Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Ex-FDA Head Robert Califf Hired To Lead Strategy At Google Health, Verily Life Sciences
Google parent Alphabet has hired former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf to oversee strategy for two of the company's health divisions. Califf will serve as head of strategy and policy for Google Health and Verily Life Sciences, according to a blog post from Duke Forge, a health data science center at Duke University. Califf will step down from his role as Duke Forge's director in November to accept the full-time position at Alphabet. (Cohen, 9/30)
There have been a lot of changes at athenahealth over the last few years. The latest one will change the formerly highflying heath data IT company from a landlord into a tenant. In a deal that real estate experts say could fetch hundreds of millions of dollars for athenahealth鈥檚 new owners, the company is selling its 29-acre campus on Arsenal Street in Watertown. (Logan, 9/30)
Littleton Regional Healthcare is partnering with Children鈥檚 Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Connected Care to provide critical neonatal services to its patients via telemedicine. ...Through the use of state-of-the-art telemedicine technology, a board-certified Dartmouth-Hitchcock neonatologist will join the local bedside team in Littleton to provide neonatal care and support for a wide variety of diagnoses, according to the news release. (9/30)
The massive not-for-profit system CommonSpirit Health is going to be late filing its first annual financial statement following its creation earlier this year, a development that didn't come as a surprise to analysts watching along. Leaders of the Chicago-based system, formed through the merger of Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health, have had their work cut out for them since well before the deal became official on Feb. 1. (Bannow, 9/30)