

CitiusTech Acquires Wilco Source, Expands Specialized Salesforce Capabilities for Healthcare & Life Sciences

Healthcare technology and consulting firm CitiusTech acquires California-based Wilco Source, which offers Salesforce consulting and implementation for healthcare and life sciences companies.

Fathom Secures $46M Series B Financing

Medical coding automation vendor Fathom raises $46 million in a Series B funding round.

Morning Headlines 11/9/22

SCP Health Announces Acquisition of Tech-Enabled Patient Engagement Company PreMedex

Clinical staffing and outsourced practice management company SCP Health acquires PreMedex, which offers patient engagement and communication software.

Talkspace Announces Jon Cohen, M.D. As Next Chief Executive Officer

Mental health app vendor Talkspace promotes Jon Cohen, MD to CEO after announcing disappointing Q3 results.

Censinet Announces Healthcare Cybersecurity Benchmarking Study Co-Sponsored by the American Hospital Association and KLAS Research

Censinet, the American Hospital Association, and KLAS Research launch a healthcare cybersecurity benchmarking study that will allow health systems to compare cybersecurity investments, resources, performance, and maturity versus peers.