Oscar, a New York City-based health insurtech company, announced it has partnered with MercyOne health system to offer Oscar’s individual and family health insurance plans in 23 counties in Iowa beginning in 2021, pending regulatory approval. These health plans are anticipated to be sold on the federal health insurance exchange, with coverage to begin on Jan. 1. […]

More than 27,000 people have been contacted after UnityPoint Health was affected by a ransomware attack against third-party vendor Blackbaud, a cloud-based provider of fundraising and finance services for education and nonprofit entities, reports KCCI. The attack, which took place between Feb. 7-May 20, impacted patients and donors within the St. Luke’s Foundation in Sioux […]

Des Moines-based Navigate Wellbeing Solutions is offering access to a 10-part virtual speaker series free to the public and has created Project Care, a suite of resources including virtual care packages and additional client resources for employers seeking to address mental health care of employees, the company announced this week. The speaker series launched on […]

Iowa Able Foundation announced it was awarded a $350,000 federal grant to support the organization’s accessible lending and education program for assistive technology. The one-year grant from the Administration for Community Living provides support to assistive technology alternative financing programs to help individuals with disabilities of any age in obtaining financial assistance for AT devices and […]

Des Moines-based  “smart buildings” startup Igor won the IoT World COVID-19 Innovation Award for Igor’s Nexos Intelligent Disinfection system, the company announced on Monday. The award recognizes companies that demonstrate innovation to adapt to COVID-19. Nexos Intelligent Disinfection leverages UV-C disinfecting lighting with smart building controls to disinfect spaces safely, Igor reports. The solution kit […]

How has the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic changed research happening at Iowa universities? The Business Record reached out to the three regent universities to see how faculty and administrators are adjusting for priority research; plus, a senior student’s perspective as he finishes his year at Drake University. What does it take to keep research teams safe? […]

Five Iowa entrepreneurs have established a supply line of medical-grade personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care workers from China to the U.S., and the team is seeking more medical facilities stateside to provide for.  At the start of this year, Anisul Huq, Camille Renee, Julien Duhautois, Tim Vastine and Yolanda Wei were coworking colleagues […]

In Coralville, the artificial intelligence company VIDA Diagnostics is adapting. Beyond sending the staff of about 30 home for remote work, VIDA Diagnostics also sent home a few heavy-duty computers so staff could continue processing data streaming from 35 countries.  “We call it business as unusual and just accept it,” said CEO Susan Wood.  In […]

The Iowa State University Computation and Construction Lab is turning to 3D printing to manufacture and distribute face shields to Iowa hospitals. Shelby Doyle, assistant professor of architecture, and eight students have corralled 30 3D printers from campus to create parts for face shields and hope to manufacture up to 2,000 face shields. The printing and supplies […]

Iowa startup Apollo is repurposing its online platform to aid hospitals that need increased health care workers to battle the COVID-19 coronavirus in the midst of a labor shortage — while waiving all fees associated with the platform use for the next four weeks, Apollo co-founder and CEO Jon Lensing announced Tuesday. The platform, www.apollohct.com, […]