AllScripts buys Practice Fusion
Published by Politico on January 9, 2018
DOES PRACTICE FUSION SALE HERALD EHR CONSOLIDATION? Allscripts’ $100 million acquisition of the cloud-based vendor, whose free EHR business — employed by 30,000 U.S. physician practices — was valued at over $1 billion a few years ago, could be emblematic of a shrinking EHR industry.
Basic EHRs are becoming commodities now, and as Beth Israel-Deaconess CIO John Halamka notes, mergers and acquisitions are slashing the number of independent community hospitals and private clinicians offices. The new selection criteria for EHR systems include cloud hosting, open architecture, and mobile accessibility, he said. “Epic, Cerner, Meditech, Athena and [eClinicalWorks] are headed in that direction, so Allscripts had to act.”
EHR vendors overall are struggling with slowing growth in new business, but historically acquisitions have “not worked out well,” Hedgeye Risk Management analyst Andrew Freedman tells us. He noted that the ambulatory EHR market’s top 20 vendors account for more than 90 percent of office-based physician practices; 546 vendors serve the remainder. “[W]e have reached a point where valuations have come down…[and] the risk/reward is compelling for those with access to capital and an inorganic growth strategy, such as Allscripts.”
CHER’S LEGAL BATTLE AGAINST PHARMA STARTUP CONTINUES The pop star has sued billionaire entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong for a second time, arguing that management at his firm Altor BioScience concealed valuable HIV and cancer research from shareholders to buy shares at a lower price.
This is the third such lawsuit in recent months associated with the billionaire’s shares in startups. Soon-Shiong, a surgeon and philanthropist, is also member of the Health IT Advisory Committee. More for Pros here.
MANCHIN TO BACK AZAR FOR HHS HEAD West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin plans to vote for Alex Azar as Trump’s new Health and Human Services Secretary, he told POLITICO Monday. That makes Azar more likely to win approval for the new job, despite earlier speculation that his activities as a drug industry executive could cost him the votes of a few Republicans.
Azar, formerly a leader of Eli Lilly, has drawn concern from Democrats who point out that drug prices rose under his tenure. Azar’s Senate Finance confirmation is scheduled for this morning. More for Pros here.
eHealth Tweet of the Day: Microsoft in Health @Health_IT The rate at which #cyberattacks target hospitals is rising and it is more than information at risk, it’s patients lives
Welcome to Tuesday morning eHealth, where your correspondent is currently wearing four layers to stave off the cold. Send news tips and warm thoughts to mravindranath@politico.com. Tweet them to @ravindranize, @athurallen202, @DariusTahir, @POLITICOPro, @Morning_eHealth.
TRUMP TALKS TO FARMERS, PLAYS UP BROADBAND PLEDGES During his Monday appearance in Nashville at the American Farm Bureau Federation, President Donald Trump promised to increase internet availability in rural areas, potentially laying the foundation for better access to telemedicine and remote care. Following his speech Monday, Trump signed two executive orders related to broadband; the first directs the Interior Department to set aside resources for broadband installation ,and the second would require government agencies to use a more standard process for setting up antennas on federal buildings.
The White House made a 44-page report from the Agriculture Department’s rural task force public Monday — among its findings was that less than 40 percent of the rural population has reliable broadband access. More for Pros here.
FOCUS ON BUSINESS: With scads of health IT companies jockeying for cash and talent at the JP Morgan conference in San Francisco this week, several firms have announced new investments and deals. A sampling below:
American Well announces new partnerships: Allianz’s investment arm is putting $59 million toward a partnership with telehealth company American Well. The two companies plan to create new products that could lower the cost of health care while increasing access to it, per a company release. American Well is also partnering with health tech company Royal Philips to whip up new virtual care products, starting with an app called uGrow that lets users track their babies’ development. More details here…
GE Healthcare goes with Roche: The companies on Monday announced a strategic partnership to develop digital clinical support solutions, initially for oncology and intensive care. The announcement says they’ll be building a digital dashboard for providers, with analytics that integrate imaging data from GE with results of various blood and tissue tests performed with Roche products. More here.
McKesson scores $400M Defense contract: The Pentagon recently awarded McKesson a contract for digital imaging technology, EHR Intelligence reports. The deal, with a five-year base contract and a five-year option, would cover a system known as DIN-PACS IV, which stores and transmits medical images including X-rays.
LARRY HOGAN EXTENDS MARYLAND’S ALL-PAYER HOSPITAL MODEL CONTRACT The federal government will extend a contract under which Maryland is setting rates for Medicare payments instead of relying on federal benchmarks, Governor Larry Hogan announced Monday. The goal is to better review additional data before finalizing Maryland’s Total Cost of Care All-Payer Medicare Model, per an announcement from Hogan’s office. As we’ve reported, the all-payer model has boosted Maryland’s health information exchange, CRISP, which unlike many regional HIEs is working quite well.
30,000 PATIENT RECORDS EXPOSED AFTER FLORIDA HACKING State officials have said that hackers may have accessed medical records belonging to Medicaid recipients two months ago, per the Associated Press. Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration said one of its employees had clicked on a “malicious phishing email” that may have given hackers access to Medicaid patients’ full names, diagnoses and Social Security Numbers, among other sensitive information.
2018, so far, is picking up where 2017 left off in terms of bad cyber news. Health Data Management reported last week that Jones Memorial Hospital, an acute care facility in Wellsville, N.Y., fell victim to a cyber attack that took its computer systems offline.
Epic-Silicon Valley Express: United Airlines has announced it will start daily non-stop flights in June between Madison, Wisconsin and San Francisco, according to the Madison State Journal. Madison will be the smallest city east of the Mississippi to have direct flights to San Francisco and the only one in Wisconsin, airport spokesman Brent McHenry told the Journal.
PERSONNEL NOTES: Former National Committee for Quality Assurance chairman James P. Bradley has been named chairman of the board of AbleTo, a company that provides counseling and therapy via phone and video chat. Bradley was formerly CIO at UnitedHealthCare. Wylecia Wiggs Harris is taking over as the American Health Information Management Association’s chief executive officer, FierceHealthcare reports. Harris formerly led the League of Women Voters of the United States.
WHAT WE’RE CLICKING ON:
— Inside ONC’s search for a new chief privacy officer and new priorities
— How “Incident to Billing” coding undermines MACRA
— One hospital’s attempt to tailor its care for Asian American patients
— Glucose monitor maker Intuity Medical gets $40 million
