Rock Weekly – NEW

Last week, federal officials expanded Medicare coverage of virtual visits while further hinting at regulation that would allow medical professionals to practice across state lines. Telemedicine is undoubtedly at a tipping point, but the companies powering these services are struggling to meet the surge in demand.

Amidst the elevation of COVID-19 to pandemic status, at least one “ray of light cracked through the ominous cloud” as Roche’s new coronavirus test received emergency FDA clearance, potentially doubling testing capacity in the US. In the meantime, could digital solutions be (virtually) perfect to help fill gaps in our healthcare system?

Sharing your health data is about to get easier. This morning, the Trump administration finalized long-awaited rules on information blocking and interoperability to give patients control of their health records. While privacy hawks have shared concerns, the call to action for digital health from the federal government is clear: move full speed ahead with these new standards to provide solutions for patients and caregivers.

While 30% of Americans used live video telemedicine in the past year, it has yet to fully shift from being a convenient consumer offering to a must-have. But as the emerging coronavirus puts pressure on an already overburdened healthcare system, digital tools could play a key role—with some limitations. On the Hill, lawmakers are pushing on reimbursement for and access to virtual consults during such emergencies.

While the back and forth continues around how HHS’ impending rules will impact the security of patient data, a serious privacy threat is already here. There’s at least one health data breach per day—and on February 11, the target was NRC Health, which sells software to over 9K healthcare organizations. With patient data and reimbursement at stake, companies like GE Healthcare are betting hospitals will pay up for cybersecurity to protect connected devices and “healthcare’s increasingly digital environment.”

As more consumers flock online in search of clues as to what’s ailing them—and take action based on what they find—digital pharmacy Ro launched a WebMD rival health information site on its quest to “build a better experience for patients.” But while digital health tools proliferate, people may initially sign on with an understanding of how their health data will be protected—unaware that some of these companies can change their terms of service unilaterally at any time.

In response to "a slowdown in consumer demand"—and just weeks after 23andMe’s layoffs—Ancestry is letting go of 6% of its workforce and doubling down on its healthcare offering. The largest seller of at-home DNA kits joins the broader consumer DNA market in overcoming sales hurdles, including privacy concerns. Ancestry recently refused to open its database to police in defense of customers’ genetic privacy—although nearly half of Americans are okay with DNA testing companies sharing user data to help solve crimes.

When Allscripts bought Practice Fusion for just $100M in 2018, it promised to absorb any potential fallout from a pending DOJ investigation. Now, the fallout has finally arrived—with a $145M price tag. Practice Fusion owned up to a $1M kickback scheme of clinical decision support alerts designed to nudge doctors toward prescribing more opioids.

It’s not every day Epic CEO Judy Faulkner emails her Rolodex of hospital system CEOs. Last week, she urged them to unite in opposition to HHS’ proposed information blocking rules. Her reasoning? The rules undermine patient privacy—and “patients have been able to download their health information since 2010.” Industry-wide pushback was swift. And while tech companies have been relatively quiet, Apple and Microsoft are attending a meeting today with a focus on finalizing the rules.

As industry leaders gathered at JPM, there was a fair share of deal making—and breaking. Teladoc doled out $600M for an enterprise telehealth business, Uber and Cerner teamed up on medical transportation, and Dexcom launched an integration with Livongo. But some good things must come to an end. As Proteus’ key partnership with Otsuka dissolved, Epic let customers know it’ll stop integrating with Google Cloud.