Morning Headlines 12/10/20

UVM Heath Network cyberattack fixes expected to exceed $63M

University of Vermont Health Network officials says the ransomware attack that occurred on October 28 has so far cost the organization $63 million in lost revenue and incurred expenses.

Baxter in $5 billion bid for Omnicell

Medical device manufacturer Baxter has reportedly approached medication management software vendor Omnicell with an acquisition offer of $5 billion.

GE puts default password in radiology devices, leaving healthcare networks exposed

The US Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency issues an advisory urging GE Healthcare customers to request that the company change default passwords in certain radiology devices so they are no longer susceptible to hackers.

Advancing health research with Google Health Studies

Google launches a Health Studies app, giving Android users the opportunity to participate in research such the initial respiratory illness study conducted by Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital.

Elsevier acquires Shadow Health, a leading provider of best-in-class healthcare simulations

Elsevier acquires Shadow Health, a developer of virtual simulation software for nursing and healthcare education.

Morning Headlines 12/9/20

Story Health Launches Virtual Specialty Care to Empower Patient-Clinician Relationship

Verily co-founder Tom Stanis launches digital care coordination and engagement company Story Health with $4 million in seed funding.

Cerner and Elligo to Make Clinical Trials Accessible for Health Systems of All Sizes

Cerner invests in Elligo Health Research and will use its technology to offer clinical trial opportunities to providers and patients.

AWS Announces Amazon HealthLake

Amazon Web Services launches HealthLake, a HIPAA-compliant data aggregation, normalization, and analytics service for healthcare and life sciences organizations.

In the Latest COVID-19 Surge, Health Record Exchanges Through Care Everywhere Reach 221 Million in a Month

Epic’s Care Everywhere reached 221 million health record exchanges in October 2020, up 40% from the same period a year ago.

Morning Headlines 12/8/20

PointClickCare is buying a Kleiner Perkins-backed startup for $650 million in the latest sign that health-tech is heating up

Long-term and post-acute care software vendor PointClickCare will acquire care notification startup Collective Medical for $650 million.

COVID-19 is Complex, as is COVID-19 Open Data

HHS publishes COVID-19 hospital data at the facility level on a weekly basis dating back to August 1.

CA Notify app to offer COVID-19 exposure notification

California Governor Gavin Newsom announces that CA Notify, an app-based, COVID-19 exposure-tracking tool built on Google and Apple technology, will launch statewide later this week.

Talkspace Working With Advisers on Possible Sale

Talkspace considers putting itself up for sale, leading analysts to speculate that an acquisition could value the online therapy app startup at $1 billion.

Morning Headlines 12/7/20

CommonHealth, a Free Mobile App for Patients to Share Health Data – including COVID Test and Vaccine Status – Connects to 230 US Health Systems

The non-profit Commons Project has connected its CommonHealth app to 230 health systems, allowing the majority of Americans who use Android devices to use Apple Health-like functionality to obtain their health records from connected providers.

City of Chicago Launches New Data Analytics Tool in Fight Against COVID-19

The Chicago Department of Public Health and Rush University Medical Center launch a COVID-19 tracking hub to which all 28 area hospitals have agreed to contribute lab test results, CCDA information from Epic-using sites, and capacity information.

GBMC Health Care experiences information technology systems outage

Greater Baltimore Medical Center experiences a network disruption that has taken down several of its IT systems.

Morning Headlines 12/4/20

Olive Acquires Verata Health to Accelerate Artificial Intelligence Technology For Healthcare Providers and Payers

AI solutions vendor Olive acquires Verata Health, which offers an AI-powered prior authorization solution.

McKesson Launches Ontada, an Oncology Technology and Insights Business Dedicated to Help Advance Cancer Research and Care

McKesson launches Ontada, which will sell drug companies real-world patient data from its IKnowMed oncology EHR and Clear Value Plus cancer pathways system.

Trump Administration Finalizes Permanent Expansion of Medicare Telehealth Services and Improved Payment for Time Doctors Spend with Patients

CMS will continue to pay for certain telehealth services after the pandemic’s end, most notably those for nursing home residents in rural areas.

Prepare for medical visits with help from Google and AHRQ

Google builds an evidenced-based tool leveraging AHRQ’s expertise to help patients prepare a visit plan when using the company’s search tool to find providers.

Morning Headlines 12/2/20

Say “Hey!” to Project US@ – a Unified Specification for Address in Health Care

ONC, HL7, and other participants announce Project US@, which hopes to publish a healthcare standard for representing patient addresses sometime next year.

Olive Attracts Additional $225.5MM Investment to Fast-Track AI Workforce For Healthcare

Healthcare process automation vendor Olive achieves a $1.5 billion valuation after announcing a $225 million financing round.

Salesforce acquires Slack for over $27 billion, marking cloud software vendor’s largest deal ever

Salesforce acquires Slack for $27.7 billion.

DAS Health Acquires Randall Technology Services

Ambulatory health IT company Das Health Ventures acquires Randall Technology Services and its portfolio of Allscripts EHR and practice management solutions.

Morning Headlines 12/1/20

Skylight Health Announces Rebrand and Corporate Plan to Provide Primary Care Nationally to Millions of Americans

Clinic operator and health IT developer CBS Insights rebrands to Skylight Health Group.

M12 Invests in the Future of Virtual Health with Andor Health

Virtual healthcare collaboration and delivery company Andor Health announces a Series A funding round from Microsoft’s M12 venture fund.

Change Healthcare Announces Sale of Capacity Management Business to HealthStream

Change Healthcare sells its Capacity Management business, which includes services related to nurse staffing, patient flow, and anticipated patient demand, to workforce solutions company HealthStream.

Morning Headlines 11/30/20

Health systems are using AI to predict severe Covid-19 cases. But limited data could produce unreliable results

Health systems are using AI to assign COVID-19 risk scores despite lack of proof that they correlate to real-world outcomes or whether their training was broad enough to be generalizable.

Federal system for tracking hospital beds and COVID-19 patients provides questionable data

A CDC analysis finds that HHS Protect’s COVID-19 data do not line up with other hospital data sources used by many states, potentially giving government health officials and hospital personnel inaccurate estimates of disease burden and resource availability.

Full implementation of P.E.I.’s electronic record system not planned until March 2022

In Canada, Prince Edward Island health officials postpone the implementation of an enterprise EHR due to COVID-19-related vendor delays, pushing the project to 2021-2022.

Morning Headlines 11/26/20

$47M invested, $47,000 left for creditors: HealthSpot bankruptcy winding down

After five years in bankruptcy, telemedicine kiosk vendor HealthSpot has just $47,000 left to distribute to creditors.

UVM Medical Center restores electronic medical records nearly a month after cyberattack

The University of Vermont Health Network announces that it has restored access to its Epic EHR for all inpatient and outpatient sites.

Elizabeth Holmes Prosecutors Say Texts Show Theranos Beset With Problems

Federal prosecutors seek a judge’s approval to use texts between Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and former president Sunny Balwani to help prove they knew that the company’s technology was not as groundbreaking as they led investors to believe.

Morning Headlines 11/25/20

Well Health Secures $45 Million in Series C Funding to Transform Patient Communication for Healthcare Providers, Payers, and ACOs

Digital patient communications company Well Health raises $45 million in a Series C financing round, bringing its total funding to $75 million.

DataLink Receives Growth Equity Investment from Investor Group Led by DWS

Population health software company DataLink will use a growth equity investment to further scale its provider engagement services and pursue M&A activities.

Healthcare technology maker G Medical Innovations withdraws $30 million US IPO

G Medical Innovations, an Israel-based vendor of remote vital sign monitoring software, withdraws its IPO plans – for the second time – after filing to raise $30 million on the Nasdaq.

Morning Headlines 11/24/20

CompuGroup Medical strengthens US business with one of the largest acquisitions in company history

Germany-based health IT company CompuGroup Medical will acquire ambulatory-focused health IT vendor EMDs for $240 million.

GigCapital2 to merge with two telehealth firms in $1.35 billion deal

Special purpose acquisition company GigCapital2 will merge with Cloudbreak Health and UpHealth Holdings to create a telemedicine company valued at $1.35 billion.

Signify Health Acquires PatientBlox to Accelerate Prospective Episode of Care Payment Models, Advance Transition to Value-based Care

Value-based care coordination and payments vendor Signify Health acquires blockchain startup PatientBlox for an undisclosed sum.

CentralReach Acquires AI-Based Scheduling Algorithm to Automate Scheduling Operations for Autism & ABA Care Delivery

Health IT vendor CentralReach acquires Cartocal and will incorporate its automated scheduling technology into its software for providers specializing in applied behavior analysis.

Morning Headlines 11/23/20

UVM Medical Center takes cautious steps to restore services after cyberattack

University of Vermont Health Network begins restoring access to Epic beyond a read-only view at inpatient and ambulatory sites of UVM Medical Center.

ClosedLoop.ai Secures $11M Series A Funding to Assist Healthcare Organizations Improve Clinical and Financial Outcomes

AI-powered predictive data modeling vendor ClosedLoop.ai raises $11 million in a Series A funding round led by Greycroft and .406 Ventures.

Butterfly Network, a global leader in democratizing medical imaging, to be listed on NYSE through a merger with Longview Acquisition Corp.

Phone-connected ultrasound transducer manufacturer Butterfly IQ will go public on the NYSE in a merger with a special purpose acquisition company that values the company at $1.5 billion.

VA Moves to Expand Its 5G Experimentation

The VA will expand its 5G testing to sites in Florida and Seattle following its initial work in its Palo Alto hospital, looking at technologies such Microsoft HoloLens for surgical navigation and adding telemetry monitoring to new areas of hospitals.

Morning Headlines 11/20/20

Clearlake carves out nThrive’s tech arm in $1bln-plus deal

Private equity firm Clearlake Capital will reportedly buy the software business of revenue cycle management company NThrive, which was formed in late 2015 by private equity firm Pamplona Capital in combining its MedAssets and Precyse acquisitions.

Subtle Medical Raises $12.2 Million in Series A Funding to Expand Its AI Imaging Solutions

AI-powered medical imaging enhancement company Subtle Medical raises $12.2 million in a Series A round led by 3E Bioventures Capital.

Medsphere Systems Corporation Acquires Micro-Office Systems

Medsphere acquires Micro-Office Systems, which offers custom medical practice technology services and a patient engagement service.

Nuance Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2020 Results

Nuance announces Q4 results: revenue down 9%, adjusted EPS $0.18 versus $0.23, beating Wall Street estimates for both.

Morning Headlines 11/19/20

Central Logic Acquires Ensocare to Ease Transitions from Hospital to Post-Acute Care

Healthcare access and orchestration solution vendor Central Logic acquires Ensocare, which automates the referral of hospital patients to post-acute care.

K Health raises $42 million to expand its AI-powered telemedicine platform

Israeli company K Health raises $42 million and announces that the Mayo Clinic will integrate its telemedicine technology with its clinical data analytics platform.

Nuance Announces Sale of HIM Transcription and EHR Go-Live Services Businesses to Accelerate Growth as Conversational AI Market Leader

Nuance will sell its health information management transcription business and EHR go-live services business to DeliverHealth Solutions, of which it will become a minority shareholder.

COTA Secures $34M in Growth Capital and Triples Data Access to Better Serve Life Science Partners and Provider Institutions

Oncology-focused analytics vendor Cota announces a $34 million Series D funding round led by Baptist Health South Florida and ONC Capital, alongside a $20 million investment from Varian Medical Systems.

Morning Headlines 11/18/20

Introducing Amazon Pharmacy: Prescription Medications Delivered

Amazon launches an online pharmacy, giving customers the ability to order prescriptions, compare prices, and consult with pharmacists.

SOC Telemed Reports Third Quarter 2020 Results

SOC Telemed, which began trading on the Nasdaq last month, reports an 11% dip in Q3 revenue, attributable to a decrease in hospital utilization during the pandemic.

Upfront Healthcare Raises $11.5 Million in Series B Funding Round Led by Baird Capital and Co-Led by LRVHealth

Communication and patient engagement platform vendor Upfront Healthcare raises $11.5 million in a Series B funding round, increasing its total to $21.5 million.

AccuReg Acquires Digital Patient Engagement Technology Company

RCM vendor AccuReg acquires Zenig, a patient engagement company focused on appointment reminders, touchless check-ins, virtual waiting rooms, and communication tools.

Morning Headlines 11/17/20

Centauri Health Solutions Adds Referral Management and Analytics Capabilities with Acquisition of Ivy Ventures, LLC

Centauri Health Solutions bolsters its physician referral services with the acquisition of Ivy Ventures, developer of referral services using proprietary scheduling, analytics, and outreach software.

AliveCor Closes $65 Million Financing to Accelerate Growth of Its Remote Cardiology Platform For Consumers, Employers, and Providers

AliveCor will use a $65 million Series E funding round to further develop its remote cardiology technology with the addition of telemedicine and detection and condition management services.

Heads Up Health Closes $1.35M Seed Round Led by Innosphere Ventures

Health data tracking, aggregation, and analytics software startup Heads Up Health raises $1.35 million in a seed round led by Innosphere Ventures.

Morning Headlines 11/16/20

Student Medical Records at UC San Diego Make Epic Change and a California First

UC San Diego Health reports the benefits of moving UC San Diego’s student health service to Epic, including instant access to medical records from 262 US health systems for its 39,000 students.

Inclusion of patient headshots in electronic health records decreases order errors

Researchers find that including a patient’s headshot in the EHR significantly reduced ED wrong-patient order entry errors without creating provider burden.

Oklahoma to Launch Health Information Exchange

The Oklahoma Health Care Authority will launch a statewide HIE in the fall of 2021, initially focusing on connecting Medicaid providers.