News roundup: UHG’s cyberattack hit now $2.3B, Senate bill on cyberattacks intro’d, VA’s AI tech sprint awards, AliveCor’s new CPT codes

UHG reported earnings, profit reduced by $1 billion due to Change Healthcare cyberattack costs. On Tuesday 16 July UnitedHealth Group reported Q2 (ending 30 June) earnings of $98.9 billion, up $6 billion or 7% versus Q2 last year. Profit though didn’t move the same way, instead taking a hit at $7.9 billion, down from last year’s $8.1 billion. Despite strong performances in the UnitedHealthcare and Optum units, the drag from the Change Healthcare cyberattack is now estimated at an additional $1 billion from last quarter’s guesstimate, now at $2.3 billion. Also affecting the profit bottom line is inflating healthcare costs that are reflected in rising medical loss ratios (MLRs). Change is also obliged to do the patient notification which will start by the end of this month [TTA 21 June], having already started notifications of hospitals, providers, insurers, and other customers. Release, Healthcare Dive

But hey, now the Senate has a bill to coordinate agencies with the purpose of reducing those darn cyberattacks. The Healthcare Cybersecurity Act, sponsored by Senators Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), and Angus King (I-Me.), would direct the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to collaborate on improving cybersecurity. One important change would be creating an HHS liaison within CISA to coordinate incident response specifically for healthcare entities. An earlier version introduced by Sen. Rosen in 2022, S. 3904 (117th Congress), never made it into committee.  Sen. Jacky Rosen release, Healthcare Finance   But aren’t there other agencies involved in cyberattacks and ransomware like the FBI and the Department of Justice? And international agencies like the NCA and Europol since so many come from the darker parts of Europe and Asia? (The devil’s in the details…)

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is taking a modest dip into the AI ocean. The award late last week of pilots for an AI-assisted healthcare dictation tool went to Abridge AI and Nuance Communications. The non-competitive, fixed-price contracts are as a result of the two companies winning the first track of the VA’s AI Tech Sprint which launched last October. The tools are designed to generate transcriptions from ambient recordings of patient encounters within specialty care, mental health care, and primary care settings, as well as integrating into the Oracle Cerner EHR. The notice does not specify start or end date. There is also a second sprint around developing an AI system to process documents generated in patient-provider encounters and other complex medical documents for continuity of care and sharing information with VA providers. FedScoop

AliveCor received CPT codes applicable to the company’s Kardia 12L ECG System. The Category III Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes are assigned by the American Medical Association (AMA).  The 12-lead system a few weeks ago gained FDA clearance for the combination of the Kardia 12L ECG System (left), a single cable with five electrodes that acquires 8 high-quality diagnostic bandwidth leads, with their KAI 12L AI-assisted diagnostic technology for clinician use only. The three new codes will be effective 1 January 2025 and will be published in the 2025 CPT Code book. Release

Two debuts of note: Samsung’s Galaxy Ring, Watch upgrades; Alivecor’s InstantQT+KardiaMobile 6L Europe launch

Samsung’s big reveal at Unpacked in Paris today was the new Galaxy Ring device and health enhancements to the Galaxy Watch. Lots of health tracking features powered by Galaxy AI are packed into both that work best (of course) in the Samsung Health ecosystem, such as ring and watch together with Galaxy phones. General availability is 24 July. A topline review:

Galaxy Ring

–Accelerometer, optical heart rate sensor (including green, red, and infrared LEDs), and skin temperature sensor
–Sleep monitoring: movement during sleep, sleep latency, heart and respiratory rate. Quality of sleep analysis.
–Menstrual cycle via skin temperature tracking.
–Heart rate when unusually high or low, plus real time heart rate checking
–Exercise and the kind of workout or activity a person is doing
–Pricing at $399.99, available today at Samsung, Amazon, and Best Buy today, all other retailers 24 July. Size of ring is around 2.3 to 3 grams, depending on ring size (Samsung provides sizers). It’s also charged in a special dock and a single charge can last up to seven days.

Galaxy Watch 7 ($299) and Galaxy Watch Ultra (for athletes, $649)

–BioActive sensors for preventative care, capabilities to obtain more accurate health measurements, advanced athletic tracking capabilities and an emergency siren.
–Modifications to the photodiodes for more accurate data capture
–Blood oxygen levels, sleep quality, stress levels, heart rate

Data from both the Ring and Watch tie into Samsung Health apps that monitor blood pressure (CE Marked for EU), FDA-cleared ECG, and de novo clearance for detecting signs of sleep apnea. There is also a biomarker index, Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs) Index, that indicates metabolic health and biological age markers.

More details: CNBC, The Verge, Mobihealthnews, Samsung release

Alivecor launches InstantQT in Europe. Used with Alivecor’s KardiaMobile 6L device and the KardiaStation app, InstantQT remotely records a point-of-care ECG and evaluates patients for potential cardiac abnormalities – all in less than one minute.  QT represents the time it takes for the heart muscle to contract and then recover (the electrical activity between the Q and T waves). Many medications can prolong that time leading to arrhythmias and potentially sudden heart failure. For monitoring those on antipsychotic medications and some cancer treatments, the quick evaluation by the patient using the KardiaMobile 6L device with the KardiaStation professional app can be performed on iOS devices. The InstantQT measurements are made using the EK12 ECG algorithm from GE HealthCare. Release

 

News roundup: AliveCor launches FDA-cleared Kardia 12L ECG, eVisit buys UPMC’s inpatient teleconsult, UPMC and MedStar invest; NeueHealth gains $150M loan–with caveats–and NYSE non-compliance notice

AliveCor shrinks 12-lead ECG to a single cable with AI-assisted detection for 35 cardiac determinations. The just-cleared by FDA system for clinicians combines the Kardia 12L ECG System (left), a single cable with five electrodes that acquires 8 high-quality diagnostic bandwidth leads, with the KAI 12L AI-assisted diagnostic technology. KAI uses a deep neural network-machine learning AI model to interpret ECG data acquired and validated on more than 1.75 million ECGs from leading US medical centers. It can make 35 cardiac determinations–14 arrhythmias and 21 morphologies–that include acute myocardial infarction (MI) and the most common types of cardiac ischemia. The Kardia 12L is battery-powered, weighs about 1/3 of a pound, and fits into a typical lab coat pocket.

12-lead ECG is considered the standard of ECG readings. A pocket system of this type puts this in reach of clinics, rural health, urgent care offices, and employer clinics. It requires minimal self-guided training and doesn’t require patients to fully disrobe. Release, Mass Device

Telehealth provider eVisit acquiring UPMC’s inpatient teleconsult technology–along with investments from UPMC and MedStar Health. This ‘hat trick’ adds hospital inpatient telehealth capability to eVisit’s health system-focused telehealth triage, provider-to-provider consults, and scheduled telehealth visits. The teleconsults serve inpatient care across five services: stroke, neurology, critical care, psychology, and toxicology. Both UPMC and current client MedStar Health (from the 2023 Bluestream Health acquisition, TTA 27 Apr 2023) are also investing in eVisit, adding an undisclosed amount to eVisit’s 2021 $45 million Series B. (Another way of saying ‘unlettered raise’?) Release, FierceHealthcare

And would this month be complete without items from the Dean of Dodging Disaster, Creating its Own New Reality, the one and only NeueHealth? The first is that Hercules Capital is giving them a second term loan facility (Loan and Security Agreement) of up to $150 million over three years that is, to be polite, hedged with qualifications. 

  • Tranche #1 is available on closing: $30 million
  • Tranche #2, $25 million, will be available only for a limited time– 10 November through 31 December 2024. It is also dependent on Molina making its final payment to NeueHealth for the Medicare Advantage plans they bought–a payment dependent in turn on those plans achieving plan performance ratings ( the “2025 Stars Condition”).
  • Tranche #3 of $45 million will be available from 5 February 2025 to 15 September 2025. But it is contingent after paying off what is owed in connection with the ACO REACH Model for performance years 2023 and earlier, payment in full of the CMS Settlement (as defined in the Loan and Security Agreement) and the Company having at least $22.5 million of unrestricted cash and cash equivalents.
  • Tranche #4: up to $50.0 million and available until 21 June 2027
  • The loan matures on 1 June 2028

Release 24 June, SEC Form 8-K, FierceHealthcare

The second is that the loan could not have come at a more needed time, as NeueHealth received a non-compliance notice from the NYSE on 16 June. It fell below an average market capitalization of $50 million for 30 consecutive trading days, with their last reported stockholders’ equity also below $50 million. It has 45 days to submit a business plan to remedy it within 18 months. NeueHealth’s preferred stock had a value of $920.4 million as of 31 March 2024 but is excluded from the NYSE calculations of common stockholder equity. NeueHealth closed today at $5.23.

This is in addition to a $30 million loan from current 60% majority shareholder NEA [TTA 16 Apr].

Along with tying Gordian knots masterfully and playing multiple ends against the middle, one wonders what management does all day at their new offices in Doral, Florida? Avoiding Chapter 11? Golfing? Surfing?

Davids (AliveCor, Masimo) v. Goliath (Apple): the patent infringement game *not* over; Masimo’s messy proxy fight with Politan (updated)

Apple’s legal department certainly hasn’t been maxing their relaxing this year, what with DOJ and pesky upstarts taking them to court. The big one keeping them busy is the US Department of Justice (DOJ) giving Apple a dose of its own medicine in filing an antitrust lawsuit against Apple for monopolizing smartphone markets [TTA 22 Mar]. Apple also continues to fight antitrust and intellectual property (patent) infringement in Federal district courts, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), and the International Trade Commission (ITC), brought by ECG reader AliveCor and Masimo‘s pulse oximetry reader and software. Masimo succeeded in disrupting Apple’s sales of the Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 right at the Christmas holiday sales season [TTA 28 Dec 23], forcing Apple to disable the pulse ox feature [TTA 18 Jan] in future imports in one of Apple’s few losses.

The DOJ lawsuit does not address Apple’s copycat activities against either AliveCor or Masimo. Both companies worked with Apple.  AliveCor integrated its early KardiaBand (2016) with early Apple Watches, only to have cardiac readings integrated into the Apple Watch two years later (2018). Masimo and Apple were in mid-stages of a 2021 partnership that Apple broke off, but Masimo then accused Apple of hiring its employees working on the project [TTA 27 Oct 23].

AliveCor hasn’t been quite so successful as Masimo in challenging Apple, but it has been fighting Apple as a David v Goliath on multiple fronts for years. In February, AliveCor lost a round in the US District Court for the Northern District of California on the heart rate algorithm changes Apple made in 2018 that made their SmartRhythm app provided to Apple non-functional. That decision reportedly is still under seal. However, AliveCor has multiple Federal patent infringement lawsuits going against Apple. The differing rulings of the PTAB against and an ITC ruling finding for AliveCor went to the Federal circuit court level. According to CEO Priya Abani in an excellent MedCityNews article, AliveCor expects to see action on this by summer. Abani also scored Apple’s annoying (understatement) habit of IP infringement and broken partnerships. “Apple’s vast resources allow them to squash small innovators,” she said. “They have more lobbyists and lawyers on their payroll than we have employees.”

AliveCor and Masimo aren’t the only ones battling Apple. In the MedCityNews article, NYU Langone cardiologist Joseph Wiesel has sued Apple on patent infringement on his atrial fibrillation app (2021), also involving the USPTO, an action that is wending its way through courts now. While this Editor has long been mystified by Apple’s continued combativeness against small innovative companies when certainly it would be cheaper (and more respectful) to pay a license or settlement, FTA in MedCityNews citing Dr. Wiesel’s attorney Andrew Bochner, “Apple is known among the legal community to have a certain modus operandi: they do “not entertain any sort of real settlement discussions” and instead battle “tooth and nail” in order to wear out their rivals with fewer resources.” The shocker here is that Apple, in this case, stated to Bochner that it filed “roughly 10%” of the USPTO’s total post-grant proceedings, which take place after a patent has been granted and generally challenge a patent’s validity. One wonders whether DOJ will even take note of this anticompetitive activity involving Apple Watches in its blunderbuss action on iPhones and the US smartphone market.

Masimo itself is being roiled by a shareholder proxy fight over who controls the company. Masimo is a publicly-traded (Nasdaq) electronics company that is primarily focused on health devices, including smartwatches, and data software monitoring for the clinical and consumer markets, notably pulse oximetry.

  • Last week, activist investor group Politan Capital Management accused CEO Joe Kiani and others of mismanagement, announcing the nomination of two more independent candidates from Politan for the board of directors. Politan already has two seats on the BOD and a win here would give Politan majority control.
  • The bone being picked is Masimo’s February 2022 $1 billion acquisition of consumer audio brand Sound United (Polk, Marantz, Denon, and others) which didn’t mesh well with their health tech business. This drove down the share price from that time, with Politan subsequently swooping in and picking up shares, successfully winning two BOD seats in 2023.
  • Masimo announced on 22 March that their consumer ‘hearables’ division would be spun off.
  • Politan’s response on 26 March was to object to the spinoff on governance grounds, nominate the additional directors, and heavily criticize CEO Kiani’s ‘control and influence’. Strata-gee 26 March

Yesterday’s follow-up is that Kiani and Masimo are rebutting all of Politan’s claims and more. Strata-gee 2 April, Masimo release 1 April, MedTechDive

This Editor notes that products in their personal monitoring line combine both audio and vital signs monitoring–the (out of stock) Stork, that appears with its baby sock to be directly competitive with Owlet’s Dream Sock.

This will all play out at the yet-to-be-announced 2024 Shareholders Meeting. This Editor notes that Politan picks its battles and is rarely defeated. Our Readers may recall that Politan swooped in on Centene Corporation in late 2021, and in short order ousted long-time directors, added new friendly ones, shook up management and forcibly retired 25+ year CEO Michael Neidorff (since deceased). Masimo’s victory over Apple may go down as either not mattering much–or that Apple will be fighting a much deeper-pocketed backer that knows how to win.

Update: It gets stranger. Masimo’s Consumer (audio) division’s brand president and general manager Joel Sietsema announced on Tuesday that he is no longer with the company. He came to Masimo through the Sound United acquisition being with them for a decade. He announced his departure on LinkedIn. It was apparently a mutual decision that preceded the current turmoil. Strata-gee 4 April

AliveCor v. Apple latest: Federal court tosses AliveCor suit on heart rate app data monopolization

Apple wins one, but the other and more important AliveCor antitrust/IP cases go on. Judge Jeffrey White of the US District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed one of the many lawsuits between AliveCor and Apple. This one goes back a few years when AliveCor provided a cardiac app to the Apple Watch. The claim is that Apple’s 2018 changes in algorithms reading heart rates in the watchOS5, upgrading from the “Heart Rate Path Optimizer” algorithm (HRPO) to the “Heart Rate Neural Network” algorithm (HRNN), hurt a third-party app provider like AliveCor with their SmartRhythm app designed for the HRPO. The AliveCor argument in the 2021 lawsuit was that Apple should have made the earlier algorithms available, and that Apple violated California’s Unfair Competition Law. Apple’s argument was that the HRNN was more accurate, this was a genuine improvement that provided better data, and that third parties had no right to interfere in Apple’s design and business decisions. Since it was a summary decision, we do not know the details of Judge White’s reasoning. 

AliveCor’s full statement, provided by AliveCor, is:

AliveCor is deeply disappointed and strongly disagrees with the court’s decision to dismiss our anti-competition case and we plan to appeal. We will continue to vigorously protect our intellectual property to benefit our consumers and promote innovation. The dismissal decision does not impact AliveCor’s ongoing business; we will continue to design and provide the best portable ECG products and services to our customers.

Separately, the ITC’s findings that Apple has infringed AliveCor’s patents still stand. Both the ITC and U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) appeals will be reviewed at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in the coming months. In other recent developments, the PTAB recently ruled in AliveCor’s favor by instituting Inter Partes Review (IPR) of Apple’s patents and a stay of Apple’s countersuit.

We welcome any comments provided by Apple. Both AliveCor’s and Masimo’s suits go on in various courts.

Reuters, 9to5 Mac   Most recent AliveCor v. Apple coverage: spoilation split decision, ITC final determination

Peering through the cloudy crystal ball into 2024 healthcare investment and company health

crystal-ballWill 2024 be the mirror image of 2023? This time last year, signs pointed to slow, steady growth after the bubble bath of 2020-early 2022 was followed by failures of tech-leveraged banks (SVB and Signature in March 2023) leading to a mid-year bust [TTA 11 Aug 23]. Some big deals kicked off the year (CVS’ Carbon Health investment, Oak Street mega-buy TTA 16 Feb 23). Then as the year went on, they were followed by sheer turmoil–huge losses and business divestitures (Cano Health, Bright Health, insurtechs like Clover and Oscar), bankruptcies and shutdowns (Babylon, Pear, Quil, OliveAI, Smile Direct, Cureatr, Rite Aid), IP lawsuits (Apple-Masimo, Apple-AliveCor, FruitStreet-Sharecare), C-levels walking the plank (Walgreens, Noom), and big layoffs nearly every week. Cigna and Humana called off merging again, perhaps because Cigna didn’t like what it saw. M&A fell to its lowest level in years and IPOs fell to zero.

To cap the year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued new Merger Guidelines that made the M&A mountain even steeper, and will follow up this year with Pre-Merger Notification guidelines that will make that part even more costly. Both signal hard times for M&A. Add to that the overt hostility the chair of the FTC has to any kind of M&A and the weaponization of the tools government has at hand…..Even early-stage, independent companies which allegedly these agencies are trying to foster don’t catch a break. A change in the tax law hitting hardest in 2023 forces annual expenses in research and experimentation (R&E) to be amortized over five years versus one year which severely affects their financials. (Section 174 explained here)

The crystal ball promises to be more like a Magic 8 Ball this year. Other than a flurry of smaller-scale investments, a rumor of a $5 billion EHR company sale (Netsmart), and predictable layoffs in health systems, the start of the year in healthcare has been fairly (ominously?) quiet.

HealthcareFinance talked to two partners in law firm Akerman’s healthcare practice group to get their take, weaving in some findings from a PWC report: 

  • Buyer interest in acquiring practices and surgery centers
  • Partnerships on rise, for example Amazon’s One Medical with health systems 
  • Smaller hospitals in mid-America will merge as there is “safety in numbers’
  • More investment in life sciences and drug development, especially diabetes/weight loss drugs in the GLP-1 category
  • Anything around AI attracts interest

The two big factors: interest rates (the Federal Reserve has signaled no further increases, and maybe cuts in 2024) and (of course) a presidential election as well as all of the House, much of the Senate, and state gubernatorial offices.

Bubbling under this are reports of two big pending IPOs:

  • Home health, pharmacy, and eldercare services provider BrightSpring Health filed with the SEC on 3 January for a near-billion dollar IPO (publicly released on 17th). This is estimated to raise $960 million, valuing the company at about $3 billion. Common stock will debut between $15 and $18 on Nasdaq under the symbol BTSG. They are also selling 8 million tangible equity units at $50. Proceeds will go from the offerings to repay outstanding debt under various credit facilities and pay penalties associated with terminating its monitoring agreement with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (KKR, the current owner) and Walgreens Boots Alliance. BrightSpring serves 400,000 daily patients and dispensed 34 million prescriptions in 2022. IPO timing is still to be announced. This is the second time the company has filed, abandoning its first attempt in late 2021 as the market softened in 2022. KKR is signalling an exit…will it happen this time? Release, FierceHealthcare
  • Waystar’s IPO is still pending after being announced late last year [TTA 26 Oct 23]. The RCM and payments software company delayed it to 2024 due to an uncertain market at year’s end. Reportedly the roadshows were postponed to December but there has been no confirmation that they took place. Will it happen?

Fasten your seatbelts…it may be a bumpy ride.

Apple removes pulse oximetry from Watches to dodge ban; AliveCor advances patent review v. Apple (two big updates!)

Apple redesigns US versions of the Watch 9 and Ultra 2 to delete pulse oximetry, gains approval from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The CBP enforces the International Trade Commission (ITC) ban on the original Watch 9 and Ultra 2 models that found that Apple violated Masimo’s patents on pulse oximetry (SpO2) sensors and software. The ban went into effect on 31 December but models were pulled from sale by 24 December.

While Apple’s emergency appeal of the ITC Limited Exclusion Order filed on 26 December grinds on in the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, right now the ITC ban is on a short-term stay that will be decided in the next few days. The appeals court will decide shortly whether Apple’s appeal will go forward and whether the Watch pulse oximetry version ban will be stayed until the completion of the appeal, typically another 18 months [TTA 28 Dec 2023].

Apple’s new versions of the Watch 9 and Ultra 2 without pulse oximetry skirts the ban and may be the longer term solution if the appeals court decides to uphold the ITC ban on the original models. According to HIStalk reporting Bloomberg News‘ coverage, the new versions have already been shipped to Apple Stores but not released for sale. Apple also has not disclosed whether previously sold Apple models will continue to have their pulse oximetry operative, or disabled via an update.

Masimo’s position is that Apple selling Watches without the disputed pulse oximetry is not a problem. They sent a letter to the appeals court confirming that “redesigned Watch products definitively do not contain pulse oximetry functionality” and thus are outside the scope of the import ban. In fact, “Apple’s claim that its redesigned watch does not contain pulse oximetry is a positive step toward accountability” around intellectual property rights. According to MedTechDive, Masimo’s CEO Joe Kiani is open to a settlement.

The appeals court decision on granting Apple a full appeal and stay of the ban of the watches with pulse oximetry is pending but may be decided in the next few days. It’s nice to have money to be able to redesign two flagship smartwatches, which Apple certainly does! 9to5Mac, Digital Trends

Updated 18 Jan  Federal appeals court continues import ban on Apple Watches with working pulse oximetry, Apple appeal on ITC LEO still pending

Apple’s other nemesis, ECG monitoring system AliveCor, is back with the US Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) about Apple’s patent infringements. AliveCor shared with this Editor that the PTAB is instituting an inter partes review (IPR) of two AliveCor petitions on Apple patents asserted against AliveCor: claims 11–20 of US Patent No. 10,866,619 (the ‘619 patent’) and claims 1–22 of US Patent No. 10,076,257 B2 (“the ’257 patent’). AliveCor continues to be engaged in an antitrust court action with Apple on its ECG technologies in Apple Watches in the US District Court of Northern California.

AliveCor’s statement to this Editor: 

AliveCor applauds the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decisions to institute Inter Partes Review (IPR) of two patents Apple meritlessly asserted against AliveCor.  These institution decisions closely follow last week’s decision by the Court in the Northern District of California to stay the underlying district court case while the PTAB analyzes the validity of Apple’s patents.  Institution decisions directed to Apple’s remaining asserted patents are expected in the coming months.

Separately, our antitrust case against Apple is proceeding in the U.S. District Court,  Northern District of California, where the judge will decide several pending motions before setting a trial date for later this year. Our cases are among many recent developments revealing the extent of Apple’s bullying.

Unlike Masimo, Apple licensed AliveCor’s ECG technology in early Apple Watches, then took action when Apple introduced its own ECG in the Apple Watch 4 in 2020.

Updated 18 Jan  The US District Court of Northern California on 17 January upheld the continued stay of Apple’s patent infringement countersuit pending the outcome of the PTAB’s Inter Partes Review (IPR) of the 257 and 619 patents. In addition, the order reveals that the PTAB has a pending decision on whether to institute IPRs on US Patent Nos. 10,270,898 and 10,568,533. Both AliveCor and Apple are required to inform the District Court of any new IPRs ordered, as well as on the current IPRs at minimum every six months to update the Court on their status and any appeals. Court order PDF

Breaking: ban on sale of Apple Watches 9 and Ultra 2 stayed by federal appeals court Wed 27 December

Apple Watch 9, Ultra 2 available again for sale–at least well into January, as appeals court decides. It should come as no surprise that Apple quickly appealed the US International Trade Commission (ITC) ruling of 26 October that prohibited Apple from importing either model and won a temporary stay of enforcement. The ITC ruling found that Apple in the Series 6 and later violated Masimo’s patents on pulse oximetry (SpO2) sensors and software. ITC rulings are sent to the US president in a 60-day process that ended in no presidential veto and thus final approval on 25 December. Apple, anticipating compliance and moving in an orderly fashion, pulled both models from online sale 3 pm Eastern Time on Thursday 21 December, while Store sales ended on Christmas Eve. [TTA 21 Dec]

On Tuesday 26 December (Boxing Day), Apple filed for an emergency stay of the ban in the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit which was granted almost immediately, on Wednesday 27 December. This prevents Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from enforcing the import ban until the court can consider Apple’s motion to stay the ban pending its full appeal. The timeline now, after this emergency stay, is that the ITC has until 10 January 10 to file its opposition, with Apple’s reply due on 15 January. If the court grants Apple its desire for a full appeal after that and to stay enforcement of the Limited Exclusion Order (LEO) until that appeal is decided, the enforcement timeline then typically pushes forward another 18 months. Masimo is contesting the action saying there was no emergency as Apple had already stopped selling their watches with pulse oximetry features. Apple, as the infringer on Masimo’s patents as found by the ITC, has to show the court that the stay is justified.

With the Court of Appeals ruling in place, Apple is resuming online sales today (Thursday 28 Dec) at noon Pacific Time (3pm Eastern Time).

Yet another wrinkle is that Apple has proposed a modification to both of these watches to the CBP. They are now seeking a judgment that the modified version is outside of the ITC Limited Exclusion Order. The ban also affected owners of older Apple Watches with pulse oximetry readings, as out-of-warranty watches’ hardware would not be considered repairable. 

The most legally comprehensive article on this is by Dennis Crouch at Patently-O. BloombergAxios, and The Guardian. The New York Post has a backgrounder on the relationship between the current president and Masimo’s CEO, which appears to be a close one but, based on another company’s history that follows, is likely to not be pertinent to the ITC decision or approval. (This Editor notes that Apple for decades and currently has been considerably influential in government matters and business policy. It is not unusual here in the US or elsewhere for that matter that company leaders play the donation game. We eschew additional comment.)  

Apple and others’ patents–not perfect together. AliveCor is in a similar situation in its own patent legal actions with Apple: winning in an ITC patent determination approved by the White House, negative PTAB actions, then Apple appealing. AliveCor is currently engaged in an antitrust court action with Apple in the US District Court of Northern California [TTA 19 July and prior] with a decision expected in 2024. Unlike Masimo, Apple licensed AliveCor’s ECG technology in early Apple Watches, then took action when Apple introduced its own ECG in the Apple Watch 4 in 2020.

It also shows that Apple has, shall we say, a certain pattern of updates to its Watch lines that may infringe on the patents of smaller companies. Again, all Apple would need to do is license these patents and pay royalties. It might be cheaper than lawyers and lawsuits.

Breaking: ITC bans Apple Watch imports on violating Masimo blood oxygen measuring patents (updated!)

Another David v. Goliath fight! The International Trade Commission (ITC) on Thursday ruled that the Apple Watch violates Masimo’s patents on light-based technology for reading blood oxygen levels (pulse oximetry). This decision by the full commission upholds January’s ruling by a judge that Apple was in violation of Masimo’s patent rights. If upheld, this would ban the importation of current Apple Watches, all of which have pulse oximetry except for the SE. The ITC issued a Limited Exclusion Order (LEO) plus a Cease and Desist Order (CDO). 

The next steps before the ban takes effect occur in the next 60 days with a presidential administration review. Presidential vetoes of the ITC are rare but not unprecedented. After the review period, Apple can take the ban to the US Court of Appeals, 

As usual there’s a war of words between the two companies:

Apple: “Masimo has wrongly attempted to use the ITC to keep a potentially lifesaving product from millions of U.S. consumers while making way for their own watch that copies Apple,” an Apple spokesperson said. “While today’s decision has no immediate impact on sales of Apple Watch, we believe it should be reversed, and will continue our efforts to appeal.”

Masimo: Chief Executive Officer Joe Kiani said the decision “sends a powerful message that even the world’s largest company is not above the law.”

Masimo primarily sells clinical monitors to hospitals, but has its own consumer products in the W1 and the upcoming Freedom watch. Reuters, 9to5Mac, Yahoo!Finance

The other David is AliveCor. Earlier, the ITC found that the Apple Watch’s ECG reading tech was in violation of AliveCor’s (the other David) patents. Apple’s appeal is pending in the US District Court of Northern California. The last word on this was in July [TTA 19 July and prior].

The Masimo story is developing and will be updated with additional information when available.

Updates   The Masimo filing dates back to 2021 and was about the Apple Watch 6, the first with pulse oximetry. That model has since been discontinued for new models Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 which also include blood-oxygen sensors. A previous lawsuit ended in a mistrial. Engadget

More background in Strata-Gee.com, an electronics/tech business site, on the mistrial. “Apple broke off partnership discussions with Masimo and then proceeded to hire away many of their employees to pursue adding pulse oximetry into Apple Watch on their own. It would later come out that Apple had hired a few dozen of Masimo employees.” This should sound familiar to those following the AliveCor patent infringement fight with Apple. Masimo did not win their claims of infringement on all patents listed in their lawsuit, but enough to trigger a ban.

The article also clarifies what the ITC did in using a Limited Exclusion Order (LEO) to block Apple from importing Apple Watches with the pulse oximetry technology, then adding a Cease and Desist Order (CDO) to prohibit sales from existing inventory. Again, this cannot go into effect without a presidential review signoff.

James Major, a noted patent and IP attorney of counsel at Armstrong Teasdale, opines on this on LinkedIn. His first post contains the actual filing.  His later post explains what a Section 337 action of the Tariff Act (of 1930) entails.  (Disclosure: Editor Donna worked with Mr. Major on copyright renewals for trade names on behalf of a previous company, Viterion Digital Health. Since the company had been purchased and certain renewals had been forgotten in the transition, it got sticky, but he did a great job sorting it out.)

From the Editor: This leaves Apple with the following options: drag it to Federal District Court to delay the ban, hoping that Masimo runs out of resources and fight (likely), license the technology (not likely, given the ongoing nature of this and AliveCor’s suits), or develop their own technology or software updates that skirt the patents. Do bet that this last route if taken will wind up with additional filings with the ITC.

Legal roundup: Teladoc class-action suit dismissed; NextGen EHR $31M Federal settlement; significant AliveCor-Apple antitrust ‘spoiliation’ update; class action suits filed against HCA, Johns Hopkins

The latest legal activity in digital health and cybersecurity:

Teladoc’s pending class action lawsuit by shareholders was tossed. This was originally filed in June 2022 after the crash of Teladoc’s shares after The Big Livongo Writeoff in May 2022. Shareholder Jeremy Schneider, represented at the time by Jeremy Alan Lieberman of Pomerantz LLP, filed a lawsuit in the US Federal Court for the Southern District, located in downtown Manhattan, representing shareholders who purchased Teladoc shares between 28 October 2021 and 27 April 2022. The lawsuit cited materially false statements that Teladoc made on its business, operations, competition, and prospects that were overly positive and inflated share value. Judge Denise Cote agreed with Teladoc’s 20 January motion to dismiss based on specific disclosures that Teladoc made in multiple SEC filings in that period from the 2020 10-K on that countered claims made in the class action lawsuit.

Reading Judge Cote’s decision, Teladoc used specific limiting and warning language (what marketers call ‘downside’ language) on the risks around the merger. Their executives in public statements indicated that operations and competition were challenging.  The class action suit failed to prove conclusively that the statements it identified were ‘materially misleading’ and would mislead a reasonable investor. Other statements made by executives were “largely non-actionable statements of opinion and/or expressions of corporate optimism”, a/k/a “puffery”. Class action suits of this type that go to Federal courts (versus state courts) rarely succeed due to the high bar of proof and volumes of case law at the Federal level.

This Editor noted that this particular class action did not include Mr. Schneider nor Pomerantz LLP. Different plaintiffs were represented by Labaton Sucharow LLP and The Schall Law Firm. Teladoc reportedly had no comment.  Judge Cote’s opinion (Casetext), Mobihealthnews, Healthcare Dive

Easier to settle for $31 million than fight the Feds. Charged with violating the False Claims Act (FCA) and providing illegal incentives for referrals (the Anti-Kickback Statute that applies to Federally funded healthcare), NextGen Healthcare decided to settle with the Department of Justice (DOJ) for a whopping $31 million. The settlement does not admit wrongdoing by NextGen, which in its defense told Healthcare Dive that the claims made were over a decade old–and they were. At the time, their EHR used an auxiliary software that was designed only to perform the certification test scripts, thereby gaining 2014 Edition certification criteria published by HHS’s Office of the National Coordinator (ONC). In this Ur-time of EHRs, fixes like this weren’t (ahem) unusual. Compounding it was that the EHR then lacked certain additional required functionalities, including the ability to record vital sign data, translate data into required medical vocabularies, and create complete clinical summaries. Making NextGen’s decision the proverbial ‘no-brainer’ was that the controversial US Supreme Court ruling in June ruled that under the FCA, defendants are now liable for claims they suspect or knowingly believe are false, versus the previous objective standard. The Anti-Kickback Statute violation was blatant.  NextGen was giving credits often worth as much as $10,000 to current healthcare customers whose recommendation of NextGen’s EHR software led to a new sale, along with incentives such as tickets to sports and entertainment events. Anti-Kickback is one of those ‘biggies’ that the average healthcare employee is trained on within their first 60 days. DOJ release

The AliveCor-Apple Federal antitrust case had a small but important split decision regarding ‘spoiliation’ in the discovery process that could impact the case’s outcome–and future litigation. This June US District Court for the Northern District of California order went against AliveCor in part of what it sought–that Apple’s deleted emails to and from Apple’s then Director of Health Strategy should be considered adverse by a jury. But Apple was then found at fault for deleting them despite their relevance to the case with a ‘duty to preserve’ that started on 25 May 2021 with the antitrust litigation. In general, emails such as these to and from relevant people are subject to a litigation hold.

  • The director departed Apple only one week prior, 14 May 2021. His emails were auto-deleted at some point in accordance with company policy. In the discovery process, through other documents, AliveCor determined over a year later that the director was, indeed, relevant to the case.
  • The order states that Apple should have preserved his emails from the start as he was an individual with potentially relevant information. From the order, “[the director] worked on strategic health initiatives, and the record shows that he regularly corresponded about the Apple Watch and AliveCor with individuals Apple did identify as relevant.” “Apple did not take reasonable steps to preserve electronically stored information that should have been preserved in the anticipation or conduct of litigation…” While it may have been “irresponsible and careless”, it wasn’t purposeful which then would have been considered for sanctions, but there is considerable strong language in the order that Apple’s counsel didn’t disclose the loss of this information even while under oath in a deposition. 
  • In the ‘adverse’ consideration, AliveCor did not gain what it wanted, which was an assumption that the lost emails were prejudicial–that they contained relevant material to AliveCor and Apple’s strategy of eliminating competition. “To the extent they existed, additional emails relevant to these topics may have been useful to enhance AliveCor’s case, but AliveCor has not shown that the absence of these emails will prevent it from proving its antitrust claims.”

AliveCor provided this Editor with a statement on the order:

“The Northern District of California judge’s description of Apple’s actions as ‘irresponsible and careless, and perhaps even grossly negligent’ in their handling of emails belonging to its former Director of Health Strategy that supported our pending antitrust case speaks to Apple’s usual playbook of shamelessly using legal tactics to steamroll innovative companies like AliveCor. Even though the judge stopped short of granting our motion to instruct the jury that they should assume the deleted emails were negative for Apple’s case, we are confident in the outcomes of our antitrust case and grateful for the outpouring of support we have received as we continue to hold Apple accountable.”

Editor’s note: she thanks an AliveCor representative for sharing this information along with the redacted court order. Apple is free to contact this Editor with its own statement.

Recent AliveCor versus Apple coverage on patents: ITC presidential review, ITC vs. PTAB, PTAB decision

Last but certainly not least, a class action lawsuit against HCA. To no one’s surprise, it was filed last week (12 July) in the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, as HCA is headquartered in Nashville. The plaintiffs are named Gary Silvers and Richard Marous, two HCA patients living in Florida, and was filed by two law firms, Shamis & Gentile and Kopelowitz Ostrow Ferguson Wieselberg Gilbert. The suit claims that HCA failed in their duty of confidentiality to protect sensitive information– personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information (PHI)–that was contained in the hacked records. While HCA has released that the records did not include the most sensitive clinical information as it was used for email communications, the volume of 27 million rows of data that was apparently unencrypted potentially affects 11 million individuals [TTA 12 July]. The suit charges HCA with failure to safeguard ‘Private Information’ as a reasonable expectation using reasonable security procedures in light of current regulations (HIPAA, FTC), plus the susceptibility of healthcare organizations to cyberattacks which is well known. It seeks monetary damages plus injunctive and declaratory relief. This lawsuit is likely the first of many. Healthcare DiveHealthcare IT News, HIPAA Journal

These lawsuits based on hacking and cybersecurity responsibility are becoming routine. On 7 and 10 July, Johns Hopkins was sued twice. This was for a May ransomware data breach on a software vulnerability called MOVEit that was exploited by a Russian ransomware group called CLOP. This may have compromised, according to the first suit, tens to hundreds of thousands of records, including sensitive PHI. Both suits allege negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of confidence, invasion of privacy, breach of implied contract, and unjust enrichment. They seek monetary damages and injunctive relief. Both were filed in US District Court for the District of Maryland.  Becker’s, Healthcare Dive, HIPAA Journal

Breaking: AliveCor wins presidential review on ITC Final Determination on Apple patent infringement

Enforcement held for PTAB appeal decision. As anticipated after the International Trade Commission (ITC) decision, finding that Apple Watches infringed three AliveCor patents on ECG readings [TTA 3 Jan], the Final Determination issued 22 December 2022 has passed the 60-day mandatory presidential review and is now in effect.

The penalty in the bond assessed against Apple–$2 per watch–applies to Apple Watches with the ECG feature imported or sold during the presidential review period. It is the first Limited Exclusion Order (LEO) with a cease and desist order against Apple. However, the penalty cannot be enforced until AliveCor’s appeal of the US Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) ruling is decided. PTAB’s ruling in early December not only ruled that Apple did not infringe on AliveCor’s patents, but also threw out the AliveCor patents that were the basis for the infringement as unpatentable: No. 10,595,731 (“the ’731 patent”); No. 10,638,941 (“the ’941 patent”); and No. 9,572,499 (“the ’499 patent”) in their Apple Watches 4, 5, and 6.

The PTAB appeal is in progress. AliveCor also has a separate action against Apple through its Federal antitrust case in the Northern District of California. That will not go to trial until early 2024. AliveCor has about 170 patents, but the loss of any patents is important to a company’s IP and ultimately, funding. It’s also a clear signal to innovative companies that a David can win against a Goliath. AliveCor release

Split decision! ITC rules that Apple violated AliveCor patents; enforcement held for PTAB appeal

David v. Goliath slugfest continues. The International Trade Commission (ITC) confirmed its Initial Determination [TTA 28 June] that Apple Watches infringed AliveCor patents on ECG readings. This Final Determination counters the US Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) December ruling that found not only in favor of Apple’s patents but also invalidating AliveCor’s three patents in question [TTA 8 Dec].  

The ITC’s findings come under a 60-day presidential review from 22 December. The penalty on Apple comes under a Limited Exclusion Order (LEO), a cease and desist order. It sets a bond in the amount of $2 per unit of infringing Apple Watches imported or sold during this review period. However, enforcement of the ruling will be delayed until the review of AliveCor’s appeal of the PTAB ruling wends its way through that process in the Northern District of California, which is expected to take place in early 2024, a year from now.

A running dispute since 2020. Once upon a time, AliveCor and Apple worked together to give ECG functionality to the Apple Watch. This ended after the Apple Watch 4 incorporated ECG readings. This resulted in court actions related to patents starting in early 2021 [TTA 29 Apr 21, 9 July 21]. Apple is now up to the Watch 8, incorporating more and more cardiac and health monitoring features. AliveCor has also moved on with financing with a GE Healthcare-backed Series F this past August, the KardiaMobile 6L, and the KardiaMobile Card. As of today, it has over 170 patents.

As this Editor remarked in December, going after a rival’s patents is an often necessary but risky business that can backfire. Right now, David has moved Goliath to a draw now, with further matchups this year into next. AliveCor release, Mobihealthnews      Hat tip to Dr. Dave Albert, founder and Reader.

AliveCor loses Patent Office ruling with Apple; three patents invalidated

Apple prevails in the patent infringement suit by AliveCor–and got three AliveCor heart monitoring patents invalidated as ‘unpatentable’. In the duel of patent infringement claims dating back to May 2021 between AliveCor and Apple, the US Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) not only ruled that Apple did not infringe on AliveCor’s patents, but also threw out the AliveCor patents that were the basis for the infringement. AliveCor had sued Apple for patent infringement on their ECG technology in three US patents: No. 10,595,731 (“the ’731 patent”); No. 10,638,941 (“the ’941 patent”); and No. 9,572,499 (“the ’499 patent”) in their Apple Watches 4, 5, and 6. [TTA 29 Apr 21, 9 July 21

The term ‘unpatentable’ is used when the PTAB deems the patent, even when granted in the past, too obvious or too general. When the PTAB finds that, they throw out the patent and it is no longer valid.

Apple of course crowed that they developed their own patents fully on their own, and not from the time when AliveCor’s ECG monitoring was incorporated into earlier Apple Watches. Apple is up to the Series 8. AliveCor has already announced it will appeal and await the pending ruling from the International Trade Commission (ITC) to block the import of Apple Watches. The ITC’s initial determination in June was positive [TTA 28 June] and AliveCor of course is ‘cautiously optimistic’ on the Final Determination due in a few days (12 December). With the PTAB’s finding, it is far less likely that the ITC will impose an import block when AliveCor’s patents have been invalidated.  9to5Mac, Mobihealthnews

AliveCor has moved forward with its KardiaMobile series, including a credit card-sized device (left), and has enjoyed substantial investment, with an August Series F (amount undisclosed) round led by GE Healthcare. 

Patent invalidation is a danger in any patent infringement lawsuit. In 2015, Bosch Healthcare, which had bought HealthHero, an early RPM platform marketed as Health Buddy, and ViTelNet, was a serial patent challenger. They went after Philips, Viterion (while owned by Bayer), both to a draw, and won against a slew of barely-out-of-the-cradle companies forgotten by nearly all of us such as Alere Health, MedApps, Waldo Health, and Express MD Solutions. Then they sued Cardiocom in 2012 with the same expectation. Except that a year later, Cardiocom was acquired by Medtronic. Deep-pocketed Medtronic fought back hard–and by 2015, the PTAB invalidated most of Bosch’s key patents. Bosch withdrew from the US market abruptly in 2015. TTA 19 June 20157 September 2015 primarily about the ongoing Teladoc-Amwell dustups

Given their funding and device development, AliveCor will likely not face Bosch’s fate, but such invalidations have consequences yet to be determined and litigated. 

Rounding up the week with good news: AliveCor’s Series F round, Scotland’s Smplicare gains £750K for fall research

AliveCor has moved to a Series F round led by GE Healthcare. In this funding-parched environment, this is impressive though the funding amount is (sigh) not disclosed. The round was joined by NGK-NTK (through a CVC partnership with Pegasus Tech Ventures) and existing investors including Khosla Ventures, Bold Capital Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, and WP Global Partners. The fresh funding will be used to advance new innovations, their AI roadmapping, and existing ones such as introducing subscription services, KardiaCare and KardiaComplete for patients, payers and employers, and KardiaPro for physicians. KardiaCare has 165,000 members, claiming 2 million users and 160 million ECGs to date. GEHC and AliveCor currently partner on integrating KardiaMobile 6L’s ECG data directly into GE Healthcare’s MUSE Cardiac Management System.  Release. Hat tip to Dr. Dave Albert, founder and Reader.

The UK funding environment is also perking a bit in the public/private area. Edinburgh-based startup Smplicare now has £750,000  to explore how commercially available wearable technologies can predict the risk of falls and other age-related health issues. Funding came from private investors and UK Research & Innovation (UKRI)’s Healthy Ageing Challenge, with the goal of adding five years of healthy, independent living for everyone by 2035. Overall, the challenge has seven themes and an extensive list of partnerships worth referencing if your technology, platform, or social enterprise is in this area of keeping older people active, productive, and in their communities. Smplicare’s tech uses a questionnaire to easily determine levels of clinical fraility, then a dashboard to project trends. Their project is to monitor 300 individuals 55+ and with a history of falls agreeing to wear a mainstream wearable for six months. What this will enable Smplicare to do is to have enough data to create an AI-powered algorithm that will predict the likelihood of a fall, possibly saving the NHS more than £4.4 billion annually. The research is led by Smplicare’s chief innovation officer, Dr. Adrian Smales, an award-winning PhD in health informatics. Support comes from the analytics team at Data Lab, Scotland’s innovation center for data and AI, and on the clinical side, Dr. Atul Anand, an NHS and University of Edinburgh geriatrician with experience in big data clinical studies. Insider.co.UK, The Scotsman

US International Trade Commission initial determination: Apple infringed AliveCor’s patents (updated)

If affirmed, a David versus Goliath win. AliveCor, the developer of the KardiaMobile ECG devices, announced late today that Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Cameron Elliot of the US International Trade Commission (ITC) issued an Initial Determination that Apple infringed certain AliveCor technology patents. If affirmed by the full ITC in a Final Determination by 26 October (!), it could lead to an exclusion order barring the importation of certain Apple devices infringing on AliveCor patents from the US.

The initial complaint was filed in May 2021 [TTA 29 April] concerning Apple’s infringement in the Apple Watch 4, 5, and 6 of three AliveCor ECG technology US patents: No. 10,595,731 (“the ’731 patent”); No. 10,638,941 (“the ’941 patent”); and No. 9,572,499 (“the ’499 patent”). Last February, AliveCor successfully moved with the ITC to have the investigation terminated on certain claims on the three patents, but a considerable number remained. This is what ITC terms an “unfair import” or Section 337 investigation. These regard intellectual property rights, including “allegations of patent infringement and trademark infringement by imported goods.”

Updated for links: AliveCor press release, ITC Public Notice which details what parts of what patents have been infringed. Both the 731 and the 941 patents have been found to be infringed under Section 337. The 499 patent has not been violated. This Editor will assume we have to wait till October for any exclusion orders.

ATA conference roundup: a new board chair, a digital app review pilot, and company announcements

The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) 2022 conference and expo is a wrap, after starting on Sunday through to Tuesday. While your Editor could not attend due to other commitments that precluded a trip to Boston, one industry insider who visited the expo–his first in-person event in two years–reported that after a slow start on Sunday, the floor busied up on Monday. Business was being done, finally and not virtually. What were the busy booths and what was ‘hot’? Companies in the areas of telemental health and remote patient monitoring (RPM). (Did you attend? What was your impression? Leave comments below.)

ATA had two major announcements of its own during the conference:

  • Kristi Henderson, DNP, NP-C, FAAN, FAEN, has been named as Chair of the ATA Board for a two-year term. Henderson is the CEO of Optum Everycare, where she leads a team building digital and virtual health solutions to improve quality outcomes and experiences for patients and providers. She has served on the board since December 2020. As Chair, she is succeeding Joseph Kvedar, MD and Professor at Harvard Medical School among other positions. Dr. Kvedar will become Immediate Past Chair and Senior Advisor to the ATA. Announcement
  • ATA, the American College of Physicians (ACP), and ORCHA, the Organization for the Review of Care and Health Applications,  announced a framework for the assessment of professional and consumer digital health technologies, including mobile apps and web-based tools. ACP and ORCHA, which has experience assessing compiling libraries of apps, will be piloting a test of the framework against a database of digital health tools. The goal of the pilot is to “determine how the library can be useful to physicians in recommending high-value digital health tools to their patients, and what other barriers to wider adoption of digital health tools may exist.” Announcement

Quite a few company announcements were made during ATA–a selection:

  • Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health highlighted the publication of a major scientific study (full text) documenting telehealth outcomes in JAMA Network Open. This Johns Hopkins-based research was partially supported by the ATA. The study followed a national cohort of 40.7 million commercially insured persons from July to December 2021 and included 21 chronic and non-chronic conditions. Fourteen-day follow-ups for persons with an initial telehealth visit were compared to persons receiving in-person care. On average, patients participating in an initial telehealth consult for a new health condition did not require more unplanned hospitalizations or follow-up ED visits within 14 days of their initial consult compared with patients making an initial in-person visit. The exception was respiratory conditions. Release
  • BioIntelliSense, which last year scored $45 million in funding for its on-body sensors, announced two major collaborations for remote patient monitoring (RPM) with UC Davis Health and Houston Methodist.
  • CDW Healthcare and Caregility announced a strategic partnership to expand their virtual care capabilities, including Caregility’s new Inpatient Virtual Engagement solution (IVE), also launched during ATA. 
  • Connect America, which snapped up Lifeline last year, launched Connect America Home, a single health and safety platform connecting (PERS) and remote patient monitoring (RPM) with supporting services, including AI-enabled virtual health assistance and Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) support, along with analytics. Release.
  • AliveCor announced the launch of KardiaComplete, a comprehensive heart health enterprise solution designed to drive improved health outcomes and reduce the cost of cardiac care. The service will be available through self-insured employers, health insurance plans, and health systems to those diagnosed with hypertension and arrhythmias, like atrial fibrillation.
  • Withings launched Withings RPM, the company’s most advanced remote patient monitoring solution designed to enhance the patient experience. It is a single platform that enables clinicians to order and send Withings RPM devices, manage data from multiple patients with automated alerts and reminders, communicate via SMS, phone, and in-app video calls, billing, sleep tracking, and more. 

TTA was a media partner of ATA 2022.