Important Industry News
April 2017 Healthcare IT Update
Donald Rucker is named new head at ONC (Office of National Coordinator)
Dr. Rucker is one of the most qualified candidates to run the ONC. He has been an ER doctor, an inventor, an informatics expert and a professor. He served as the CMO of Siemens for 13 years. The agency is facing some challenging times. Rucker will have a strong say on the EHR oversight and testing timeframes for the new government mandates. We just hope that he does not yield to the wishes of the big vendors who would like to kick the can down the road and delay the requirements.
NantHealth’s big loss and accusations of insider dealings
NantHealth announced its first annual results since going public. For 2016 the company lost $184 million on revenues of $100 million. Readers recall that the company acquired NaviNet last year. We believe a substantial portion of the NantHealth’s revenues comes from NaviNet. R&D spent was over $62 million. More importantly STAT News, accuses the founder of the company, Dr. Soon-Shiong, of self-dealing and using the company as a vehicle for his other research businesses. The stock has been hammered since the findings were disclosed.
The UK government to develop AI powered avatars as physicians
University of Essex and Orbital Media and Innovative UK, are developing physician chatbot for treatment of minor ailments. It is estimated that NHS spends over $2.5 billion on such ailments a year. The collaboration is to last 30 months. Products will be available on smart phones and will be sold as on line interactive symptom searches.
Teladoc and Accolade join forces to offer an integrated service
This is the story of two classy companies with overlapping client base joining hands to provide a stronger service to their customers. Teladoc, the leading eVisits company has joined hands with Accolade, an on-demand healthcare concierge provider for employers and health plans. The integrated service aims to help members navigate their telehealth benefits. The good news is that the budding digital health sector is coming to its own and partnerships like this are demonstrative of the organic need for a seamless care delivery.
Teladoc and Accolade together can simplify and unify the patient experience without losing quality of care.
On March 1st, Teladoc announced their 2016 financial results showing 17.5 million members. The company had one million eVisits in 2016, generated over $120 million in sales with negative EBITDA of $44 million. Teladoc trades at 11.0x sales. We applaud all the hard work that Teladoc has done on behalf of the industry. We view the company as a true change agent.
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