TTA’s Blooming Spring: Walgreens tidies opioids for $350M, health AI more show than go, Blue Shield CA’s Googly breach, Veradigm’s CEO to depart, BCI meets telehealth for stroke, fundings, more!

April 25, 2025 | by | No Comments

25 April 2025

Back at the desk….hope your holiday was great!

Cherry blossoms are blooming (finally) and so is the news. The roundups include Walgreens’ continuing Aisle 9 cleanup of their Federal opioid prescribing allegations, a huge and mysterious breach of Google Analytics sending member info to Google Ads, and Veradigm’s interim CEO will be taking the summer off. Our big reads include two surveys: the first on the state of healthcare AI (more show than go) and the second on RPM utilization–and effectiveness. Two raises, a BCI/telehealth merge, and international initiatives.

Product & funding very short takes: South Australia 1st with Sunrise EMR; S. Korea pain research, new emergency services app; BCI + telehealth for stroke patients; VirtuSense monitoring launches at Emory; Series B raises for Nourish, Healthee

Short takes: Veradigm’s interim CEO departing, Blue Shield CA breached 4.8M members’ PHI to Google, advice on expanded M&A premarket notification rules (You can’t blame that CEO for ankling! And Blue Shield has 2nd largest breach–involving Google Analytics.)

News roundup: Walgreens’ $350M opioid settlement, only 30% of healthcare AI pilots reach production, Medicare RPM usage up 10-fold despite benefit limitations (Walgreens cleans up again, and two surveys on AI and RPM for weekend perusal)

Two weeks ago, we were still going through a chilly Spring. Our big pre-Easter/Passover read for the weekend was Halle Tecco’s quantifying of the Cracked SPAC phenomenon and what’s happened with OpenAI. Transcarent closes its Accolade buy and changes its tune to ‘one place’, Walgreens doing a bit better. In touting, Keir Starmer’s bet on NHS data research and Elon Musk on human trials for Neuralink Blindsight. Hinge Health may postpone its long-awaited IPO and FTC pauses its long-awaited toss of the book at PBMs. Plus a new Perspectives on rural healthcare and telehealth.

The weekend read: why SPACs came, went, and failed in digital health–the Halle Tecco analysis/memorial service; why OpenAI is going to be a bad, bad business (Grab the cuppa and lunch for a good read and podcast. Updated–Also Tecco’s blog post on why she quit being an angel investor.) 

Extra, extra!: ATA Action forms Virtual Foodcare Coalition, Ophelia and Spring Health partner on opioid treatment, ISfTeH renews NSA status with WHO (More action from ATA Action and a partnership to watch in telementalhealth)

Midweek roundup: Transcarent closes Accolade; Walgreens beats Street; New Mountain Capital’s Office Ally buy-in; Neuralink Blindsight human trial coming up; PM Keir Starmer touts NHS data research; FTC’s PBM litigation break (Transcarent’s pivot?)

Rock Health’s digital health Q1: more money, fewer deals, more additions and partnerships in ‘leapfrogging’ (Still in a minor key this year)

News roundup: Hinge Health may postpone IPO, Rite Aid may enter 2nd bankruptcy, Veterans Affairs committees want new EHR costs & timeline, fired Texas health plan head hired private eyes to spy on members, providers, lawmakers (The last one is shocking)

Perspectives: Bridging the Gap in Rural Healthcare Through Telehealth (From Yosi Health)

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Telehealth & Telecare Aware – covering news on latest developments in telecare, telehealth and eHealth, worldwide.

TTA Where *Is* Spring? 3: SPACs–why they cracked, Hinge Health and FTC-PBM delays, Transcarent’s tune change, UK’s pivot on NHS research data, why OpenAI is losing its way, more!

April 11, 2025 | by | No Comments

 

11 April 2025

It’s still a chilly Spring in your Editor’s whereabouts, but we have, fresh out of the hothouse, a bumper crop of news and opinion. The big read for the weekend is Halle Tecco’s quantifying of the Cracked SPAC phenomenon and what’s happened with OpenAI. Transcarent closes its Accolade buy and changes its tune to ‘one place’, Walgreens doing a bit better. In touting, Keir Starmer’s bet on NHS data research and Elon Musk on human trials for Neuralink Blindsight. Hinge Health may postpone its long-awaited IPO and FTC pauses its long-awaited toss of the book at PBMs. Plus a new Perspectives on rural healthcare and telehealth.

The weekend read: why SPACs came, went, and failed in digital health–the Halle Tecco analysis/memorial service; why OpenAI is going to be a bad, bad business (Grab the cuppa and lunch for a good read and podcast) 

Extra, extra!: ATA Action forms Virtual Foodcare Coalition, Ophelia and Spring Health partner on opioid treatment, ISfTeH renews NSA status with WHO (More action from ATA Action and a partnership to watch in telementalhealth)

Midweek roundup: Transcarent closes Accolade; Walgreens beats Street; New Mountain Capital’s Office Ally buy-in; Neuralink Blindsight human trial coming up; PM Keir Starmer touts NHS data research; FTC’s PBM litigation break (Transcarent’s pivot?)

Rock Health’s digital health Q1: more money, fewer deals, more additions and partnerships in ‘leapfrogging’ (Still in a minor key this year)

News roundup: Hinge Health may postpone IPO, Rite Aid may enter 2nd bankruptcy, Veterans Affairs committees want new EHR costs & timeline, fired Texas health plan head hired private eyes to spy on members, providers, lawmakers (The last one is shocking)

Perspectives: Bridging the Gap in Rural Healthcare Through Telehealth (From Yosi Health)

Last week: A relatively light news week in a so-far chilly, stormy Spring. Our top article is not one, but two dives into the Unicorn Known as Hippocratic AI. 23andMe’s sale isn’t attracting a lot of buyers (deliberate?) but presents even more problems for the users who took their surveys. Dr. Oz confirmed for CMS as HHS goes on a GLP-1 diet and then some. VA adds to their Oracle 2026 rollout, ATA Action enlarges, and DOJ seeks execution for Brian Thompson’s assassin.

News roundup: 9 additional VA centers named for Oracle 2026 EHR rollout; ATA Action acquiring, expanding with DTA; Dr. Oz to lead CMS while HHS cuts; DOJ seeks death penalty for Mangione  (VA creeps forward, ATA Action enlarges, HHS chops, justice awaits)
Are Hippocratic AI and AI “nurses” the wave of the future–or just another tide of hype? Two articles question. (A needed discussion on this particular unicorn and whether its AI capabilities are all they’re pitched to be)
23andMe’s slim list of prospective buyers–who must uphold privacy policies, according to the FTC. But what about that survey information? *Updated* (More problems with 23andMe’s sale–and if you took their surveys, they have more data on you)

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Contact Editor Donna for more information.

Help Spread the News

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Donna Cusano, Editor In Chief
donna.cusano@telecareaware.com

Telehealth & Telecare Aware – covering news on latest developments in telecare, telehealth and eHealth, worldwide.

TTA Where *Is* Spring? 2: Is Hippocratic AI really AI ‘IT’?, 23andMe’s sale problems increase, Oz confirmed at CMS, ATA Action acquires DTA, DOJ seeks death for Mangione, more!

April 4, 2025 | by

 

4 April 2025

A relatively light news week in a so-far chilly, stormy Spring. Our top article is not one, but two dives into the Unicorn Known as Hippocratic AI. 23andMe’s sale isn’t attracting a lot of buyers (deliberate?) but presents even more problems for the users who took their surveys. Dr. Oz confirmed for CMS as HHS goes on a GLP-1 diet and then some. VA adds to their Oracle 2026 rollout, ATA Action enlarges, and DOJ seeks execution for Brian Thompson’s assassin.

News roundup: 9 additional VA centers named for Oracle 2026 EHR rollout; ATA Action acquiring, expanding with DTA; Dr. Oz to lead CMS while HHS cuts; DOJ seeks death penalty for Mangione  (VA creeps forward, ATA Action enlarges, HHS chops, justice awaits)
Are Hippocratic AI and AI “nurses” the wave of the future–or just another tide of hype? Two articles question. (A needed discussion on this particular unicorn and whether its AI capabilities are all they’re pitched to be)
23andMe’s slim list of prospective buyers–who must uphold privacy policies, according to the FTC. But what about that survey information? *Updated* (More problems with 23andMe’s sale–and if you took their surveys, they have more data on you)

Last week: There’s a lot of spring cleaning on the agenda, with the week opening with 23andMe’s bankruptcy. Clearly the story this week in health tech–and for a reputed 14 million customers frantic about their genetic data. Walgreens continues to settle before selling, three product launches, and clinician mental health is in the balance. And we have a thoughtful contribution from Iris Telehealth on how telepsychiatry can defuse mental health crises before law enforcement is called in. 

Weekend reading: 23andMe updates, a view at variance from the former co-founder, and a deeper historical analysis (Post-bankruptcy legal moves, a view by an ousted co-founder, and Sergei Polevikov’s deep dive)

News roundup: Walgreens settles 10 year running false claims suit for $5M; UniDoc to buy AGNES Connect; launches from Klarity Health, Tunstall UK, HSE Ireland; VITAL WorkLife survey finds yawning gap in clinician/management mental health perceptions (Walgreens continues to cleanup on aisle 3, health kiosks expand connectivity and analysis, three launches, and the sad state of clinician mental health)

Perspectives: As police step back from mental health calls, telepsychiatry steps forward

Breaking: 23andMe files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy–whither customer data and security? An impact similar to Theranos (Updated as the story broke. And why this has turned into a watershed for health tech like Theranos was.)

* * *
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Support not only a publication but also a well-informed international community.

Contact Editor Donna for more information.

Help Spread the News

Please tell your colleagues about this free news service and, if you have relevant information to share with the rest of the world, please let me know!

Donna Cusano, Editor In Chief
donna.cusano@telecareaware.com

Telehealth & Telecare Aware – covering news on latest developments in telecare, telehealth and eHealth, worldwide.

TTA Where *Is* Spring?: 23andMe’s bankruptcy–the full story & views, Walgreens cleans up, new product launches, mental health in the balance, more!

March 28, 2025 | by

 

28 March 2025

There’s a lot of spring cleaning on the agenda, with the week opening with 23andMe’s bankruptcy. Clearly the story this week in health tech–and for a reputed 14 million customers frantic about their genetic data. Walgreens continues to settle before selling, three product launches, and clinician mental health is in the balance. And we have a thoughtful contribution from Iris Telehealth on how telepsychiatry can defuse mental health crises before law enforcement is called in. 

Weekend reading: 23andMe updates, a view at variance from the former co-founder, and a deeper historical analysis (Post-bankruptcy legal moves, a view by an ousted co-founder, and Sergei Polevikov’s deep dive)

News roundup: Walgreens settles 10 year running false claims suit for $5M; UniDoc to buy AGNES Connect; launches from Klarity Health, Tunstall UK, HSE Ireland; VITAL WorkLife survey finds yawning gap in clinician/management mental health perceptions (Walgreens continues to cleanup on aisle 3, health kiosks expand connectivity and analysis, three launches, and the sad state of clinician mental health)

Perspectives: As police step back from mental health calls, telepsychiatry steps forward

Breaking: 23andMe files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy–whither customer data and security? An impact similar to Theranos (Updated as the story broke. And why this has turned into a watershed for health tech like Theranos was.)

Last week: Spring–time to clean up the picnic table. The Walgreens financing took an interesting turn, with WBA chairman Pessina doubling his table stakes. Foodsmart lays out a spread for a new CEO from Amwell. A semi-independent NHS England proved to be an unsteady table for the UK Government–off it goes to the thrift store. Veradigm closed its 2022 books–but their table is a bit wobbly. Elsewhere, two mergers, and Congress keeps limited Federal telehealth flexibilities into September. And our guest Perspectives returns with another view on telehealth and accessibility to addiction treatment.

Short takes: interesting takeaways from the Veradigm earnings call, VA cuts ~6 EHRM contracts; mergers for DispatchHealth-Medically Home, Wysa-April Health (‘Standalone’ for Veradigm may be a bumpy road, as costs are cut at VA, and mergers mark ‘hot’ hospital-at-home and telementalhealth)

News roundup: NHS England to be abolished, absorbed into UK DHSC, while IT glitch shorts 5,200 from screenings; Veradigm *finally* files 2022 financials (updated), VA-Oracle EHR now promises 13 installs in 2026 (Government change whacks NHS England, Veradigm reports 2022 at last, and VA to resume more Oracle installs in 2026)

Breaking: Stefano Pessina to near-double stake in Walgreens after Sycamore Partners takeover–reports (Sr. Pessina surprisingly puts a LOT more chips on the table)

Can kicked down road: telehealth flexibilities extended to 30 September (That takes care of the next six months, but the real story is what the FY2026 budget portends for telehealth expansion)

Perspectives: Telehealth Expands Access to Addiction Treatment and Specialized Care, But Navigating Regulations Remains Key (More on how telehealth prescribing affects addiction care)

Breaking: telehealth nutrition provider Foodsmart taps former Amwell COO Kurt Knight as CEO (Moving from traditional telehealth to lead a newly ‘hot’ part of healthcare)

* * *
Advertise on Telehealth and Telecare Aware
Support not only a publication but also a well-informed international community.

Contact Editor Donna for more information.

Help Spread the News

Please tell your colleagues about this free news service and, if you have relevant information to share with the rest of the world, please let me know!

Donna Cusano, Editor In Chief
donna.cusano@telecareaware.com

Telehealth & Telecare Aware – covering news on latest developments in telecare, telehealth and eHealth, worldwide.

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