Morning Headlines 3/4/19

Beth Israel Lahey Health is officially one entity. Here’s what happens next.

The newly-combined health systems intend to focus on the interoperability of their multiple EHRs in the short-term, eventually moving everything onto one system.

Microsoft to offer Band refunds, announces end of apps and services

Microsoft will shut down Microsoft Band and Microsoft Health Dashboard apps and services on May 31, following discontinuation of its Band fitness tracker two years ago.

Rhode Island Health Department Backs Away From Punitive Action

After physicians cry foul over being accused of medical misconduct for reporting safety-related EHR errors that didn’t affect patients, the Rhode Island Department of Health dials back its punitive actions and assures providers it will take a more collaborative approach.

Baby born with brain damage after ‘fragmented’ care at Queensland hospital

An Australian hospital’s internal review concludes that “disjointed information flow” in its Cerner EHR, plus other factors, contributed to a newborn baby’s brain damage.

Morning Headlines 3/1/19

Teladoc Health Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2018 Results

Teladoc reports Q4 results: revenue up 59 percent, EPS –$0.35 vs. –$0.76, meeting earnings expectations and beating on revenue.

Bad Actors Getting Your Health Data Is the FBI’s Latest Worry

The FBI believes foreign hackers will soon use medical data gleaned from precision medicine efforts in the US to engage in biological and cyberwarfare, or exploit individuals

Statement from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. as prepared for oral testimony before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, Committee on Appropriations

The FDA is working to link claims data in its Sentinel medical product safety system to EHRs to more quickly spot potential drug safety issues.

Morning Headlines 2/28/19

Lawmaker Scolds VA Chief for ‘Stonewalling’ Probe Into Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Crowd

House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano (D-CA) chastises VA Secretary Robert Wilkie for failing to turn over documents related to the Mar-A-Lago trio’s influence on VA software purchasing decisions.

Medsphere Acquires Wellsoft Corporation, the Leader in Emergency Department Software

Medsphere will integrate newly acquired Wellsoft’s EDIS software into a new health IT offering for urgent care centers.

Microsoft Employees Demand Company End $480 Million Contract With US Army

Microsoft employees demand that the company void its $480 million HoloLens 2 contract with the US Army after learning the headsets will be used in live combat rather than in more passive activities like vitals monitoring.

WellSky Acquires HCS, Entering Long-Term Acute Care and Inpatient Behavioral Health Markets

Multi-setting healthcare company WellSky acquires long-term and post-acute care health IT vendor HCS.

Morning Headlines 2/27/19

Crossover Health Acquires Sherpaa Health Virtual Primary Care Platform

Two companies run by founders with health IT histories are joined as employee clinic operator Crossover Health acquires the patient-provider communications technology of Sherpaa Health.

Olive adding 100 jobs in Columbus as AI bot for healthcare takes off

Workflow automation company Olive (fka CrossChx) will more than double its staff over the next two years at its Columbus, OH headquarters.

Cedars-Sinai Taps Alexa for Smart Hospital Room Pilot

Cedars-Sinai will outfit 100 patient rooms with Amazon Echo Dot units running Aiva Health’s Alexa-powered patient care assistant, which routes the verbal requests of patients to the appropriate caregiver.

Lawmakers press VA officials on EHR modernization, workforce

Facing complaints about cost and delays, Veterans Health Administration Executive Richard Stone, MD tells lawmakers that Cerner has mapped all 131 versions of VistA and will soon combine them before migrating to the VA’s new Cerner EHR.

Over half of home health care clinicians say they lack adequate information from hospitals

More than half of home care clinicians say they don’t have access to the EHR information of referring hospitals, making it hard to sort out the majority of records that contain medication list discrepancies.

Morning Headlines 2/26/19

GE Healthcare IPO this year ‘looks unlikely’ after Danaher deal, CEO Culp says

GE shelves plans to IPO its healthcare business after selling its biopharma business to global conglomerate Danaher for $21.4 billion.

The FDA and Flatiron Health Expand Real-World Data Cancer Research Collaboration

Flatiron Health and the FDA’s INFORMED program renew their collaboration, which uses real-world evidence derived from de-identified EHR data to inform regulatory decision-making and enhance cancer research and treatments.

New milestones in helping prevent eye disease with Verily

Google and Verily launch an eye-screening program in India that uses a machine-learning algorithm to screen for diabetic eye disease.

Morning Headlines 2/25/19

U.S. judge will not block Amazon-Berkshire-JPMorgan health venture’s new hire

A federal judge denies Optum’s efforts to prevent former executive David Smith from working for the Amazon-Berkshire Hathaway-JPMorgan Chase healthcare venture, despite the UnitedHealth subsidiary’s allegations that Smith could share trade secrets.

Warner Seeks to Advance Information Security in the Health Care Sector

Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), co-chair of the Senate Cybersecurity Caucus, calls on a dozen healthcare organizations to work with him to develop short- and long-term strategies that will reduce cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

Plan OK’d for patient access to 2 closed Arizona hospitals’ records

A judge approves a plan that will take $92,000 from the assets of two closed Arizona hospitals for a 90-day reactivation of their EHR so that patients can get their medical records.

Premier Health creates pilot program to transfer patient data from first responders to hospital

As part of a new six-month pilot program, Premier Health (OH) rolls out an interface that enables emergency responders to send patient data to its Epic EHR while en route to the hospital.

Morning Headlines 2/22/19

Allscripts announces fourth quarter and 2018 full-year results

Allscripts announces Q4 results: revenue up 17 percent, adjusted EPS $0.20 vs. $0.18, falling short of Wall Street expectations for both.

The U.S. government and Facebook are negotiating a record, multibillion-dollar fine for the company’s privacy lapses

The FTC is in negotiations with Facebook over a multi-billion dollar fine that would put a stop to the agency’s nearly year-long investigation into the social media giant’s privacy practices.

China Uses DNA to Track Its People, With the Help of American Expertise

Thermo Fisher will stop selling its DNA testing equipment to China after discovering its government is secretly collecting the DNA of a predominantly Muslim ethic group and adding it to a surveillance database.

“She Never Looks Back”: Inside Elizabeth Holmes’s Chilling Final Months at Theranos

Vanity Fair recounts the icy atmosphere at Theranos during its final months, including the eerily chipper mood and lavish spending habits of CEO Elizabeth Holmes.

Morning Headlines 2/21/19

Clearlake Capital-Backed symplr To Acquire API Healthcare

Provider management and credentialing software vendor Symplr will acquire workforce management tech company API Healthcare from Veritas Capital for an unspecified amount of money.

Unsealed testimony reveals a goal of Atul Gawande venture: ‘Make health insurance intelligible’

Jack Stoddard, COO of the Amazon-Berkshire Hathaway-JPMorgan Chase healthcare venture, reveals that one of its main goals is to make health insurance and prescription drug prices easier to understand.

Letter from the CEO: Proposal for Change

Garfield County Hospital District (WA) CEO Julia Leonard says a nearly $1 million shortfall caused by the billing inefficiencies of the hospital’s new EHR has contributed to her decision to drastically cut staff and operating hours.

Data error exposes patient information

UW Medicine (WA) notifies 974,000 patients of a data breach that occurred when internal files were inadvertently made public on the Internet via an unprotected server.

Arizona college student could die because she can’t get copies of her medical records

In Arizona, legal disagreements between bankrupt Florence Hospital at Anthem and Gilbert Hospital keep red tape wrapped around medical records, preventing many patients from moving forward with treatment elsewhere.

Morning Headlines 2/20/19

FTC Complaint: Multiple Ongoing Patient Privacy Breaches in the Facebook PHR (Groups Product)

Healthcare data expert Fred Trotter, health lawyer David Harlow, JD, MPH, and several patient advocates file a Federal Trade Commission complaint against Facebook over security problems with its Groups function.

Ochsner Health System and Pfizer Partner to Develop Innovative Models for Clinical Trials

Ochsner Health System (LA) partners with drug company Pfizer to make it easier for patients to participate in clinical trials via the use of digital tools.

China Could Use Medical Data to Blackmail Americans, Report Says

A Congressional report says that Chinese investments in US biotechnology firms potentially gives China’s government access to American patient data that could be used for nefarious purposes.

Collain Healthcare Joins Harris Computer Systems

Harris Computer Systems acquires long-term and post-acute care health IT vendor Collain Healthcare.

NHSX: new joint organisation for digital, data and technology

In England, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announces NHSX, a technology-focused initiative that will work with public and private organizations to help the NHS improve patient access and care through digital tools.

Morning Headlines 2/19/19

Missoula health care execs get $1.2M in venture capital for tech startup to better prepare patients

In Montana, PatientOne attracts $1.2 million in venture capital to hire additional staff and further develop its remote monitoring software for surgical patients.

USDA Prioritizes Investments in Telemedicine to Address Opioid Crisis in Rural America

The USDA will give funding priority to Distance Learning and Telemedicine program applicants who propose projects that provide opioid treatment services to patients in 220 at-risk rural areas.

Third Eye Health raises $7.25M to bring around-the-clock doctor support to nursing homes

Post-acute telemedicine company Third Eye Health secures $7.25 million in a Series A round led by Generator Ventures.

Morning Headlines 2/18/19

Porter Health Care System patients could get up to $5K from cyberattack settlement

Community Health Systems (TN) agrees to pay $3.1 million to settle a class-action lawsuit stemming from a 2014 data breach that impacted 4.5 million patients across the country.

FTMC welcomes new chief info officer

Fisher-Titus Health System (OH) hires Linda Stevenson (Cerner) as CIO.

Fairfield Medical Center posts $22.6M operating loss from medical records overhaul

Fairfield Medical Center in Ohio attributes its nearly $23 million operating loss last year to its Cerner implementation.

Nanaimo hospital says it’s making electronic gains; doctor disagrees

Physicians in several departments at Nanaimo General Regional Hospital in Canada are still using pen and paper to document patient encounters and order medications and labs despite the launch of a new Cerner EHR at Island Health facilities three years ago.

Morning Headlines 2/15/19

Texas Health System Selects CPSI SaaS Offering, nTrust

Mid Coast Health System selects CPSI’s NTrust program, which combines the vendor’s Thrive EHR, interfaces, and maintenance services with RCM support from TruBridge.

Health tech is so old-fashioned that Google had to adapt its cloud service to work with fax machines

At HIMSS, Google offers attendees a preview of the ability to fax medical information from its Google Drive cloud-storage service.

Hospital: Failure to read reports may have allowed pill thefts to go undetected

A pharmacy tech at Beverly Hospital (MA) alters computer records to cover up her theft of 18,000 pills over 13 months.

Morning Headlines 2/14/19

Veritas seeks buyer for API Healthcare, former GE workforce management unit

After acquiring Athenahealth, Veritas Capital considers selling API Healthcare, which it bought last year from GE alongside its enterprise financial and ambulatory care management units for $1 billion.

IBM Watson Health Invests in Research Collaborations with Leading Medical Centers to Advance the Application of AI to Health

IBM Watson Health will invest $50 million on research collaborations with Brigham and Women’s Hospital (MA) and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (TN) that will initially focus on how AI can improve the role of EHRs and claims data in patient safety efforts, precision medicine, and health equity.

BayCare Teams Up With Cerner, Lumeris and Salesforce to Improve Health of Senior Population

BayCare Health System (FL) will use Cerner’s HealtheIntent population health software, Salesforce’s CRM, and services from Lumeris to better care for senior patients enrolled in its BayCarePlus Medicare Advantage health plan.

Intermountain Healthcare and Trinity Health Make Growth Investment in AI Leader Jvion

Intermountain Healthcare (UT) and multi-state Trinity Health invest in predictive analytics vendor Jvion, which announced growth equity financing from separate investors last month. 

Casetabs Inc. Raises $2.5 Million From Investors

California-based surgery coordination software vendor Casetabs raises $2.5 million, bringing its total raised to over $13 million.

Morning Headlines 2/13/19

Partners Healthcare system back up following IT issue

Partners Healthcare (MA) rectifies Citrix connectivity issues that affected clinical and administrative systems at its 12 hospitals.

RTI International Launches Center for Health Care Advancement to Provide Evidence-Based Solutions to Problems in Health Care

Nonprofit research institute RTI International will develop the Center for Health Care Advancement to offer providers and payers insight into health IT, data analytics, population health, policy, delivery, and financing as they transition to value-based care.

MediQuant acquires DataEmerge, HeF Solutions

Medical records archiving vendor MediQuant acquires data extraction company DataEmerge and health data conversion business HeF Solutions.

Morning Headlines 2/12/19

Francisco Partners Acquires Qualcomm Life

Francisco Partners acquires Qualcomm Life from Qualcomm and will restore the name of Capsule Technologies, the medical device connectivity business that Qualcomm acquired in 2015.

HHS Proposes New Rules to Improve the Interoperability of Electronic Health Information

HHS proposes a new rule that would give patients instant electronic access to their health data from federally-funded providers at no cost, and that would require providers and payers to adopt technology to make this real-time data-sharing possible.

Critical Alert Systems to Acquire Sphere3® Consulting

Patient communications and nurse call vendor Critical Alert Systems will acquire nurse call analytics vendor Sphere3 Consulting.

Apple announces Health Records feature coming to veterans

Apple solidifies plans with the VA to give veterans access to their medical records via the Health Records app.

ImageMoverMD Raises $4 Million to Automatically Connect Medical Images with Electronic Patient Records

Medical image management startup ImageMoverMD raises $4 million in a financing round led by Bain Capital Ventures, Cultivation Capital, and Health X Ventures.

Morning Headlines 2/11/19

Catholic Health plows $100M into electronic records

Catholic Health (NY) will spend $100 million to implement Epic over the next 18 months – its most expensive health IT project to date.

OCR Concludes All-Time Record Year for HIPAA Enforcement with $3 Million Cottage Health Settlement

OCR wraps up its record-setting  $29 million year for HIPAA fines with a settlement from Cottage Health, a California-based hospital operator that experienced breaches in 2013 and 2015.

R1 Develops Technology and Innovation Center in Collaboration with Intermountain Healthcare

After taking on hundreds of Intermountain employees last year, RCM vendor R1 will again partner with the health system to build a technology and innovation center in Salt Lake City.

VA announces mortality data collaboration with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The VA will use FHIR-based standards to share mortality data from its VistA EHR with the CDC’s Modernizing Death Reporting project.

Morning Headlines 2/8/19

Health Catalyst Secures up to $100 Million with Financing Led By OrbiMed

Health Catalyst secures up to $100 million in a Series F round led by OrbiMed, increasing its total to $392 million.

Leidos, Mayo Clinic to collaborate on scaling transformative innovation to benefit patients

Mayo Clinic and Leidos will build an accelerator that will foster research, development, and commercialization of technologies and therapeutics.

Facebook is about to launch a tool in the US that pings you to donate blood when there are shortages

Facebook will launch a tool that will allow hospitals, blood banks, and the Red Cross to ask for blood donations; and users to receive notifications of shortages in their areas.