Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1372822
60 CIO / HEALTH IT What Microsoft's $20B Nuance acquisition means for big tech's healthcare push: 7 details By Jackie Drees W ith a nearly $20 billion acquisi- tion of speech recognition com- pany Nuance Communications, Microso aims to get a leg up in its health- care competition with other tech giants, e Wall Street Journal reported April 13. Seven details: 1. Microso announced plans to buy Nuance April 12 for $19.7 billion to support expansion of its healthcare offerings for its cloud prod- ucts. Nuance has integrations with EHR ven- dors Epic and Cerner, among others. 2. e acquisition will help Microso break into Nuance's business selling its soware to hospi- tals and health systems, analysts and healthcare executives told the Journal. Nuance's speech recognition soware lets clinicians document patient notes by voice dictation rather than typ- ing and clicking in the EHR. 3. Microso, Amazon, Apple and Google are targeting the healthcare market in different ways, playing to their separate strengths, Glen Tullman, CEO of health startup Transcarent, told the Journal. 4. Microsoft's Nuance deal shows that it's focused on selling enterprise soware to healthcare providers, while Amazon has jumped into e-commerce via its $1 billion acquisition of pharmacy startup PillPack and its plans to expand its telehealth services nationwide, according to the report. 5. Apple's healthcare strategy lies with selling its devices to providers and offering mobile apps that track heart rhythms and exercise ac- tivity through the iPhone or Apple Watch. e company also offers a Health Records app that lets users download their EHRs from physi- cians or hospitals directly to their device. 6. Google is also involved with wearables, having completed its $2.1 billion acquisi- tion of Fitbit in January. e company is also working with St. Louis-based Ascension and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston to pilot its EHR search tool and on April 12 confirmed its plans to develop a consumer-facing medical records app. 7. Microso CEO Satya Nadella told CNBC April 12 that he predicts the industry will see "real structural change" coming out of the pandemic due to the "massive acceleration of digital transformation." "We have participated in it as Microso on the IT side, but what Nuance and [CEO] Mark [Benjamin] and team have done is take that most critical part, which is at the point of care, and really transform it with integrations, with Epic, Cerner and all the critical EHRs," Mr. Nadella said. "And so to us, it'll double our total addressable market as Microso going forward. Not only will we be able to serve all the providers with every- thing we do in Microso 365, Dynamics 365, Azure, but Nuance will be able to still help us deliver these AI-first solutions for doctors and radiologists and overall clinical deci- sion support in partnership with the rest of the ecosystem." n Hackers download Trinity Health patients' PHI: 5 details By Jackie Drees L ivonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health notified patients that their protected health information was ac- cessed and downloaded by an unauthorized user, according to an April 5 news release. Five details: 1. The incident is part of a larger, nationwide hack on Accellion, a data file transfer services provider, from January 2021. Healthcare insurer Centene, Kroger pharmacy and Stanford (Calif.) Medicine also reported being affected by the breach. 2. Accellion informed Trinity Health of a security issue with its file transfer platform on Jan. 29. After investigat- ing the incident, Trinity Health determined that certain files present on the platform were downloaded by an unknown user on Jan. 20. 3. The unauthorized user was able to take advantage of a previously unknown and unreported flaw in the security of Accellion's appliance. 4. Trinity Health said files containing its patients' pro- tected health information, including names, birthdates, medical record numbers, lab results and payer names were exposed by the incident. The health system said Social Security numbers and credit card numbers were also exposed for a "very small number" of individuals, according to the news release. 5. Trinity Health is providing free credit monitoring and identity theft resources for individuals affected by the breach. The health system also said it is evaluating its data security policies and procedures. n