Here are a few
I came across last week.
Note: Each
link is followed by a title and few paragraphs. For the full article click on
the link above title of the article. Note also that full access to some links
may require site registration or subscription payment.
In the face of the Covid-19 outbreak,
Americans are waking up to the limitations of their analogue health care
system. It seems clear that we need an immediate digital revolution to face
this crisis.
In a very real sense, the spread of Covid-19 is a product of the
digital and technological revolution that has transformed our world over the
past century. Unlike the “Spanish flu” of 1918, which became an international
epidemic over the course of a year, Covid-19 has spread to every inhabitable
continent within weeks, outpacing our health system’s ability to test, track,
and contain people with suspected infection. To continue functioning, private
companies and institutions of higher education have made an abrupt transition
to remote videoconferencing and other digital solutions, while the health care
system is still managing this crisis largely through risky brick-and-mortar
visits.
As an analogue system, health care is ill equipped to cope with
this swiftly emerging epidemic. The U.S. health care industry is structured on
the historically necessary model of in-person interactions between patients and
their clinicians. Clinical workflows and economic incentives have largely been
developed to support and reinforce a face-to-face model of care, resulting in
the congregation of patients in emergency departments and waiting areas during
this crisis. This care structure contributes to the spread of the virus to
uninfected patients who are seeking evaluation. Vulnerable populations such as
patients with multiple chronic conditions or immunosuppression will face the
difficult choice between risking iatrogenic Covid-19 exposure during a
clinician visit and postponing needed care.
-----
https://healthitsecurity.com/news/voicemails-of-remote-workers-targeted-in-new-phishing-campaign
Voicemails of Remote Workers Targeted in New Phishing Campaign Remote
healthcare workers are facing a new cyber threat: hackers are targeting legacy
technology used to send voicemails to employees with phishing attacks,
according to IRONSCALES.
By Jessica Davis
June 05, 2020
- A new report
IRONSCALES
detected these voicemail phishing attacks in more than 100,000 mailboxes across
the globe.
The vishing campaign
joins a host of other COVID-19-related cybersecurity threats, including attacks
on cloud campaigns NetWalker CARES
-----
https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2020/06/04/Depression-anxiety-up-3-fold-since-start-of-COVID-19-pandemic/2071591283897/
Depression, anxiety up 3-fold since start of COVID-19 pandemic June 4 (UPI) -- The numbers of Americans suffering from
mental health disorders like anxiety and depression have more than tripled
during the COVID-19 Johns
Hopkins JAMA
The
number of people in the United States reporting feelings of anxiety and
depression peaked in early April, according to a separate analysis also
published Thursday, by researchers at the University of Southern California.
Researchers
say, however, that mental health should remain a significant concern.
"We
need to prepare for higher rates of mental illness among U.S. adults
post-COVID," Beth McGinty, associate professor of health policy and
management at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in a press release.
-----
https://ehrintelligence.com/news/how-to-promote-health-equity-through-ehr-patient-portals-mobile-apps
How to Promote Health Equity Through EHR Patient Portals, Mobile Apps The ONC
can work with health IT developers to enhance health equity by simplifying and
optimizing patient portals and mobile apps.
By Christopher Jason
June 04, 2020
- Technology access, digital health literacy, and inclusive design are
major health IT roadblocks that interfere with promoting health equity since
the debut of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information
Technology (ONC) interoperability rule, according
The new regulations
“Delivering
interoperability actually gives patients the ability to manage their healthcare
the same way they manage their finances, travel and every other component of
their lives,” Don Rucker, MD, national coordinator for health information
technology said
-----
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/europe/savience-limited-and-hsl-telehealth-partner-launch-one-click-virtual-clinic-service
Savience Limited and HSL Telehealth partner to launch ‘one click’ virtual
clinic service The service
allows NHS clinicians to organise secure remote consultations via webcam.
By Tammy Lovell
June 05, 2020
12:14 PM
A
collaboration between clinic-management specialists Savience Limited and
healthcare IT solution firm HSL Telehealth has created a new secure virtual
clinic service.
By
integrating the virtual clinic module from Savience’s Clarity system with HSL’s
shared conferencing and collaboration network, the service allows clinicians to
organise a remote outpatient’s consultation by clicking on a screen icon.
All
clinicians need is a webcam, while patients can access the sessions via a
smartphone, tablet, laptop or PC.
-----
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/security-success-story-using-cloud-migration-improve-data-protection
A security success story: Using cloud migration to improve data protection Big
transitions can present an opportunity to enact security improvements, but they
can also make a complicated process even more complex.
By Kat Jercich
June 05, 2020
11:05 AM
Although
security horror stories have become relatively common – especially after highly
publicized data breaches – it's more challenging to find examples of healthcare
organizations doing the right thing.
"It's
hard to find the security success stories," said John Pescatore, director
of emerging security trends at SANS, in a recent HIMSS20 Digital presentation.
As
part of disrupting that negative narrative, Pescatore focused on a case study
from the California-based Hill Physicians Medical Group, interviewing senior
manager of enterprise security and architecture Juan Canales about the process
of migrating to the cloud and the lessons the organization had learned from the
experience.
-----
https://healthitsecurity.com/news/sens.-unveil-privacy-bill-to-regulate-covid-19-contact-tracing-apps
Sens. Propose Bill to Regulate Privacy of COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps Proposed
bipartisan privacy legislation would give consumers control over the data
collected by COVID-19 contract tracing apps, while establishing data
restrictions and enforcement measures.
By Jessica Davis
June 03, 2020
- Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, and Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, recently
introduced privacy legislation designed to protect the data collected, used,
and maintained by COVID-19 contact tracing apps and other commercial online
exposure notification systems, while establishing enforcement provisions.
The proposal
joins two other contact tracing bills released
in the last month. Congressional democrats unveiled the The Public Health
Emergency Privacy Act on May 14, meant to restore public trust in technologies
that would benefit the COVID-19 fight, while protecting consumer privacy.
In early May,
Senate Republicans unveiled a similar proposal, focused on strict privacy
disclosures and ensuring businesses are held accountable for any data misuse.
-----
https://ehrintelligence.com/news/health-information-exchange-dashboard-tracks-covid-19-next-steps
Health Information Exchange Dashboard Tracks COVID-19 Next Steps Indiana is
using patient data from its EHR COVID-19 dashboard and health information
exchange to reopen on a county-by-county basis, rather than a statewide
strategy.
By Christopher Jason
June 03, 2020
- With COVID-19 cases dwindling and deaths decreasing by the day, states
across the country are beginning to reopen in some areas, and state lawmakers
are rolling out their reopening plans. Unlike most states that are in the
process of a state-wide strategy to reopening, Indiana decided to utilize its
health information exchange dashboard data to tailor efforts by county.
This
four-part, county-by-county, analytical approach is called, “Back on Track
Indiana.”
Since its launch
in late April, the Regenstrief Institute, Indiana Health Information Exchange
(IHIE), and its partners, have labeled the EHR dashboard an early success.
-----
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/04/how-to-spot-fake-health-info-according-to-experts.html
How to spot fake health information and root out charlatans, according to
health experts Published
Thu, Jun 4 20208:35 AM EDTUpdated Thu, Jun 4 20203:06 PM EDT
Christina Farr @chrissyfarr
Key Points
Health misinformation is spreading
quickly during the coronavirus pandemic — and it’s becoming more
sophisticated. Here are some telltale clues to
help you distinguish misinformation. With
more people than ever turning to the internet as their
primary news source, and companies such as Facebook doing
so little to curate its content, misinformation is flourishing.
As
Carl Bergstrom, a University of Washington researcher and the co-author of the
misinformation guide “Calling Bulls---” has explained , the goal of the entities responsible for
misinformation is to generate mass confusion. That leaves charlatans with the
opportunity to sell phony cures or to sow division among the public for
political purposes.
CNBC
spoke to a variety of misinformation experts and doctors for their tips on
rooting out health misinformation.
-----
https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/number-cybersecurity-attacks-increase-during-covid-19-crisis
Jun 04 Medical
Devices
Number of cybersecurity attacks increases during COVID-19 crisis Hackers
are taking advantage of provider distraction to breach health systems.
Mallory Hackett ,
Associate Editor
The Department of Health and Human Services has reported an
increase in cybersecurity breaches in hospitals and healthcare providers'
networks which may be due to COVID-19.
Between the
months of February and May of this year, there have been 132 reported breaches,
according to the HHS .
This is an almost 50% increase in reported breaches during the same time last
year.
The increase
in hacking could be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Natali
Tshuva, CEO and cofounder of Sternum, an IoT cybersecurity company that
provides medical device manufacturers with built-in security solutions.
-----
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/europe/digital-transformation-time-covid-19
Digital transformation in the time of COVID-19 From
pilotitis and digital dinosaurs to fully-actioned digital strategies, the
COVID-19 pandemic has altered the adoption of digital in the UK.
By Sophie Porter
June 04, 2020
02:19 AM
The
COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the face of care provision across
the world. Telehealth adoption in the US, for instance, has grown around 3,000% since the start of the crisis, taking
much of primary care to people’s homes rather than being necessarily tied to a
doctor’s office or hospital; A&E attendance in the UK is at its lowest in
reported history as patients steer clear of hospitals for fear of contracting
the virus; and hospital trusts have been responding with alternative care
solutions such as digital triaging services to ensure that patients are still
receiving the treatment they need.
In
exclusive interviews with Healthcare IT News
TELEHEALTH
One
of the key areas of change is in telehealth. The scale of adoption for remote
working technologies and agile and flexible services is hitherto unmatched, as
the threat of infection has forced health providers to reconsider the way they
offer services. Dr Afzal Chaudhry, CCIO at CUH, mentioned how enabling
clinicians and operational staff to work offsite was “safer for them whilst
continuing to run the hospital effectively.” CUH increased remote working
capabilities by 300%, including broadening access to the trust’s EPR system
outside of the hospital setting so patients could still receive treatment
regardless of their or their clinician’s location.
-----
https://www.healthcareittoday.com/2020/06/04/what-were-hearing-about-the-himss20-cancellation-and-its-impact-on-himss21/
What We’re Hearing About the HIMSS20 Cancellation and Its Impact on
HIMSS21 June 4, 2020
John Lynn
When
I previously wrote about HIMSS’s decision to go from no
refunds for HIMSS20 to a partial credit towards HIMSS21/HIMSS22 , I didn’t
think we would be talking about it again until next spring. Turns out I
was wrong. There is a lot more ire coming from exhibitors and registrants over
the cancellation and the lack of refunds than I realized. Over the past
few weeks, many companies and individuals have reached out to share how they
feel about this whole situation and how it is affecting their decision for
HIMSS21.
Full
Disclosure: Healthcare IT Today was a confirmed HIMSS20 exhibitor. We
have gone through the same exhibitor experience as others. Granted, we
only had a small 10×10 booth, but we aren’t an unbiased party here. On the
other hand, I live in Las Vegas, so the HIMSS21 decision is an easy one for me
since I won’t have to travel.
The
companies I spoke with include anchor sponsors, startup companies and companies
in between. Most were concerned about voicing their opinions too loudly,
because of how it might impact their future work with HIMSS. In fact,
many were working to create coalitions of companies so they could bring a
united front to HIMSS. They wanted to ensure it was understood that this
wasn’t just one company that was upset at the HIMSS20 cancellation. Quite
a few of those I spoke with had 20+ partner companies that exhibited at HIMSS
and they were working with their partners to create a more unified message.
-----
https://www.digitalhealth.net/2020/05/special-report-electronic-document-management-7/
Special Report: Electronic Document Management In the
midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the importance of digital tools across the
NHS is on the rise. Claire Read explores how electronic document management (EDM)
solutions are one which helped get the ball rolling.
As Ed
Prosser-Snelling sits in his office on level three of the west block of Norfolk
and Norwich University Hospital, he is forced to gaze at a sight he has come to
hate. “I am looking at a pile of case notes that is four feet high,” he
reports. “I want them gone – I’ve had enough,” he says with a chuckle. “It’s
going to improve my back not having to push them around in a trolley with my
dictaphone, it’s going to make my life a lot better, and it’s going to
genuinely improve the lives of all clinicians in the hospital.”
Prosser-Snelling,
a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist as well as his trust’s chief
clinical information officer, neatly sums up the argument for electronic
document management (EDM) systems.
Create
digital records, or scan copies of old records, and there is no longer any need
to store hard copies – which take up a significant amount of space; 14 miles of
shelves and 1.8 million records sit in the Norfolk and Norwich University
Hospitals Foundation Trust health records library. And via the interface of an
electronic document management system, potentially as part of an electronic
patient record, becomes possible for clinicians to access information with
greater ease than ever before.
-----
https://patientengagementhit.com/news/how-covid-19-may-reframe-end-of-life-care-planning-engagement
How COVID-19 May Reframe End-of-Life Care Planning Engagement The
COVID-19 pandemic has renewed patient appreciation for end-of-life care
planning, pushing providers to explore best practices for engaging these
conversations.
By Sara Heath
June 01, 2020
- For years, the concept of end-of-life care planning has been elusive to
intensive care unit (ICU) providers. Not a lot of patients have engaged in
these types of communications, and it hasn’t been hard to see why: end-of-life
care planning is by nature a grim topic and can make a lot of people —
including clinicians — feel uncomfortable.
But that’s
started to change now that the COVID-19 pandemic has gripped the nation. At
this point, over 100,000 people have died from the novel coronavirus, and it’s
pushed end-of-life
care planning as a key topic of conversation.
“The virus
and the pandemic shined an important light on end-of-life care planning and the
need for people who don't have medical problems to still consider what their
wishes would be. That’s because this virus can unfortunately strike folks who
are healthy,” said Lauren Van Scoy, MD, a pulmonary and critical care physician
at Penn State.
-----
https://healthitanalytics.com/news/using-big-data-to-prioritize-cancer-treatment-during-covid-19
Using Big Data to Prioritize Cancer Treatment During COVID-19 A new,
web-based app draws on big data resources to create a personalized risk
assessment for receiving cancer treatment during COVID-19.
By Jessica Kent
June 01, 2020
- The rapid spread of COVID-19 has threatened to overwhelm hospitals and
health systems across the country, leading many providers to defer surgeries
and other procedures for an unknown period of time.
For patients
with cancer, these delays are an especially delicate balancing act. Doctors
have to compare the long-term
risk of care postponements with the risk of patients potentially
contracting COVID-19. Because these individuals’ immune systems are often
compromised, it’s critical to weigh the need for treatment against the risk of
COVID-19 exposure.
This is a
challenging task, as cancer and coronavirus are both complex conditions
requiring providers to gather and analyze big data resources.
During
the pandemic, hospitals have been using a broad, three-tiered system to prioritize
cancer care: treat, delay a little, or delay a lot. So far, there hasn’t been a
comprehensive way for doctors to tailor cancer treatments to individual
patients – until now.
-----
https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/tech/cvs-pharmacy-testing-self-driving-vehicles-for-medication-delivery
CVS Pharmacy is testing self-driving vehicles for medication delivery By Heather Landi
Jun 2, 2020
3:50pm
CVS
Health began testing drone delivery last year. Now, the company is moving on to
try self-driving vehicles.
The
pharmacy retail giant is working with autonomous vehicle startup Nuro to test
prescription delivery in the Houston market.
Nuro , which was founded by two ex-Google engineers,
will use its fleet of autonomous vehicles to deliver prescriptions and
essentials to CVS Pharmacy customers. The deliveries will start this month and
will come at no extra charge to CVS customers in Houston.
“We
are seeing an increased demand for prescription delivery,” said Ryan Rumbarger,
senior vice president for store operations at CVS Health. “We want to give our
customers more choice in how they can quickly access the medications they need
when it’s not convenient for them to visit one of our pharmacy locations.”
-----
https://www.darkreading.com/mobile/abandoned-apps-may-pose-security-risk-to-mobile-devices/d/d-id/1337951
5/29/2020 02:20 PM
Robert Lemos
Abandoned Apps May Pose Security Risk to
Mobile Devices
Mobile providers don't often update users when applications are
not supported by developers, security firm says.
Software libraries that are no longer being actively developed are
a huge problem for programmers and a source of vulnerabilities, but are such
"abandoned" codebases also an issue for users?
In a report published today, mobile security firm Wandera argued
that many mobile users have applications installed on their smartphones and
tablets that are no longer in active development nor offered on major app
stores. The company discovered a "significant number" of such
applications on employee's devices during its regular scanning for security
threats, says Michael Covington, vice president at the firm.
These applications pose security risks because any vulnerability
found in the code will never be patched, he says.
-----
https://www.newsweek.com/health-groups-deem-racism-police-brutality-public-health-crisis-amid-george-floyd-protests-1507964
Health Groups Deem Racism, Police Brutality a Public Health Crisis Amid
George Floyd Protests By Aila Slisco On 6/1/20 at 9:56 PM EDT
Groups
representing health care professionals have deemed police brutality associated
with racism a public health crisis amid widespread protests over the killing of
George Floyd.
Multiple
groups have spoken out about the health impacts of racism and police brutality
since the May 25 killing of Floyd, a black man who died in police custody after
his neck was kneeled on by a white officer who ignored his pleas for help. The
American Medical Association (AMA), the largest association representing U.S.
doctors, was one of the groups to speak out against police violence.
"Excessive
police force is a communal violence that significantly drives unnecessary and
costly injury, and premature morbidity and death," AMA President Dr.
Patrice Harris and Board Chair Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld said in a statement . "Our country—our society—demands
more."
-----
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/eye-robot-artificial-intelligence-dramatically-improves-accuracy-classic-eye-exam
Eye, robot: Artificial intelligence dramatically improves accuracy of
classic eye exam By Marina Wang Jun. 3,
2020 , 10:45 AM
The
classic eye exam may be about to get an upgrade. Researchers have developed an
online vision test—fueled by artificial intelligence (AI)—that produces much
more accurate diagnoses than the sheet of capital letters we’ve been staring at
since the 19th century. If perfected, the test could also help patients with
eye diseases track their vision at home.
“It’s
an intriguing idea” that reveals just how antiquated the classic eye test is,
says Laura Green, an ophthalmologist at the Krieger Eye Institute. Green was
not involved with the work, but she studies ways to use technology to improve
access to health care.
The
classic eye exam, known as the Snellen chart, has been around since 1862. The
farther down the sheet a person can read, the better their vision. The test is
quick and easy to administer, but it has problems, says Chris Piech, a computer
scientist at Stanford University. Patients start to guess at letters when they
become blurry, he says, which means they can get different scores each time
they take the test.
-----
https://healthitanalytics.com/news/patient-access-privacy-vital-for-integrating-genomic-data-in-the-ehr
Patient Access, Privacy Vital for Integrating Genomic Data in the EHR Incorporating
genomic data into the EHR will require providers to address issues of patient
access and privacy.
By Jessica Kent
June 02, 2020
- Patient access, privacy, and protection are critical in facilitating the
integration of genomic data into patient care and the EHR, according to a report from the
American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG).
Genomic data
is becoming an integral part of nearly every area of medical care, the authors
noted, meaning this information is increasingly being incorporated into
multiple parts of the EHR.
“Advances in
genetic and genomic testing technology have not only introduced the utilization
of clinical genomic information into virtually every area of medical care, this
testing has become an essential tool to achieve the goal of precision
medicine,” the authors stated.
“As genomic
data become more complex, so too must the EHR evolve to provide optimal care
for patients, maximizing benefits while minimizing harm.”
-----
https://ehrintelligence.com/news/health-experts-make-health-information-exchange-for-poison-control
Health Experts Make Health Information Exchange for Poison Control Using HL7
architecture to develop a health information exchange dashboard, a team of
researchers launched an HIE at a Utah Poison Control Center.
By Christopher Jason
June 03, 2020
- A poison control center (PCC) is vital to patient care, especially when
dealing with the opioid epidemic. However, health information exchange (HIE)
software and infrastructure at PCCs are largely inconsistent and mostly
nonexistent.
To combat
that, researchers at University of Utah, the Utah Health Information Network
(UHIN), and Intermountain Healthcare successfully implemented and launched a
standards-based HIE at the Utah PCC, the group said
in a recent JAMIA article.
According to
the Centers or Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), poisonings, primarily
from drug
overdoses , are the leading cause of unintentional death and injury in the
United States. This statistic has climbed over the past 22 decades.
-----
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-020-0289-4
Better patient identification could help fight the coronavirus ·
Ben
Moscovitch ,
·
John
D. Halamka &
·
Shaun
Grannis
npj Digital Medicine volume 3 ,
Article number: 83 (2020) Cite
this article
Public
health experts working to stop the spread of the new coronavirus rely on
information from hospitals, clinics, laboratories, and other sources that
indicate whether, when, and where individuals have tested positive. Such data
allow scientists to conduct contact tracing—trying to determine where the
individual was exposed and whether that person put others at risk through close
contact—and then recommend actions to thwart the spread of the highly
infectious virus. But these data must be collected and reported quickly and accurately
to be useful and effective.
Much
of this information comes from health-care providers through electronic health
records (EHRs); so the success of rapid identification of infected and at-risk
individuals and of a large-scale vaccination effort in the U.S. will depend, in
part, on how effectively the electronic health data of Americans are shared
among providers, care settings, and other systems used to track the illness and
immunization. These two issues—contact tracing and the effective deployment of
a vaccine—are in fact key pillars to many of the expert plans for re-opening
the country and responding to the pandemic.
-----
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/change-healthcare-launches-consumer-health-platform-microsoft-adobe
Change Healthcare launches consumer health platform with Microsoft, Adobe The
collaboration is aimed at improving patient experience by offering insights into
physicians through patient reviews, access to price comparisons and more.
By Mike Miliard
June 03,
202010:41 AM
Change
Healthcare on Tuesday announced its new Connected Consumer Health suite, a
SaaS-based financial engagement platform, developed in collaboration with Adobe
and Microsoft and designed to help providers create a more streamlined and
transparent patient experience.
WHY IT
MATTERS
The
platform offers an array of tools meant to give consumers better insights to
help them choose physicians, new access to cost-comparison information and
more:
The Shop Book and Pay application
offers access to provider pricing and patient reviews, and enables
scheduling of appointments and prepayments of services. The Virtual Front Desk app offers a
"touchless check-in experience," according to Change, using
personal devices for queue management, online check-in and forms, and
communicating when patients should enter the facility. The Care Cost SE app is a
price-transparency and service-bundling tool designed to help providers
pre-service collections from cash and high-deductible health plan
consumers. The application can automatically reach out to patients via
text or email based on time or clinical follow-up triggers, enabling
booking and payment for specific services. The new Digital Patient Experience
Manager, meanwhile, is meant to optimize the online interactions between
patients and caregivers while supporting privacy compliance for protected
health information. The platform is aimed at the entire continuum of care
– helping coordinate appointments, enabling a more efficient flow of
patient referrals and helping meet compliance requirements such as the
Protecting Access to Medicare Act. -----
https://www.healthcareittoday.com/2020/06/03/pagers-healthcare-its-the-message-not-the-medium/
Pagers + Healthcare – It’s the Message Not the Medium June 3, 2020
Colin Hung
We’d
all like to believe that WiFi and cellular technologies are the most reliable
way to deliver critical communications within the walls of a hospital, but
sadly they aren’t. Pagers are. You read that right, pagers. This old…I
mean…retro technology is in fact enjoying a renaissance as hospitals look for
fast, reliable, and affordable ways for staff to communicate.
I
recently sat down with Tim Tindle, Chief Information Officer & Chief
Information Security Officer at Spok , to
talk about pagers and hospital communications. Spok is a healthcare-focused
communications company that offers an array of solutions including secure
messaging, on-call scheduling, contact center and yes, pagers.
Why do
hospitals still use pagers?
Spok
runs the largest paging network in the US with over a million units in active
use around the country. According to Tindle, one of the main reasons this
technology remains in widespread use in healthcare is because of the radio
frequency (RF) issues inside hospitals.
-----
https://www.healthcareittoday.com/2020/06/03/health-it-execs-say-theyre-unhappy-with-ehr-based-analytics-packages/
Health IT Execs Say They’re Unhappy With EHR-Based Analytics Packages June 3, 2020
It
would be nice if the analytics packages included with EHRs did exactly what you
hoped they would do. After all, you want the various capabilities you manage to
play nicely with one another.
However,
for many health IT leaders these analytics platforms just aren’t cutting it, if
the results of a recent survey
are any indication.
Dimensional Insight , which makes a
healthcare business intelligence and analytics solution, surveyed 108
healthcare leaders about their use of analytics platforms. (Obviously, the fact
that they offer a non–EHR analytics platform makes them less than neutral on
the subject, but the numbers are still interesting.)
When
responding to the survey, 90% of these organizations reported using the
analytics in their EHRs, with 50% using EHR analytics as their exclusive or
primary analytics tool. In theory, that would suggest that they were happy with
this option, wouldn’t it?
-----
https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/innovation/private-insurance-telehealth-claims-grow-4347
Private Insurance Telehealth Claims Grow by 4,347% By Mandy Roth |
June 03, 2020
FAIR
Health report shows a dramatic increase in the use of private telehealth
insurance claims in the United States, led by a 15,503% increase in the
Northeast this March compared to last year.
KEY
TAKEAWAYS
·
·
The
coronavirus pandemic has dramatically changed the way healthcare is delivered
in the United States, accelerating a transition to virtual care. For those
seeking data points, a FAIR
Health study out this month indicates a national increase of 4,347% in
March compared to the same month last year. The Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker
-----
https://healthitsecurity.com/news/health-departments-state-govts.-at-risk-of-covid-19-spoofing-fraud
Health Departments, State Govts. At Risk of COVID-19 Spoofing, Fraud Proofpoint
found most state governments and health departments lack the strictest and
recommended DMARC protection and authentication, exposing them to COVID-19
spoofing and fraud attempts.
By Jessica Davis
May 28, 2020
- Forty-four percent of state health departments and state governments do
not have a published Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting &
Conformance (DMARC), making these entities much more susceptible to domain
spoofing and email fraud attempts, according to new Proofpoint research .
Throughout
the crisis, researchers and federal agencies have all highlighted a spike in
cybercrime and attacks tied to COVID-19. These threats range from Virtual
Private Networks
(VPNs) and videoconferencing platforms
like Zoom, to email fraud
and spoofing
attempts.
In light of
these attacks, Proofpoint researchers analyzed the email authentication
practices of both state governments and public health departments, as these
entities work on the frontlines the COVID-19 pandemic and must have frequent
contact with their constituents on the progression of the crisis.
-----
https://patientengagementhit.com/news/mixed-results-for-patient-centered-medical-home-for-comorbidities
Mixed Results for Patient-Centered Medical Home for Comorbidities The study
looked at how the patient-centered medical home impacts access and costs for
patients with both physical and mental health comorbidities.
By Sara Heath
May 29, 2020
- A new study
out of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health suggests the
patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model could help move the needle on high
healthcare costs, hospital admissions, and patient access to care for
individuals with both physical and mental health comorbidities.
The patient-centered
medical home model largely hinges on primary care, at which most patient
care is coordinated with other specialty providers. This care model aims to cut
healthcare costs by improving patient access to quality primary and specialty
care, ideally improving care outcomes and reducing the risk of a costly, acute
care episode.
This most
recent data, published in the American Journal of Managed Care, showed that
this model has the promise the work. The research team used state Medicaid
claims data and other administrative data to compare healthcare costs and acute
and outpatient care utilization for those in and out of a PCMH.
-----
https://patientengagementhit.com/news/key-strategies-for-remote-chronic-disease-management
Key Strategies for Remote Chronic Disease Management As
patients continue to avoid in-person care, providers need to pivot to remote
chronic disease management to drive positive health outcomes.
By Sara Heath
June 01, 2020
- Chronic disease management has long been viewed as the central priority
in healthcare, as providers work to improve patient outcomes and cut healthcare
costs. That is, until the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
Since the
beginning of March, chronic care has taken a back seat as the industry turned
its eye toward mitigating the symptoms of COVID-19 and quelling its spread.
Healthcare organizations, including primary care clinics — which serve as the
epicenter for chronic care management — had to shutter their doors to
non-urgent care. This came in an effort to promote safe social distancing.
Meanwhile,
chronically ill patients, who are deemed at highest risk for contracting the
novel coronavirus and experiencing more severe symptoms, have worked to stay
out of harm’s way. This included avoiding healthcare access.
At
the end of April, health data firm Evidation reported
that 21 percent of chronic disease patients were worried about maintaining
their healthcare, and 53 percent said they were worried about visiting a
healthcare facility for a non-COVID-19 care need.
-----
https://ehrintelligence.com/news/telehealth-ehr-integration-key-to-meet-covid-19-demand
Telehealth EHR Integration Key to Meet COVID-19 Demand Following
the COVID-19 outbreak, telehealth EHR integration helped UPMC Pinnacle train
thousands of staff members in a week.
By Christopher Jason
May 26, 2020
- The deadly spread of COVID-19 has forced health systems to adopt
telehealth at a rapid rate. And for University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
(UPMC) Pinnacle, telehealth EHR integration has been an asset in putting that
telehealth delivery to scale.
The central
Pennsylvania health system, which has over 160 clinics, has had telehealth
capabilities since 2012. But, according to, Salim Saiyed, chief medical
informatics officer at UPMC Pinnacle, said the health system needed to greatly
accelerate its telehealth adoption to reduce patient, provider, and clinician
exposure to the virus.
“We wanted to
reduce exposure because COVID-19 is very contagious and we did not want our
providers and nurses to enter the patient rooms,” Saiyed said in an interview
with EHRIntelligence. “The telehealth solutions are automated, so an ER nurse
can call in and it picks up automatically so the patient does not need to touch
anything.”
-----
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-protection/distancing-and-masks-cut-covid-19-risk-says-largest-review-of-evidence-idUSKBN2383T6
June 2, 2020
/ 8:32 AM /
Distancing and masks cut COVID-19 risk, says largest review of evidence Kate
Kelland
LONDON
(Reuters) - Keeping at least one metre apart and wearing face masks and eye
protection are the best ways to cut the risk of COVID-19 infection, according
to the largest review to date of studies on coronavirus disease transmission.
In
a review that pooled evidence from 172 studies in 16 countries, researchers
found frequent handwashing and good hygiene are also critical - though even all
those measures combined can not give full protection.
The
findings, published in The Lancet journal on Monday, will help guide governments
and health agencies, some of whom have given conflicting advice on measures,
largely because of limited information about COVID-19.
“Our
findings are the first to synthesise all direct information on COVID-19, SARS,
and MERS, and provide the currently best available evidence on the optimum use
of these common and simple interventions to help ‘flatten the curve’”, said
Holger Schünemann from McMaster University in Canada, who co-led the research.
-----
https://www.healio.com/news/psychiatry/20200601/mobile-health-technologies-for-depression-present-ethical-legal-regulatory-challenges
June 01, 2020
Mobile health technologies for depression present ethical, legal,
regulatory challenges Mobile
health technologies for the management of depression come with unique
challenges, according to research presented at the American Society of Clinical
Psychopharmacology Annual Meeting.
"Our
work examines the ethical, legal and regulatory challenges encountered by
clinicians and researchers using mobile health technologies in the field of
psychiatry,” Efraim
J. Keisari, MD,
Smartphones
are common and allow for the collection of objective, real-time data related to
depression symptoms, such as fatigue and activity level, using built-in sensors.
However, these opportunities are accompanied by challenges and
risks, according to Keisari and colleagues. The researchers conducted a
literature review on the ethical, legal and regulatory challenges they
experienced during their study on the use of passive smartphone-based data to
predict depression symptomatology among 182 college students. They divided
participants into two groups — depressed or healthy controls. Results showed
significant associations between sensory data and interview assessments and
depression scores.
-----
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/blog/europe/covid-19-integrated-healthcare-system-way-forward
COVID-19: An integrated healthcare system is the way forward With dozens
of healthcare facilities across the UAE, the country’s healthcare system is
evolving faster than elsewhere in the world says Christian Schuhmacher, CEO of
King’s College Hospital London in Dubai.
June 02, 2020
10:03 AM
A
few weeks ago the World Health Organisation (WHO) commended the UAE for
leading the way in COVID-19 by conducting the highest level of testing per
million in the world, which is an effective strategy of keeping track of the
virus, which is pertinent to knowing the necessary measures to take in
combating the epidemic. All these efforts have been made possible by the
integrated healthcare system put in place to unite all the key health delivery
systems.
The
UAE is an example of how unified policies and infrastructures across the
public and private healthcare sectors can work towards the delivery of a full
range of services and as a result improve health outcomes. The collaboration
and coordination between all players in the wide healthcare field is key to
effectively and efficiently tackle any challenge, and especially one on the
scale of the current pandemic. In Dubai not only is the coordination of beds,
both critical and standard beds centralised, but all relevant government
agencies, from Dubai Ambulance, to Dubai Police, Dubai Municipality and many
others closely coordinate their efforts in tackling COVID 19 in Dubai.
-----
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/europe/scattergun-procurement-exposes-nhsx-question-fitness
Scattergun procurement exposes NHSX to question of fitness The ad hoc
and rapid arrival of so many new applications in the NHS raises concerns about
compliance and standardisation – and the operational role of NHSX.
By Piers Ford
May 28, 2020
02:32 AM
While
COVID-19 has stress-tested the mothership NHS and revealed it to be
surprisingly resilient, it has also exposed the frailty of the institution’s
most junior satellite, NHSX, just when that unit might have been expected to
come into its own as the main driver of policy and best practice for
technology, digital and data across the service.
Health
secretary Matt Hancock launched NHSX with a fanfare in April 2019. But it has
been plagued ever since by the opaqueness of its role, which has been further
exacerbated by a series of internal controversies and concerns about its
procurement strategy, throwing its response to the pandemic into sharp relief,
and raising questions about its fitness for purpose.
The
speed of digital technology adoption across the NHS to address the immediate
challenges of the crisis has been remarkable, with years of digital
transformation apparently achieved in a matter of weeks. But that speed has
also made alarm bells ring.
-----
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/ehrs-still-posing-big-safety-risks-many-hospitals
EHRs still posing big safety risks in many hospitals A decade-long
study just published in JAMA finds a wide variance in the safety performance of
operational EHR systems, especially when it comes to reducing adverse drug
events.
By Kat Jercich
June 02, 2020
04:25 PM
Medication
safety problems are a leading cause of injury and preventable harm in a
hospital-based setting. Although electronic health records that include computerized
physician-order entry and clinical-decision support can help to protect
patients from adverse events, a new study finds that many EHR safety issues
still remain.
The
study, conducted by researchers from the University of Utah and the Brigham and
Women’s Hospital and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association
"Despite
broad adoption and optimization of EHR systems in hospitals, wide variation in
the safety performance of operational EHR systems remains across a large sample
of hospitals and EHR vendors," wrote the researchers.
-----
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/covid-19-emergency-shows-limitations-nationwide-data-sharing-infrastructure
COVID-19 emergency shows limitations of nationwide data sharing
infrastructure While some
organizations are finding success as they map coronavirus spread, public health
agencies are still often relying on manual processes to gather and submit data,
which is often incomplete, says former U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh
Chopra.
By Fred Bazzoli
June 02, 2020
09:00 AM
Several
initiatives are working to gather patient data and map information on the
spread of COVID-19, even as public health and federal efforts are bogged down
in manual and paper-based processes.
The
private initiatives are looking to incorporate ways to demonstrate the spread
and extent of the pandemic in various geographic areas, seeking to enable
health researchers to better understand how the virus is spreading, who it's
affecting and how to potentially prevent it from affecting more individuals.
These
efforts are using data from a variety of sources, and some initiatives are
aiming to eventually directly cull information from healthcare providers'
electronic health records.
-----
https://www.healthcareittoday.com/2020/06/02/whats-the-right-approach-to-change-management-in-an-always-changing-digital-workplace/
What’s the Right Approach to Change Management in an Always Changing
Digital Workplace? June 2, 2020
John Lynn
There’s
nothing in healthcare people like more than change. Ok, that was a
joke. No one likes change and healthcare is included. Although,
ironically, the one constant in healthcare is change. Whether it’s
changing government regulations, new technologies like an EMR or telehealth, or
a pandemic which literally turns things upside down, change is just a
reality. How you manage that change is key to success as a healthcare
organization.
This
was the topic of discussion when I sat down with Heather Haugen, Chief
Science Officer at Atos ,
to talk about change management in healthcare. Haugen and her team
literally cut their teeth (and wrote the book ) on EHR change management and then at Atos have
been applying a lot of those same change management principles to other areas
like security, digital health, and business transformation.
In
this wide ranging discussion, I ask Haugen for examples of where she sees
organizations managing change well and not so well. Along with those
examples, she offers a partial look into Atos’ programmatic approach to change
in healthcare and suggestions on how to make a leader’s communication more
effective during the change and after.
-----
https://www.healthcareittoday.com/2020/06/02/volume-of-healthcare-data-breaches-grows-with-external-threats-taking-the-lead/
Volume of Healthcare Data Breaches Grows, With External Threats Taking The
Lead June 2, 2020
Anne Zieger
A
new report
tracking data breaches has found that as with other industries, the bulk of
healthcare attacks were perpetrated by external actors. It also concluded that
the number of attacks targeting healthcare organizations continues to grow.
To
compile this year’s Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report
Among
the key news items buried in this year’s edition of the report was that at
least according to the authors, the widely-held belief that insiders are the
biggest data security threat could be wrong. “In spite of what you may have
heard through the grapevine, external attackers are considerably more common in
our data than are internal attackers, and always have been,” the report’s
authors write.
When
looking at healthcare industry incidents from the top down, the Verizon report
notes that there has been a substantial increase in the number of both breaches
and attacks, with 798 incidents on record for the current year. This included
521 incidents with confirmed data disclosure, up from 304 in the previous year.
-----
https://mhealthintelligence.com/news/researchers-question-value-of-telehealth-in-substance-abuse-treatment
Researchers Question Value of Telehealth in Substance Abuse Treatment Some
prominent telehealth researchers have suggested that telehealth hasn't yet
proven its value in substance abuse treatment, and that the disadvantages
outweigh the benefits for certain populations.
By Eric Wicklund
May 29, 2020
- Some prominent telehealth researchers are suggesting that providers pump
the brakes on using connected health technology to aid in substance abuse
treatment.
In a
commentary published this week in the Journal of the American Medical
Association (JAMA), Lori Uscher-Pines, PhD, of the RAND Corporation and Haiden
Huskamp, PhD, and Ateev Mehrotra, MD, of Harvard Medical School say the value
of telehealth and mHealth tools in Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) therapy
hasn’t been proven, and that the drawbacks could outweigh any benefits.
“Research is
needed on whether these services are comparable with in-person care on key
metrics such as retention in treatment, effectiveness of long-term treatment
for OUD, and cost-effectiveness,” the three wrote. “As with many telehealth
innovations, growth may occur before the evidence base is strong because this
new treatment model addresses a critical need and could potentially improve the
care experience.”
-----
https://healthitanalytics.com/news/care-access-drives-covid-19-health-disparities-in-black-populations
Care Access Drives COVID-19 Health Disparities in Black Populations Black
populations across the country are experiencing worse outcomes from COVID-19,
and these health disparities are largely due to a lack of care access.
By Jessica Kent
May 28, 2020
- In the time since the COVID-19 pandemic has hit and spread across the
US, the virus has further exposed glaring health disparities and lack of
quality care access experienced by particular communities.
In black
populations, these inequities have been especially apparent.
Recent research
from the Polis Center at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis
(IUPUI) showed that black residents of Marion County tested positive for
COVID-19 at a rate nearly twice that of white residents.
The
team also noted that as of May 5, 1,763 residents with confirmed COVID-19 cases
were black and 1,979 were white. This means that for every 100,000 black residents,
there are 646 confirmed cases, compared to 345 confirmed cases for every
100,000 white residents.
-----
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2766205
May 26, 2020
Evaluation of an Electronic Health Record System With a Disease Management
Program and Health Care Treatment Costs for Danish Patients With Type 2
Diabetes Ryan Pulleyblank, MSc, MA1 ; Giovanni Mellace, PhD2 ; Kim Rose Olsen, PhD1
JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(5):e206603. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.6603
Question
Findings
Meaning
Abstract
Importance
Objective
Design,
Setting, and Participants
Main
Outcomes and Measures
Results
Conclusions
and Relevance
-----
https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/tech/telehealth-could-grow-to-a-250b-revenue-opportunity-post-covid-mckinsey-reports
Telehealth could grow to a $250B revenue opportunity post-COVID-19:
analysis By Heather Landi
Jun 1, 2020
10:53am
An analysis
by McKinsey estimates that 20% of all emergency room visits could potentially be
avoided via virtual urgent care offerings and 24% of healthcare office
visits and outpatient volume could be delivered virtually.
(AndreyPopov/GettyImages)
With
the acceleration of consumer and provider adoption of telehealth, a quarter of
a trillion dollars in current U.S. healthcare spend could be done virtually,
according to a new report .
During
the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer adoption of telehealth has skyrocketed,
from 11% of U.S. consumers using telehealth in 2019 to 46% of
consumers now using telehealth to replace canceled healthcare visit, according
to consulting firm McKinsey & Company's COVID-19 consumer survey
conducted in April.
-----
https://healthitsecurity.com/news/new-covid-19-spear-phishing-spoofing-attacks-mimic-google-who
New COVID-19 Spear-Phishing, Spoofing Attacks Mimic Google, WHO Barracuda
detected a new impersonation attack, where hackers spoof Google-branded sites
in spear-phishing campaigns. Meanwhile, Google details spoofing campaigns
mimicking WHO.
By Jessica Davis
May 29, 2020
- Cybercriminals are once again working to take advantage of the COVID-19
pandemic through two new phishing campaigns: Hack-for-hire groups
are spoofing the World Health Organization (WHO), while other hackers are
impersonating Google -branded
sites. Both campaigns are designed to harvest user credentials.
The reports
mirror recent Proofpoint
research, which found a dramatic increase in spoofing attempts through phishing
campaigns and fake websites leveraging COVID-19-related themes. In those
campaigns, hackers mimic government agencies and non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) to steal login credentials and financial data.
The first
report from Barracuda details a new impersonation attack, specifically a
form-based-attack, which is disproportionately leveraging Google-branded sites
in an effort to trick users into sharing their login credentials.
-----
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tarahaelle/2020/05/31/1-in-4-youtube-coronavirus-videos-had-bad-information-long-before-plandemic/#54985180768d
1 In 4 YouTube Coronavirus Videos Had Bad Information—Long Before
Plandemic Tara Haelle Senior Contributor
May
31, 2020
The
conspiracy theory video
Plandemic turned the whirlwind of misinformation circulating about the
coronavirus into a EF5
tornado of falsehoods, conspiracies and overall dangerous public health
information a few weeks ago. But more than a month before Plandemic, and even
before the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the public health emergency
a pandemic, videos with false or misleading information were racking up tens of
millions of views on YouTube, according to two recent studies. Since then, the
proliferation of videos with false, misleading or harmful information about the
COVID-19 pandemic has only intensified, despite various social media companies’
attempts to rein them in.
These
research findings aren’t surprising — misinformation flourished on YouTube
during the H1N1, Ebola and Zika epidemics as well, and anyone who has spent
time looking at health videos on YouTube has undoubtedly come across
conspiracies and other whoppers. But the findings also reveal missed
opportunities for government, university and other public health agencies to
communicate accurate, helpful information on a popular platform where millions
of people seek health information.
The
first
study , published in Global Public Health second study ,
in BMJ
Global Health
-----
https://www.ajmc.com/newsroom/clinical-decision-tools-within-ehr-that-nudge-vs-force-boost-pathway-compliance-study-finds
Clinical Decision Tools Within EHR That "Nudge" vs
"Force" Boost Pathway Compliance, Study Finds Mary Caffrey May 30, 2020
Debra A.
Patt, MD, MPH, MBA, a breast cancer specialist at Texas Oncology is the
lead author on the study being presented at ASCO.
Clinical-decision
support tools that involve physicians in their design and are “iterative in
process” can have a positive impact on improving compliance with evidence-based
pathways, according to authors from Texas Oncology and US Oncology, reporting
on results at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2020 annual meeting.
https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/clinical-care/ehrs-fail-detect-one-third-medication-errors
EHRs Fail to Detect Up to One-third of Medication Errors By John Commins |
June 01, 2020
In 2009, EHRs correctly issued alerts about potential medication problems
only 54% of the time. By 2018, EHRs detected about 66% of these errors.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
·
·
·
Now,
a new study published in JAMA Network Open
Researchers
at the University of Utah Health, Harvard University, and Brigham and Women's
Hospital in Boston found that the most commonly used EHRs in hospitals across
the nation fail to detect up to 33% of potentially dangerous drug interactions
and other medication errors that could harm or kill patients.
"EHRs
are supposed to ensure safe use of medications in hospitals," said study
corresponding author David C. Classen, MD, a professor of internal medicine at
U of U Health. "They're not doing that."
-----
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2766545
May 29, 2020
National Trends in the Safety Performance of Electronic Health Record
Systems From 2009 to 2018 David C. Classen, MD, MS1 ; A. Jay Holmgren, MHI2 ; Zoe Co, BS3 ; et al Lisa P. Newmark, BA4 ; Diane Seger, RPh4 ; Melissa Danforth, BA5 ; David W. Bates, MD, MSc3,4,6
JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(5):e205547. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.5547
Question
Findings
Meaning
Abstract
Importance
Objective
Design,
Setting, and Participants
Exposure
Main
Outcomes and Measures
Results
Conclusions
and Relevance
-----
https://histalk2.com/2020/05/29/weekender-5-29-20/
Weekly News Recap Bright.md, Orbita, Oncology
Analytics, MDMetrix, and Higi announce new funding rounds. Healthcare associations take a
huge revenue hit as their conferences move to virtual. China’s expansion of its COVID-19
contact tracing app with new functions raises privacy concerns. ONC funds The Sequoia Project to
continue as the Recognized Coordinating Entity for TEFCA for a second
year. The National Institutes of Health
issues an RFI on digital health solutions that can help it build a central
data hub for COVID-19 researchers. Central Logic is reportedly
nearing a $100 million-plus acquisition. Kaiser Permanente EVP/CIO Dick
Daniels announces his retirement. -----
Enjoy!
David.
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