Health IT

HHS issues advice to lower EHR burden as industry awaits interoperability rules

The strategy released Friday includes near-term suggestions like developers upping the user-friendliness of their interfaces and aligning reporting requirements across federal payer programs.

By Rebecca Pifer • Feb. 24, 2020

Opaque pricing, data silos still mar interoperability progress, HITAC says

ONC head Don Rucker also teased at the meeting that his agency's part of final rules to promote free exchange of data would be coming soon.

By Rebecca Pifer • Feb. 20, 2020

Teleflex strikes $260M deal, gaining device used in TAVR procedures

In releasing quarterly results, the Wayne, Pennsylvania-based medtech also gave updates on a new direct-to-consumer ad campaign and headwinds expected from the coronavirus outbreak.

By Nick Paul Taylor • Feb. 20, 2020

Most large hospitals embrace patient-facing digital tools despite cost concerns

Respondents said they were helping patients manage simple tasks like accessing health records, making appointments and paying bills, according to a new survey from the Center for Connected Medicine.

By Hailey Mensik • Feb. 19, 2020

LabCorp weathers rising personnel costs to beat expectations in Q4

Quest Diagnostics said the trend is an emerging source of pressure, while LabCorp had a more tempered reaction.

By Nick Paul Taylor • Feb. 13, 2020

Intuitive buys IT startup for surgical video sharing, archiving, analysis

Orpheus Medical's clinical video management and analytics platforms are meant to support interoperability and help hospitals process and archive images.

By Maria Rachal • Feb. 13, 2020

Rollout of VA's troubled Cerner EHR system delayed

More time is needed to complete the records system and ensure clinicians and other users are properly trained on it. A new launch date will be announced in coming weeks, the agency said.

By Hailey Mensik • Feb. 12, 2020

Wearable heart rate sensor accuracy didn't vary across skin tones in small Duke study

But results from an analysis of 53 people, published Monday in NPJ Digital Medicine, revealed differences in accuracy by device manufacturer across activity type.

By Susan Kelly • Feb. 11, 2020

Hospitals, clinics most likely to be hit with ransomware attack

Nearly 1,500 healthcare companies have been hit with an attack over the past four years, affecting 6.6 million patients, according to a report published Tuesday by Comparitech, which rates IT privacy tools.

By Shannon Muchmore • Feb. 11, 2020

FDA OKs 1st AI tool to help non-specialists take cardiac ultrasounds

The De Novo authorization comes weeks before the agency will host a meeting on artificial intelligence in radiology.

By Maria Rachal • Feb. 10, 2020

AMA survey shows more doctors embracing telehealth

The use of clinical decision support within EHRs, the promotion of patient engagement to treat chronic conditions and allowing patient access to clinical data have also grown, but at more modest rates.

By Ron Shinkman • Feb. 07, 2020

Q&A

One Medical's CFO on why primary care is ripe for disruption

The company's IPO was for 17.5 million shares at $14, the low end of its range. On the listing day Jan. 31, shares jumped to about $20. Since then, the stock price has continued to rise.​

By Shannon Muchmore • Feb. 07, 2020

Azar touts 2019 greatest hits, glosses over setbacks in state of HHS speech

He skated over some high-profile efforts from the Trump administration that didn't bear fruit or sparked bad publicity last year, such as efforts to lower drug prices, Medicaid work requirements and cutting away at the ACA.

By Rebecca Pifer • Feb. 07, 2020

Epic found not liable for product inaccessible to blind employee

The National Federation of the Blind sued the EHR giant, claiming its software is inaccessible to blind users, in violation of Massachusetts law.

By Jennifer Carsen • Feb. 07, 2020

VA facility claimed as 'world's 1st' 5G-enabled hospital

The Palo Alto Health Care System's 5G infrastructure — the fifth generation of cellular mobile communications — will be operational this week, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said Wednesday.

By Rebecca Pifer • Feb. 06, 2020

Cerner teases M&A, divestitures, touts backing for interoperability rules

CEO Brent Shafer re-upped the EHR giant's support for two HHS rules promoting free data sharing between health IT systems, due to be finalized any day, which rival Epic Systems has lobbied stridently against.

By Rebecca Pifer • Feb. 04, 2020

Epic takes top award in KLAS survey for 10th year

The findings come as the giant vendor has drawn fire from patient advocates and some physicians for a bid to scuttle a final HHS proposed rule that would require EHRs to be able to share data with third-party apps.

By Ron Shinkman • Feb. 03, 2020

Major conglomerates 3M, GE, Philips bet on healthcare

The corporate giants' earnings reports this week indicate medical segments are increasingly important to strategy as other businesses decline.

By Nick Paul Taylor • Jan. 30, 2020

Privacy versus access debate rages on, rekindled by Epic lobbying

Promoting interoperability without clear guardrails could lead to healthcare's version of Cambridge Analytica, Epic wrote in a public statement coinciding with ONC's annual health IT conference.

By Rebecca Pifer • Jan. 29, 2020

Lyft snags another major health system partner in CommonSpirit

The deal with the 21-state, $29 billion system is the latest move from the rideshare giant as it jostles for space beside Uber in the growing NEMT market.

By Rebecca Pifer • Jan. 29, 2020

Backing for unique patient identifier picks up steam at ONC conference

The current ban on funding UPIs is "misguided policy," Rep. Bill Foster, D-Ill., said Monday at the gathering of IT and industry officials. But other experts warned it's "not a panacea."

By Rebecca Pifer • Jan. 28, 2020

Providers won't be financially liable for info blocking in final ONC rule, due any day

"This final rule won't dive into penalties for providers," the country's health IT chief Don Rucker told Healthcare Dive on the sidelines of the agency's annual conference. "There will be future rulemaking on that."

By Rebecca Pifer • Jan. 28, 2020

Practice Fusion pays $145M in 1st criminal action against EHR vendor

DOJ charged the San Francisco-based company, now a subsidiary of Allscripts, with two felony counts for soliciting kickbacks in exchange for using its software to encourage doctors to prescribe more opioids.

By Shannon Muchmore • Jan. 28, 2020

Patient use of digital tools, 3rd-party apps to access health records rises in 2019

One in five patients granted third-party apps access to their health data last year, reviving privacy concerns as the industry waits for HHS to finalize rules setting standards around interoperability.

By Rebecca Pifer • Jan. 27, 2020

Patient advocates urge quick release of final interoperability rules

The push comes on the heels of a campaign against the rules from Epic CEO Judy Faulkner, who has argued they threaten patients' privacy and would allow third parties access to their data without consent.

By Samantha Liss • Jan. 27, 2020