AliveCor CEO Priya Abani accuses Apple of utilizing aggressive litigation strategies to intimidate and infringe upon the intellectual property of smaller medical device companies, aiming to enhance features of the Apple Watch without proper acknowledgment or compensation. Despite Apple's denial of such claims, AliveCor, alongside backing from some medical IP lawyers, continues to challenge Apple in court over specific patents related to cardiac arrhythmia monitoring technology. The conflict underscores a broader issue within the tech industry, where larger corporations allegedly exploit their resources to overshadow smaller inventors, potentially stifling innovation and fair competition in the medical device market. Amid ongoing legal battles, AliveCor remains determined to stand up against what it sees as monopolistic behavior by Apple, seeking justice and aiming to protect future technological advancements in healthcare.

UCI Health CEO shares vision for integration of 4 Tenet hospitals

Apr 2, 2024Becker's Hospital Review

UCI Health recently completed its acquisition of four hospitals from Tenet Healthcare's Pacific Coast Network, marking a significant blend of academic and community healthcare systems in Southern California. Chad Lefteris, CEO of UCI Health, emphasized the merger's potential to innovate healthcare delivery by combining the strengths of both academic and community settings. This move aims to broaden access to care, facilitate the transfer of patients requiring advanced treatment, and integrate the new hospitals into UCI Health's culture. Challenges include assimilating new staff, unifying organizational cultures, and updating the electronic medical record (EMR) systems to UCI Health's platform. Lefteris highlighted the enthusiastic reception from the community and the opportunity for mutual learning and growth as particularly exciting aspects of the acquisition.

Walgreens Suffers $6 Billion Loss As VillageMD Clinic Investment Sours

Apr 1, 2024Forbes

Walgreens Boots Alliance reported a significant second-quarter loss of nearly $6 billion, primarily due to a $5.8 billion after-tax non-cash impairment charge related to its investment in VillageMD. The loss comes as Walgreens reevaluates its partnership and investment in the doctor-staffed clinic operator, leading to the scaling back of clinic expansions and the shuttering of approximately 160 locations across various states due to challenges in filling patient panels. Despite the financial setback with VillageMD, Walgreens saw a 6.3 percent increase in sales to $37.1 billion, buoyed by growth in retail pharmacy and U.S. healthcare businesses. The company remains optimistic, citing positive adjusted EBITDA in the U.S. Healthcare segment and narrowing its fiscal 2024 earnings guidance amidst a challenging retail environment.

Disruptions to endure even as Change Healthcare fixes systems

Mar 28, 2024Modern Healthcare

Despite efforts by UnitedHealth Group to rectify system issues within Change Healthcare, both providers and health insurance companies are bracing for prolonged disruptions extending beyond the anticipated resolution timeframe. The overarching sentiment suggests a lengthy adjustment period even after the announced fixes are implemented, highlighting the complexity and widespread impact of the system challenges faced by Change Healthcare.

Steward Health Care strikes deal to sell its nationwide physician network to Optum

Mar 28, 2024Yahoo Finance

Steward Health Care has agreed to sell its national physician network to Optum, a UnitedHealth Group subsidiary, as part of efforts to improve its financial situation. The deal requires review by the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission and could face further scrutiny from state or federal authorities. Optum is set to acquire primary care doctors and clinicians in nine states from a Steward affiliate. The transaction's impact on healthcare costs, quality, access, and equity will be closely examined. Concerns have been raised about the implications for healthcare delivery and costs in Massachusetts and nationally. This move is noted amid broader discussions on the role of for-profit companies in healthcare and their responsibility to ensure access and affordability.

Fujitsu: Malware on Company Computers Exposed Customer Data

Mar 26, 2024DarkReading

Fujitsu publicly apologized for exposing customer data after detecting malware on their computers, which triggered a comprehensive investigation. The company, a global technology leader, announced the cybersecurity incident on March 15, immediately isolating affected machines and enhancing monitoring across its network while continuing to assess the breach's impact and origins. This incident was reported to Japanese regulatory authorities, but details regarding the duration of data exposure and specifics of the breach remain unclear. Industry experts stress the importance of understanding the breach's mechanisms to rebuild customer trust and call for a shift toward more proactive cybersecurity measures, highlighting a common challenge within enterprises to anticipate and mitigate cyber threats effectively.

Change Healthcare Rival Onboards Hundreds of Thousands of Customers During Hack Crisis - WSJ

Mar 26, 2024The Wall Street Journal

In response to a cyberattack on Change Healthcare that disrupted its claim submission services, Availity, a competitor in the health tech sector, launched a simplified, complimentary service enabling healthcare providers to continue submitting claims. This strategic move comes after the attack left clinicians and insurers searching for alternatives, resulting in Availity processing over $5 billion in claims originally meant for Change Healthcare. To accommodate the surge in demand, Availity is expanding its team by hiring approximately 20 new staff members, demonstrating its commitment to support the healthcare industry during this crisis.

Threat actors leaked 70M+ records allegedly stolen from AT&T

Mar 19, 2024Security Affairs

Vx-underground researchers reported that over 70 million records from an unspecified division of AT&T were leaked on the Breached forum. The legitimacy of the data, stolen in 2021 but only leaked online in 2024, has been confirmed, although it remains uncertain whether this data was obtained directly from AT&T or through a third-party compromise. The disclosed data, claimed by the seller "MajorNelson" to have been obtained by "ShinyHunters," includes sensitive customer information such as names, phone numbers, and social security numbers. AT&T has denied any breach of their systems, and the exact source of the leaked data is still under investigation.

Change attack update: UnitedHealth launching medical claims solution

Mar 19, 2024Becker's Hospital Review

UnitedHealth Group is responding to the cyberattack on its subsidiary, Change Healthcare, by advancing over $2 billion to providers and launching a new software for medical claims preparation starting March 18. This software seeks to aid thousands of providers in the aftermath of the cyberattack that has been described as one of the most significant in American history, causing widespread financial disruption across hospitals, insurers, pharmacies, and medical groups. The cyberattack has notably impacted financial operations and patient care, with more than one-third drop in provider claims to payers and an estimated $6.3 billion in delayed payments for hospitals. In response, UnitedHealth is making efforts to restore services and has suspended certain prior authorization requirements until March 31 to alleviate the situation, amidst ongoing restoration and federal investigations into their compliance with HIPAA in light of the cyberattack.

HHS requests 'stopgap' payments to hospitals, pause on prior authorizations amid Change outage

Mar 12, 2024Beckers Hospital Review

The cyberattack on Change Healthcare, a claims processing system, has led to significant financial strain on hospitals, necessitating the development of alternative methods for claims submission. The parent company, UnitedHealth Group, is working to restore systems by March 18. In response, the Biden-Harris administration, through letters from HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su, has urged private insurance companies to make interim payments to alleviate financial pressures on hospitals and requested simplifications in electronic data interchange and a pause in prior authorizations. Additionally, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has initiated accelerated payments to affected providers, while Moody's report highlights potential negative impacts on hospital credit ratings due to continued service disruptions.

Cyber Insurance Providers Offer Their Own MDR

Mar 12, 2024MSSP Alert

Beazley Security, the cybersecurity service arm of insurance giant Beazley, is expanding into the managed XDR (mXDR) sector, signaling potential competition for traditional technology vendors and MSSPs. This move follows the merger of Beazley's internal cyber team with Lodestone, enhancing its cybersecurity risk management offerings, which now include cybersecurity services coupled with insurance policies. Industry reactions are mixed, with some seeing this as a significant shift in the cyber insurance landscape, attributing to insurance companies' increasing involvement in cybersecurity through direct services such as vulnerability scans and endpoint security. Conversely, others deem it unlikely to disrupt the market significantly, citing limited customer understanding of such services and potential conflicts of interest. Despite skepticism, this development underlines a broader trend towards integrated cyber risk management solutions, highlighting the evolving roles of insurance companies in cybersecurity and the opportunities for MSSPs to collaborate closely with insurance providers.

Mark Cuban's drug company partners with 1st health system

Mar 9, 2024Becker's Hospital Review

On March 7, Community Health Systems (CHS), based in Franklin, Tennessee, became the inaugural hospital system to form a partnership with and procure medications from Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co., marking a significant step in addressing drug supply challenges and the escalating costs of pharmaceuticals. This collaboration aims to tackle issues such as pharmaceutical waste, drug shortages, and enhancing patient safety and medication error prevention by leveraging flexible drug ordering options, including offering medications in alternative vial sizes to minimize waste and dosage errors. Furthermore, Cost Plus Drugs is set to commence the production of epinephrine and norepinephrine in its new $11 million drug manufacturing facility in Dallas, with plans to extend its manufacturing to injectable drugs in shortage and pediatric oncology solutions. This partnership aligns with Cost Plus Drugs' ongoing efforts to integrate into the health system industry, offering a marketplace for essential medicines to hospitals, ASCs, clinics, and other healthcare facilities.

UnitedHealth working to restore Change Healthcare systems by mid-March, company says

Mar 9, 2024CNBC

UnitedHealth aims to fully restore Change Healthcare post-ransomware by mid-March, impacting U.S. healthcare operations since a February cyberattack. Systems like electronic prescribing have resumed, with full payment services expected by March 15. UnitedHealth, undeterred by further system threats, introduces financial aid for affected healthcare providers, with the program expanding to meet broader needs without immediate repayment. Change Healthcare identified Blackcat ransomware as the attack source, posing significant risks to patient safety and data security.

Kaiser conducts 2nd IT layoff

Mar 7, 2024Becker's Hospital Review

Kaiser Foundation Hospitals is laying off over 70 IT employees across California, citing the move as difficult but necessary. This follows a previous layoff of 115 IT positions.

Change Healthcare offers funding program, prescribing workaround after cyberattack: 7 updates

Mar 5, 2024Beckers Hospital Review

Optum's Change Healthcare deals with outages after March 1 ransomware attack. Introduces e-prescribing workaround; temporary funding assistance for affected providers; collaborates with Microsoft, Amazon Web Services for cloud environment scanning. UnityPoint Health latest to disconnect from Change. The disturbance could last weeks, per cybersecurity experts.

Change Healthcare cyberattack outage could persist for weeks, UnitedHealth Group executive suggests

Mar 4, 2024STAT

Change Healthcare cyberattack outage may last weeks, says UnitedHealth executive. Company establishing provider loan program due to offline insurance claim submission; wider clarity than timeline given since Feb 21 start.

WebMD Health Corp. Acquires Healthwise, Incorporated's Operating Assets, Building on Leadership in Member and Patient Engagement Solutions

Mar 4, 2024Prnewswire

WebMD acquires Healthwise assets, integrating them into WebMD Ignite, and forming a leading healthcare growth platform serving 650+ organizations. Acquisition enhances engagement solutions with personalized content technology. WebMD Ignite to serve over 50% US hospitals and 85% top 20 payers with advanced patient education. Healthwise's ongoing mission realized under WebMD's wider solutions and delivery platforms. Acquisition terms undisclosed.

Northwell Health, Nuvance Health to merge

Mar 1, 2024Healthcare Dive

Northwell and Nuvance Health plan merger, forming 28-hospital system in New York, Connecticut pending regulatory review. Deal enables Northwell to expand into Connecticut and invest significantly in Nuvance. Current financial struggles of Nuvance could be alleviated by merger.

Justice Department begins antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth

Feb 29, 2024Beckers Payer

Justice Department initiates antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth Group; scrutinizes relationships between UnitedHealthcare insurance unit and Optum health-services arm, potential favouritism in contract pricing, Medicare billing issues, and impacts of physician group acquisitions on rivals, consumers. This comes as part of wider governmental investigations into major companies under Biden's administration. UnitedHealth previously faced Justice Department challenges over mergers, acquisitions.

'An attack on the entire sector': Fallout from Change Healthcare hack continues

Feb 28, 2024Beckers Hospital Review

Change Healthcare's cyberattack disruption to payment/pharmacy processing operations predicted to persist. Optum subsidiary suspects nation-state behind attack. Cybersecurity firm Mandiant assists resolution. Major institutions disconnect from Change Healthcare following American Hospital Association advice. Moody's suggests incident could negatively impact Optum parent, UnitedHealth Group. Hackers believed to exploit ConnectWise ScreenConnect's vulnerabilities, infecting Change's systems with LockBit malware.

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