Morning Headlines 4/10/23

Pear Therapeutics Files for Chapter 11 and Will Seek to Sell Assets Through Sales Process

Pear Health, which offers prescription-based digital therapeutics, files Chapter 11 bankruptcy, lays off nearly all of its employees, and seeks buyers for the business or its assets.

Virtual SUD Provider Workit Lays Off 100 Employees in Anticipation of DEA Crackdown

Virtual substance abuse disorder provider Workit Health will lay off 100 employees, anticipating that the DEA will reinstate a pandemic-relaxed rule that requires patients to undergo an in-person visit before having controlled substances prescribed via telehealth.

Study: ChatGPT Has Potential to Help Cirrhosis, Liver Cancer Patients

According to a study conducted by Cedars-Sinai, ChatGPT is effective at translating medical information about cirrhosis and liver cancer in a way that patients and caregivers can comprehend.

Morning Headlines 4/7/23

VA’s new EHR ‘not ready’ for next go-live, extending pause in rollouts

The VA postpones its Oracle Cerner go-live at VA Saginaw Health Care that was planned for June, saying that the software isn’t ready for the next wave of deployments.

Microsoft, hospital group use court order to disrupt ransomware attacks aimed at health sector

Microsoft, the Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center, and software firm Fortra obtain a court order that allows Microsoft to seize the Internet infrastructure that Russia-based ransomware hackers use to launch healthcare attacks.

Wisconsin Supreme Court: Health care systems cannot charge fees for electronic records

The Wisconsin Supreme Court rules that Ciox inappropriately billed a UW Health patient $110 for giving her an electronic copy of her medical records.

Morning Headlines 4/6/23

Computer outage causes CVS customers big headaches

An unspecified computer network issue briefly impacts the ability of some CVS pharmacies to fill medications.

Engage Technologies Group and APX Platform Formally Merge to Create an Industry-Disrupting, Complete Practice Performance System Focused on Patient Engagement and Practice Optimization

Practice management and patient engagement vendor Engage Technologies Group acquires APX Platform, which specializes in practice management software for aesthetic practices.

Clinovera Introduces New Healthcare and Life Sciences Services that Harness Technology Breakthroughs for Better Care and Outcomes

First Line Software will launch its Clinovera division to offer technology and services to healthcare and life sciences companies.

Morning Headlines 4/5/23

A message from Bill Priemer

Content services platform vendor Hyland Software lays off 1,000 employees, 20% of its workforce.

Coalition for Health AI Unveils Blueprint for Trustworthy AI in Healthcare

The Coalition for Health AI releases its “Blueprint for Trustworthy AI Implementation Guidance and Assurance for Healthcare.”

2023 Q1 digital health funding: Investing like it’s 2019

A Rock Health analysis finds that six Q1 digital health funding rounds accounted for 40% of the quarter’s total.

Morning Headlines 4/4/23

Global Interoperability Leader Lyniate Rebrands as Rhapsody

Health data exchange vendor Lyniate changes its name back to Rhapsody, the original moniker of the company before it merged with Corepoint Health in 2019.

Health Tech Startup Wellth Raises $20M Series B Funding for Continued Growth of Behavioral Science-Based Platform

Wellth will use $20 million in new funding to further scale its behavior-change app, which incentivizes users to build and maintain healthy habits.

Widespread Third-Party Tracking On Hospital Websites Poses Privacy Risks For Patients And Legal Liability For Hospitals

A University of Pennsylvania analysis determines that 98.6 percent of hospital websites use computer code that enables data transfers to third-parties that include tech companies, social media platforms, advertising firms, and data brokers.

Morning Headlines 4/3/23

Novant Health lays off executive team members

Novant Health (NC) lays off 50 employees, including EVP/Chief Transformation and Digital Officer Angela Yochem, MS.

Vendor Breach Event Notice: Adelanto Healthcare Ventures (AHCV)

Northwest Texas Healthcare System notifies patients that a phishing incident at Adelanto Healthcare Ventures, a consulting firm with ties to one of the health system’s business associates, may have exposed sensitive patient information.

FDA proposes a new plan to streamline updates to medical devices that use AI

The FDA publishes proposed guidance that will enable developers of AI-reliant medical devices to automatically update products already being used in clinical settings.

Morning Headlines 3/31/23

Murray, Tester, Brown Announce Comprehensive Bill to Overhaul VA’s Electronic Health Record Modernization Program

Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Jon Tester (D-MT), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduce legislation to overhaul the VA’s Oracle Cerner project.

Columbus-based CoverMyMeds to cut more than 800 jobs, close Arizona office

McKesson-owned CoverMyMeds will lay off 815 employees; close its Scottsdale, AZ patient support center; and rent out space in its $240 million Columbus, OH headquarters.

Florence Launches Modern Healthcare Experience With $20M Seed Round Led by Thrive Capital, GV, and Salesforce Ventures

Florence, which offers a patient engagement app, emerges from stealth with a $20 million seed funding round.

Cassidy, Moran Introduce Legislation to Improve Electronic Health Record System Before Rollout Continues

A group of Republican senators introduces legislation that would halt further VA go-lives on Oracle Cerner until significant improvements are made from a rigorous list of requirements.

Morning Headlines 3/30/23

DoseSpot Acquires Bravado Health’s ePrescribing Platform TreatRx to Expand Solution Set for Healthcare Providers

E-prescribing vendor DoseSpot acquires Bravado Health’s TreatRx e-prescribing technology.

RhythmScience Secures $6M Series A Investment Led by Cedars-Sinai Health Ventures

Cardiac data integration and analytics startup RhythmScience raises $6 million in a Series A funding round led by Cedars-Sinai Health Ventures.

VA Secretary warns budget cap could hit agency’s telehealth and cyber programs

VA Secretary Denis McDonough says proposals to cap the department’s budget at fiscal 2022 levels will have a major impact on its telehealth and cybersecurity capabilities.

Morning Headlines 3/29/23

Primary Children’s Hospital launches new Neuro NICU telehealth program to better care for babies

Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital’s new Neuro NICU telehealth service enables its pediatric neurologists to remotely monitor and suggest treatments for babies at several NICUs in Utah and Montana.

Mercy and Perry County Approve Lease Agreement for Perry County Memorial Hospital

In Missouri, Mercy will take over management of county-owned Perry County Memorial Hospital and will invest $6.5 million to transition the facility from Cerner to Epic this fall.

Philips Virtual Care Management offers a comprehensive approach to telehealth for patients, providers and payers

Philips launches its Virtual Care Management suite of technologies and services for providers, payers, and employers within the US.

Morning Headlines 3/28/23

Wellvana Health announces $84 million capital raise to drive innovation in value-based care enablement

Value-based care enablement startup Wellvana Health raises $84 million, bringing its total raised to $140 million.

CVS Health to Close Acquisition of Signify Health

CVS Health will wrap up its $8 billion acquisition of home healthcare provider Signify Health this week.

Atlantic General Hospital Provides Notice of Data Privacy Event

Atlantic General Hospital (MD) notifies patients of a data breach after discovering hackers had encrypted files on certain computer systems.

Morning Headlines 3/27/23

How Cigna Saves Millions by Having Its Doctors Reject Claims Without Reading Them

Cigna’s reviewing doctors reportedly use “auto-denial” software that allows them to declare a patient’s test as medically unnecessary in an average of 1.2 seconds, without ever looking at the patient’s medical records.

Successful User’s Guide to High EHR Satisfaction

A new KLAS report finds that EHR personalization is the biggest driver of provider satisfaction, although providers often feel they don’t get much support in that area and resort instead to personal initiative.

US Organ Transplant System, Troubled by Long Wait Times, Faces an Overhaul

The federal government will solicit bids to provide services that have been offered by United Network for Organ Sharing, the top priority of which is to replace the organ-matching computer system in hopes of shortening transplant wait lists and addressing racial inequity.

Morning Headlines 3/24/23

Vital Secures $24.7 Million in Series B Funding to Advance Its Artificial Intelligence-Driven Software for Patients, Hospitals and Health Systems

ED patient experience software vendor Vital raises $24.7 million in a Series B funding round, bringing its total raised to $46 million since launching in 2019.

House Dems introduce pair of bills to overhaul IT acquisition at Department of Veterans Affairs

Democratic lawmakers propose two pieces of legislation that would overhaul IT procurement within the department, and require the VA to procure an independent audit of its four major IT modernization programs, including the Oracle Cerner project.

State board approves health information exchange rules despite pushback

The Oklahoma Health Care Authority board unanimously votes to implement a statewide HIE despite protests from mental health professionals over patient privacy concerns, and provider pushback on the $5,000 sign-up fee.

Morning Headlines 3/23/23

Veterans Affairs shares statement on electronic health records rollout

Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center (WA) shares improvements made to the VA’s Oracle Cerner system, and stresses that the VA remains committed to fully implementing the same system as that used by the DoD and Coast Guard.

Mental Health Leader SonderMind to Provide More Personalized Care with Acquisition of Mindstrong Technology

SonderMind, a mental healthcare company that helps match patients with therapists, acquires the technology of virtual mental healthcare provider Mindstrong, which is in the midst of winding down operations.

There in the sky! Not a bird, not a plane, it’s VA’s old VistA system!

The VA will shift its legacy VistA system to the cloud to ensure its functionality and accessibility while the new Oracle Cerner system is optimized and implemented across the department’s remaining facilities.

Morning Headlines 3/22/23

Nuance and Microsoft Announce the First Fully AI-Automated Clinical Documentation Application for Healthcare

Microsoft-owned Nuance will launch Dragon Ambient EXperience Express, which uses ChatGPT-4 to automatically generate clinical notes, this summer.

Maven Clinic Accelerates Growth in the United Kingdom with Acquisition of Naytal

Maven Clinic, a virtual women’s and family health provider that has raised $300 million, acquires UK competitor Naytal for an undisclosed sum.

Bionic Health raises $3M for its AI health clinic using GPT-4 and other ML models to design better preventative care

North Carolina-based Bionic Health will use $3 million in seed funding to further develop its membership-based “AI health clinic” for preventative care.

Perspectives of Patients About Immediate Access to Test Results Through an Online Patient Portal

A survey involving four academic medical centers finds that nearly all patients appreciate having their test results posted immediately to the patient portal, even if their providers haven’t reviewed them.

Morning Headlines 3/21/23

Washington prepares for war with Amazon

Politico reports that the FTC decided not to sue to block Amazon’s $4 billion acquisition of One Medical due to the case being considered too hard to win.

RookMotion Raises $1.7M in Pre-Seed Funding to Empower Companies With More Actionable Health Data, Rebrands to Rook

Texas-based wearables data integration and analytics startup Rook raises $1.7 million.

Infinity Announces New Name, Now SimiTree Behavioral Health

Behavioral health IT vendor Infinity rebrands to SimiTree Behavioral Health after being acquired by the RCM, outsourcing, and professional services company SimiTree last year.

Morning Headlines 3/20/23

Oracle Cerner appears to have started another round of job cuts

Oracle Cerner has conducted another round of layoffs, according to the social media posts of some employees, which appears to line up with a restructuring plan approved in 2022.

Two Key Players in Ohio’s Health Information Exchange Announce New Partnership

The Healthcare Collaborative exits the HIE business and will transfer its customers – 70 hospitals and 18,000 providers — to Ohio Health Information Partnership’s CliniSync service by the end of 2023.

UC San Diego Health Notifies Patients of Vendor Data Collection Issue

UC San Diego Health notifies patients that vendor Solv Health used analytics tools that distributed information to third-parties without authorization on the scheduling websites of the health system’s Express Care and Urgent Care clinics.

Pear Therapeutics Announces Process Exploring Strategic Alternatives

Pear Therapeutics, which offers prescription-based digital therapeutics, will explore strategic alternatives to avoid reorganizing or liquidating the company.

Morning Headlines 3/17/23

Senators threaten consequences after VA confirms 4 deaths tied to computer system tested in Spokane

VA officials testify before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee that its Oracle Cerner system has been linked to six incidents of severe patient harm, including four deaths.

Zus Health Closes Financing, Signs Partnership with Elation Health, to Accelerate Growth of its Data Service to Provide Connective Tissue for Healthcare

Interoperability platform vendor Zus Health raises $40 million in funding and announces that EHR vendor Elation Health will integrate Zus Aggregated Profile to allow clinicians to view expanded records.

SpectrumAi Secures up to $20M Series A Investment

SpectrumAi, a healthcare IT company focused on autism care, closes a Series A funding round of up to $20 million.

Electronic Health Record Modernization:VA Needs to Address Change Management Challenges, User Satisfaction, and System Issues

A new report from the US Government Accountability Office recommends that the VA address change management, user satisfaction, system trouble ticket, and independent operational assessment deficiencies within its EHRM program.