Morning Headlines 3/12/19

Hill-Rom to acquire Voalte, Inc.

Hill-Rom will acquire Voalte for $180 million and integrate it into its care communications business.

House Veterans Affairs is Having Trouble Hiring Tech Experts

House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano (D-CA) tells SXSW attendees that the VA is having trouble finding and retaining technology talent for its EHR modernization effort, citing the difficulty of finding candidates with the right mix of health IT experience and policy know-how with salary expectations that fit the VA’s budget.

Aetna Heads A $25 Million Investment Round Into MAP Health Management

Addiction recovery tech company Map Health Management raises $25 million in a Series A round led by Aetna.

Morning Headlines 3/11/19

Hidden FDA Reports Detail Harm Caused By Scores Of Medical Devices

FDA has given surgical stapler manufacturers an exemption from publicly reporting problems to its MAUDE database of medical device failures, allowing them to hide widespread problems.

Spokane’s Columbia Surgical Specialists paid nearly $15,000 in a ransomware attack that compromised patient data

Columbia Surgical Specialists (WA) pays $15,000 to regain access to its data following a ransomware attack.

Doctor tells patient he doesn’t have long to live through hospital robot’s video screen

Kaiser Permanente apologizes for one of its doctors telling a 79-year-old inpatient that he was dying via a telemedicine robot.

VA and DOD set to pick health data decider

DoD and VA officials expect to have a lead for their joint EHR efforts named within the next two weeks.

Morning Headlines 3/8/19

Digital-Health Startup Livongo Eyes 2019 IPO

Chronic disease management-focused digital health company Livongo hires underwriters to prepare a Q3 IPO that’s expected to bring in $1 billion.

Carestream Health To Sell its Healthcare IT Business To Philips

Philips acquires Carestream Health’s imaging IT business for an unspecified amount.

Audit: Bad billing system costs Glens Falls Hospital $38 million in revenue

Auditors blame a 2017 implementation of Cerner’s billing system for the $38 million revenue loss of Glen Falls Hospital in New York.

Dozens Of Northwestern Hospital Workers May Have Been Fired For Improperly Reviewing Jussie Smollett’s Records

Northwestern Memorial Hospital fires dozens of employees for looking at the EHR records of actor Jussie Smollett, who was treated in its ED following his claim of being attacked in a racially motivated incident.

Morning Headlines 3/7/19

Health records giant Epic temporarily halts additions to its app store because of privacy concerns

Epic confirms it stopped accepting new apps into its App Orchard last December while it reviewed the security and privacy policies of some third-party developers. We reported and confirmed this with Epic on February 18.

VA to Pilot Health Records System in March 2020

The VA will begin piloting its new Cerner EHR next year at three facilities in the Pacific Northwest.

Amazon-JPMorgan-Berkshire Health-Care Venture to Be Called Haven

Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan announce via a new website that their year-old healthcare venture will be called Haven.

Morning Headlines 3/6/19

FDA chief Scott Gottlieb resigns

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD resigns, effective next month.

ZOLL Acquires Golden Hour Data Systems

Medical device maker Zoll Medical acquires Golden Hour Data Systems, which offers charting, RCM, and hospital integration software for EMS companies.

TRHC Announces Acquisition of PrescribeWellness Expanding its Medication Risk Mitigation Offering

Medication safety software vendor Tabula Rasa HealthCare acquires pharmacy-focused patient relationship management technology business PrescribeWellness for an undisclosed sum.

Morning Headlines 3/5/19

Red flags for Nova Scotia’s electronic health records mega-deal

Critics of Nova Scotia’s One Person One Record project, for which Allscripts and Cerner are the vendors being considered, note Cerner rollout problems in Australia’s Queensland Health, South Australia’s planned overhaul of its Allscripts-powered EPAS project, and a poorly run Cerner implementation at British Columbia’s Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. 

This hospital modeled itself after the Apple Store, and lets pregnant mothers use gadgets to monitor their health at home

Ochsner Health System (LA) develops Connected MOM, a free remote patient monitoring program for expectant mothers that incorporates digital health tools accessible at a Genius Bar-styled area of the hospital.

Amazon Gives AI to Harvard Hospital in Tech’s Latest Health Push

A $2 million grant from Amazon enables AWS and Best Israel Deaconess Medical Center (MA) to determine how machine learning and AI can help improve workflows, diagnoses, and treatments.

Morning Headlines 3/4/19

Beth Israel Lahey Health is officially one entity. Here’s what happens next.

The newly-combined health systems intend to focus on the interoperability of their multiple EHRs in the short-term, eventually moving everything onto one system.

Microsoft to offer Band refunds, announces end of apps and services

Microsoft will shut down Microsoft Band and Microsoft Health Dashboard apps and services on May 31, following discontinuation of its Band fitness tracker two years ago.

Rhode Island Health Department Backs Away From Punitive Action

After physicians cry foul over being accused of medical misconduct for reporting safety-related EHR errors that didn’t affect patients, the Rhode Island Department of Health dials back its punitive actions and assures providers it will take a more collaborative approach.

Baby born with brain damage after ‘fragmented’ care at Queensland hospital

An Australian hospital’s internal review concludes that “disjointed information flow” in its Cerner EHR, plus other factors, contributed to a newborn baby’s brain damage.

Morning Headlines 3/1/19

Teladoc Health Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2018 Results

Teladoc reports Q4 results: revenue up 59 percent, EPS –$0.35 vs. –$0.76, meeting earnings expectations and beating on revenue.

Bad Actors Getting Your Health Data Is the FBI’s Latest Worry

The FBI believes foreign hackers will soon use medical data gleaned from precision medicine efforts in the US to engage in biological and cyberwarfare, or exploit individuals

Statement from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. as prepared for oral testimony before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, Committee on Appropriations

The FDA is working to link claims data in its Sentinel medical product safety system to EHRs to more quickly spot potential drug safety issues.

Morning Headlines 2/28/19

Lawmaker Scolds VA Chief for ‘Stonewalling’ Probe Into Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Crowd

House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano (D-CA) chastises VA Secretary Robert Wilkie for failing to turn over documents related to the Mar-A-Lago trio’s influence on VA software purchasing decisions.

Medsphere Acquires Wellsoft Corporation, the Leader in Emergency Department Software

Medsphere will integrate newly acquired Wellsoft’s EDIS software into a new health IT offering for urgent care centers.

Microsoft Employees Demand Company End $480 Million Contract With US Army

Microsoft employees demand that the company void its $480 million HoloLens 2 contract with the US Army after learning the headsets will be used in live combat rather than in more passive activities like vitals monitoring.

WellSky Acquires HCS, Entering Long-Term Acute Care and Inpatient Behavioral Health Markets

Multi-setting healthcare company WellSky acquires long-term and post-acute care health IT vendor HCS.

Morning Headlines 2/27/19

Crossover Health Acquires Sherpaa Health Virtual Primary Care Platform

Two companies run by founders with health IT histories are joined as employee clinic operator Crossover Health acquires the patient-provider communications technology of Sherpaa Health.

Olive adding 100 jobs in Columbus as AI bot for healthcare takes off

Workflow automation company Olive (fka CrossChx) will more than double its staff over the next two years at its Columbus, OH headquarters.

Cedars-Sinai Taps Alexa for Smart Hospital Room Pilot

Cedars-Sinai will outfit 100 patient rooms with Amazon Echo Dot units running Aiva Health’s Alexa-powered patient care assistant, which routes the verbal requests of patients to the appropriate caregiver.

Lawmakers press VA officials on EHR modernization, workforce

Facing complaints about cost and delays, Veterans Health Administration Executive Richard Stone, MD tells lawmakers that Cerner has mapped all 131 versions of VistA and will soon combine them before migrating to the VA’s new Cerner EHR.

Over half of home health care clinicians say they lack adequate information from hospitals

More than half of home care clinicians say they don’t have access to the EHR information of referring hospitals, making it hard to sort out the majority of records that contain medication list discrepancies.

Morning Headlines 2/26/19

GE Healthcare IPO this year ‘looks unlikely’ after Danaher deal, CEO Culp says

GE shelves plans to IPO its healthcare business after selling its biopharma business to global conglomerate Danaher for $21.4 billion.

The FDA and Flatiron Health Expand Real-World Data Cancer Research Collaboration

Flatiron Health and the FDA’s INFORMED program renew their collaboration, which uses real-world evidence derived from de-identified EHR data to inform regulatory decision-making and enhance cancer research and treatments.

New milestones in helping prevent eye disease with Verily

Google and Verily launch an eye-screening program in India that uses a machine-learning algorithm to screen for diabetic eye disease.

Morning Headlines 2/25/19

U.S. judge will not block Amazon-Berkshire-JPMorgan health venture’s new hire

A federal judge denies Optum’s efforts to prevent former executive David Smith from working for the Amazon-Berkshire Hathaway-JPMorgan Chase healthcare venture, despite the UnitedHealth subsidiary’s allegations that Smith could share trade secrets.

Warner Seeks to Advance Information Security in the Health Care Sector

Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), co-chair of the Senate Cybersecurity Caucus, calls on a dozen healthcare organizations to work with him to develop short- and long-term strategies that will reduce cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

Plan OK’d for patient access to 2 closed Arizona hospitals’ records

A judge approves a plan that will take $92,000 from the assets of two closed Arizona hospitals for a 90-day reactivation of their EHR so that patients can get their medical records.

Premier Health creates pilot program to transfer patient data from first responders to hospital

As part of a new six-month pilot program, Premier Health (OH) rolls out an interface that enables emergency responders to send patient data to its Epic EHR while en route to the hospital.

Morning Headlines 2/22/19

Allscripts announces fourth quarter and 2018 full-year results

Allscripts announces Q4 results: revenue up 17 percent, adjusted EPS $0.20 vs. $0.18, falling short of Wall Street expectations for both.

The U.S. government and Facebook are negotiating a record, multibillion-dollar fine for the company’s privacy lapses

The FTC is in negotiations with Facebook over a multi-billion dollar fine that would put a stop to the agency’s nearly year-long investigation into the social media giant’s privacy practices.

China Uses DNA to Track Its People, With the Help of American Expertise

Thermo Fisher will stop selling its DNA testing equipment to China after discovering its government is secretly collecting the DNA of a predominantly Muslim ethic group and adding it to a surveillance database.

“She Never Looks Back”: Inside Elizabeth Holmes’s Chilling Final Months at Theranos

Vanity Fair recounts the icy atmosphere at Theranos during its final months, including the eerily chipper mood and lavish spending habits of CEO Elizabeth Holmes.

Morning Headlines 2/21/19

Clearlake Capital-Backed symplr To Acquire API Healthcare

Provider management and credentialing software vendor Symplr will acquire workforce management tech company API Healthcare from Veritas Capital for an unspecified amount of money.

Unsealed testimony reveals a goal of Atul Gawande venture: ‘Make health insurance intelligible’

Jack Stoddard, COO of the Amazon-Berkshire Hathaway-JPMorgan Chase healthcare venture, reveals that one of its main goals is to make health insurance and prescription drug prices easier to understand.

Letter from the CEO: Proposal for Change

Garfield County Hospital District (WA) CEO Julia Leonard says a nearly $1 million shortfall caused by the billing inefficiencies of the hospital’s new EHR has contributed to her decision to drastically cut staff and operating hours.

Data error exposes patient information

UW Medicine (WA) notifies 974,000 patients of a data breach that occurred when internal files were inadvertently made public on the Internet via an unprotected server.

Arizona college student could die because she can’t get copies of her medical records

In Arizona, legal disagreements between bankrupt Florence Hospital at Anthem and Gilbert Hospital keep red tape wrapped around medical records, preventing many patients from moving forward with treatment elsewhere.

Morning Headlines 2/20/19

FTC Complaint: Multiple Ongoing Patient Privacy Breaches in the Facebook PHR (Groups Product)

Healthcare data expert Fred Trotter, health lawyer David Harlow, JD, MPH, and several patient advocates file a Federal Trade Commission complaint against Facebook over security problems with its Groups function.

Ochsner Health System and Pfizer Partner to Develop Innovative Models for Clinical Trials

Ochsner Health System (LA) partners with drug company Pfizer to make it easier for patients to participate in clinical trials via the use of digital tools.

China Could Use Medical Data to Blackmail Americans, Report Says

A Congressional report says that Chinese investments in US biotechnology firms potentially gives China’s government access to American patient data that could be used for nefarious purposes.

Collain Healthcare Joins Harris Computer Systems

Harris Computer Systems acquires long-term and post-acute care health IT vendor Collain Healthcare.

NHSX: new joint organisation for digital, data and technology

In England, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announces NHSX, a technology-focused initiative that will work with public and private organizations to help the NHS improve patient access and care through digital tools.

Morning Headlines 2/19/19

Missoula health care execs get $1.2M in venture capital for tech startup to better prepare patients

In Montana, PatientOne attracts $1.2 million in venture capital to hire additional staff and further develop its remote monitoring software for surgical patients.

USDA Prioritizes Investments in Telemedicine to Address Opioid Crisis in Rural America

The USDA will give funding priority to Distance Learning and Telemedicine program applicants who propose projects that provide opioid treatment services to patients in 220 at-risk rural areas.

Third Eye Health raises $7.25M to bring around-the-clock doctor support to nursing homes

Post-acute telemedicine company Third Eye Health secures $7.25 million in a Series A round led by Generator Ventures.

Morning Headlines 2/18/19

Porter Health Care System patients could get up to $5K from cyberattack settlement

Community Health Systems (TN) agrees to pay $3.1 million to settle a class-action lawsuit stemming from a 2014 data breach that impacted 4.5 million patients across the country.

FTMC welcomes new chief info officer

Fisher-Titus Health System (OH) hires Linda Stevenson (Cerner) as CIO.

Fairfield Medical Center posts $22.6M operating loss from medical records overhaul

Fairfield Medical Center in Ohio attributes its nearly $23 million operating loss last year to its Cerner implementation.

Nanaimo hospital says it’s making electronic gains; doctor disagrees

Physicians in several departments at Nanaimo General Regional Hospital in Canada are still using pen and paper to document patient encounters and order medications and labs despite the launch of a new Cerner EHR at Island Health facilities three years ago.