MICHELLE RONAN NOTEBOOM

A No Way for Allscripts and MyWay

A North Carolina arbitration panel rules that Allscripts must pay Etransmedia $9.7 million for a breach of their partner agreement in violation of the state’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The panel found that Allscripts unfairly profited by inducing Etransmedia to buy MyWay software licenses and assuring Etransmedia that it would make the product Meaningful Use-compliant. Allscripts later announced that rather than update MyWay it would phase out the product, leading the panel to rule that Allscripts “deliberately sabotaged” Etransmedia’s sales efforts.

Post-Election Predictions

The recent Republican sweep of the House and Senate may bode well for health IT, predict several industry pundits. One issue that will likely be discussed: the reduction of Stage 2 MU reporting requirements from 365 days to 90 days. Also look for renewed interest in issues around interoperability, telemedicine, and regulation of medical devices, software, and mobile apps.

Stage 2 Attestations Numbers: Disappointing but Predictable

CMS reports that only 4,656 EPs and 258 hospitals have attested for Stage 2 MU through the end of September. That’s less than 17% of the nation’s hospitals and a mere two percent of EPs (though EPs have until the end of February to report their progress.) Officials from the AMA, CHIME, HIMSS, and MGMA called the results disappointing yet predictable, and renewed calls for a shortened MU reporting period in 2015 and more program flexibility. 

Show Me the Money

The Department of Defense awards Fulcrum a five-year $13.9 million contract to develop a test center for its DHMSM replacement project, as well as to help open a second HIT testing center in Virginia.

On Thursday Allscripts reported Q3 EPS of $0.06, missing estimates by $0.04, and leading to a 15% drop in the stock price the following day.  Revenue was up 4.6% to $345.4M but below analysts’ estimates of $354.6 million.

Cerner and Livongo Health agree to a multi-year deal to connect diabetes screen data collected from “smart” consumer devices with Cerner healthcare clients. Livongo Health is the developer of a remote care platform and is led by former Allscripts CEO Glen Tullman.

Digital health accelerator Rock Health secures an undisclosed amount of seed funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Kaiser Permanente Ventures.

Emdeon reports Q3 results: revenue up 7.5%; adjusted EBITDA up 10.3% to $94.1 million.

Castlight Health reports a Q3 loss of $20.2 million compared to last year’s $16.5 million;

New Blood

HHS names Anjum Khurshid, the director of health systems for the Louisiana Health Institute, to the HIT Policy Committee.