Morning Headlines 7/25/22

Statement of Mike Sicilia, Executive Vice President Industries Oracle Corporation Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Hearing on Examining the Status of VA’s Electronic Health Record Modernization Program

Oracle EVP Mike Sicilia tells the US Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs that Oracle will move the VA’s Cerner implementation to the cloud and rewrite Cerner’s pharmacy module, completing both tasks within six to nine months.

Pre-Visit Clinical Intake Automation Company Health Note Nabs $17M in Funding Round

Health Note will use a $17 million Series A funding round to expand its market presence and EHR integrations, and invest in additional research and development.

Ascom acquires French software developer Appliware

Ascom acquires Appliware, a France-based developer of long-term care solutions for patient monitoring and alarming.

London NHS trust cancels operations as IT system fails in heatwave

In the UK, IT and telephone system servers at one of NHS’s largest trusts go down as data center cooling systems fail to keep up with a record heat wave.

Morning Headlines 7/22/22

Amazon to buy One Medical for $3.9 billion as it expands healthcare footprint

The announcement comes two weeks after reports that primary care operator One Medical, whose share price had dropped by nearly two-thirds in the past 12 months, was exploring its options after reported acquisition interest by CVS Health didn’t materialize.

Internal document reveals more frequent computer problems at Spokane VA than previously known

The Spokane paper says that the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center users have experienced more than 180 episodes of system degradation or downtime since September 2021.

VA’s $16 billion medical records overhaul could triple in cost

VA officials say its Oracle Cerner project could cost $51 billion over the next 30 years when maintenance and staffing are factored in.

Justice Department Seizes and Forfeits Approximately $500,000 from North Korean Ransomware Actors and their Conspirators

DOJ seizes $500,000 from North Korean hackers and returns the $220,000 that two US hospitals had paid in ransomware attacks.

Morning Headlines 7/21/22

How Apple is empowering people with their health information

A new Apple report proclaims the company as “an intelligent guardian for [consumer] health and safety,” dividing its products between health and fitness (the Health app and the Apple Watch) and medical community collaboration (ResearchKit for study recruitment, Health Records to give patients access to provider data, Apple Watch for health system integration, and the company’s work in building COVID-19 apps and features).

Simplified Transfer Learning for Chest Radiography Model Development

An article published in the journal Radiology describes how Google Health has used advanced machine learning methods to pre-train chest X-ray networks that convert images into numerical vectors, which allows high-quality models to be created from 600-fold less data that can detect abnormalities and perform better in underrepresented populations and rare conditions.

Invitae to Lay Off Over 1,000 Workers Amid Restructuring, Leadership Transition

The medical genetic testing company will lay off 1,000 of its 2,900 employees, restructure, eliminate non-core operations and geographies, focus on profitable business lines, and shuffle its executive leadership and board.

VA scraps last EHR go-live date in FY 2022, amid IG accounts of patient harm

The VA postpones its last remaining 2022 go-live on Oracle Cerner, saying that the system isn’t ready to be used in larger facilities because of stability issues.

Morning Headlines 7/20/22

Columbus tech company Olive lays off 450 employees

Healthcare automation vendor Olive AI lays one-third of its total headcount, saying that economic realities have forced it to “reconcile missteps” related to its aggressive expansion.

New! USCDI v3 Published

ONC publishes the the latest version of the United States Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI).

DiMe Releases Toolkits to Improve Sensor Data Integration and Power Better, Faster Global Healthcare and Research

The Digital Medicine Society releases four toolkits for integrating data from wearables and digital sensing products.

Morning Headlines 7/19/22

GE Unveils Brand Names for Three Planned Future Public Companies

GE, which is separating itself into thee public companies that will focus on the growth sectors of healthcare, energy, and aviation, will name the healthcare business GE HealthCare when it spins it off early in 2023.

Cerner integration with Oracle will include new roles for Feinberg, Dalton

Former Cerner CEO David Feinberg, MD will become chairman of the new Oracle Health Global Industry Unit, while former Cerner Chief Client and Services Officer Travis Dalton will become general manager.

Eleven Enforcement Actions Uphold Patients’ Rights Under HIPAA

HHS OCR settles 11 cases in which providers failed to give patients copies of their medical records in a timely manner, assessing civil money penalties that range from $3,500 to $240,000.

Biden’s FTC Has Blocked 4 Hospital Mergers and Is Poised to Thwart More Consolidation Attempts

The Federal Trade Commission, noting the market dominance of the largest health systems and the failure of mergers to reduce costs, signals that it will more aggressively investigate planned hospital mergers and acquisition of physician practices.

Morning Headlines 7/18/22

Senior Staff Gave Inaccurate Information to OIG Reviewers of Electronic Health Record Training

A VA OIG report says that VA project executives provided it with misleading information about employee training on Cerner.

Scoop: Veritas buys RCM firm Coronis Health

Axios reports that private equity firm Veritas Capital has acquired physician billing and RCM company Coronis Health, reportedly with the intention of buying another privately held RCM company and combining the two.

R1 RCM Announces 10-Year End-to-End Revenue Cycle Management Partnership with Sutter Health to Drive Improved Financial Performance

Sutter Health signs a 10-year RCM outsourcing contract with R1 RCM, which will hire 1,150 Sutter employees.

Do Cancer Centers Push Too Many Tests?

A New York Times review of 600 cancer center websites finds that they often tout the benefit of tests, often highly profitable radiology exams, in ways that conflict with medical evidence and recommendations.

Morning Headlines 7/15/22

Making Electronic Health Records Both SAFER and SMARTER

Informatics leaders call for expanding use of the SAFER guides to align health systems and EHR vendors in improving safety and usability, and for developing a similar set of SMARTER guides to protect the cognitive attention of clinicians.

Healthcare Triangle Announces Closing of $6.5 Million Private Placement

Healthcare cloud and data transformation vendor Healthcare Triangle closes a $6.5 million private placement.

The New Electronic Health Record’s Unknown Queue Caused Multiple Events of Patient Harm

A new report from the VA’s Office of Inspector General confirms that an “unknown queue” within the VA’s Oracle Cerner system led to 150 adverse patient events.

HPG, a Leader in EHR Technology Integration, Acquires HIT Consulting Services Provider HDS

EHR consulting firm Healthcare Performance Group acquires competitor Health Data Specialists.

Canvas Medical Achieves ONC Certification, Raises $24MM to Power Clinicians and Developers Building and Scaling Digital Health Companies

EHR and developer tools vendor Canvas Medical raises $24 million in a Series B funding round.

Morning Headlines 7/13/22

UHG’s Optum and Red Ventures launch consumer health JV

UnitedHealth Group’s Optum Health and Red Ventures form RVO Health, which will include consumer-facing health and wellness websites — such as Healthline, Psych Central, and Healthgrades – along with Optum Store and virtual coaching platforms.

Particle Health Raises $25 Million to Accelerate Platform Growth

Clinical data exchange API company Particle Health raises $25 million in a Series B funding round.

Fold Health Raises $6M in Funding

Fold Health, a San Francisco-based startup developing technology for primary care practices, raises $6 million.

Morning Headlines 7/12/22

Memorial Hermann Health System Invests in EnableComp, an Industry-Leading Specialty Revenue Cycle Management Solution

Houston-based Memorial Hermann Health System makes an unspecified investment in RCM vendor EnableComp.

Syntellis Performance Solutions to Acquire Stratasan, Expanding Healthcare Data Analytics Capabilities

Enterprise performance management software vendor Syntellis Performance Solutions acquires Stratasan, which specializes in healthcare market intelligence and analytics.

This cardiac care startup just landed $20M for virtual rehab services

Moving Analytics, a developer of virtual cardiac rehab programs, has raised $20 million in a Series A funding round that brings its total investments to $30 million.

Morning Headlines 7/11/22

Cardinal Health’s Outcomes acquires smart prescription platform ScalaMed

Cardinal Health acquires ScalaMed, whose app is used by patients to receive their electronic prescriptions on their phone, giving them the ability to price-shop and choose their pharmacy after the fact.

Astria Health and Cerner reach settlement in billing system case

Astria Health and Cerner settle their legal dispute in which the health system blamed its 2019 bankruptcy on problems with Cerner’s billing system, a claim Cerner disputed with the rebuttal that Astria poorly managed its merger with two other hospitals.

OhioHealth to eliminate 637 jobs in its biggest layoff ever

OhioHealth lays off 637 employees, 567 of whom are in IT, as part of the outsourcing of its IT work to Accenture and RCM to AGS Health.

Oracle Discussed Laying Off Thousands of Workers

Oracle has reportedly considered cost-cutting measures of up to $1 billion that could include thousands of layoffs within the next several weeks.

Morning Headlines 7/8/22

North Korean State-Sponsored Cyber Actors Use Maui Ransomware to Target the Healthcare and Public Health Sector

The federal government warns healthcare organizations to defend themselves against potential North Korea-sponsored cyberattacks that are using Maui ransomware.

Tebra Secures More Than $72 Million at Over $1 Billion Valuation to Expand Digital Healthcare Technology Platform

Tebra, the new name for the combined ambulatory health IT businesses of Kareo and PatientPop, secures a $72 million investment from Golub Capital.

Former Theranos COO is guilty of federal fraud

Former Theranos President and COO Sunny Balwani joins his former fellow executive / former romantic partner Elizabeth Holmes in being convicted of federal charges.

Premier said to reevaluate strategic options

Premier Inc. is reportedly considering strategic alternatives that include being taken private.

$3.2 billion digital-health startup Cedar just cut 24% of its workers amid a market downturn

Patient payments startup Cedar, valued at $3 billion, lays off 24% of its workforce “in order to adapt to current market realities.”

Morning Headlines 7/7/22

CareConnectMD Announces $25 Million Investment from TT Capital Partners to Fuel Expansion and Hiring

CareConnectMD will use $25 million in new funding to expand its primary care services for medically fragile Medicare patients into new markets and further develop its technology, including telemedicine.

PFC USA Provides Notice of Data Security Incident

Professional Finance Corp. notifies the patients of nearly 600 healthcare providers of a February ransomware attack on its systems that may have compromised their data.

Medical Solutions Acquires North Carolina-Based Matchwell

Healthcare workforce company Medical Solutions acquires online healthcare staffing marketplace Matchwell for an undisclosed sum.

Morning Headlines 7/6/22

One Medical Considers Options After Getting Takeover Interest

Concierge primary care operator One Medical is reportedly considering its options after attracting and then rejecting preliminary acquisition interest from CVS Health.

US court trims fine on TCS to $140 million in Epic Systems suit

A federal court reduces damages in Epic’s 2016 trade secrets lawsuit against Tata Consultancy to $140 million, down from an original $940 million.

Assembly Health Committee advances CMA-sponsored prior auth bill

A California Medical Association bill would require health plans to exempt doctors from obtaining prior authorization for prescriptions if they have historically practiced within that plan’s rules 80% of the time.

Morning Headlines 7/5/22

IT outages across Norton Healthcare

Norton Healthcare (KY) attributes ongoing computer connectivity issues to an unspecified hardware problem that began on July 1.

Ria Health Secures $18 Million Series A to Scale Online Alcohol Use Disorder Treatment

Virtual alcohol addiction treatment provider Ria Health raises $18 million in a Series A funding round led by SV Health Investors.

Government to approve €86m electronic records system at new national children’s hospital

In Ireland, the government approves the purchase of an EHR for a new national children’s hospital from an unspecified vendor with a strong track record of global implementations.

Morning Headlines 7/1/22

HealthMark Group Announces a Series of Strategic Acquisitions to Elevate Their Release of Information Portfolio

Patient engagement and release-of-information technology vendor HealthMark Group acquires Acton Corporation, its third ROI acquisition in 15 months.

Francisco Partners Completes Acquisition of IBM’s Healthcare Data and Analytics Assets; Launches Healthcare Data Company Merative

Francisco Partners launches Merative, a new healthcare data company that leverages the IBM Watson Health data and analytics assets acquired by the investment firm earlier this year.

Sensible Care Raises $13M Series A to Advance Quality-of-Care for Teletherapy Services

Online mental healthcare company Sensible Care raises $13 million in a Series A funding round led by Volition Capital.

Morning Headlines 6/30/22

Socially Determined Closes $26M Series B Financing to Set the Standard for Propelling Successful Health Equity and SDOH Initiatives

Socially Determined, a healthcare analytics company focused on social determinants of health, has raised $26 million in a Series B investment round.

WebMD Health Corp. Acquires Mercury Healthcare, Building on Leadership in Patient Engagement Solutions

WebMD will acquire patient engagement and analytics vendor Mercury Healthcare for an undisclosed sum.

Regard serves as a ‘medical co-pilot’ for busy physicians

Regard will use $15.3 million in new Series A funding to build out its AI-powered diagnosis software capable of mining patient data found within EHRs.

Evolent Health to Acquire IPG

Population health management and analytics vendor Evolent Health will acquire musculoskeletal-focused surgical management company IPG for $375 million.

Morning Headlines 6/29/22

The Promise of Digital Health: Then, Now, and the Future

The National Academy of Medicine publishes a paper titled “The Promise of Digital Health: Then, Now, and the Future” whose authors are digital health household names that include Amy Abernethy, Patti Brennan, Atul Butte, Judy Faulkner, John Halamka, Kevin Johnson, Don Rucker, and Eric Topol.

ITC Administrative Law Judge Finds Apple Infringed AliveCor’s Patented Technology

A trade court judge rules that Apple infringed on AliveCor’s atrial fibrillation detection technology, a decision that if affirmed by the International Trade Commission, could force Apple to stop selling Watch in the US or to remove the disputed technology.

New Data Analytics Can Predict Patient Outcomes and Improve Care – Here’s How

Hartford HealthCare (CT) spins out H2O, a cloud-based predictive analytics company focused on offering providers insight into patient length of stay, and patient flow through the emergency department and during surgery.