Morning Headlines 4/13/20

Apple and Google partner on COVID-19 contact tracing technology

Apple and Google will enhance their mobile devices with an API that will use Bluetooth to perform coronavirus contact tracing to help detect outbreaks.

Bankruptcy judge OKs sale of St. Vincent hospital to Patrick Soon-Shiong

A federal judge approves the $135 million sale of St. Vincent Medical Center (CA) to health IT, life sciences, and publishing mogul Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD who plans to turn it into a COVID-19 research facility.

Doctors at UCLA, UCSF create registry to study coronavirus effects on pregnancy

Researchers at UCLA Health and UC San Francisco launch the PRIORITY study and national data registry to better understand the effects of COVID-19 on pregnant and post-partum women.

Morning Headlines 4/10/20

Behind the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus dashboard

The Johns Hopkins University and Medicine COVID-19 case-tracking site draws over 1 billion page views each day for its near-real time display of data from WHO, CDC, and other authorities.

The Nation’s Largest Convention Center Being Converted into a COVID-19 Alternative Care Facility in Chicago, To Be Equipped with Epic Health Records Software

The Chicago Department of Public Health will work with Rush University Medical Center to set up a temporary hospital within McCormick Place Convention Center that will use the medical center’s Epic system.

LabCorp and Ciox Health Enter Collaboration to Create Comprehensive Patient Data Registry

LabCorp and HIM vendor Ciox Health will develop a COVID-19 patient data registry for clinical researchers using de-identified lab testing data and data culled from EHRs.

Morning Headlines 4/9/20

Pamela Powers tapped to perform duties as VA’s No.2

President Trump appoints VA Chief of Staff Pamela Powers to the additional role of deputy secretary, making her the top authority over the VA’s EHR modernization project.

Epic Partners with New York Hospitals for COVID-19 Patients Treated at Manhattan’s Javits Center

NYC Health + Hospitals extends its Epic system to the field hospital set up for COVID-19 patients at the Javits Center.

CliniComp International Gets $429M DHA IDIQ to Help Manage Clinical IT Systems

CliniComp secures a $430 million contract to maintain parts of the DoD’s clinical information system while it migrates to Cerner.

Morning Headlines 4/8/20

Former FDA Leaders, Health Experts Urge Action Now to Contain COVID-19 in Future

Duke’s Margolis Center for Health Policy proposes a national COVID-19 surveillance system to allow the country to transition from universal stay-at-home orders to case-based, regional options.

Tyto Care Raises $50M to Expand Its Telehealth Exam and Diagnosis Offering Globally

Telemedicine and related device company Tyto Care raises $50 million in an oversubscribed funding round.

CyberMDX raises $20 million to protect connected medical devices with AI

New York City-based startup CyberMDX will use $20 million in new funding to scale its healthcare cybersecurity capabilities and hire an additional 30 employees.

Morning Headlines 4/7/20

VA pauses work on EHR during coronavirus

Following in the DoD’s footsteps, the VA decides to delay its Cerner EHR project as clinical teams focus on COVID-19 patients.

Hospital Experiences Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results of a National Pulse Survey March 23-27, 2020

An HHS OIG survey of 323 hospitals finds their biggest challenges in preparing for and treating COVID-19 patients are associated with testing and treatment, and protecting staff.

Alliance of Va. hospitals launches dashboard tracking the status of medical needs

The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association develops a dashboard to help hospitals across the state visualize the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, facility capacities, and data on PPE and medical supply inventories.

HHS Announces Upcoming Funding Action to Provide $186 Million for COVID-19 Response

The CDC will offer select state and local health departments $186 million to build out or improve on testing and surveillance capabilities, and predictive analytics.

Morning Headlines 4/6/20

New York is merging all its hospitals to battle the coronavirus

New York State virtually merges all of the state’s 200 hospitals into a single state system that will share staff, patients, and supplies under the direction of the state’s department of health.

CDC Unveils 1st National Coronavirus Pandemic Tracking System

CDC rolls out COVIDView, an outbreak monitoring tool that displays key indicators that will be updated weekly.

Google is now publishing coronavirus mobility reports, feeding off users’ location history

Using its collection of mobile location data, Google begins publishing reports of how well people in 131 countries are following government directives to remain at home during the pandemic

98point6 Launches New Patient Resources to Ensure Best-In-Class Experience

AI-powered telemedicine company 98point6 will use a $43 million Series D funding round to launch its new patient wait-time dashboard and triple its physician staff by the end of April.

Here’s how doctors are monitoring more than 350 Delaware coronavirus patients virtually

ChristianaCare shifts technology it developed for a virtual primary care practice to remotely monitor COVID-19 patients.

Morning Headlines 4/3/20

OCR Announces Notification of Enforcement Discretion to Allow Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information by Business Associates for Public Health and Health Oversight Activities During The COVID-19 Nationwide Public Health Emergency

The HHS Office for Civil Rights loosens HIPAA regulations to give healthcare business associates more leeway in sharing PHI “in good faith” during the pandemic.

Microsoft works with healthcare organizations to protect from popular ransomware during COVID-19 crisis: Here’s what to do

As remote workforces increase, Microsoft alerts several dozen hospitals to VPN infrastructure vulnerabilities that may attract ransomware attackers.

Google’s AI accurately predicts physicians’ prescribing decisions 75% of the time

Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco and Google develop an algorithm using EHR data capable of predicting physician prescription choices 75% of the time.

FCC Adopts $200 Million COVID-19 Telehealth Program

The FCC allocates $200 million to help qualifying providers purchase telecommunications, broadband services, and devices essential for offering telehealth services.

Morning Headlines 4/2/20

MHS Genesis deployment suspended amid COVID-19 pandemic

The DoD presses pause on its roll out of MHS Genesis to better enable its care teams to focus on treating COVID-19 patients.

Exclusive: HCA subsidiary lays off dozens of contractors

Health IT consulting firm CereCore lays off dozens of employees contracted to work for parent company HCA Healthcare.

Microsoft helps Swedish Health Services develop COVID-19 app to track hospital resources

Microsoft and Swedish Health Services (WA) develop an app to help staff track COVID-19 patients, and hospital capacity and supplies.

eConsult solution company AristaMD secures $18 million in Series B funding

AristaMD will use $18 million in new funding to further develop and scale use of its e-consult and referral software for primary care physicians.

Morning Headlines 4/1/20

Cerner Millennium EHR to be used at London’s 4000-bed temporary hospital

London’s 4,000-bed Nightingale Hospital, a COVID-19 emergency treatment facility created inside a convention center, will run Cerner Millennium.

Calling all COVID-19 Health IT Projects

ONC updates its Interoperability Proving Ground, making it easier to find projects already underway that are using health IT to address the pandemic.

Olive Raises $51M to Accelerate its AI Workforce for Healthcare

Healthcare workflow automation company Olive raises $51 million in a funding round led by General Catalyst.

Morning Headlines 3/31/20

Trump Administration Engages America’s Hospitals in Unprecedented Data Sharing

To better allocate federal resources to areas in need, CMS asks hospitals to share COVID-19 testing data with HHS, and bed capacity and supply data with the CDC.

Supply chain companies to launch healthcare industry exchange

Supply chain tech company Resilinc will work with Stanford Health and Premier to launch a Web-based supply exchange that will match hospitals in need of COVID-19 equipment with manufacturers and donors.

New COVID-19 Preparedness App Fills Interoperability Gaps For Surge Preparedness

Epic and OCHIN develop an app for the Washington State Health Care Authority that enables healthcare workers, volunteers, and patients to perform COVID-19 screenings and find local emergency care.

Trump Administration Makes Sweeping Regulatory Changes to Help U.S. Healthcare System Address COVID-19 Patient Surge

CMS expands telemedicine coverage to 80 additional services and will now reimburse physicians for virtual visits at the same rate as in-person visits.

Morning Headlines 3/30/20

Apple announces COVID-19 website and app in partnership with CDC and the White House

Apple develops a COVID-19 screening website and app that it developed in a partnership with the CDC, the White House’s coronavirus task force, and FEMA.

Bright.md Raises $8 Million Series C Round to Bring Critical, Asynchronous Virtual Care to Health Care Systems and Their Patients

Bright.md raises $8 million in a Series C funding round, increasing its total to $20.5 million.

Conference Cancelled

Medical Users Software Exchange cancels its 2020 MUSE Inspire Conference that was scheduled for May 26-29 at Maryland’s Gaylord National Resort & Conference Center.

COVID-19 Community Based Testing Guide

Verily’s Project Baseline issues a guidebook for running COVID-19 community-based testing sites under the a federally supported, state-directed program.

Morning Headlines 3/27/20

Diligent Robotics announces $10M series A

Moxi hospital robot maker Diligent Robotics raises $10 million in a Series A funding round.

Alphabet’s Verily ramps up drive-through coronavirus testing with 1,000 Google volunteers

Verily automates scheduling for its recently expanded drive-up COVID-19 testing sites, part of its Web-based screening and testing project launched in California earlier this month.

New York State COVID-19 Technology SWAT Team

New York State seeks IT volunteers for COVID-19 technology SWAT teams, specifically looking for expertise in product management, development, hardware deployment, and data science.

An Epic donation: Local tech giant transforms former headquarters into daycare for COVID-19 frontline workers

Epic partners with a local childcare provider to convert the use of its former headquarters in Madison, WI to childcare space for UW Health employees.

Morning Headlines 3/26/20

Scripps Research launches DETECT study, leveraging wearable data to flag viral illnesses

The Scripps Research Translational Institute kicks off an app-based study that will use health data from wearables to more quickly pinpoint the onset of viral illnesses like the flu and coronavirus.

Rapid Response to COVID-19: Health Informatics Support for Outbreak Management in an Academic Health System

UC San Diego Health providers and researchers outline the ways in which the EHR is essential to supporting a health system’s management of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Inbox Health Raises $3.5 Million in New Venture Funding

Patient billing company Inbox Health raises $3.5 million in a funding round led by Healthy Ventures.

Morning Headlines 3/25/20

COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition Forms to Support the U.S. Healthcare System and Help Protect U.S. Populations

Consulting firm Mitre and several companies form the COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition, a data-driven effort to study community mitigation efforts, identifying people who have been exposed and need testing; and helping health systems manage staff, space, and supply chains.

HHS Awards $100 Million to Health Centers for COVID-19 Response

HHS allocates $100 million to help nearly 1,400 health centers across the country acquire medical supplies, support screening and testing needs, and expand telemedicine capabilities.

HTD Health Acquires CareVoice, an Advance Care Planning Platform

Health IT software development company HTD Health acquires digital advance care planning vendor CareVoice.

Morning Headlines 3/24/20

Amazon will deliver and pick up at-home test kits provided by new coronavirus program in Seattle

With help from Amazon Care and local health systems, the Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network launches to deliver and pick up at-home COVID-19 testing kits in Seattle’s King County.

Thoma Bravo shuts down Imprivata process as covid-19 fears fuel market volatility

Thoma Bravo calls off its potentially $2 billion sale of digital healthcare identity company Imprivata.

Go inside the nerve center of a Western Washington hospital system dealing with coronavirus

CHI Franciscan relies on a mission control center to monitor capacity, supplies, and staffing for COVID-19 patients across its eight hospitals.

Telehealth Startups Pause At-Home COVID-19 Testing After FDA Tightens Guidelines

Several telemedicine companies halt their roll outs of at home COVID-19 testing kits after the FDA stresses that it has not authorized any testing kits for at-home use.

As some local businesses close, Jacksonville healthcare company hires hundreds

The HCI Group will hire for between 500 and 600 jobs in the coming weeks as it ramps up efforts to help hospitals with their health IT and managed services needs during the pandemic.

Morning Headlines 3/23/20

CMS Announces Relief for Clinicians, Providers, Hospitals and Facilities Participating in Quality Reporting Programs in Response to COVID-19

CMS will grant exceptions for reporting requirements and data-submission extensions for healthcare providers participating in Medicare quality reporting programs.

Boris Johnson met with healthtech startups Babylon and Thriva to discuss scaling up coronavirus testing

The UK government enlists the help of healthcare and consumer technology companies to address the coronavirus pandemic.

Pence’s medical licensing comment stirs confusion

Vice President Pence’s statement about waiving state licensure limitations on telehealth doctors has created confusion, since only states can waive those restrictions, few have done so, and the federal government’s legal authority to preempt states is not clear.

Negative for ‘Coronavirus,’ positive for COVID-19: Stanford Medicine reformats reports after confusion

Stanford Health redesigns lab reports in its MyHealth portal after several students complained that their reports indicated testing negative for coronavirus, only to be notified soon afterward that they were positive for COVID-19.

Morning Headlines 3/20/20

Hospitals ask for $100 billion coronavirus bailout

The American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, and American Nurses Association ask the federal government for $100 billion to offset COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment.

Ransomware Gangs to Stop Attacking Health Orgs During Pandemic

Several ransomware hacker groups say they will refrain from attacking healthcare organizations during the pandemic.

Surge in patients overwhelms telehealth services amid coronavirus pandemic

Telehealth services are being overwhelmed with a surge in patients that is stressing their technology and their supply of physicians.

Local medical tech startup shuts down operations

Medical credentialing-as-a-service startup MedSpoke closes, citing recent changes to its client base.