Deloitte researchers evaluated data from 4,500 US hospitals between 2012 and 2016 and found that adoption of data management, population health management and reporting technologies was more likely among "those that receive some fraction of their total revenue from ... quality and value contracts such as bundled payments and global risk capitation," compared with hospitals that don't receive incentives. The researchers recommend that health systems "go beyond the EHR" to focus on technologies that engage patients and providers, as well as core financial and operational applications.
⋅ Recode
Pinterest has begun interviewing banks about an initial public offering expected this year, sources say. If the company selects its banks this month, the IPO could launch as soon as the second quarter.
⋅ The Charlotte Observer (N.C.) (tiered subscription model)⋅The Charlotte Observer (N.C.) (tiered subscription model)
A North Carolina school district has the largest concentration of immigrant students in the state -- more than 20,000 -- who all need help to learn English, according to this article. The district will spend more than $30 million this year to serve the students, who speak Arabic, Hindi, Russian and Spanish, among other languages.
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, says she will keep a "watchful eye" on financial regulators, ensure banks comply with the Dodd-Frank Act and guarantee that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is strong. The committee will give much attention to financial-technology firms that promise to provide financial services to people without access to the banking system, Waters says.
Stop & Shop customers in the Boston area will be able to shop directly from driverless delivery vehicles in a test set to launch this spring. Shoppers will use an app to request the vehicle and choose their fresh produce, meal kits and other items when it arrives, and the technology records the purchase and sends a receipt.
Health care organizations use three proprietary approaches to health information exchange -- data exchange between physicians who "use the same EHR," those who "use an EHR that participates in an EHR vendor alliance" and physicians who "are part of the same integrated system" -- but smaller facilities have greater need for open approaches, according to a study in the American Journal of Managed Care. Researchers also found that 33% of Medicare patient transitions could be completed by using one of the three HIE approaches, while 45% of patients still require open data exchange methods.
Adobe is working on technology that would place sensors near digital billboards in various venues to detect passing mobile devices. The objective would be to use the billboard to engage the mobile user by posing a question to be answered via the mobile device.
UPS will now allow exporters who schedule Saturday pickup for 57 international markets to get to their shipments delivered on Monday, a day earlier than current deliveries. The company says Saturday pickups destined for the selected markets will be processed the same day, cutting a full day off the delivery schedule.
The Boston-based startup Sense plans to use fresh funding to upgrade its machine-learning energy monitoring app for the Connect IoT platform that Landis+Gyr's power meters use. Users will be able to track home energy consumption in real time, as well as remotely learn which appliances need fixing or are active.
⋅ The Hill
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said HHS Secretary Alex Azar pledged to work with him to lower prescription drug prices. "We are headed for the same goals, but not necessarily the exact same legislation, so I've got to tell you I came out of the meeting feeling hopeful that this is something that we can do on a bipartisan basis," said Cummings, one of a group of lawmakers who recently unveiled sweeping legislation to lower drug prices by permitting drug importation and allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.
Artificial intelligence will be implemented in networks, industrial applications, services and virtualization in the coming year, analysts say. It will also play a part in 5G cellular communications, the internet of things and expanding bandwidth for video streaming, they note.
Washington received a C on the American Society of Civil Engineer's latest report card, including a B- for dams; C for aviation; C- for roads, transit, wastewater and drinking water; and D+ for stormwater. "Population growth in the state is stress-testing the civil infrastructure we use every day," says Seattle engineer Richard Fernandez, chairman of the evaluation committee.
New Colorado Gov. Jared Polis unveiled plans for legislation that would grant more power to local governments in decisions related to the state's $32 billion oil and natural gas industry. Polis said that solidifying local control would improve market confidence and investor certainty.
SpaceX took one step closer to a manned mission as the company raised a Falcon 9 rocket with its Crew Dragon capsule into position at its Florida launchpad. A test flight anticipated within about a month and the Crew Dragon will eventually take astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
⋅ Skift
Passengers at Georgia's Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport faced wait times of more than an hour at security checkpoints Monday as more than twice the usual number of Transportation Security Administration officers called in sick amid the partial government shutdown. Texas' George Bush Intercontinental Airport closed its Terminal B checkpoint and ticket counter to consolidate operations and keep checkpoints in other terminals running.