Morning Headlines 11/5/18

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (MDRX) Q3 2018 Results – Earnings Call Transcript

Allscripts executives comment on the potential sale of Netsmart and its plan to increase margins for the former McKesson EIS business, but fail to directly answer a question about plans of its biggest client Northwell Health and make no mention of its Avenel EHR that was announced at HIMSS18.

OpenText to Acquire Liaison Technologies, Inc.

Information management technology vendor OpenText will acquire competitor Liaison Technologies for $310 million in cash.

Like clockwork: How daylight saving time stumps hospital record keeping

Users describe how they work around Epic’s inability to handle documentation entries between 1:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. when clocks are moved back at the end of daylight saving time.

Why Doctors Hate Their Computers

Atul Gawande, writing about his experience with Epic’s go-live at Partners HealthCare, says EHRs were supposed to increase the mastery of doctors over work, but have actually increased work’s mastery over doctors. He quotes an Epic executive’s description of “the Revenge of the Ancillaries,” where the go-live allowed non-doctors to influence their workflow in unproductive ways. He also notes that EHRs have made the problem list nearly worthless and that Epic’s In Basket is “clogged to the point of dysfunction.” He also quotes Partners Chief Client Officer Gregg Meyer, who reminds that Epic is for the patients, not the doctors, and is at least mildly enthusiastic about using scribes. 

Morning Headlines 11/2/18

The VA Shadow Rulers’ Signature Program Is “Trending Towards Red”

ProPublica highlights the political power struggles and leadership mismanagement surrounding the VA’s no-bid, $10 billion Cerner project, prompting the software vendor to preemptively warn veterans groups of negative media coverage.

McKesson says Chairman/CEO Hammergren to retire, succeeded by Tyler

McKesson CEO John Hammergren will retire on March 31, 2019, to be replaced by President/COO Brian Tyler.

NextGen Healthcare Inc (NXGN) CEO Rusty Frantz on Q2 2019 Results – Earnings Call Transcript

NextGen Healthcare CEO Rusty Frantz reports Q2 results that beat earnings expectations but fall short on revenue, adding that the company is making a push to upgrade the 50 percent of its clients that are on older product versions.

Allscripts stock drops as quarterly results miss Street view

Allscripts reports Q3 results: revenue up 16 percent, EPS $-0.20 vs. –$0.16, missing Wall Street expectations for both.

Morning Headlines 10/31/18

Healthcare tech startup 98point6 raises $50M, led by Goldman Sachs, to expand its ‘virtual clinic’

Seattle-based 98point6 raises $50 million to expand its chat-powered “virtual primary care” unlimited service that costs a flat $20 per year for the first year, then $120 in following years.

Secret report raises questions about Queensland’s medical records system

In Australia, a report blames Cerner for May 2017 outages at seven Queensland Health hospitals, refuting the health system’s initial claim that the downtime was caused by ransomware.

EXCLUSIVE: Cincinnati executive launches tech firm to prevent suicide

Mason, OH-based Clarigent Health will commercialize technology developed by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital that assesses suicide risk by analyzing conversations between patients and their therapists or doctors.

LabCorp Enables Health Records on iPhone

LabCorp adds support for Apple Health Records, which will allow patients to send their lab results to their IPhones.

Morning Headlines 10/30/18

Carrot Inc. Raises $25 Million to Commercialize Pivot, the Company’s Digital Health Solution for Smoking Cessation

Carrot secures $25 million to develop a digital smoking cessation program that will incorporate a breath sensor, app, coaching, and drug therapy.

New mobile assessment saves brain cells during stroke

Mayo Clinic’s Center for Connected Care in Jacksonville, FL launches a telemedicine project that will give physicians access to stroke patients en route to the hospital.

Forget Watson, the Red Hat acquisition may be the thing that saves IBM

Analysts speculate that IBM’s $34 billion acquisition of Red Hat may signal a Watson wind-down and a return to enterprise software and services.

Morning Headlines 10/29/18

Epic chops down App Orchard fees

Epic will reduce its fees for listing third-party software in its App Orchard.

Individuals Charged With Defrauding Non-Profit Health-Care System

A federal grand jury indicts a former IT employee of Catholic Health Initiatives for allegedly issuing $72 million in phony purchase orders to a co-conspirator’s IT consulting firm for integration services, then splitting the take.

Cerner (CERN) Q3 2018 Results – Earnings Call Transcript

The company expects its DoD and VA business to drive growth as financially-challenged providers and lack of regulatory incentives reduce private sector market urgency.

HHS CTO’s office to support Indian Health Service IT modernization study

The CTO’s office at HHS will support consulting firm Emerging Sun in a research project focused on updating the Indian Health Service’s Resource and Patient Management System.

Morning Headlines 10/26/18

Bid process ‘stunning’: Management of multimillion-dollar Nova Scotia health records contract questioned

In Canada, the 16-month bidding process for Nova Scotia’s province-wide EHR project comes down to the wire, with Meditech, Epic, Evident, and Harris Healthcare Group failing to make the final cut.

Cerner (CERN) Q3 Earnings Match Estimates

Cerner reports Q3 results: revenue up 5 percent, adjusted EPS $0.63 vs. $0.61, meeting earnings expectations but falling slightly short on revenue.

AWS Opioid Crisis Council Committed to Help Solve the Opioid Epidemic

Shortly after the passage of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, Amazon stresses its commitment to combatting the opioid epidemic via new Alexa capabilities and AWS endeavors.

Black Book™ Announces Eighth Annual Revenue Cycle Management Technology and Outsourcing Solutions Top Client-Rated Honors

Optum360, Waystar, and TruBridge take top spots for customer satisfaction and client experience across multiple categories in Black Book’s latest RCM survey.

Morning Headlines 10/25/18

Healthcare Leaders Merge to Accelerate the Promise of Value-Based Care

Medicare quality reporting company Mingle Analytics merges with care management software company SilverVue to form Mingle Health.

Health Startup Launches Telemedicine Platform Targeted At Migraine Sufferers

After raising a $15 million Series A, digital health company Thirty Madison will expand to offer telemedicine services for migraine sufferers.

Trump to sign opioid bill today

President Trump signs a bipartisan opioids bill into law that encourages telemedicine utilization for patients suffering from opioid use disorder and the adoption of EHRs among behavioral health providers.

Morning Headlines 10/24/18

Clearlake Capital to Acquire symplr

Clearlake Capital Group will acquire provider management, credentialing, and payer enrollment technology vendor Symplr.

Kyruus Snags an Extra Investment of $4M from Salesforce Ventures

Kyruus lists its ProviderMatch for Salesforce on the Salesforce AppExchange and announces a $4 million Series D investment by Salesforce Ventures.

Industry Veterans Launch Laudio To Solve Health System Staff Burnout

Laudio releases its staff relationship management platform that allows hospital managers to manage employee recognition, accountability, burnout risk, onboarding and career development, and work issues.

Morning Headlines 10/22/18

Head of IBM Watson Health leaving post after company stumbles, growing criticism

Deborah DiSanzo, general manager of IBM Watson Health for the past three years, will will take a demotion to the strategy team of IBM Cognitive Solutions.

Perficient Announces Formation of a Dedicated Digital Health Service Line

Consulting firm Perficient launches a digital health line of services that will focus on delivery of care, data and insights, and engagement.

CMS Responding to Suspicious Activity in Agent and Broker Exchanges Portal

CMS Administrator Seema Verma assures consumers open enrollment at Healthcare.gov will not be negatively impacted by the breach of 75,000 consumer files on the Federally Facilitated Exchanges for agents and brokers.

Morning Headlines 10/19/18

FDA proposes updated cybersecurity recommendations to help ensure device manufacturers are adequately addressing evolving cybersecurity threats

The FDA updates draft guidance on managing cybersecurity issues for the premarket submission of medical devices.

Gauss Raises $20 Million in Series C from Northwell Health and Softbank Ventures Korea for AI-Enabled Platform for the Operating Room

Gauss Surgical raises $20 million in a funding round led by Northwell Health (NY) and SoftBank Ventures Korea, with help from seven other health systems.

Duplication causes headaches for state patient exchange

Vermont Information Technology Leaders struggles to pare down the number of duplicate patient records in the state’s HIE.

FDA and DHS increase coordination of responses to medical device cybersecurity threats under new partnership; a part of the two agencies’ broader effort to protect patient safety

FDA and DHS will work together to share information on cybersecurity vulnerabilities in medical devices so that threats to patient safety can be addressed more quickly.

Morning Headlines 10/18/18

OptimizeRx Acquires CareSpeak Communications

Digital prescription savings company OptimizeRx acquires interactive patient messaging vendor CareSpeak Communications for an undisclosed sum.

Apple gives U.S. users tool to see what data it has collected

Following a similar GDPR-induced move in Europe, Apple gives US users the ability to view, edit, and delete the data it has collected on them.

Sequoia Project Launches Interoperability Matters Forum

The Sequoia Project creates the Interoperability Matters Advisory Group and solicits nominations for workgroup members who will provide feedback and recommendations on interoperability endeavors.

Morning Headlines 10/17/18

Influential Leapfrog Group Jumps In To Rate 5,600 Surgery Centers

Hospital grading organization Leapfrog Group will launch safety and quality surveys of the country’s 5,600 outpatient surgery centers after an investigation revealed poor oversight and substandard clinical practices.

M.I.T. Plans College for Artificial Intelligence, Backed by $1 Billion

MIT will spend $1 billion to create an artificial intelligence college spanning all five of its schools that will begin instruction in the fall of 2019.

This company, led by veteran athenahealth execs, just raised $300m

Medicare Advantage insurer Devoted Health raises $300 million in a Series B round, increasing its total to $362 million.

Morning Headlines 10/16/18

Anthem Pays OCR $16 Million in Record HIPAA Settlement Following Largest U.S. Health Data Breach in History

Anthem will pay the HHS Office of Civil Rights $16 million to settle HIPAA violations from a 2015 data breach that impacted 79 million people.

Four Men and Seven Companies Indicted for Billion-Dollar Telemedicine Fraud Conspiracy, Telemedicine Company and CEO Plead Guilty in Two Fraud Schemes

HealthRight President Scott Roix pleads guilty to felony conspiracy charges related to a telemedicine scheme that bilked payers out of nearly $1 billion.

Varian Expands Cancer Care Portfolio with Noona Healthcare Acquisition

Cancer care technology company Varian Medical Systems acquires Noona Healthcare, a developer of oncology patient-reported outcomes software.

Dell Medical School Professor Joins Prestigious National Academy of Medicine

Dell Medical School Professor and former ONC head Karen DeSalvo, MD becomes a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

UMass Memorial Health Care lays off 17 workers

Faced with a $22 million operations shortfall, UMass Memorial Health Care lays off 17 IT staff as part of system-wide downsizing efforts that have included the closure of several facilities.

Morning Headlines 10/15/18

Cloud-Based Digital Pathology Startup Deep Lens Exits Stealth Mode With $3.2 Million Seed Financing

Pathology image detection support system vendor Deep Lens announces $3.2 million in seed funding and availability of its free VIPER service for pathologists.

Athenahealth has multiple bidders for sale of the company

Sources suggest that four private equity firms and activist investor Elliott Management are considering placing a bid to acquire Athenahealth.

Sloan Kettering Researchers Correct the Record by Revealing Company Ties

Several prominent Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center researchers update their conflict-of-interest disclosures in previously published journal articles, adding previously undisclosed financial ties to drug companies.

Theranos Criminal Case Is Broader Than Publicly Disclosed, Prosecutors Say

A judge rejects a bid by former Theranos executives Elizabeth Holmes and Ramesh Balwani to block prosecutors from accessing over 200,000 company documents, alluding to a broader investigation that may extend beyond the two defendants.

Morning Headlines 10/12/18

Athenahealth is reaching out to previously rejected suitors

The New York Post reports that Athenahealth is waffling between accepting acquisition bids from companies it previously rejected, merging with NThrive, or remaining as is.

2 Florida hospitals in wake of Hurricane Michael evacuating all of their 330 patients

Bay Medical Sacred Heart and Gulf Coast Regional Medical Center evacuate 330 patients after suffering extensive damage, including downed computer systems, during Hurricane Michael’s destructive trek through Panama City, FL.

Penn Medicine Launches Initiative to Transform Electronic Health Record Systems

Penn Medicine launches an internal EHR campaign that it hopes will get its Epic end users thinking about how to use the software more for care delivery than documentation.

Morning Headlines 10/11/18

CVS Health and Aetna $69 Billion Merger Is Approved With Conditions

The DoJ clears CVS Health to proceed with its $69 billion merger with Aetna, which will operate as a standalone business once the deal closes at the end of Q4.

Amazon patents new Alexa feature that knows when you’re ill and offers you medicine

A new patent suggests that Amazon’s virtual assistant will soon be able to detect when someone is ill through speech analysis, and then propose Amazon products to treat their illness.

VA Appoints IT Vet Paul Tibbits as Electronic Health Record Program Executive Director

The VA promotes Paul Tibbits from program executive officer for financial management business transformation to executive director for the Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization.

TransUnion Expands Healthcare Solutions with Agreement to Acquire Rubixis

TransUnion acquires revenue cycle vendor Rubixis for an undisclosed amount.

Morning Headlines 10/10/18

Former GE Healthcare Value-Based Care Solutions Group Rebrands as Virence Health Technologies

GE Healthcare’s former Value-Based Care Solutions Group, sold to private equity firm Veritas Capital in April 2018 for $1.05 billion in cash, renames itself Virence Health Technologies.

Share Your DNA, Get Shares: Startup Files an Unusual Offering

Startup LunaDNA, backed by a DNA sequencing company, seeks SEC approval for its business plan to pay consumers for the right to sell their genetic information.

Roche Turns to App in Fight Against Multiple Sclerosis

Roche develops a symptom-tracking for MS patients in hopes of using aggregated, de-identified data to improve its treatments for the disease.