FDA Names Flatiron Health Executive Amy Abernethy Deputy Commissioner
Flatiron Health CMO Amy Abernethy, MD joins the FDA as principal deputy commissioner.
McKesson’s Change Healthcare is close to buying blockchain health-tech start-up PokitDok
CNBC reports that Change Healthcare will acquire health data integration vendor PokitDok as early as this week.
B.J. Moore, a Microsoft VP with experience in cloud and AI, joins multi-state Providence St. Joseph Health as CIO.
Federal court rules Obamacare unconstitutional — but the law stands for now
A federal judge in Texas rules that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional because Congress eliminated the penalty for people who don’t sign up for health insurance.
WellSky Expands Investment in Hospice Technology with Acquisition of Consolo Services Group
Health IT company WellSky acquires hospice and palliative care software vendor Consolo Services Group.
Centra sees operating margin drop as electronic records rollout leads to increased costs
Centra Health (VA) attributes a drop in operating margin – its first in more than a decade – to increased costs incurred by its Cerner implementation.
OCR seeks input on modifying HIPAA rules to improve coordinated care, with comments due February 11.
Medsphere Closes $32 Million Financing Led by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital
EHR and RCM vendor Medsphere will use $32 million in new financing for expansion efforts, including acquisitions and hiring.
Apple to Invest $1 Billion for Texas Expansion Plan
Apple will spend $1 billion on a second campus in Austin, TX, which will house up to 15,000 employees on 133 acres.
Jonathan Bush on Sale of Athenahealth
Jonathan Bush appears on CNBC six months after stepping down as CEO of Athenahealth to share his side of its sale story.
Nashville Hospital Company Pledges To Share Its Sepsis-Fighting Technology With Others
HCA develops and promises to share its Sepsis Prediction and Optimization of Therapy (SPOT) software, which is capable of diagnosing a patient 20 hours before a physician.
Apple now has dozens of doctors on staff, showing it’s serious about health tech
Sources tell CNBC that Apple has at least 50 physicians on staff, many of whom are keeping their roles across the organization quiet.
A scathing article from the Southern Investigative Research Foundation prompts the filing of a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Teladoc shareholders, citing false statements made by the company and a failure to disclose inappropriate employee relationships and insider trading.
Dr. Denise W. Hines to Join HIMSS as Chief Americas Officer
Former GaHIN Executive Director and EHealth Services Group CEO Denise Hines, DHA, MS joins HIMSS as Chief Americas Officer.
Black Book finds that 88 percent of mid-sized regional systems regret their EHR implementation due to hidden costs, unexpected consulting fees, lost revenue, patient frustration, and clinician burnout.
‘Hey, Alexa! How’s my blood pressure?’
Amazon works with Omron Healthcare to develop a skill for Alexa that connects the virtual assistant to the vendor’s blood pressure monitor.
OCR fines Pagosa Springs Medical Center (CO) for failing to cut off a former staffer’s access to a Web-based scheduling calendar that included PHI.
Federal officials arrest Pavandeep Bakhshi, a former Constellation Healthcare Technologies board member, for his role in a scheme that attempted to trick investors out of $300 million meant to help take the company private.
University of Maryland Medical System investigating malware attack
The University of Maryland Medical System recovers from a ransomware attack that impacted 250 of the system’s desktop computers.
GI Partners and TA Associates to Acquire Allscripts’ stake in Netsmart Technologies
Shares of Allscripts rise on the news that GI Partners and TA Associates will acquire its stake in Netsmart Technologies for $525 million.
T-Mobile will provide the VA with 70,000 lines of wireless service to help it expand telehealth services for veterans.
Seattle Children’s spin-out MDmetrix adds operating room capabilities, looks to expand
Health data analytics startup MDmetrix expands into operating room capabilities with OR Advisor, and looks to expand beyond its Seattle Children’s roots.
NHS banned from buying any more fax machines
In England, Health Secretary Matt Hancock bans NHS from buying new fax machines and insists that they be phased out by March 31, 2020.
Hospital Beds Get Digital Upgrade
Hill-Rom’s newest hospital bed will include FDA-approved sensors for monitoring heart and respiratory rates, checking vital signs 100 times per minute, and alerting nurses of abnormalities.
Apple scoops up CEO of Mango Health, a start-up that helps people keep track of their medications
Apple hires former Mango Health CEO and co-founder Jason Oberfest, spurring speculation that the company is looking to tackle medication adherence.
Top cancer center’s business deals created a web of conflicts, say ethics experts
STAT calls into question Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s deal with data analytics vendor Cota, whose founder helped to broker a partnership between MSK and his employer, Hackensack Meridian Health.
Partners goes down (and then back up)
Politico reports that Partners HealthCare (MA) briefly took its Epic EHR offline Wednesday to handle unspecified technical issues.
The VA announces at its telehealth event in Washington, DC that it will offer telemedicine services to vets at select Walmart stores.
Apple emphasizes that the ECG app and irregular heart rhythm feature launched today on the Apple Watch 4 are not intended for people with atrial fibrillation, but should rather serve as conversation starters with physicians.
Telehealth Virtual Care Platforms 2018
Epic and InTouch lead in telemedicine value and impact, according to a new KLAS report, while only Epic, American Well, and MDLive have more than half their customers moving along an EHR integration path.
Enzyme Health Adds $1.7M for Clinician Telemedicine Job Marketplace
Austin, TX-based Enzyme Health raises $1.7 million in a seed funding round led by Silverton Partners.
Teladoc Health Refutes SIRF Report Claims
Teladoc refutes claims of inappropriate relations and insider trading made in an article from the Southern Investigative Reporting Foundation.
Researchers find way to catch medical errors as they happen
Pascal Metrics develops software that uses machine learning and EHR data to detect and alert providers to medical errors in real time.
Curavi Acquires TripleCare, Prepares to Rapidly Expand Telemedicine Services
UPMC-backed Curavi Health acquires competitor TripleCare, a telemedicine vendor that caters to the post-acute, long-term care market.
Meditech acquires its London-based partner Centennial Computer Corporation as part of its creation of Meditech UK.
Interoperability 2018: Real Progress with Patient-Record Sharing via CommonWell and Carequality
A KLAS report finds that most EHR vendors are progressing well toward supporting a national patient record network now that CommonWell is connected to Carequality.
Queensland digital hospitals program facing $250m cost blowout
In Australia, Queensland Health’s hospital EHR project will run $188 million over budget if implemented in the remaining hospitals, with an auditor-general’s report noting that Cerner can name its price for contract extensions knowing that alternative systems haven’t been considered.
U.S. judge raises prospect of not approving CVS-Aetna deal
A federal judge involved with the final legal step in the CVS/Aetna acquisition delays court proceedings, telling lawyers that he is very concerned and that “you all are proceeding on a rubber-stamp approach to this.”
AI health firm Myia raises $6.75m in seed funding
Remote patient monitoring startup Myia raises $6.75 million in a seed funding round led by BootstrapLabs and Zetta Venture Partners.
Improving Electronic Health Record Usability and Safety Requires Transparency
Physicians argue against EHR vendor gag clauses, saying that an inability to share screenshots and other types of visual media prevent end users from sharing and learning from usability issues that may endanger patients.
EMIS Group unveils the future of connected healthcare
Emis Group will shift 40 million patient records from its servers onto AWS as part of a continued push in the UK for more flexible health data exchange.
Xealth Launches Innovative Feature Allowing Doctors to Digitally Recommend OTC Products
Xealth announces GA of software that enables providers to send patients digital recommendations for over-the-counter healthcare products, apps, and services from within their EHR and patient portal.
UnitedHealth to roll out individual health record, predicts what it will look like in 10 years
UnitedHealth’s individual health record is being beta tested at three ACOs and will soon be available to all beneficiaries and 1 million providers.
The CARIN Alliance develops a code of conduct to help developers of third-party apps outside the scope of HIPAA appropriately handle consumer health data.
Atrium Says Hackers Accessed Its Billing Records
Billing services vendor AccuDoc Solutions reveals that a September breach of its database may have impacted over 2 million Atrium Health (NC) patients.
HHS Issues Draft Strategy to Reduce Health IT Burden
CMS and ONC seek feedback on draft recommendations for reducing regulatory and administrative burdens caused by health IT and EHRs.
Iranian hackers wanted for hijacking Chicago health data company
Unsealed court documents reveal that two Iranian hackers were responsible for SamSam ransomware attacks on 200 organizations in the US and Canada, including Allscripts.
CVS Health wraps up its $70 billion acquisition of Aetna, promising to include digital health tools in its “new innovative healthcare model.”
Big Tech Expands Footprint in Health
Amazon will launch a software product for payers that combs through electronic patient records to find incorrect coding or diagnoses in an effort to improve quality and lower cost.
GAO to look into whether Mar-a-Lago trio inappropriately influenced VA
The GAO will investigate rumored VA meddling by three political supporters of President Trump who said they “were anointed by the President” as private citizens, and whom some contend influenced the no-bid, $10 billion Cerner contract.
OVMC, EORH Hope To Have Emergency Rooms Back Online
Systems of two OH and WV hospitals remain down following a ransomware attack Friday, with their EDs remaining on partial diversion.
Former University of Utah health system CEO Vivian Lee, MD, PhD, MBA joins Verily as president of health platforms.
Mental health therapy at Walmart? It’s now a thing
Managed care company Beacon Health Options creates a new business to oversee the launch of mental health clinics in retailers like Walmart, promising virtual access to providers during peak hours.
Black Book Survey of More Than 1,500 Executives Confirms the Changing Role of the Healthcare CIO
The purchasing-decision power of hospital CIOs falls over the last three years from 71 percent to 8 percent, according to a Black Book report.
Patients discharged sooner in hospitals with highest use of electronic health records
A Case Western Reserve University study finds that patients are discharged almost four hours earlier at hospitals that use EHRs at the highest federal standard of implementation.
Intelerad Medical Systems Acquires Clario Medical
Intelerad acquires radiologist worklist technology vendor Clario Medical.
Naval Hospital Bremerton’s new medical records system making ‘significant strides’
Fourteen months after going live on MHS Genesis, Naval Hospital Bremerton CMIO Lt. Cmdr. Bryan Wooldrige reports that pharmacy wait times are back to normal, care standards are once again being met, and initial workflow glitches have been ironed out.
Nuance Introduces New PowerScribe One Radiology Reporting Platform Powered by AI and the Cloud
Nuance launches PowerScribe One, a radiology reporting platform that includes AI-powered diagnostic and decision support tools.
Hospitals: Patient information safe in EORH, OVMC computer attack
East Ohio Regional Hospital and Ohio Valley Medical Center go on ED diversion after their systems are attacked by ransomware.
Apple in Talks to Give Veterans Access to Electronic Medical Records
Apple and the VA discuss developing software that would enable veterans to transfer medical records to their iPhones.
Jump Technologies Receives $2M in Follow-on Series B Funding, Bringing Total Round to $5.5M
Hospital supply chain management software vendor Jump Technologies raises $2 million with help from Mount Sinai Ventures.
Office 365, Azure users are locked out after a global multi-factor authentication outage
Microsoft brings its cloud-based, multi-factor authentication services for Office 365 back online after a global outage Monday morning.
How Geisinger Health System Reduced Opioid Prescriptions
Geisinger Health (PA) attributes a 30-percent decline in opioid prescriptions to a multi-pronged approach that includes EHR-based interventions, e-prescribing, and access to the state’s PDMP.
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