Host Jonah Comstock convenes a panel of HIMSS Media editors — HITN Senior Editor Kat Jercich, MobiHealthNews Associate Editor Dave Muoio and HFN Associate Editor Jeff Lagasse — to discuss recent delivery slowdowns at the post office and how they have and haven't affected healthcare stakeholders, including startups and patients. The team also looks into the broader trend of politicization of traditionally apolitical government agencies and how that could affect public faith in COVID-19 treatments or vaccines.

More about this episode:

USPS service delays are hitting some mail-order pharmacies and telehealth platforms harder than others

Mail delays may affect medication supply for nearly 1 in 4 Americans over 50

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's full testimony (C-SPAN)

The Package Coalition homepage

In this episode of Top Stories: Larger hospital systems such as AdventHealth are feeling the COVID-19 pinch; ICD-10 codes may not effectively capture patients with cough and fever. Plus: How postal service delays are affecting the healthcare sector.

Links to the stories:

AdventHealth laments $260 million in losses since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic

Dr. Anthony Fauci 'cautiously optimistic' that a vaccine will be available in 2020 or 2021

ICD-10 codes don't accurately capture COVID-19 symptoms, study shows

USPS service delays are hitting some mail-order pharmacies and telehealth platforms harder than others

In a wide-ranging discussion, Mathematica Senior Fellow Dr. Diane Rittenhouse joins host Jonah Comstock and Healthcare IT News Senior Editor Kat Jercich to talk about the unique impact of COVID-19 on primary care, how digital tools like telehealth can help, and how primary care providers can move forward in this new world. We talk about why primary care is important and how technology can only go so far in what is fundamentally a very human field. This episode is brought to you by AmWell.

Further reading:

Telehealth seems here to stay – so how can it be improved?

Expanding access to telehealth is a 'hundreds-of-billion-dollar question'

Effectively Implementing Telehealth in Primary Care (from Mathematica)

Saving Primary Care: Is it Time for A New National Service Corps for Primary Care Practices? (from Mathematica)

America’s Looming Primary-Care Crisis (from the New Yorker)

In this episode of Top Stories: Health Information Exchanges can expect a monetary boost from the ONC; M&A activity is down precipitously Plus: Medtronic's latest acquisition.

Links to the stories:

ONC to offer new funding for state and local HIE innovation

At ONC Tech Forum, Rucker touts value of HIEs in COVID-19 response

Healthcare M&A transactions see large decline from Q1 to Q2

Medtronic plans to buy connected insulin pen startup Companion Medical

Kistein Monkhouse, CEO and cofounder of Patient Orator, and Dr. Tamir Wolf, CEO and cofounder of Theator, join host Jonah Comstock and MobiHealthNews Managing Editor Laura Lovett to discuss disparate health outcomes for racial minority groups, how their startups are looking to address these inequities, and what else those in the healthcare industry can do to help.

More about this episode:

Rock Health survey on startup diversity

HIMSS Global Health Equity Network

Patient Orator

Theator

Enabling Patient Engagement and Population Health Management (webinar)

Meet 10 Black People Disrupting the Digital Healthcare Industry Today

Coronavirus exacerbates health inequities: How tech can help

As health tech brands scramble to respond to protests, critics stress need for representation

The MobiHealthNews team — host Jonah Comstock, Managing Editor Laura Lovett and Associate Editor Dave Muoio — sit down to unpack the major shakeup that hit the digital health markets this week when telemedicine giant Teladoc announced its plan to merge with chronic condition management success story Livongo. We talk details, motivations, and implications of this digital health mega-company in the making.

More about this episode:

Teladoc Health absorbs chronic care company Livongo in $18.5B merger

UnitedHealth Group offering Dexcom G6 CGMs, Fitbit trackers, virtual coaching to 230,000 Type 2 members

European Commission expands Google-Fitbit acquisition probe into full-scale investigation

In this episode of Top Stories: Telehealth companies propose $18B merger; Trump issues executive order to make telehealth permanent. Plus: dispatches from the Taskforce of Telehealth Policy’s virtual town hall.

Links to the stories:

Teladoc Health absorbs chronic care company Livongo in $18.5B merger

Online prescription discount platform GoodRx reported to be filing for IPO

Telehealth to become permanent under Trump executive order

CMS proposes telehealth changes under Trump executive order

Taskforce on Telehealth Policy holds town hall to solicit public input

On Monday, President Trump dropped a surprise executive order making regulatory allowances for telehealth permanent. But what exactly does that mean? And how much authority does Trump have to make his pronouncement a reality? HIMSS Media editors Jonah Comstock, Mike Miliard, Susan Morse, and Kat Jercich answer these questions and more in this breaking news edition of HIMSSCast.

Mentioned in this episode:

Telehealth to become permanent under Trump executive order

CMS proposes telehealth changes under Trump executive order

The Executive Order

In this episode of Top Stories with Jeff Lagasse: Ro and Hims would both be valued at more than $1 billion if the latter completes its sale to an unknown acquisition company, while the healthcare industry says more funds are needed to make up for lost revenue due to the pandemic.

Links to the stories:

Ro receives $200 million in funding and is now valued at $1.5 billion

Hims eyes deal to go public and expands its remote mental health services

Doctors and hospitals are asking for $100 billion in next COVID-19 relief bill

AMA & other med groups express 'dismay' at prospect of waivers made permanent

Healthcare IT News Executive Editor Mike Miliard and host Jonah Comstock chat about some recent trends in cybersecurity including telehealth security, securing remote patient monitoring, ramped up ransomware attacks, and the danger of a coming "cyberpandemic" as organizations rapidly adopt new technologies like cloud hosting.

Referenced in this episode:

The Cybersecurity Implications of Telehealth: Safeguarding the New Normal of Virtual Care (Editorial Webinar)

Babylon Health admits GP at Hand app data breach caused by ‘software issue’

Tech optimization: Fine-tuning cybersecurity defenses

Securing Telehealth Remote Patient Monitoring Ecosystem (NIST)

Hasty rush to cloud hosting during COVID-19 crisis could set stage for 'cyberpandemic'

Microsoft unveils Azure IoT Connector for FHIR, to help with RPM security

UCSF pays $1.14 million to decrypt files after ransomware attack

The cybersecurity framework organizations should follow to keep data safe

Health Industry Cybersecurity Practices (HICP): Managing Threats and Protecting Patients (FDA)