Morning Headlines 8/17/20

Firm Helping Run U.S. Coronavirus Database Refuses Senators’ Questions

Citing an NDA, health IT vendor TeleTracking refuses to answer the Senate Health Committee’s questions about its $10.2 million contract to develop a HHS COVID-19 hospitalization reporting database to replace one used by CDC.

HHS CIO Arrieta unexpectedly resigns

HHS CIO Jose Arrieta resigned unexpectedly Friday night after 16 months on the job, saying he wants to spend time with his kids.

Epic Systems consolidating four departments into one division

Epic notifies employees that it will immediately consolidate its training, implementation, QA, and technical communications under an application services division.

Medical Debt Collection Firm R1 RCM Hit in Ransomware Attack

Revenue cycle company R1 RCM works to recover from a ransomware attack that occurred just as the company was preparing to release its quarterly financial results.

Morning Headlines 8/14/20

Teladoc rival MDLive is preparing to go public next year

MDLive plans to launch an IPO early next year, encouraged by Teladoc’s announced $18.5 billion acquisition of Livongo.

CancerIQ Raises $5M in VC Funding, Adds Strategic Hires to Epic Integration Team

Precision medicine software startup CancerIQ will use a new $5 million investment to further scale its oncology-focused technology, add staff members to its EHR integration team, and seek out new genomics partners.

Craneware Plans Bumper Placing As It Eyes Acquisition Opportunities

Scotland-based Craneware will raise $100 million, about 20% of its market value, to fund potential acquisitions from a small number of opportunities it has identified.

Epic Systems Reverses Course On Mandatory In-Person Work Policy

Epic makes its planned return to campus optional, reversing its previous decision and allowing employees to work from home through at least the end of the year.

Morning Headlines 8/13/20

HHS Announces Investments for Health Information Exchanges to Strengthen their Ability to Support State and Local Public Health Agencies

HHS announces a $2.5 million funding opportunity to help state and local public health agencies strengthen their connections to HIEs.

Health Catalyst Reports Second Quarter 2020 Results

Health Catalyst announces a Q2 revenue increase of 18%, as well as adjusted earnings per share that beat analyst expectations by $0.07.

Waystar to Acquire eSolutions, an Industry Leader in Revenue Cycle & Medicare Analytics

Waystar will acquire Medicare-focused RCM vendor ESolutions in a deal valued at over $1.3 billion.

Morning Headlines 8/12/20

Navin, Haffty & Associates and Engage Join Forces to Provide Clients Complete MEDITECH Solutions

Providence-owned Providence Services Group acquires Meditech-focused consulting firm Navin Haffty.

Lumeon Raises $30M in Funding to Support U.S. Growth

Care pathway automation company Lumeon raises $30 million in a Series D investment round that brings its total funding to $78.6 million.

Health Catalyst Announces Agreement to Acquire Vitalware, a Revenue Workflow Optimization and Analytics SaaS Technology Solution

Health Catalyst will acquire RCM software and services company Vitalware for an undisclosed sum.

mPulse Mobile Announces Closing of Series C Funding of more than $16 Million, Led by Optum Ventures

AI-powered healthcare messaging vendor MPulse Mobile raises $16 million.

Morning Headlines 8/11/20

Shares In Senior-Focused Oak Street Health Jump 90% In Market Debut

Primary care company Oak Street Health’s IPO raises $328 million, earning it a $5 billion valuation.

Medix Launches Medix Technology, Combining Medix IT and Alidade Group to Offer Clients Expanded Tech Solutions

Medix merges two of its divisions to create Medix Technology, which will offer health IT recruiting, consulting, and integration services.

Navicent Health’s Virtual Hospital to let some COVID-19 patients receive care from home

In an effort to free up beds for the acutely ill, Atrium Health (NC) expands its “Virtual Hospital” to partner organization Navicent Health (GA), enabling some COVID-19 patients to recover at home with around-the-clock remote patient monitoring.

Sift Healthcare secures $2.8 Million in funding

Milwaukee-based healthcare payments software startup Sift Healthcare raises $2.8 million.

Morning Headlines 8/10/20

Improving VA and Select Community Care Health Information Exchanges

A VA OIG report on how VA facilities and their community providers use HIEs finds utilization lacking for a number of reasons, and that the Cerner switch-over will improve the ease of exchange among VHA, DoD, and community providers.

Samaritan still dealing with effects of malware two weeks later, slowly restoring applications

Samaritan Medical Center (ME) brings its EHR, PACS, medication management, and care communication systems back online after a July 25 ransomware attack.

Epic adjusts staff’s return to work time frame

Epic changes its Monday mandatory return to campus, allowing employees who feel that their personal situation makes it unwise for them to return safely to campus to continue to work from home while Epic awaits further guidance from the county health department.

Morning Headlines 8/7/20

Blackstone to buy Ancestry for $4.7bn

Blackstone will acquire a 75% stake in Ancestry for $4.7 billion, giving the private equity firm access to the company’s DNA information on 18 million people.

On-demand mental health service provider Ginger raises $50 million

Virtual therapy and psychiatry startup Ginger raises $50 million, which it will use to further market its services to public and private payers.

Cerner and Xealth Collaboration Helps Patients be More Active Participants in Health Care, Well-being

Cerner and VC firm LRVHealth invest $6 million in Xealth, a Providence Health & Services spin-off that has developed software to help providers find and prescribe digital health apps and programs.

VA pushes on with troubled health data transformation

Politico reports that the VA will re-commence its EHR overhaul with a rollout at an unnamed facility in October.

Infermedica raises $10.25M in Series A funding

AI-powered diagnostics startup Infermedica raises $10.25 million in a Series A funding round led by EBRD and Heal Capital.

Morning Headlines 8/6/20

Teladoc Health reaches agreement to buy Livongo in a $18.5 billion deal

Virtual care provider Teladoc Health will acquire chronic condition management app vendor Livongo in a deal that values the company at $18.5 billion.

CVS Health raises forecast for year as it adapts to changing health-care habits

CVS Health beats analyst expectations for Q2, reporting $65.3 billion in revenue and adjusted EPS of $2.64 vs. $1.93.

Virginia First State To Try Pandemic App From Apple, Google

Virginia launches the Covidwise app, becoming the first state to launch an exposure notification app using technology from Apple and Google.

OptimizeRx Reports Second Quarter 2020 Revenue Up 25% to a Record $8.8 Million; First Half Revenue up 34% to Record $16.4 Million, with Accelerated Growth Expected in Second Half

Digital point-of-care prescription savings vendor OptimizeRx reports Q2 results: revenue up 25%, and adjusted EPS of $0.02, beating analyst expectations for both.

Morning Headlines 8/5/20

Centauri Health Solutions Adds New Analytics Capabilities with Acquisition of AppRev

Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement services vendor Centauri Health Solutions acquires Applied Revenue Analytics, which offers business intelligence solutions.

Epic Systems to require 9,100 employees to return to work at its Verona campus on Sept. 21

Epic pushes back plans to have all of its employees return to on-campus work by August, shifting to a deadline of September 21.

CPSI Announces Second Quarter 2020 Results

CPSI announces Q2 results, missing on its revenue of nearly $60 million but beating analyst expectations for earnings.

Rush and R1 Launch Innovation Lab to Drive Industry-Leading Quality and Patient Experience

Rush University System for Health (IL) and R1 RCM launch an Innovation Lab that will develop and commercialize analytics and solutions for value-based care.

Morning Headlines 8/4/20

Allscripts Cloud-Based EHR Solution to Support MicroHealth, LLC for Use Within the United States Department of State

MicroHealth will implement EHR and PHR technologies from Allscripts as part of its work to transition the US Department of State’s Health Units to a cloud-based EHR system.

DAS Health Acquires New England IT Company

Health IT and consulting firm DAS Health acquires managed IT and cybersecurity company Technology Seed for an undisclosed sum.

President Donald J. Trump Is Expanding Access to Telehealth Services and Ensuring Continued Access to Healthcare for Rural Americans

President Trump signs an executive order extending telemedicine flexibilities and provisions after the public health emergency ends.

Morning Headlines 8/3/20

Lemonaid Health Raises Oversubscribed $33 Million Series B to Expand Telehealth Offering

Telemedicine and prescription drug vendor Lemonaid Health raises $33 million in a Series B funding round, increasing its total to $55 million.

Samaritan computer systems still down as investigation into malware continues

Systems of Samaritan Medical Center (ME) remain down from a July 25 malware attack.

Siemens Healthineers Expands Into Cancer Care With $16.4 Billion Deal for Varian

Siemens Healthineers will acquire radiation oncology treatment and software developer Varian Medical Systems for $16.4 billion.

Exclusive: Prescription drug marketplace GoodRx files for IPO – sources

Reuters reports that Web-based prescription savings company GoodRx is preparing to file for an IPO.

Morning Headlines 7/31/20

Allscripts Announces Second Quarter 2020 Results

Allscripts reports Q2 results: revenue down 8.6%, adjusted EPS $0.18 versus $0.17,  beating Wall Street expectations for both.

NextGen Healthcare, Inc. Reports Fiscal 2021 First Quarter Results

NextGen reports a slight drop in Q1 revenue to $130.9 million, and EPS of $0.21 versus $0.16.

Strata Decision Technology to Acquire EPSi From Allscripts

Allscripts will sell its EPSi business unit to Roper Technologies-owned Strata Decision Technology for $365 million.

Teladoc (TDOC) Reports Q2 Loss, Tops Revenue Estimates

Teladoc Health reports Q2 results: revenue up 80%, EPS -$0.34 versus –$0.41, beating revenue expectations but falling short on earnings.

Morning Headlines 7/30/20

Humana invests $100 million in telehealth start-up Heal

App-based house call and virtual primary care company Heal announces a $100 million investment from Humana, which will offer the company’s services to its members.

Cerner Earnings Beat, Revenue Misses In Q2

Cerner announces Q2 earnings per share of $0.63 on revenue of $1.33 billion, down slightly from analyst expectations of $1.36 billion.

Using population health analysis to improve patient care brings Sema4 a $1.1 billion valuation

Mt. Sinai Health spin-off Sema4 raises $121 million, earning the precision medicine and analytics company a $1.1 billion valuation.

SOC Telemed to Merge with Healthcare Merger Corp.

Special purpose acquisition company Healthcare Merger combines with SOC Telemed under the acute-care telemedicine company’s brand, which will be listed on the Nasdaq at an initial valuation of $720 million.

Morning Headlines 7/29/20

Withings raises $60 million to bridge the gap between consumer tech and healthcare providers

Withings will use a $60 million Series B funding round to building out its Med Pro division, which offers remote patient monitoring devices to programs run by providers, payers, and employers.

TA, Francisco Partners join hands in $1.4bn-plus deal for Edifecs

Francisco Partners and TA Associates invest in health IT company Edifecs, giving them a combined 51% interest in the company.

Ciox Health Acquires Biomedical Natural Language Processing Pioneer, Medal, Inc.

Health records retrieval company Ciox Health acquires Medal, which specializes in using AI to process unstructured data from medical records.

DOE, HHS, VA Announce COVID-19 Insights Partnership

HHS and the VA will use the Department of Energy’s high-performance computing and AI resources to analyze health data and conduct COVID-19 research.

Morning Headlines 7/28/20

Ro, a 3-year-old online health provider, just raised a new round that values it at $1.5 billion

Health, wellness, prescription delivery, and telemedicine company Ro raises $200 million.

Transformative Raises $1.7M Seed Round After Developing Technology That Predicts Sudden Cardiac Arrest

Transformative raises $1.7 million to further develop and gain FDA clearance for software that can predict cardiac arrest in pediatric patients.

Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and Guidehouse Form New Company to Deliver Revenue Cycle Management Improvements to the Pediatric Healthcare Industry

Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and consulting firm Guidehouse launch an RCM software and services company for pediatric healthcare facilities.

Morning Headlines 7/27/20

WELL Health Forms New Business Unit Focused on Digital Health Apps and Provides Management Update

Well Health Technologies, Canada’s third-largest EHR vendor, forms a new subsidiary focused on discovering and investing in digital health apps.

Prevalence of unprofessional social media content among young vascular surgeons

The Journal of Vascular Surgery apologizes for and retracts an article titled “Prevalence of unprofessional social media content among young vascular surgeons” after doctors complained it was discriminatory and should not have passed peer review.

StuffThatWorks nabs $9M for crowdsourced insights on health conditions

Israel-based StuffThatWorks, which combines crowdsourcing and AI to give actionable data to people with chronic diseases, raises $9 million.

Morning Headlines 7/24/20

Clearlake explores Symplr stake sale, seeking $2bln valuation

Clearlake Capital Group considers selling provider management, credentialing, and payer enrollment technology vendor Symplr, which it acquired in 2018 at a $550 million valuation.

HealthEdge Software Acquires The Burgess Group

Insurer software vendor HealthEdge acquires The Burgess Group, which offers a payment integrity system.

Cerner’s New Cloud-Based Technology Helps Rural and Critical Access Hospitals Reduce Costs, Save Time

Cerner announces CommunityWorks Foundations, a fixed-fee, cloud-based version of Millennium for Critical Access Hospitals that can be brought live in six months.