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To most Americans, the name MarketScan means nothing. But most Americans mean everything to MarketScan. As a repository of sensitive patient information, the company’s databases churn silently behind the scenes of their medical care, scooping up their most guarded secrets: the diseases they have, the drugs they’re taking, the places their bodies are broken that they haven’t told anyone but their doctor. The family of databases that make up MarketScan now include the records of a stunning 270 million Americans, or 75% of the population. (Ross, 2/1)

Ernie Ludy doesn’t normally give interviews. He cashed out of the pioneering medical data business he founded more than three decades ago and has mostly stayed out of the public eye, preferring to quietly pursue his passion for disruption at a Florida-based private equity firm. He made an exception when STAT called to discuss the sale of his now sprawling MarketScan databases by IBM, which unloaded the core assets of its failed Watson Health business in January to an investment company in California. (Ross, 2/1)

The nonprofit mental-health hotline Crisis Text Line ended its data-sharing relationship with a for-profit spinoff Monday, three days after POLITICO reported on ethics and privacy concerns the arrangement had raised. It was a quick turnabout for Crisis Text Line, a nearly decade-old charity that has drawn praise for applying Silicon Valley’s data-mining tactics — backed by tens of millions of dollars in tech industry money — to human problems such as suicidal thoughts, anxiety and emotional abuse. (Hendel, 1/31)

Walmart will offer employees access to technology company Health at Scale's services that include provider recommendations based on outcomes, ratings and other metrics, the retailer announced Monday. "Customizing services and treatments to individual needs is the next frontier in healthcare and is a major part of Walmart's commitment to helping associates and their family members find great doctors," Lisa Woods, Walmart's vice president of U.S. benefits, said in a news release. "We are excited to launch this collaboration with Health at Scale and are eager to see the impact that another innovative benefit like this will have on associates' healthcare experience and outcomes." (Gillespie, 1/31)

Beaumont Health and Grand Rapids' Spectrum Health will launch as one integrated health system on Feb. 1. The temporarily named BHSH Health passed regulatory merger approval and is now the largest employer in the state with roughly 64,000 employees, ahead of General Motors Co.'s roughly 48,000 Michigan employees and Ford Motor Co.'s 47,000 local employees. The companies previously announced the intent to merge in June 2021 but were delayed by regulatory approval. (Walsh, 1/31)

Cardinal Health will pay $13.1 million to settle allegations that it paid kickbacks to physicians to get them to purchase specialty drugs through Cardinal, the Justice Department announced Monday. The Dublin, Ohio-based wholesale distributor allegedly gave doctors upfront cash discounts to use Cardinal for their pharmaceutical purchases, which violated the anti-kickback statutes, the DOJ said. Upfront rebates must be tied to specific purchases and should be clawed back if the buyer misses the quota, investigators warned, noting that Cardinal failed to follow those regulations. (Kacik, 1/31)

As COVID-19 dials up demand on health systems large and small, startups offering to unload some of the burden with digital devices are raking in the cash. Most recently, Athelas, a remote patient monitoring company, raised $132 million in two back-to-back rounds led by General Catalyst (GC) and Tribe Capital, respectively, GC managing director Hemant Taneja tells Axios. Once reserved for isolated scenarios, remote patient monitoring (RPM) is rapidly becoming a common practice among hospitals seeking to provide care outside of their four walls. (Brodwin, 2/1)

KHN: Faxes And Snail Mail: Will Pandemic-Era Flaws Unleash Improved Health Technology? 

Jamie Taylor received two letters from the Missouri Department of Social Services Family Support Division that began, “Good news,” before stating that she was denied Medicaid coverage. Her income exceeded the state’s limits for the federal-state public health insurance program for people with low incomes. Missouri officials now blame the incongruous greeting for the decidedly bad news on a computer programming error, but it was just the beginning of Taylor’s ongoing saga trying to get assistance from Missouri’s safety net. Taylor, now 41, spent hours on the phone, enduring four-hour hold times and dropped calls, and received delayed mailings of time-sensitive documents to her home in Sikeston. (Sable-Smith, 2/1)