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Healthcare and Insurance

St. Louis biotech startup acquired by international pharmaceutical company

Pharmaceutical maker Eli Lilly and Company has purchased Disarm Therapeutics, a startup biotechnology firm founded by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Disarm Therapeutics was co-founded by Jeffrey Milbrandt, MD, PhD, and Aaron DiAntonio, MD, PhD, to speed… more

Data shows steady hospital capacity in Kansas City metro

Contrary to recent news reports circulating information that Kansas City hospitals are experiencing a surge in capacity, a recent summary report from the Kansas Hospital Association, which includes data for the Kansas City metro, seems to show otherwise. Among 43… more

KCRise Fund to receive investment from region’s largest insurance provider

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Blue KC), the region’s largest not-for-profit healthcare insurance provider, announced today it will invest in KCRise Fund II, which funds high-growth, early-stage technology companies in the Kansas City area. “Blue KC’s investment… more

Coping with COVID: Missouri health officials to release vaccine distribution plans

On Thursday, Missouri officials will release their plans to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine when one becomes available. “We hope to have a limited number of vaccines in December and hope to have enough of the vaccine for everybody in April,”… more

Saint Luke’s Foundation found among those most affected by 2020 information breaches

This year, hundreds of health organizations have been impacted by large-scale security breaches and cyberattacks to their systems. So far this year, around 412 healthcare organizations reported to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), reports Becker’s Health IT.… more

Q&A with Polly Thomas

Q: Given what we’ve seen in 2020, especially with the big shift to remote working for so many employees, can you tell us a bit about the biggest challenges your clients have seen in the run-up to this enrollment period?… more

Top Doctors of 2020: Defining Exceptional Care

Let’s face it: As a region, with the medical resources available to us, we are truly blessed. How so? Just this spring, the Kaiser Family Foundation ranked states by the number of hospital beds available per 1,000 residents. Kansas tied… more

University of Missouri Health Care listed among ‘most wired’ health systems in U.S.

University of Missouri Health Care has once again made the list of health systems recognized for “Most Wired” in 2020. This the system’s tenth consecutive year making the list in a survey by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives,… more

Coping with COVID: Missouri Hospital Association adds flu monitoring tool to COVID-19 dashboard

A new tab on the Missouri Hospital Association COVID-19 dashboard will track influenza-like illness and is intended to help hospitals and health care workers manage resources during the approaching flu season with COVID-19 still very much present in Missouri. “A… more

Coping with COVID: Change in case count method causes positivity rate to drop in Johnson County

A shift in the way the positivity rate is being calculated in Johnson County, Kan. has resulted in a notable dip in the positivity rate. This week, the COVID-19 positivity rate fell by nearly half, decreasing from 11.3 percent to… more