Morning Headlines 11/18/19

Trump Administration Announces Historic Price Transparency Requirements to Increase Competition and Lower Healthcare Costs for All Americans

HHS expands its previous plan to require hospitals to publicly post all of their payer-negotiated charges by also requiring insurers to do the same.

Relatient Secures Growth Capital with New Majority Investor Brighton Park Capital

Brighton Park Capital acquires a majority stake in patient engagement platform vendor Relatient and appoints former Siemens USA President Eric Spiegel as the company’s board chair.

Amazon adds new ‘Amazon Pharmacy’ branding to PillPack and promotes its CEO

PillPack CEO TJ Parker becomes an Amazon VP as the company rebrands the online pharmacy it acquired in June 2018.

Former Employee Of Hospital Charged With Compromising Dozens Of Coworkers’ Email Accounts And Stealing Their Confidential Information

The FBI arrests a former IT employee of an unnamed New York City hospital, charging him with installing a keylogger program on dozens of employee PCs to capture their email login credentials so he could steal their photos and tax records.

Morning Headlines 11/15/19

Tyto Care Launches TytoHome Nationwide at Best Buy Stores

Best Buy ups its digital health offerings with the addition of TytoCare’s at-home telemedicine exam device and companion app.

AWS Announces AWS Data Exchange

Amazon Web Services launches AWS Data Exchange, giving users the ability to find, subscribe to, and use third-party data in the cloud.

Ontario Expanding Digital and Virtual Health Care

Ontario health officials announce a Digital First for Health strategy that will give patients the ability to book appointments online, access their medical records, and take advantage of more telemedicine services within the next three to four years.

ECRI Institute and Institute for Safe Medication Practices Join Forces to Enhance Patient Safety

Patient safety groups ECRI Institute and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices will merge, with ISMP becoming an ECRI Institute subsidiary.

Yale study links electronic health record systems to physician burnout, medical errors

The American Medical Association co-sponsors a study that finds that perceived EHR usability is poor and contributes to physician burnout.

Morning Headlines 11/14/19

HHS to probe whether Google’s ‘Project Nightingale’ followed federal privacy law

The HHS Office for Civil Rights will look into the HIPAA compliance of Google’s data-gathering arrangement with Ascension.

Indiana HIEs Unify to Better Meet the Needs of the State’s Healthcare Community

The Michiana Health Information Network, Indiana Health Information Exchange, and HealthLinc will merge operations in January.

Steve Malik sells Cary firm Medfusion to California firm for $43M

NextGen will acquire patient intake, scheduling, and payment software company Medfusion for $43 million.

Morning Headlines 11/13/19

Cerner lays off 131, but its hiring tops 4,000 in 2019

Cerner lays off 131 employees in a second round of cost-cutting in nearly as many months.

Apervita Secures $22 Million Investment to Fuel Future Growth

Value-based care clinical quality platform vendor Apervita raises $22 million from an incremental investment.

Premier Inc. Forms Contigo Health™ to Help Health Systems and Employers Work Better, Together

Premier launches Contigo Health, a network of member health systems that will use EHR-integrated, evidence-based clinical decision support to optimize care for the employees of its employer members.

UST Global Acquires Contineo Health, a Leading Healthcare Technology Consulting Firm Specializing in EHR Optimization

IT solutions company UST Global acquires EHR optimization vendor Contineo Health to strengthen its appeal to providers and payers.

Health Catalyst Reports Third Quarter 2019 Results

Health Catalyst reports Q3 results: revenue up 20%, with full-year revenue expected to be between $151 million and $154 million.

Morning Headlines 11/12/19

Our partnership with Ascension

Google clarifies its HIPAA-compliant work with multi-state Ascension after multiple media outlets report that its employees have questionable access to millions of medical records through a secret data-sharing project dubbed “Project Nightingale.”

KKR Makes Formal Approach to Walgreens Boots on Record Buyout

Walgreens shares rise on the news that New York City-based private equity firm KKR has submitted a proposal to take the company private.

Healthcare Leader Jon Zimmerman Named CEO at Holon Solutions

Former Virence Health President Jon Zimmerman joins Holon Solutions as CEO.

Access Physicians Receives Investment to Expand National Acute Care Delivery via Telemedicine

Acute care-focused telemedicine vendor Access Physicians raises $9.3 million in a Series A funding round.

Morning Headlines 11/11/19

Kaiser Permanente CEO Bernard Tyson dies at 60

Kaiser Permanente Chairman and CEO Bernard Tyson died unexpectedly Sunday of unspecified causes. He was 60 years old.

Intelerad, Novacap-backed medical imaging software maker, heads to first rounds

Canada-based Intelerad Medical Systems is reportedly seeking a buyer.

U of Chicago wants hospital dismissed from class action accusing it of sharing patient data with Google

University of Chicago wants its medical center dismissed from a class action lawsuit that accuses it of sharing patient information with Google in an agreement that the plaintiff says violates his HIPAA rights.

Sony Scrubs In to Help Operating Room Devices Talk to Each Other

Sony expects to earn FDA clearance next month for Nucleus, an OR integration tool it acquired in 2016 that is sold outside the US.

Morning Headlines 11/8/19

Most patients with access to electronic medical records not using it

Just one in 10 discharged patients go online to access their medical information, according to a study that looked at data from 2,410 hospitals over a two-year period.

American Well® Acquires Aligned Telehealth to Expand Behavioral Health Virtual Care

American Well acquires behavioral telehealth and telepsychiatry service provider Aligned Telehealth.

Elizabeth Holmes dodges questions about unpaid legal bills as charges fly over case documents

Lawyers for Elizabeth Holmes contend in a hearing that the FDA destroyed emails that are vital to her defense.

Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services integrates Great Lakes Health Connect

Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services and Great Lakes Health Connect will combine their HIE operations by the end of the year.

Morning Headlines 11/7/19

Compugroup shortlisted in Agfa Gevaert unit sale: sources

Reuters reports that Compugroup Medical is one of two top bidders for Agfa’s health IT business.

Health Records on iPhone now available to veterans across the US

Nearly a year after announcing the project, the VA gives veterans access to their medical records via Apple’s Health Records app.

HCAP Partners Announces New Investment in TCS Healthcare Technologies

Private equity firm HCAP Partners makes an undisclosed investment in managed care software vendor TCS Healthcare Technologies.

Morning Headlines 11/6/19

Medical E-Records Provider Scores $19.5M IP Verdict in Miami

A federal jury orders behavioral EHR vendor ZenCharts to pay rehab EHR provider Kipu Systems $19.5 million in damages for stealing its trade secrets.

800 jobs may be headed back to Wake Forest Baptist. Hospital to bring billing services in house, rehire employees

NThrive will eliminate 839 jobs in central North Carolina following Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center’s decision to bring registration and billing back in house after signing a seven-year outsourcing deal with the vendor in 2017.

Failure to Encrypt Mobile Devices Leads to $3 Million HIPAA Settlement

University of Rochester Medical Center (NY) will pay $3 million to settle OCR charges resulting from the 2013 loss of an unencrypted flash drive and the 2017 theft of an unencrypted laptop.

Healthify Raises $16 Million to Integrate Health and Social Services

Social services coordination software vendor Healthify raises $16 million in a Series B round led by SV Health Investors.

Walgreens explores going private in what could be largest LBO in history

Walgreens is reportedly talking to some of the world’s largest private equity firms about taking the company private in a leveraged buyout.

Morning Headlines 11/5/19

Allscripts Announces Third Quarter 2019 Results

Allscripts reports Q3 results: revenue up 3%, with adjusted EPS of $0.17.

JPMorgan Tests Its Amazon-Berkshire Health Venture on Bank Employees

JPMorgan and Amazon will offer employees in select states access to deductible-free health plans administered by their Haven healthcare business.

Google Health is finally opening up about its plans, and they’re all about search

Google Health VP David Feinberg says the company hopes to develop a search bar that will assist doctors in pulling relevant content from their EHRs, as well as to improve healthcare search results for consumers.

Morning Headlines 11/4/19

Trump Administration Delays Rule Forcing Hospital-Cost Transparency

CMS delays a requirement that Medicare-accepting hospitals share their secretly negotiated insurance rates in machine-readable format and online.

Fitbit to Be Acquired by Google

Google will acquire Fitbit for $2.1 billion in cash, saying it will bring together the best hardware, software, and AI to build wearables.

The Brooklyn Hospital Center Notice of Data Security Incident

The Brooklyn Hospital (NY) says it discovered ransomware in its systems in July 2019 and found that in September 2019 some of its patient data cannot be recovered.

DAS Health Acquires Automated Medical Systems

Health IT reseller DAS Health acquires competitor Automated Medical Systems.

Morning Headlines 11/1/19

UnitedHealth, an insurance giant, just scooped up patient monitoring start-up Vivify Health

Optum acquires remote patient monitoring startup Vivify Health.

Exclusive: ‘Inappropriate’ email reveals Queensland Health’s ploy to avoid political scrutiny of hospital IT outages

Australian media outlets report that senior Queensland Health officials ordered staff at the region’s hospitals to avoid performing upgrades to digital systems – including Cerner’s problematic IEMR software – while parliament is in session so as to avoid embarrassing scrutiny from politicians.

Audacious Inquiry and The Sequoia Project Announce National Collaboration to Support States in Disaster Response Through the Patient Unified Lookup System for Emergencies (PULSE)

Audacious Inquiry will work with The Sequoia Project to expand availability of the Patient Unified Lookup System for Emergencies (PULSE) during disaster response efforts.

WMH announces 35 layoffs, reduction of services

Williamson Memorial Hospital in rural West Virginia attributes layoffs and the closure of several clinics to extreme delays in collections and an absence of cash flow stemming from its Meditech implementation several months ago.

Morning Headlines 10/31/19

Surescripts hit with another e-prescribing monopoly lawsuit

Falconer Pharmacy in New York files a class-action lawsuit against Surescripts, alleging that the company, along with co-conspirators McKesson and Allscripts, has forced the pharmacy to use its e-prescribing network to avoid higher rates as a “non-loyal customer.”

Premier Inc. Acquires Medpricer to Optimize Savings in Purchased Services

Group purchasing organization and consulting firm Premier Inc. acquires Medpricer, a developer of purchased services management technology, for $35 million.

Parthenon invests in MRO

Private equity firm Parthenon acquires an ownership stake in release-of-information vendor MRO.

Huron Announces Partnership with Medically Home Group, Inc.

Huron joins virtual hospital company Medically Home Group’s Series B round of funding, and becomes the exclusive implementation partner for its hospital-to-home care services.

Outcome Health Reaches Favorable Resolution with the DOJ Related to Past Misconduct by Former Employees

Digital patient education tech vendor Outcome Health avoids prosecution by the DoJ for the past misconduct of former employees by agreeing to pay $70 million in restitution to customers.

Morning Headlines 10/30/19

Medecision acquires health delivery system transformation pioneer GSI Health

Medecision acquires population health management technology vendor GSI Health for an undisclosed sum.

eSolutions Acquires Medidal, Solidifying Position in Hospital Revenue Recovery

Revenue cycle technology vendor ESolutions acquires Medidal, which sells systems to help providers identify missed revenue opportunities in the areas of transfer DRGs, payer eligibility, and pharmacy claims.

Twistle Receives $16M Investment to Accelerate Delivery of Personalized Care Guidance Through Care Process Automation

Albuquerque-based patient engagement app vendor Twistle raises $16 million that it will use to expand its office space, increase headcount, and bring on new employees in Seattle.

Morning Headlines 10/29/19

Exclusive: Google owner Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit

Fitbit shares rise 27% on the news that Alphabet has made an offer to acquire the company.

Facebook will now remind you to get flu shots and medical checkups

Facebook launches a Preventive Health tool that will remind users to get vaccines, checkups, and tests based on their demographic profiles.

Federal prisons shopping for EHR system

The DoJ’s Federal Bureau of Prisons issues an RFP for an EHR that can handle the physical, mental, and dental care of nearly 200,000 inmates.

Morning Headlines 10/28/19

VitalHub Corp. Announces Agreement To Acquire Oculys Health Informatics Inc.

Mobile healthcare system VitalHub acquires startup Oculys Health Informatics, which offers a hospital operations dashboard, for $4.2 million.

Cerner Corporation (CERN) CEO Brent Shafer on Q3 2019 Results – Earnings Call Transcript

Cerner says it will no longer offer full revenue outsourcing services after a mutual agreement to end its contract with Adventist Health leads to a $170 million reduction in revenue.

Vocera Announces Third Quarter 2019 Financial Results

Vocera announces Q3 results: revenue up 6%, adjusted EPS $0.23 vs. $0.20.

Morning Headlines 10/25/19

Cerner Reports Third Quarter 2019 Results

Cerner reports Q3 results: revenue up 7%, adjusted EPS $0.66 vs. $0.63, meeting analyst expectations for both.

Northwell Health launches LabFly in Manhattan, Queens, first health system app to facilitate blood draws at home or work

Northwell Health works with health IT vendor MphRx to develop an app that lets patients schedule blood draws from their home or office.

Ransomware and data breaches linked to uptick in fatal heart attacks

A study finds that mortality rates among heart attack patients increase at hospitals that have experienced a data breach, with as many as 36 additional deaths per 10,000 heart attacks occurring annually at the hundreds of hospitals studied.

Augmedix Announces Additional $19 Million in Series B Funding

Tech-enabled remote documentation company Augmedix raises $19 million in a funding round that brings its total raised to $82 million.