Study shows EHRs fail to detect and warn against drug interaction and dosing problems 30% of the time
Nevada's state-wide health information exchange has seen a 36% increase in usage during COVID-19, mostly due to emergency regulations that make it easier to access information
Study shows more than 50% of providers never bill out of network, while majority of those billing out of network do it less than 10% of the time; Most out of network billing comes from a select few specialties
As recently as 2016, nursing homes lobbied the federal government to relax infectious disease rules; 43% of nursing homes were found have deficient emergency plans
FDA gives Quest EUA for their at-home sample collection kit for COVID-19 testing; Plans to produce 500k units by end of June
Trump Administration bungled distribution of initial remdesivir doses; Gave doses to hospitals that were lacking ICUs, patients, or the ability to store it properly
Stork Club raises $2.7M seed; Building a platform for helping employers manage maternity healthcare costs
Experts say Medicare's new $35 copay cap for insulin is hardly a win as it applies only to insulin, doesn't change actual prices, and will drive premiums up, all while giving drug companies political cover
Orbita raises $9M; Building voice chatbots and search for healthcare, including provider focused solutions with EHR integration
Ginkgo Bioworks raises $70M to apply its DNA sequencing infrastructure to growing DNA-based COVID-19 testing to massive scale
CVS partners with Nuro to pilot prescription delivery using autonomous vehicles in Houston; Customers in three zip codes will be able to select autonomous delivery free of charge
Tia raises $24M Series A; Building integrative hybrid clinical and virtual healthcare services for women
2-year study of 4,800 workers shows employee wellness program with cash incentives had no significant positive effect on health, despite employees reporting they felt healthier
ADA survey shows dental practices are reopening quickly, with 65% of practices open by mid-May at half normal patient volumes
Relaxed regulations and improved payments lead to Medicare telehealth visits exploding from 11,000 per week in March to 1.3M in a week in April
Employer and physician groups ask California legislature to mandate health insurers pay $2.5B of prospective monthly payments to primary care practices for 2020, 2021
Joint Commission to resume hospital inspections in June after pausing most activity on March 16 due to the pandemic
Siren raises $11.8M Series B; Developing washable smart-fabric socks that monitor diabetic feet for hot spots and provide alerts via bluetooth
Mayo Clinic leads "The Fight Is In Us" campaign to solicit convalescent plasma donations from people who have recovered from COVID-19; Microsoft, Uber Health are among companies supporting effort through donations of technology and services
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative distributes $3.8M in grants to 23 projects developing open source software for biomedical research
FDA says it abruptly shut down Gates-backed Seattle coronavirus study for lacking EUA, institutional review board ethics approvals
Samsung's smartwatch-based ECG gets approved by South Korean regulators; Can be used to detect irregularities like AFib
Higi raises $30M Series B; Operates 10,000 health kiosks in retail locations throughout the US. Babylon Health among new investors.
CDC now saying antibody tests shouldn't be used for determining individual immunity; In certain scenarios 'less than half of those testing positive will truly have antibodies'
Drone delivery startup Zipline is partnering with Novant Health in North Carolina to deliver medical supplies to frontline workers
CMS announces 1,750 insurance plans have agreed to cap insulin costs for Medicare Advantage and Part D members at $35/month; Drugmakers have also agreed to the plan
Level Ex, a game studio that develops mobile training apps for medical practitioners, has modified their games to train COVID-19 related skills
Propellor Health gets 510(k) clearance for sensor-enabled inhaler for use by asthma and COPD patients; Developed as part of partnership with AstraZeneca
Physicians in London hospitals are using Microsoft's HoloLens to limit exposure to patients; One does rounds wearing the headset while the rest watch from another room
IBM Watson Health stops offering 3 of its analytics products, offers transition path and support to 3 complimentary Vizient products
Researchers use algorithm and fMRI data to predict which patients will emerge from post-cardiac arrest coma; Achieved 94% accuracy in study of 17 patients
Philips gets FDA 510(K) clearance for Biosensor BX100; Disposable chest patch that lets providers remotely monitor patient heart and respiratory rates
DeepMind algorithm for predicting kidney decline shown in study to be less accurate for female patients; Women represented only 6% of training data
How Iora Health responded to COVID-19 by quickly shifting to a virtual care model and then fundamentally redesigning their care processes
Twenty hospitals with $108B+ in cash reserves between them received $5B+ of CARES Act grants to cover losses related to COVID-19
New remdesivir trial shows reduction in COVID-19 recovery time from 15 to 11 days; Benefits shown to decline as case severity increases with little effect on ventilated patients
Castlight Health launches 'Working Well,' a platform for screening and monitoring employee health to aid with workplace re-entry
New hydroxychloroquine & chloroquine study doesn't demonstrate efficacy against COVID-19, but shows 2-3x increased risk of heart distress
CMS expands Medicare Advantage telehealth rules to allow plans to include more specialists to meet network adequacy standards; Also allows ESRD patients to enroll in MA plans
Nonprofit CVKey Project creating a QR-code based system for communicating health status; Intended to help businesses safely and quickly reopen
VigiLanz and Datica offer 'COVID Quick Start' software free for six months; Helps providers respond to infectious disease outbreaks
UPMC using lottery to determine which patients receive remdesivir doses; Weighted to favor essential workers, economically distressed neighborhoods
HHS begins distributing CARES grants to skilled nursing facilities; Each SNF will receive $50K plus $2.5K per bed
Medtronic CEO says hospitals are gearing up for a 'faster than anticipated recovery' in terms of resuming normal surgical activity
Alabama, North Dakota, and South Carolina become the first states to announce they'll use Apple and Google's exposure notification API
Immunity passports are reliant on an incomplete understanding of COVID-19 convalescent immunity, based on inaccurate and unavailable testing, and pose risks to fundamental human rights
With primary care practices in financial trouble, private insurance could help by temporarily boosting payments; Would benefit insurers in the long run through avoiding specialist coverage, further practice consolidation
