This week’s highlights: The FTC is proposing changes to the Health Breach Notification Rule to make clear the protections extend to users of digital health apps and obligations apply to vendors who provide them & OpenAI launches ChatGPT for the iPhone.
Regulatory, Legislative, and Legal News
- U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila has ordered Elizabeth Holmes to begin serving her sentence for defrauding investors of her failed blood-testing company on May 30th.
- Sen. Bernie Sanders, along with Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Rep. Debbie Dingell, introduced the Medicare for All Act of 2023 on May 17th to create a federally administered single-payer healthcare system.
- A bipartisan bill would require automakers to install AM radio in all new vehicles. Senator Ed Markey teamed up with Texas Senator Ted Cruz and others to introduce the legislation, saying AM radio is a vital tool for emergencies, especially in rural areas.
- The FTC is proposing changes to the Health Breach Notification Rule to make clear the protections extend to users of digital health apps and obligations apply to vendors who provide them.
Financial and Investment News
- The investment arms of Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic joined in a $15 million strategic funding round for medtech augmented reality company MediView XR.
- NextGen Healthcare reports Q4 results: revenue up 18%, adjusted EPS $0.31 versus $0.19, beating analyst expectations for both but sending shares down on the news.
- The assets of bankrupt digital therapeutics vendor Pear Therapeutics fetch $6 million at auction.
New Products and Services
- OpenAI launches ChatGPT for the iPhone on the Apple App Store.
- Health IT vendor Suki has integrated its generative AI-based voice assistant with Epic EHR software using Epic’s ambient APIs. In addition to helping clinicians complete administrative tasks by voice, the tool can generate clinical notes from ambiently listening to a patient-clinician conversation.
- ServiceNow announced new generative AI capabilities for the Now Platform to help deliver faster, more intelligent workflow automation.
- Microsoft is making AI an integral part of Windows 11. The new Windows Copilot tool lives in the Windows sidebar and, just like Bing’s AI chat, you can use it as a super-powered search engine by typing in general questions. It’s also deeply integrated with Windows and can be used to accomplish tasks within the OS without fishing around for specific settings.
Privacy and Security
- Google said that it plans to delete accounts that have remained inactive for two years as part of the company’s ongoing efforts to strengthen security measures for its vast user base.
- CISA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) are warning critical infrastructure organizations of the BianLian ransomware group’s attacks using RDP.
- PillPack, an online pharmacy owned by Amazon, has reported a data breach affecting more than 19,000 customers that exposed users’ email addresses, prescription information and their providers’ contact details. PillPack said more than 3,600 of the affected accounts included prescription data.
Other News
- MEDITECH has recognized the Institute for Health Metrics (IHM) as their data collaborator to support and accelerate health equity at hospitals across the country.
- Preliminary data suggests hospitals are trending back in the right direction to reverse the declines in quality and safety that happened during the pandemic, according to The Leapfrog Group.
- Becker’s Hospital Review CIOs to Know list for 2023 includes fourteen executives that are health IT leaders and MEDITECH customers.
