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.
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Report reveals digital health technology must be accessible for all
To be successful digital health technology must be accessible to all while still maintaining the human aspects of healthcare, a new report has said.
Hannah Crouch – 3 February, 2021
‘Digital Health during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Learning Lessons to Maintain Momentum’ draws on research and case studies of good practice in digital health during the pandemic.
The aim of the report is to offer policy recommendations to help ensure the UK capitalises on the potential of digital health to the benefit of patients, the NHS and the UK, after the crisis subsides.
The report, launched by the Patient Coalition for AI, Data and Digital Tech in Health, with support from patient organisations and the Royal Colleges of Nursing and Radiologists, highlights that uptake of digital health technologies has been limited, while patient experience of technologies including video conferencing and mobile apps has been mixed.
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Predictive Analytics Tool Accurately Determines Breast Cancer Risk
A predictive analytics tool uses mammograms to accurately forecast breast cancer risk across diverse clinical environments.
By Jessica Kent
February 03, 2021 - A team from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) has developed a predictive analytics model that can jointly model a patient’s breast cancer risk across multiple future time points.
The model can also optionally benefit from clinical risk factors such as age or family history if they are available, and can produce predictions that are consistent across minor variances in clinical environments.
Current clinical guidelines use risk models to determine which patients should be recommended for supplemental imaging and MRI. While some guidelines use risk models with just age to determine if, and how often, a woman should get screened, others combine multiple factors related to age, hormones, genetics, and breast density to determine further testing.
However, despite decades of research and effort, the accuracy of risk models used in clinical practice remains modest.
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https://www.medicaleconomics.com/view/the-interoperability-patient-access-final-rule-is-here
The interoperability & patient access final rule is here
February 3, 2021
Aaron Lones , Susan Kanvik , Susan Yeazel
Medical Economics Journal, Medical Economics February 2021, Volume 98, Issue 2
What physicians need to know
There’s nothing like landmark regulation released during a time of great uncertainty.
On May 1, 2020, the clock began ticking for health plans, providers and information technology (IT) developers to implement the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Interoperability and Patient Access final rule. For all of us struggling to cope with the COVID-19 “new normal,” there is more at stake with this coming wave of interoperability than may meet the eye. Now is the time to plan and take action.
What is the Interoperability and Patient Access final rule and why does it matter?
Put simply, individuals will have the option to take greater ownership and accountability for a broader and consolidated set of electronic health information (EHI) and, with individual consent, share that information with their health plan and providers. This will be supported by the creation of a system of regionalized data brokers who arbitrate the exchange of electronic health information with and from CMS-regulated health plans, providers and IT developers according to defined patient consent parameters. This new approach — the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) — is still being considered by regulators but will likely follow the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM), a proven federal approach for the exchange of data within and across industries, including the Department of Homeland Security. This likely means that in the future:
- Data brokers (Qualified Health Information Networks [QHINs]) will arbitrate the parameters for all patient EHI transfer, including B2B from developers to health plans/providers.
- Federally certified IT developers will have access to the same core data set as health plans and providers and be focused on creating value for patients through the development of new digital products that will enable more transparency, efficiency and choice.
- Individuals will move through the health care ecosystem with their EHI based on tiered levels of consent, with a core data set that is opt out for exchange, but with higher tiers of confidential EHI that patients must opt in for sharing.
Make no mistake, the new rule will create disruption in the health care marketplace. Federal regulators are doubling down on the idea that creating a more open system of exchange to a publicly owned virtual clearinghouse of claims and clinical data will force competition and innovation that is good for health care consumers. When the wave breaks, the health care landscape will look very different from today.
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Feb. 4, 2021 / 5:29 PM
Machine-learning program imagines a protein's many possible structures
Feb. 4 (UPI) -- To study biological molecules like proteins, scientists rely on cryo-electron microscopy. The 3D-imaging technology is ideal for studying proteins that exist in only a single structural arrangement, or conformation.
Unfortunately, many proteins can assume a variety of shapes, complicating bio-molecular surveys.
Thanks to a new machine-learning algorithm, however, scientists can now anticipate and recognize a protein's varied structural iterations.
The new AI-system, described Thursday in the journal Nature Methods, does more than image a diversity of conformations, it can also predict the varied motions of different protein structures.
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https://healthitanalytics.com/news/predictive-analytics-tool-accurately-assesses-teen-suicide-risk
Predictive Analytics Tool Accurately Assesses Teen Suicide Risk
A personalized screening system uses predictive analytics to accurately detect teens with high suicide risk.
By Jessica Kent
February 04, 2021 - Using predictive analytics algorithms, a universal screening tool can accurately determine an adolescent’s suicide risk and alert providers of which patients are in need of follow-up interventions, according to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry.
Researchers stated that suicide is the second-leading cause of death among teens in the US, and the suicide rate among adolescents in the US has grown by 62 percent since 2000. In 2018, the US reported its highest annual number of adolescent suicide deaths that included 1,750 young people aged 12 to 17.
While the number of suicide deaths among teens are clearly on the rise, many at-risk individuals aren’t receiving the mental health services they need. It can be very challenging for providers to detect which of their young patients need the most help.
“Too many young people are dying by suicide and many at high risk go completely unrecognized and untreated,” said lead author Cheryl King, PhD, a professor, clinical child psychologist, and director of the Youth and Young Adult Depression and Suicide Prevention Research Program in the Department of Psychiatry at Michigan Medicine.
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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/substance-use-disorder-facilities-see-low-ehr-adoption-rates
Substance Use Disorder Facilities See Low EHR Adoption Rates
EHR adoption rates at substance use disorder facilities have fallen behind mental health facilities across the country.
February 04, 2021 - Substance use disorder facilities are behind mental health facilities in EHR adoption rates, according to a study published in ScienceDirect’s Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
However, neither type of facility uses the EHR only. In other words, both substance use disorder and mental health facilities use a mix of EHR and paper note documentation. No more than 25 percent of either facility type in any state across the country reported exclusive EHR use.
Following the HITECH Act’s meaningful use program, EHR adoption increased in both outpatient (85.9 percent in 2017) and inpatient (96 percent in 2017) settings across the country, according to the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).
However, according to the study authors, EHR adoption has been slower among mental health facilities, with less than half of psychiatric hospitals reporting certified EHR use in 2016.
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/emea/denmark-introduce-digital-coronavirus-passports
Denmark to introduce digital coronavirus passports
In a world first move, Denmark's government has announced plans to introduce digital passports by the end of this month.
By Sara Mageit
February 05, 2021 08:42 AM
On 3 February, Denmark's acting finance minister Morten Bødskov together with Lars Sandahl Sørensen, the CEO of Danish Industry and Brian Mikkelsen, the CEO of the Danish Chamber of Commerce, confirmed that a coronavirus passport will be launched in simple form by the end of February.
The coronavirus digital passport is documentation proving that you have been vaccinated against COVID-19. The news comes as neighbouring country Sweden will demand a negative test result from visiting foreigners as COVID-19 variant cases surge.
The simple solution passport will be launched on Danish digital health portal, sundhed.dk and will initially be available to business travellers.
Claus Duedal Pedersen, director of the sentinel unit, sundhed.dk told Healthcare IT News: "In Denmark, it has been decided to implement a COVID-19 vaccination passport in a very short time frame. The solution will be based on the existing national infrastructure and the national vaccination database. It is the plan to develop a solution in a public-private partnership."
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Promoting Telehealth Use By Elderly Calls For In-Depth Patient Education
February 5, 2021
I am as comfortable with telemedicine as anyone I know. I’ve been using urgent care services like Teladoc for nearly a decade, and in recent years, have been getting the majority of primary and specialist care via video as well.
In fact, by this point, I’ve gotten so accustomed to video visits that they feel more or less exactly like a face-to-face encounter. (I think that in part, this may be because I’m used to immersive video game worlds, but that’s a story for another time.) I’ve found it to be quite convenient to manage my care using such tools. And I believe it’s a wise move to offer telemedicine options even if they don’t have to, as they offer unique benefits.
My mother, meanwhile, stands at the opposite pole. At 79 years old, and having lived her life without using modern technologies other than her cellphone, she isn’t interested in navigating a virtual environment to get to her doctor. This is a woman who, despite being quite intelligent and capable, freezes like a deer in headlights when she’s asked to try out a new gadget or software.
The consequences of alienating her have been high. As far as I know, my mother has had very little contact with doctors during the pandemic despite some painful health conditions common to her age group. She might hurt less and enjoy life more if she had better access to care.
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HIMSS Annual Conference on Track for a Healthy Turnout in Las Vegas
Analysis | By Mandy Roth | February 03, 2021
The organization will offer a hybrid event, combining the in-person experience with digital opportunities. HIMSS commits to keeping stakeholders abreast of unanticipated changes as the pandemic evolves.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
· Hotel bookings, registration, and speaking proposals are on track with past events; exhibitor commitment rates are at about 65%, compared to similar timeframes in prior years.
· The organization is poised to make adjustments as information about COVID-19 and pandemic precautions evolve.
· The development of new digital opportunities to learn and connect drove global HIMSS membership to surpass 100,000 members.
The largest healthcare IT conference in the nation is making a comeback this summer in Las Vegas, and signs are pointing to a healthy turnout, with 10,000 hotel rooms already booked for the HIMSS21 Global Healthcare Conference & Exhibition, which takes place August 9‒13.
More than 40,000 attendees were expected at last year's annual gathering, hosted by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). That event was one of the first major conference casualties of the pandemic.
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UPMC CIO: Remote Working and Telehealth Have Forever Changed IT Dynamics
Analysis | By Scott Mace | February 02, 2021
Technology tools help unite remote workforce, while focus on telehealth and cybersecurity create new demands.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
· The switch to Microsoft 365 prior to the pandemic was "extremely fortunate."
· Going forward, "hoteling" arrangements, which involved shared space, signal the end of traditional cubicles.
· UPMC conducts 6,500 televisits per day totaling 1 million during 2020.
With a large percentage of its employees now working outside of their traditional workspace, and a million patient telehealth encounters during 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic presented new challenges for the Information Services Division at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC).
The $21 billion nonprofit health system headquartered in Pittsburgh, is the largest nongovernment employer in Pennsylvania. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, it reported positive financial results for the first nine months of 2020. It also operates UPMC Insurance Services Division, the largest medical insurer in western Pennsylvania, with 3.9 million members.
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70% Ransomware Attacks Cause Data Exfiltration; Phishing Top Entry Point
Data exfiltration jumped 20 percent during Q4 2020, now occurring in 70 percent of all ransomware attacks. Email phishing is now the leading entry point.
February 03, 2021 - Ransomware threat actors are increasingly leveraging email phishing as the leading entry point in these destructive attacks, as Coveware analysis shows data exfiltration occurs in 70 percent of all ransomware attacks—a 20 percent increase from Q3 to Q4 2020.
Meanwhile, new data from VMware Carbon Black detected 239.4 million attempted cyberattacks on its healthcare clients throughout 2020. On average, healthcare entities saw 816 attacks per endpoint last year, an incredible 9,851 percent increase from 2019.
From September to October alone, VMware saw an 87 percent spike in attacks per each endpoint.
The reports come on the heels of Emsisoft research, which found 560 healthcare providers reported falling victim to ransomware in 2020.
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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/users-override-clinical-decision-support-alerts-at-high-rates
Users Override Clinical Decision Support Alerts at High Rates
Renal medication clinical decision support alerts were overridden 100 percent of the time, resulting in adverse drug events and clinician burden.
February 01, 2021 - Users overrode all renal clinical decision support alert triggers in a recently implemented EHR system due to the high-level of CDS alert frequency. CDS overrides can lead to adverse drug events (ADEs) and clinician burden, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA).
The high volume of overridden CDS alerts proved the need to redesign or optimize medication-related CDS alerts that are associated with renal disease.
ADEs occur roughly 1.5 million times per year, according to the study authors. Some researchers say these injuries account for 5 to 17 percent of hospital admissions. However, the study authors said of those 1.5 million impacted patients, nearly 400,000 adverse drug events are considered preventable.
EHR-based CDS tools could help prevent ADEs. According to the study authors, medication-related CDS tools can reduce up to 81 percent of medication errors. Although most EHRs include CDS alerts, most are vendor-developed and the majority do not address patients with renal insufficiency. Roughly one-third of patients receive incorrect renal function doses.
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https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/945114
Telehealth Helps Cut Mortality Risk Among ICU Patients
Marcia Frellick
February 02, 2021
Patients who received telemedicine in an intensive care unit (ICU) were less likely to die and more likely to have a shorter hospital stay than those who received standard ICU care without a 24-hour intensivist on-site, new data suggest.
Chiedozie I. Udeh, MD, staff intensivist with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, presented results of a retrospective study of 153,987 consecutive ICU patients at the Society for Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) 2021 Critical Care Congress.
Among the statistically significant findings were that 30-day mortality decreased by 18% (odds ratio [OR], 0.82, 95% CI, 0.77 - 0.87) and length of stay in the ICU decreased by 1.6 days in the telehealth model (95% CI, 1.5 - 1.7), compared with the traditional model. The total length of the average hospital stay was reduced by 2.1 days (95% CI, 1.9 - 2.4).
Patients in the study received ICU care at one of nine Cleveland Clinic hospitals between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2019. Overall, 108,482 (70%) received ICU-telemedicine care during hours when an intensivist was not on-site.
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https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/covid-19/cruel-digital-race-vaccines-leaves-many-seniors-behind
'Cruel' Digital Race For Vaccines Leaves Many Seniors Behind
Analysis | By Kaiser Health News | February 04, 2021
The efforts to vaccinate people 65 and older have strained under the enormous demand that has overwhelmed cumbersome, inconsistent scheduling systems.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
· The struggle represents a shift from the first wave of vaccinations — healthcare workers in healthcare settings — which went comparatively smoothly.
· Now, in most places, elderly people are pitted against one another, competing on an unstable technological playing field for limited shots.
· The challenges facing seniors also speak to the country's fragmented approach, which has left many confused.
This article was published on Thursday, February 4, 2021 in Kaiser Health News.
By Will Stone
With millions of older Americans eligible for covid-19 vaccines and limited supplies, many continue to describe a frantic and frustrating search to secure a shot, beset by uncertainty and difficulty.
The efforts to vaccinate people 65 and older have strained under the enormous demand that has overwhelmed cumbersome, inconsistent scheduling systems.
The struggle represents a shift from the first wave of vaccinations — healthcare workers in healthcare settings — which went comparatively smoothly. Now, in most places, elderly people are pitted against one another, competing on an unstable technological playing field for limited shots.
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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/how-a-health-information-exchange-can-boost-covid-19-vaccination
How a Health Information Exchange Can Boost COVID-19 Vaccination
Two healthcare professionals from Brookings Institution explained how public health officials can leverage health information exchange platforms to monitor COVID-19 vaccination statuses and outbreaks.
February 02, 2021 - Health information exchanges (HIEs) are needed to help states identify and prioritize individuals who receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Without leveraging HIEs, the coronavirus recovery timeline could extend.
Niam Yaraghi and Peter L. Levin, a nonresident fellow and an adjunct senior fellow, respectively, at the Brookings Institution, penned an op-ed that said HIEs can boost COVID-19 vaccination efforts.
“While the U.S. employed every possible resource to develop the vaccines, we are neglecting to use the best available information technologies to efficiently distribute them,” wrote Yaraghi and Levin. “We could do a much better job fighting this pandemical war with weapons we already have.”
Although two vaccines were developed within the first year, vaccinations are not occurring at a rapid rate.
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https://patientengagementhit.com/news/income-care-access-top-cited-social-determinants-of-health
Income, Care Access Top-Cited Social Determinants of Health
Although few respondents know about social determinants of health, they could identify individual factors as pertinent to their wellness.
By Sara Heath
February 02, 2021 - Economic stability and access to quality healthcare reign as the most impactful social determinants of health for the public, according to a survey from The Root Cause Coalition. This could provide key insights for healthcare policymakers looking to improve health equity.
The Root Cause Coalition, an organization co-founded by AARP Foundation and ProMedica dedicated to finding solutions to social determinants of health challenges, conducted the survey to better determine how the general public understands the social determinants of health.
Working under the assumption that key social determinants of health can be boiled down to economic stability, access to quality healthcare, education access and attainment, neighborhood and environment, and community context and social isolation, the researchers pinned down the most pressing matters for the public.
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Data privacy startup SkyFlow jumps into digital health passport market to help public spaces reopen
Feb 3, 2021 12:06pm
Data privacy startup SkyFlow is entering the health care space to provide a way for people to go back to public spaces amid the COVID-19 pandemic with a digital passport.
The company launched Skyflow for Healthcare, which consists of digital passports for COVID-19 and vaccination. Airlines, theme parks and government agencies can use the digital diagnostics and vaccination solution to verify if a person is safe from COVID-19 and ready to enter a public space. The technology could also be helpful for employees in gathering data on which employees have the disease while also respecting privacy, according to SkyFlow cofounder and CEO Anshu Sharma.
The two-year-old startup says it designed a “privacy-first” digital passport. The solution resides in a data privacy cloud for device manufacturers and testing providers. Because SkyFlow is in the cloud, there is only one copy of the data, according to Sharma.
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https://healthitanalytics.com/news/google-launches-data-analytics-solution-to-expand-vaccine-access
Google Launches Data Analytics Solution to Expand Vaccine Access
Google Cloud’s Intelligent Vaccine Impact solution leverages data analytics tools to increase vaccine availability and access.
By Jessica Kent
February 02, 2021 - Google Cloud has announced the Intelligent Vaccine Impact solution, a set of data analytics technologies to help regional and local governments ensure vaccine availability and deliver successful COVID-19 public health strategies.
“Google has supported communities and public health organizations throughout the pandemic through research grants, telehealth support, and more. And as the global challenge to immunize millions of people continues to rise, we’re proud to extend our commitment by today announcing Google Cloud’s Intelligent Vaccine Impact solution,” Mike Daniels, vice president of the global public sector at Google Cloud, wrote in a recent blog post.
“The Intelligent Vaccine Impact solution helps increase vaccine availability and equitable access to those who need it, and assists governments in building awareness, confidence, and acceptance of vaccines. We designed our solution to easily integrate with existing technologies, knowing that governments will administer their vaccine distributions in unique ways.”
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Coronavirus misinformation tool launched to flag misleading health claims
NewsGuard is launching a new tool aimed at targeting Covid-19 misinformation (PA)
An online misinformation detection tool developer has created a new version of its software which will flag misleading health claims linked to Covid-19.
NewsGuard, which launched its original misinformation filter in the UK in 2019, has now created a new browser extension called HealthGuard.
Free to download and use with all major browsers – Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge – the tool displays colour-coded ratings next to links on search engines, social media and other platforms to indicate whether the site is a trustworthy source of health information.
NewsGuard’s ratings use nine criteria to measure whether a source can be trusted and if not, warns users to proceed with caution when they encounter information from that source.
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/post-implementation-ehr-usability-still-significant-challenge
Post-implementation EHR usability still a 'significant challenge'
Although some improvements have been shown, researchers from MedStar Health and Yale say the "usability reality gap" remains wide.
By Kat Jercich
February 03, 2021 10:41 AM
A paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association this past week found that, while electronic health record vendors have demonstrated promising levels of advancement, EHR usability continues to be a major hurdle after implementation.
The paper – authored by MedStar Health's Dr. Aaron Z. Hettinger and Raj M. Ratwani, along with Yale School of Medicine's Dr. Edward R. Melnick – examined the usability practices of four unnamed EHR vendors.
"Implementation processes such as healthcare-facility configuration and customization choices, training and policy all impact usability of EHR technology," noted Hettinger, Melnick and Ratwani.
"The difference between EHR products pre- and post-implementation, called the EHR usability reality gap, continues to be a significant challenge," they continued.
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Technology Partners Come Together To Make COVID-19 Vaccination Records Shareable
February 3, 2021
A group of large healthcare technology vendors has come together to make information on COVID-19 vaccinations more readily available.
The Vaccination Credential Initiative, which is developing a standard model for organizations administering the COVID-19 vaccine, includes the CARIN Alliance, Cerner, Change Healthcare, The Commons Project Foundation, Epic, Evernorth, Mayo Clinic, Microsoft, MITRE, Oracle, Safe Health, and Salesforce.
The standards being developed by the group will make credentials available in an accessible, interoperable digital format. Members intend to accomplish this using the SMART Health Cards specification, which is based on W3C Verifiable Credential and HL7 FHIR standards.
The group’s ultimate vision is to make it easier for individuals to obtain an encrypted digital copy of their immunization credentials. Those credentials can be stored in a digital wallet of their choosing. Patients without smartphones will be able to get paper printed with QR codes containing W3C verifiable credentials.
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Tumultuous 2020 Spurs Creation of Private Teletherapist Network
Analysis | By Christopher Cheney | February 03, 2021
The Teletherapist Network is member-driven and emphasizes quality over quantity.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
· Mental health conditions have been among the top diagnoses treated through telemedicine since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.
· The goal of the Teletherapist Network is to create a vibrant, socially engaged, and knowledgeable community of therapists.
· Interactions on the Teletherapist Network include daily discussions in a post forum, social hours, live events, and crowdsourcing.
A private online network for therapists is designed to provide professional and social support as the field transitions to teletherapy during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond.
Mental health conditions have been among the top diagnoses treated through telemedicine since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. In August 2020, mental health conditions accounted for 48.93% of all telehealth diagnoses, according to claims data tracked by FAIR Health
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Key Considerations for COVID-19 Vaccine Public Health Messaging
New polling revealed that COVID-19 vaccine public health messaging should focus on shot safety and efficacy.
By Sara Heath
January 28, 2021 - COVID-19 vaccine public health messaging should focus more on the shot’s effectiveness at preventing the illness and promise to bring back normal life and less so on the rare allergic reactions it might elicit, according to a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
In this most recent Vaccine Monitor poll, KFF found that an increasing number of people are expressing vaccine enthusiasm as they see their friends and family members receive the vaccine.
In total, 47 percent of respondents said they would get the COVID-19 vaccine once it becomes available to them, a noteworthy jump from the 34 percent of respondents who said the same back in a December iteration of the poll.
Another 31 percent of respondents said they may want to get the vaccine, but only after they have seen other individuals receive the vaccine. These people might want further assurance that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective.
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https://venturebeat.com/2021/02/01/telemedicine-and-chatbots-are-using-data-to-transform-healthcare/
Telemedicine and chatbots are using data to transform health care
Chris O'Brien @obrien February 1, 2021 7:20 AM
Among the many transformations accelerated by COVID-19, health care ranks at the top of the list. An industry that had been changing at a plodding pace before 2020 has been forced to rapidly embrace advances like telemedicine and health chatbots on a far greater scale to navigate the crisis.
As health care providers adopt these tools, they are receiving a wealth of new patient data that is creating new challenges and opportunities. On the front lines between patients and doctors, the companies driving these products are betting that they are part of a broader revolution that will place data at the heart of everyday treatment.
“We call it digital primary care,” said Nick Desai, CEO of telemedicine platform Heal. “There is still an irreplaceable value to the human-doctor patient interaction. What we want to do is give doctors data-driven decision support.”
Data-driven medicine
Health care was already facing pressure to reinvent itself before the pandemic. A number of trends — such as population growth, longer lifespans, more complicated health issues, and doctor shortages — were among the factors contributing to higher health care costs and strains on the system.
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Proposed Public Health Emergency Bill Targets COVID-19 Tech Privacy
A public health emergency bill proposed by a group of Democratic Congressional members takes aim at the privacy and security of much-needed COVID-19-tech.
February 02, 2021 - A group of Democratic Senators and Congressional membersproposed legislation meant to tackle the privacy and security issues tied to technologies used for the COVID-19 response, including contact tracing apps, digital monitoring tools, and vaccine appointment scheduling apps.
The Public Health Emergency Privacy Act was introduced late Thursday, January 28, by Sens. Mark Warner, D-Virginia and Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, aside Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-California, Jan Schakowsky, D-Illinois, and Suzan DelBene, D-Washington.
The bill is designed to tackle a key issue posed by many of these third-party apps: the majority do not fall under HIPAA. The Office for Civil Rights also recently applied enforcement discretion for web scheduling apps not covered by HIPAA, to expedite adoption and support the vaccine rollout.
The concern is that the number of cyberattacks on healthcare web apps has increased by 51 percent since the start of vaccine distribution. And the majority of COVID-19 sites are plagued with third-party tracking, which poses massive privacy risks.
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https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biodata-dna-china-collection-60-minutes-2021-01-31/
China's push to control Americans' health care future
U.S. officials say the Chinese government is trying to collect Americans' DNA, and they believe a recent offer from a Chinese company for assistance in COVID-19 testing was suspicious. Jon Wertheim reports.
For all the polarization that grips Washington, here's a source of rare consensus: the emerging threat of China's push to acquire our health care data, including the DNA of American citizens. U.S. officials tell us the communist regime's aggressive collection of our most personal information presents a danger both to national security and our economy. As alarm bells ring across agencies, parties, and presidential administrations, different branches of government have taken action over the past year to stem the tide of our medical data flowing to China. The quest to control our biodata – and, in turn, control health care's future – has become the new space race, with more than national pride in the balance. Our investigation begins with an unsolicited and surprising proposal that came from overseas at the onset of the COVID crisis.
Early last March, the state of Washington was the site of the first major coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. As COVID rates and the need for tests were spiking, BGI Group, the world's largest biotech firm - a global giant based in China - approached the state of Washington with an enticing offer.
In a strikingly personal letter to the governor, BGI proposed to build and help run state-of-the-art COVID testing labs. BGI would quote "provide technical expertise," provide "high throughput sequencers" and even "make additional donations."
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/university-missouri-health-system-saves-lives-cerner-sepsis-it
University of Missouri Health System saves lives with Cerner sepsis IT
Moving from manual assessment to automation has reduced code blues, saved lives and increased provider satisfaction.
By Bill Siwicki
February 02, 2021 12:17 PM
One of every three patients who dies in the hospital has sepsis. The life-threatening response to infection is difficult to detect in its earliest stages, and every hour the condition goes untreated increases a patient's mortality risk by 4%.
Currently, the University of Missouri Health System – with five hospitals with 602 beds in total – is using three Cerner technologies in an effort to better identify and treat sepsis: St. John Sepsis Agent/Sepsis Advisor, Pediatric Sepsis Algorithms and the Rapid Response tool.
"The Sepsis Algorithms and Advisor do a fantastic job at identifying and assisting with the treatment of patients who already are septic," explained Benjamin Wax, RN, senior clinical informaticist on the Cerner Applications Team at the Tiger Institute for Health Innovation at the University of Missouri.
"Cerner's Rapid Response Solution, however, helps to identify subtle signs of patient deterioration, which can be indicative of not only cardiac and respiratory distress, but also of the initial onset of sepsis," he said.
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/best-klas-epic-top-overall-software-suite-once-again
Best in KLAS: Epic is top overall software suite, once again
Other winners include Galen Healthcare Solutions as the top overall IT services firm, Chartis Group as top overall healthcare management consulting firm and IBM Watson Health's Merge PACS as most improved software product.
By Mike Miliard
February 02, 2021 01:51 PM
For the eleventh straight year Epic has earned the top spot in the annual Best in KLAS Awards, named Overall Software Suite in the research firm's Best in KLAS 2021 Software & Services report.
KLAS has been busy in the past few weeks, with a pair of studies on interoperability among its recent reports.
Best in KLAS – which assesses some 1,200 products and services from more than 450 vendors – is based on more than 22,000 evaluations the firm conducted in 2020. Researchers have spoken to clinicians and staff at more than 4,500 hospitals and 2,500 clinics.
"Each year, thousands of healthcare professionals across the globe take the time to share their voice with KLAS," said Adam Gale, president of KLAS Research in a statement. "They know that sharing their perspective helps vendors improve and helps their peers make better decisions.
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Tennessee Health System Looks to Use Telehealth, RPM Beyond Covid-19 Care
West Tennessee Healthcare has seen success using a remote patient monitoring platform to treat COVID-19 patients at home. Now it's planning to modify the platform for chronic care management.
February 01, 2021 - A telehealth platform launched last July at West Tennessee Healthcare to monitor COVID-19 patients has proven so good at boosting outcomes and reducing hospitalizations that officials are now planning to expand the program.
“There’s a lot more that we can do with this,” says Claude Pirtle, chief medical information officer for Jackson-based six-hospital health system. “We just have to get used to it.”
Like so many health systems in 2020, telehealth and especially remote patient monitoring were new concepts for WTH. Pirtle says the health system was planning on working inpatient and outpatient virtual care into the system gradually through 2020 and 2021, and taking the time to get both staff and patients up to speed on the new technology and services.
COVID-19 changed everything, forcing hospital administrators to “hit the ground running” on programs to monitor patients both inside and outside the hospital. For less-acute COVID-19 patients, the health system chose an RPM platform from Masimo that allowed them to track vital signs at home through an mHealth device.
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Population Health Management Strategies to Reduce Health Disparities
Health disparities are rampant throughout the healthcare industry. How can population health management strategies reduce their impact?
January 29, 2021 - For the most part, healthcare buzzwords are associated with positive, forward-thinking change.
Terms like precision medicine, artificial intelligence, and chronic disease management imply productivity, effective transformation, and novel approaches to care delivery – all in the name of better health outcomes.
But for all the optimistic phrases floating around healthcare, there is one cloudy expression looming over the horizon: health disparities.
The reality that minority populations or lower-income individuals tend to experience a higher burden of disease, disability, and mortality is something that the pandemic has demonstrated in the harshest of lights.
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Summus Global data show huge growth in virtual specialty care amid COVID-19
Jan 29, 2021 3:30pm
Telehealth has seen a huge boost during the COVID-19 pandemic as people practice social distancing and avoid going to their doctor’s office in person when possible.
But people aren’t just participating in remote visits for fevers and sore throats. They are also seeking out the advice and guidance of specialty providers through virtual sessions.
Virtual specialist care company Summus Global has released new data showing that the utilization rate of its platform jumped by 3.1 times between January 2020 and January 2021. In addition, the company says its membership has grown by 1,095% during that period.
A virtual care visit lets patients connect in a videoconference with a doctor who asks about their medical history and specific issues. The physicians can help with minor injuries such as an ankle sprain or more serious conditions such as cancer. If they have an ankle injury, patients get directed to get an X-ray in person. A remote orthopedist can then evaluate the X-ray and set up a remote visit.
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CDC publishes vaccination posters, templates for employers with essential workers
Author Ryan Golden @RyanTGolden
Published Jan. 29, 2021
Dive Brief:
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a COVID-19 vaccination toolkit aimed at employers of essential workers designed to raise awareness about vaccination benefits and educate employees.
- The toolkit includes a series of letter templates employers can use to address both internal business units and workers. The letter to essential workers describes the side effects associated with available vaccines and advises employees to continue to take precautions such as mask-wearing and social distancing. "It's important that essential workers like you are vaccinated because of your role in maintaining critical infrastructure operations," the template says.
- Employers also have access to a slide deck for informational meetings; fact sheets about COVID-19 vaccines; stickers to be given to vaccinated employees; a series of vaccination posters and flyers; and sample language and multimedia for social media messaging.
Dive Insight:
In late December, CDC gave the green light to state governments to place essential workers, as well as people age 75 and older, next in line to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. While some states have moved forward in their vaccination rollout plans to include certain categories of workers beyond those in healthcare professions, others remain in the initial phase of distribution. Florida, for example, continues to prioritize persons 65 years of age and certain healthcare personnel, citing a lack of supplies.
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Global Study Using RPM, mHealth to Treat COVID-19 Patients at Home
Project Coromec, with roots in Arizona, aims to use mHealth wearables and apps, AI bots and a telehealth platform to identify and treat COVID-19 patients at home, before they become sick enough to need hospitalization.
January 29, 2021 - Researchers in Arizona are launching a global study that aims to use mHealth wearables and apps, AI bots and a telehealth platform to monitor and treat COVID-19 patients at home, thereby reducing stress on hospitals.
Project Coromec was developed by Aventyn, a California-based digital health company under the Intel umbrella. The real-time COVID-19 epidemiology registry will use the company’s Vitalbeat remote patient monitoring platform to track patients at home.
“We see a grave need for the immediate development of digital tools for reporting of self-illness, testing, and actions taken by individuals through a mobile phone application that is freely downloadable and allows for geographic monitoring with subject consent at enrollment,” Kris Vijay, MD FACC, Project Coromec’s study chair and medical director at the Institute of Congestive Heart Failure at Abrazo Arizona Heart Hospital and Heart Institute in Phoenix, said in a press release. “Secondly, we call for immediate and mandatory daily hospital census reporting of hospitalized and critical ill COVID-19 patients. We need organized solutions concerning redeployment of physical and human resources where they are needed most to track infection spread, and risk assessment to better utilize critical hospital resources.”
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/ehr-snooping-montefiore-leads-security-breach
EHR snooping at Montefiore leads to security breach
The New York health system said an employee, who has been fired, inappropriately accessed electronic health records and viewed clinical information, including test results and diagnoses.
By Mike Miliard
February 01, 2021 02:59 PM
Montefiore Medical Center is notifying patients of a recent security breach that involved illegal access to HIPAA protected health information by a former employee.
WHY IT
MATTERS
The incident occurred between June 2020 and November 2020, according to
Montefiore, which "immediately deactivated the employee’s access to the
electronic medical record system," officials said in a notice to patients.
"After a thorough investigation, the employee was fired and the case was
referred to law enforcement for possible criminal prosecution."
Montefiore officials say the employee accessed a variety of patient information, potentially including names, addresses, dates of birth, medical record numbers and the last four digits of patients' Social Security numbers.
Certain clinical information – test results, diagnoses and visit histories – might also have also been inappropriately accessed, according to the Bronx-based health system.
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Health system flags vulnerability in Epic COVID-19 vaccine scheduler
The pathway discovered at Michigan-based Beaumont Health allowed users to "cut in line" to schedule unauthorized appointments and circumvent current state mandates.
By Kat Jercich
February 01, 2021 11:29 AM
Michigan-based Beaumont Health detected "unusual activity" on Saturday related to the online COVID-19 vaccine scheduling available through its Epic electronic health record system.
According to a press release shared on the system's website, a user took advantage of a vulnerability in Epic's scheduling tool, allowing for 2,700 people to "cut in line" and register for an unauthorized vaccine appointment. Those appointments have now been canceled.
"These appointments violate the ethical distribution framework Beaumont created based upon the State of Michigan’s mandatory vaccine guidelines," said Beaumont Health Chief Information Officer Hans Keil in a statement. "We regret that 2,700 people in our community became victims of this unfortunate incident."
WHY IT MATTERS
According to a statement from Epic, the issue occurred when a scheduling pathway "intended only for direct recipients" was shared by unauthorized members of the public.
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UVA Health Deploys AI Tool To Predict COVID-19 Complications
February 1, 2021
The University of Virginia Health System has rolled out an AI-based predictive analytics tool that monitors COVID-19 patients continuously and predicts whether they are likely to take a turn for the worse.
The system, CoMET, draws moment-to-moment data from a patient’s EHR, including EKG, lab results, and vital signs, to create a graphic summarizing their risk of experiencing a serious event over the next 12 hours. The model updates Itself every 15 minutes. UVA Health uses CoMET to monitor its Medical Intensive Care Unit, Special Pathogens Unit, Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit, Critical Care Unit, Surgical Intensive Care Unit, and Intermediary Care Unit.
CoMET generates a graphic display (known as a “comet”) allowing clinicians to see how individual patients are doing without reading reports or digging through the EHR. While the comet produced by stable patients is small, yellow and sits close to the X-Y axis on the display, the comets grow, turn bright orange or deep red and expand across the display. These changes can indicate cardiovascular instability, respiratory instability or both.
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Top 10 Medical Technology Hazards of 2021 Show Impact of Pandemic
Analysis | By Scott Mace | February 01, 2021
Effect of emergency authorizations, hasty insertion of UV cleaning devices, and remote operation of devices prompt the ECRI Institute to suggest remedies.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
· Emergency-use authorization medical devices top the hazard list. They may not be as safe or effective as devices cleared by the FDA under normal circumstances.
· The auto-completion function in medication ordering, storage, and delivery systems may lead to the selection of incorrect drugs, inviting fatal medication errors.
· Third-party components in medical devices are a grave cybersecurity concern.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact every aspect of healthcare, and a popular annual list of health technology hazards reflects this as well.
Complexity of managing medical devices with COVID-19 emergency use authorization (EUA) are the leading medical technology hazard for 2021, according to the ECRI Institute.
Other top concerns of ECRI's latest such report include reliance on consumer-grade products for important healthcare decisions and hasty deployment of UV disinfection devices, which can reduce effectiveness and increase exposure risks.
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Study of Telehealth Use and In-Person Visits During Pandemic Provides Insight on Deferred Care
Analysis | By Christopher Cheney | February 01, 2021
Health systems can use data from the new study to target medical conditions and specialties that had the highest rates of deferred care.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
· Telemedicine use increased 23-fold in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, a new study found.
· Despite the increase in telemedicine visits, overall outpatient visit volume fell 35.0%, the study says.
· Specialties that require hands-on care and in-person testing such as ophthalmology experienced the lowest telemedicine use, the study says.
Telemedicine utilization by condition and medical specialty during the early phase of the coronavirus pandemic sheds light on deferred care, a new research article shows.
At the beginning of the pandemic, use of telemedicine surged as many clinicians turned to the technology to continue to see patients in a safe manner. Despite the uptick in telemedicine use, overall medical visits dropped substantially, which raises concern about deferred care, the new research article says.
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https://histalk2.com/2021/01/29/weekender-1-29-21/
Weekly News Recap
- Athenahealth pays $18.25 million to settle federal False Claims Act allegations related to paying kickbacks to increase sales from 2014-2020.
- GetWellNetwork acquires Docent Health.
- Sharecare acquires Doc.ai.
- ECRI lists its top 10 health technology challenges for 2021.
- Symplr acquires Phynd.
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Enjoy!
David.
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