TOP STORIES
Here’s the bottom line in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s report on information-sharing among EMR vendors. Only outsiders will be shocked:
The report also cited complaints that some hospital systems make it difficult to transfer patient records to rival systems or physicians as a way to control referrals and enhance their market dominance.
The agency didn’t cite any companies by name, however, and said it couldn’t determine the extent of information-blocking—in part because contracts often forbid customers from discussing prices and other terms.
Market Trends to Watch for Health Systems and Their Specialty Pharmacies
The future looks bright for the integrated specialty pharmacy model – for health systems, providers, and most importantly, for patients.
Fidelity’s CEO is making huge personal bets on cancer IPOs, including $10 million worth on Coherus BioSciences. There are other bets on Adaptimmune Therapeutics and Blueprint Medicines.
Our HIMSS preview appears this weekend, but in the meantime:
- HIMSS Will not Have Dragons or Acrobats This Year, Clinician Network Management Watchlist
- HIMSS’15: Care Management & Care Coordination Watchlist
- EMRANDHIPAA.com’s HIMSS guide
- Here’s what you get when you search “HIMMS” on Twitter
LIFE SCIENCE
The Funding Model for Cancer Innovation is Broken — We Can Fix It
Closing cancer health equity gaps require medical breakthroughs made possible by new funding approaches.
It looks like ViewRay is now postponing its IPO.
No startup has yet to solve false positives in breast cancer screenings. Sadly, the opportunity is there.
Karo Bio has acquired Tanomed.
Three companies and six academic organizations got NIH funding for antimicrobial resistance diagnostics projects
Shire will get a quick FDA review of its dry-eye treatment, lifitegrast.
Bayer HealthCare has expanded its collaboration with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard to include cardiovascular genomics and drug discovery.
Eisai is cutting 200 U.S.-based jobs.
There’s an intellectual property overhaul going on at the University of Washington.
PAYERS-PROVIDERS
Sutter Health is thinking of closing Alta Bates Summit Medical Center.
Walgreens is cutting 200 stores in the United States – fallout from the merger with Europe’s Alliance Boots. “Some parts are better than expected, while others have room for improvement,” Walgreens Boots acting Chief Executive Stefano Pessina stated. Ouch.
The head of the University of Minnesota’s Department of Psychiatry has stepped down (Jon Stewart would call it, “Pulling a Rolling Stone”) – consequences of a report outlining shoddy management of drug trials.
TECH
Catalyze raised $4 million for its healthcare cloud computing business.
Patient IO has rolled out a developer kit for iOS and Android.
Mayo’s Ambient Clinical Analytics got 510(k) clearance for its EMR interface that prioritizes a patient’s medical information.
Report: 42 percent of wellness programs are willing to chase any fad if it has a cool brand name on it.
And speaking of… Cerner is offering an Apple Watch app.
POLITICS
More Obamacare context. About the map (above):
The states in brown use federally run health care exchanges. If the Supreme Court rules that the text of the ACA does not allow for states using a federally run exchanges to receive subsidies, these people would lose critical financial assistance. The Urban Institute has argued that such a decision would leave 8.3 million more people uninsured.
Montana will be getting Obamacare soon – probably
A LITTLE EXTRA
Did someone really place a Craigslist ad for a biotech product/genetic engineer?
I am a billionaire who needs help creating a mouth wash.solution.gum with CRISPR-Cas9 containing viruses that will change specific genetic loci in my cheek epithelial cells to prevent a positive match against DNA found at the scene of a crime (my DNA was planted by a Doctor who is Doomed).
Chance of being real? 0.012329812 percent. I’d love to see the people who applied.
The Morning Read provides a 24-hour wrap up of everything else healthcare’s innovators need to know about the business of medicine (and beyond). The author of The Read published it but all full-time MedCity News journalists contribute to its content.