Cerner – Kansas City’s largest private employer – confirmed through a spokesperson on Thursday that it is going through a reduction of its workforce. Misti Preston, Cerner’s director of external communications and public relations for Cerner, said "today’s event includes 500 associates out of our 26k+ global associate base. A subset of that does affect Kansas City." She also said the move will not impact its status as the city’s largest private employer.
Datavant and Ciox Health have agreed to merge in a deal valued at $7 billion, the health data companies said on Wednesday. The combined company, to be named Datavant, will allow a secure exchange of data among its network, which includes more than 2,000 U.S. hospitals and 15,000 clinics as well as data analytics companies and government agencies. The companies said the deal is supported by their group of investors led by investment firm New Mountain Capital, Labcorp (LH.N), Cigna Ventures and Roivant Sciences.
A ransomware attack earlier this year on a Texas-based company could have compromised the data of an unknown number of MetroHealth patients. Based out of San Antonio, CaptureRx, a vendor for MetroHealth that helps hospitals manage their 340b drug pricing programs, said the breach was first confirmed in February and compromised the data of more than 1.6 million patients, including first and last names, dates of birth and prescriptions.
As personnel moves go, the hiring of Amy Abernethy by Verily is about as big as it gets in digital health care. It signals the Alphabet-backed company’s ambition to fundamentally reshape clinical research, making participation easier and drugs more effective. Abernethy, an oncologist by training, is credited with modernizing the way the Food and Drug Administration uses and manages data as the former number two at the agency.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, it's become not only acceptable but recommended that we wash our hands frequently, as per Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines. That is, any time we're in a public place and before or after touching our face. That includes after pumping gas, opening the mailbox, touching door handles—it's endless, and it won’t end when everyone’s vaccinated and we start to recover from the pandemic.