News & Updates

Medivo Inc., a startup that aims to help physicians and patients better discuss  patient lab results, acquired WellApps. WellApps is creator of the GI Monitor, a disease management tool for Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis patients. GI Monitor will be integrated into Medivo’s patient and physician platforms so that patients can provide data about their symptoms to their doctors.

The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation committed $9.9 million for the mHealth Alliance‘s support of mobile technologies that improve women and children’s health. The funding will sponsor competitions and grants to for mHealth organizations and companies. The mHealth Alliance is based in Washington, D.C., but it works with partners from around the world to advance the use of mHealth.

Mathematica Policy Research and the California HealthCare Foundation published a study that suggests that an online enrollment tool led to an increase in applicants for Healthy Families, the Children’s Health Insurance Program in California. The Health-e-App became available in 2010, and more than 50,000 applied for the coverage within one year, resulting in a 14 percent increase in total applications from 2010 to 2011.

Behavioral analytics company Ginger.io acquired remote health monitoring platform Pipette. Pipette is a recent graduate of startup incubator Rock Health. Pipette founders Ryan Panchadsaram and Jimmy Do will join Ginger.io.

The FDA cleared Abbott’s FreeStyle InsuLinx Blood Glucose Monitoring System, which acts as a digital logbook and allows patients to analyze their trends. FreeStyle InsuLinx joins the growing list of FDA-approved glucose monitors, which also includes Telcare BGM and iBGStar.

DoctorBase, a software company that enables doctors and patients to communicate through social media and mobile devices, announced that it surpassed 5,000 health care providers on its platform. The company has grown without venture capital or investor financing.

Authors of a recent study published in Telemedicine and e-Health asked telemedicine users to identify the barriers that affect the acceptance and maintenance of telemedicine. According to respondents, the top three obstacles include outdated regulations, insufficient payment mechanisms and established clinical paradigms.

Analytics service provider Datawatch Corporation partnered with Jacobus Consulting, a health care IT consulting firm. They will focus on revenue cycle management and quality and clinical performance improvement.

Nuance Communications, Inc., a leader in voice-recognition technology in the health IT market, acquired Transcend Services, Inc. for $300 million. Transcend provides medical transcription and speech editing services.

The National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Dr. Farzad Mostashari responded to a recent study published in Health Affairs that concluded that doctors’ access to electronic imaging results led doctors to order more imaging and blood tests. His post argues why the study “tells us nothing about the impact of EHRs on improving care.”