Mercom Capital Group — a global communications and research firm — has just released its report on funding and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity for the Healthcare Information Technology (IT) / Digital Health sector for the first quarter of 2017.

Mercom’s comprehensive report, if you’re not familiar, covers deals of all sizes from across the globe.

Venture capital (VC) funding, including private equity and corporate VC, in the Health IT sector almost doubled quarter-over-quarter, coming in at $1.6 billion in 165 deals compared to $845 million in 159 deals in Q42016.

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Make room for yet another prominent healthcare and technology summit. This one is coming in early fall of this year.

Vermont Information Technology Leaders (VITL) has just announced the 2015 Transforming Health Care Through Technology Summit at the Sheraton Burlington Hotel & Conference Center in Burlington, Vermont.

The Summit will open on September 30 and close October 1.
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The following is a guest contributed post from Jonathon Dreyer, director of cloud and mobile solutions marketing for Nuance’s healthcare division.

I grew up during the era when PC video gaming was gaining popularity.  It was an exciting time when trail-blazing designers and developers created masterpieces like the Oregon Trail, forcing school children everywhere to decide whether to ford the river, or caulk and float their wagons across it—and, most importantly, learn what those phrases meant.  It also taught the importance of anticipating and preparing for the unexpected: dialog boxes seemed to constantly interrupt game play and announce a drought or another bout of dysentery. The game was an endless maze of unknowns, which was scary when you were just trying to get your family and animals safely, and healthily, to new land.

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The team at CDW Healthcare recently published their list of the Top 50 Health IT Blogs of 2014. And those of at mHealthWatch would like to express our thanks for being recognized.

“From mHealth to EHRs to senior technology to data security, the healthcare technology community has a lot to talk about these days,” CDW posted to its Community page. “We see an overwhelming number of dedicated people contributing to the conversation and exploring important ideas and discussions about the shifting landscape of healthcare, the latest technology trends and what it all means for healthcare delivery and patient engagement.”

mHealthWatch will be among the leading Health IT blogs to be saluted on Monday, April 13th by CDW Healthcare at their booth during HIMS15 in Chicago.
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The following is a guest contributed post from Dr. Eric Venn-Watson of AirStrip.

Health IT is often considered a silent partner in healthcare – not seen by patients, but a critical part of the system. As we celebrate National Health IT Week, it’s important to realize that although health IT already has a long history, the constant and rapid evolution of this space continues to transform the market. Information has been collected and stored for years, but the promise of clinical decision support has us at the cusp of all this information becoming valuable in new and innovative ways.

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The writing has been on the wall for some time now that Apple will soon make healthcare a bigger part of its business model.

Following the company’s introduction of HealthKit at June’s WWDC 2014, all signs have poised to Apple cultivating the close ties that healthcare and mobile technology have already forged.

HealthKit is a new app bundled with iOS 8 that’s geared toward fitness and tracking apps and other mHealth solutions.
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Business is picking up across the health IT space today in terms of the rampant growth in mergers and acquisitions during the first six months of 2016.

Berkery Noyes, an independent mid-market investment bank, recently published its mid-year acquisitions trend report for the Healthcare/Pharma Information and Technology Industry.

Total deal volume increased 18 percent since second half 2013, the report summary reads.

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