FDA is looking for an EHR system

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has requested quotes for a “large electronic medical record system” that could assess the safety and surveillance of FDA-regulated products through the agency’s current systems for reporting adverse events and leverage the database of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

HHS is the target of new lawsuits by a watchdog group for failing to respond to requests to release emails and online messages—one regarding Office of Civil Rights (OCR) officials and launching of its “Conscience and Religious Freedom Division,” the other over HHS communications with outside groups on changes to a federal grant program that provides birth control and other reproductive health services to low-income Americans.

One of Massachusetts’ largest health insurers, Harvard Pilgrim, has been discussing a merger with the state’s dominant healthcare provider, Partners HealthCare, in a move that could dramatically alter the increasingly consolidated market in and around Boston.

In an article for RealClearHealth, CMS Administrator Seema Verma, MPH, said the industry can expect more proposals meant to push consumerism in healthcare along the lines of recent policies on price transparency and easier data sharing.

According to CNBC, Elliott Management made an all-cash deal for Athenahealth on Monday morning. Elliott’s bid is for $160 a share—a 27 percent premium to the Massachusetts-based healthcare technology company’s Friday afternoon price.

A blog post from Shawn Martin, senior vice president of advocacy, practice advancement and policy at the American Academy of Family Physicians, argued the electronic health record (EHR) industry has failed to live up to promises to reduce costs, improve care and help avert dangerous medical errors—and what it needs now is a disruptive infusion of competition.