Axios

Aledade, a health technology startup that works with doctors to analyze patient data and coordinate care, has raised $23 million in a new funding round, according to a securities filing. It's part of a $28 million offering. Venrock, Biomatics Capital and other existing investors were part of the latest round.

Why it matters: Farzad Mostashari, the former top health care technology official in the Obama administration, co-founded Aledade in 2014 and has raised $97.5 million to date. The company clearly has attracted interest from doctors who want to create so-called accountable care organizations and structure new payment contracts with Medicare and private health insurers.

Research that involves modifying certain diseases to make them more deadly will again be funded by the US government, writes Sara Reardon for Nature. Scientists can use these so called gain-of-function studies to understand what mutations a virus might need to become more deadly, or understand how a disease interacts with our immune system. But concerns about safety protocols and potential pandemics led the White House to ban funding such research in 2014.

Why it matters: If something goes wrong, such research could have deadly consequences. But proponents argue the knowledge gained can save lives. When the ban was first enacted, it applied to the flu, SARS, and MERS, but some scientists said it was too broad. It initially halted 21 projects — some of which were related to vaccine research, reports Reardon. The moratorium gave the government time to develop a regulatory framework and added layers of security.

Envision Healthcare is paying $31 million to sweep away allegations that its emergency room staffing subsidiary, EmCare, was in cahoots with the former Health Management Associates hospital chain to maximize profits by admitting patients from the ER "without regard to whether the admissions are medically necessary."

In addition to the settlement with the Department of Justice, Envision entered into a five-year "corporate integrity agreement" in which the federal government will closely monitor Envision's compliance.

Tenet Healthcare, a for-profit hospital chain that has struggled with debt and investor unhappiness, may sell Conifer Health Solutions, its profitable medical billing and debt collection company. Tenet has hired Goldman Sachs to shop Conifer around.

Looking ahead: Private equity has shown interest in medical billing companies. Pamplona Capital Management bought out MedAssets in 2015 for $2.7 billion. Based on Conifer's profitability, Tenet could fetch at least $2.5 billion from a sale.

Go deeper: Bloomberg recently explored how hospitals are reaping profits from Conifer and other debt collectors, but the practice surprises patients and threatens their credit.