Jack McCarthy

Patrick Conway, MD, Chief Medical Officer of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the networks will advance systemic use of proven practices on a national scale. 

The advisory committee said that the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT should accelerate the definition and standards for President Obama's PMI and Patient-Generated Health Data. 

The platform has the potential to create a national virtual healthcare system, American Well chief Roy Schoenberg says. 

Veterans Affairs Under Secretary for Health David Shulkin said it will establish the centers this summer in South Carolina, Utah, Pennsylvania and the Pacific Northwest. 

The platform will enable payments to be processed faster, reduce risk for hospitals transitioning to value-based care and ultimately decrease the cost of bundled procedures, the companies said. 

The new deal is part of a larger initiative to transform Penn State Health into a hub of telehealth services that cater to patients in Central Pennsylvania. 

The Health and Human Services chief said that HHS is working to eliminate data blocking, enable interoperability, and protect patient data as it moves around the healthcare system. 

The Office for Civil Rights said that many HIPAA-covered entities do not believe business associates will notify them in the event of a data breach but since providers are on the hook anyway they must be ready should that happen. 

In a deal with Bausch + Lomb, IBM announced a cloud-based app that helps cataract specialists plan and conduct surgeries.

Optum has partnered with Medecision and TriZetto to deliver a new platform for Medicaid Management Information Systems that brings features specifically for population health management.