Morning Headlines 5/24/19

Agfa to Consider Selling Hospital IT and Integrated Care Business

Global imaging and IT company Agfa considers selling off the health IT and integrated care parts of its European healthcare business.

Indiana Medical Records Service Pays $100,000 to Settle HIPAA Breach

Medical Informatics Engineering will pay OCR $100,000 to settle HIPAA violations stemming from a 2015 data breach that impacted nearly 4 million patients.

Amazon Is Working on a Device That Can Read Human Emotions

Amazon is reportedly developing a voice-activated wearable capable of detecting emotion that may also offer users advice on how to interact with others.

Morning Headlines 5/23/19

Zipline, which delivers lifesaving medical supplies by drone, now valued at $1.2 billion

California-based drone-delivery company Zipline announces a $190 million investment and plans to expand its healthcare-focused service to the US.

DGMC to go live with new electronic health record in September

Travis Air Force Base’s David Grant USAF Medical Center (CA) will go live on the DoD’s Cerner-based MHS Genesis in September.

Scoop: Former FDA head Scott Gottlieb rejoins VC firm

Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD returns to venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates as a special partner on its healthcare investment team.

DNA-Test Startup Helix Cuts Staff, Closes Offices After Shift

Helix lays off employees and closes two of its four offices after announcing earlier this month that it will pivot from a direct-to-consumer DNA testing company to a provider-focused population health management business.

Morning Headlines 5/22/19

Interoperability among Office-Based Physicians in 2015 and 2017

ONC finds that interoperability among office-based physicians didn’t improve from 2015 to 2017 even though more doctors used information from outside sources.

Google says the new Google Glass gives workers ‘superpowers’

With help from development partner Sutter Health, Google releases an updated $999 enterprise edition of Glass, promoting the product from its Google X skunkworks division to mainstream Google.

Comcast is working on an in-home device to track people’s health

Comcast will begin piloting an in-home health monitoring device later this year in hopes of bringing it to market in 2020.

Morning Headlines 5/21/19

Facebook is mapping demographics, human movement, and network coverage to combat diseases

Facebook combines its data and AI capabilities with public and commercially available datasets to create maps that will aid public health workers in preventing the spread of disease.

After forced sale, PatientsLikeMe founder frets that U.S. policy could chill collaboration in biotech

PatientsLikeMe founder Jamie Heywood believes the federal government’s demand that the company extricate itself from its China-based investor will have a detrimental effect on future, potentially life-saving, healthcare collaborations.

Why Missouri’s The Last Holdout On A Statewide Rx Monitoring Program

Lack of action during Missouri’s latest legislative session helps the state continue its seven-year streak as the only one without a PDMP.

Nashville health-tech firm lands $7.3M in funding, with help from Jumpstart

Clinical decision-support startup EvidenceCare raises $7.3 million in a funding round led by JumpStart.

Morning Headlines 5/20/19

JP Morgan buys health-care payments firm InstaMed in the bank’s biggest acquisition since the financial crisis

JP Morgan Chase will acquire medical payments platform vendor InstaMed for more than $500 million.

Patient Hurt by Do-It-Yourself Artificial Pancreas Prompts FDA Warning

FDA warns users of do-it-yourself artificial pancreas systems that the individual components, including software, don’t necessarily work together to accurately control blood glucose levels.

UPMC Starts Telemedicine Company to Fight Infectious Disease

UPMC (PA) commercializes the infectious disease telemedicine services it has provided to patients over the last five years with the formation of Infectious Disease Connect.

Health at Scale lands $16M Series A to bring machine learning to healthcare

Optum invests $16 million in San Jose, CA-based precision care delivery startup Health at Scale.

Morning Headlines 5/17/19

Local Investment in Training Drives Electronic Health Record User Satisfaction

A large clinician survey finds that training is the #1 predictor of positive user EHR experience.

The Joint Commission Enters Next Generation of Quality Measurement, Offers Accredited Hospitals Real-Time Quality Metrics

Joint Commission will give accredited hospitals real-time access to their quality measures that are submitted via its ECQM reporting process.

VA’s Byrne hints at acceleration of health record upgrade

Acting VA Deputy Secretary Jim Byrne tells lawmakers at his confirmation hearing that the possibility of shortening the Cerner implementation timeline will become a strong possibility once its initial operating capabilities are assessed.

Haven, the new health venture led by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan, just lost its No. 2 exec

Citing personal reasons, Haven COO Jack Stoddard tenders his resignation.

Morning Headlines 5/16/19

Scientists Say They’ve Created a Smartphone App That Can Hear Ear Infections

Researchers at the University of Washington found Edus Health to commercialize their EarHealth app, which is capable of diagnosing ear infections with accuracy similar to that of an in-person exam.

Hospitals on alert to fix potential security risk

Microsoft issues a security update for all customers, even those using software that is no longer supported, after discovering a zero-day vulnerability in older systems with Remote Desktop Protocol that make them prime targets for ransomware attacks.

The Physicians Foundation Announces Interoperability Fund to Improve Health Information Exchange in Six States

Working with medical societies in six states, the Physicians Foundation announces an interoperability fund to help physicians connect to their local and regional HIEs.

Morning Headlines 5/15/19

Cerner to Work With DrFirst to Connect to State Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs

Cerner will connect its systems to state prescription drug monitoring program databases using DrFirst.

Erlanger working with tech companies to launch new era of artificial intelligence to identify, treat strokes

Erlanger Health System (TN) works with AI-focused health IT startups Viz.ai and Neural Analytics to develop and pilot software and apps capable of detecting blood clots in the brain.

Seattle Children’s spin-out MDMetrix raises $3M to unlock data from medical records

Seattle Children’s Hospital analytics and data visualization spin-off MDMetrix raises $3 million.

Morning Headlines 5/14/19

AliveCor’s FDA-cleared 6-lead ECG aims to detect more than the Apple Watch

AliveCor gains FDA clearance for a new ECG device that, when it debuts in June, will be the first consumer-grade product to monitor heart activity on six different leads. 

MiraMed and Medac Join to Create Leading Revenue Cycle Management Platform in Anesthesia Market

Business process outsourcing company MiraMed merges its Anesthesia Business Consultants subsidiary with anesthesia practice management and billing vendor Medac.

Dr. Geeta Nayyar to bridge medicine, business, and health information technology as chief medical officer for Greenway Health

Greenway Health names Geeta Nayyar, MD (Femwell Group Health) CMO.

Morning Headlines 5/13/19

Patient health information needs to be readily accessible

David Brailer, MD, PhD – the country’s first National Coordinator – urges support for HHS’s proposed interoperability rules.

$6 million billing loss leads to another internal investigation in Escambia County EMS

Escambia County, Florida launches an investigation into its emergency medical services to figure out who authorized the purchase of billing software from ESO Solutions, glitches from which forced the county to write off $6 million before it was turned off for good.

Littlejohn to take majority stake in Outcome Health

Private investment firm Littlejohn acquires a majority stake in point-of-care patient education and marketing company Outcome Health, which is continuing to recover after investor lawsuits, layoffs, and media scrutiny over its sales tactics.

After burning through $1 billion, Jawbone’s Hosain Rahman has raised $65 million more

Failed wearables company Jawbone rises from the ashes as Jawbone Health with a $65 million investment that will propel its subscription-based, clinical-grade wearables offering.

Morning Headlines 5/10/19

Novant Health launches digital health and engagement business division

Novant Health (NC) forms a digital health and engagement division to enhance its ability to virtually connect with patients from anywhere at any time.

LetsGetChecked Announces $30 Million in Series B Financing

Home health testing and companion app company LetsGetChecked raises $30 million in a Series B round led by LTP.

DocuTAP and Practice Velocity Merge to Form Experity, Establishing a New Market Leader in Urgent Care and On-Demand Healthcare

Practice Velocity and DocuTap name Practice Velocity CEO David Stern head of their newly combined company, Experity.

Morning Headlines 5/9/18

Harris Healthcare Group Acquires Uniphy Health to Extend Its Suite of Clinical Solutions

Harris Computer Systems acquires clinical communication and collaboration software company Uniphy Health.

Audax Private Equity Announces Recapitalization of the Chartis Group

Audax Private Equity acquires the Chartis Group, a Chicago-based consulting, analytics, and technology firm, from RLH Equity Partners for an undisclosed sum.

Elizabeth Holmes’s Possible Defense in Theranos Case: Put the Government on Trial

Court documents reveal lawyers for Elizabeth Holmes are considering mounting a defense that accuses Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou of exerting undue influence on the regulatory process, leading agencies like CMS to issue biased findings against the company.

Morning Headlines 5/8/19

Allscripts electronic health records unit receives grand jury subpoena

The Practice Fusion unit of Allscripts has been served a criminal grand jury subpoena regarding EHR certification and anti-kickback statute compliance, according to company SEC filings.

Providing excellent patient care remains Astria Health’s highest priority

Astria Health (WA) files Chapter 11 bankruptcy, blaming its financial situation on its EHR conversion and hiring of a revenue cycle management company that failed to meet agreed-on accounts receivables collection targets.

UMMS scandal: Medical system board chairman, two others resign as additional contract revealed

The board chair and two board members of University of Maryland Medical System resign over a no-bid software contract with Real Time Medical Systems, whose founder and CEO is former UMMS board member and donor Scott Rifkin, MD.

DispatchHealth Closes On $33 Million in Growth Financing Led by Echo Health Ventures

House call company DispatchHealth raises $33 million to further invest in its mobile app and logistics software, and expand services to more Medicare patients.

Google says its AI can spot early-stage lung cancer, in some cases better than doctors can

Google shares early data from a project with the National Cancer Institute and Northwestern University showing that its AI can detect early-stage lung cancer with equal or better accuracy than radiologists.

Morning Headlines 5/7/19

Kaiser Permanente Launches Social Health Network to Address Social Needs on a Broad Scale

Kaiser Permanente will leverage social services coordination software from Unite Us as part of a new Thrive Local network that will connect members with community-based services.

DirectTrust Reports Record First Quarter Results in Direct Secure Messaging as Traffic Migrates into Trust Bundles, Messaging Use Expands Beyond Referrals

DirectTrust reports several Q1 accomplishments, including 49% increases in both participating organizations and messages sent.

Tennessee Diagnostic Medical Imaging Services Company Pays $3,000,000 to Settle Breach Exposing Over 300,000 Patients’ Protected Health Information

OCR fines Touchstone Medical Imaging (TN) $3 million for potential HIPAA violations related to a 2014 incident in which one of its FTP servers was left unsecured, enabling uncontrolled access to PHI even after the server was taken offline.

Arizona changes medical records law after Republic’s story about student’s fight

Inspired by the story of a student who couldn’t move forward with life-saving surgery because of an inability to access her medical records, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey passes a law requiring providers closing up shop to to give patients access to their files or face a $10,000 penalty and the denial of future facility licenses.

Morning Headlines 5/6/19

U.S. doctors use medical records to fight measles outbreak

Doctors like those at NYU Langone Health are using EHRs to identify patients in measles outbreak areas who have not received the measles vaccine.

Grahame Grieve Named 2019 Glaser Award Recipient

UTHealth’s School of Biomedical Informatics names interoperability expert Grahame Grieve winner of the 2019 John P. Glaser Health Informatics Innovator Award.

Direct Recruiters and Sister Company Direct Consulting Associates to Integrate

Hospital IT staffing and consulting firm Direct Consulting Associates will roll into sister company Direct Recruiters.

A short thread on the real source of the uBiome fiasco. Hint: it wasn’t venture capital’s pressure for aggressive growth.

The former “citizen-scientist in residence” of UBiome – the microbiome testing vendor raided by the FBI after complaints of insurance overbilling – shares Theranos-like warning signs.

CareCloud raises $33M from inside investors

EHR and practice management vendor CareCloud raises $33 million, bringing its total raised to over $150 million.

Morning Headlines 5/3/19

Allscripts announces first quarter 2019 results

Allscripts announces Q1 results: revenue flat, adjusted EPS $0.16 vs. $0.15, beating on earnings but falling short of revenue expectations.

CirrusMD Announces $15 Million in Series B Funding and New Plans to Improve Care Delivery For Veteran Population

CirrusMD raises $15 million in a Series B funding round, and announces that its chat-based telemedicine software will be implemented at three VA medical centers.

Insiders describe aggressive growth tactics at uBiome, the health start-up raided by the FBI last week

UBiome places its co-CEOs on administrative leave as the company deals with fallout from an FBI raid and highly questionable business practices that included pressuring doctors to approve its tests and billing payers multiple times without patient consent.

Morning Headlines 5/2/19

Capsule Technologies Acquires Bernoulli Health

Medical device integration and patient monitoring company Capsule Technologies acquires clinical surveillance software vendor Bernoulli Health.

Teladoc Health Reports First Quarter 2019 Results

Teladoc exceeds analyst expectations, posting $129 million in revenue for the quarter, 4 million new members, and a 75% increase in visits.

AMN Healthcare to Acquire Advanced Medical

AMN Healthcare Services will acquire Advanced Medical Personnel, which offers healthcare staffing services that include telemedicine positions, for $200 million.

VA, DoD Electronic Health Records Still Aren’t Compatible, and Lawmakers Are Angry

Despite a decade’s worth of promises and billion-dollar expenditures, lawmakers continue to express outrage over the combined inabilities of the DoD and VA to merge EHR systems.