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.
-----
https://ehrintelligence.com/news/how-a-learning-health-system-fueled-covid-19-clinical-guidelines
How a Learning Health System Fueled COVID-19 Clinical Guidelines
A learning health system model of clinical decision support helped developers put out agile COVID-19 clinical guidelines within weeks.
October 22, 2021 - Healthcare stakeholders leveraged a learning health system model of clinical decision support to develop and implement agile COVID-19 clinical guidelines, according to a Health Affairs blog post.
A learning health system is a closed loop clinical decision support model that combines current evidence, clinical experience, and data analytics to accelerate the creation of clinical guidelines, according to blog authors Blackford Middleton, Matthew Burton, Christopher J. Tignanelli, John D. Halamka, Sandy Schneider, Michael Barr, and Pawan Goyalwrote.
While stakeholders have discussed the health IT concept for years, the infrastructure to support a learning health system is relatively new, the group noted. COVID-19 presented a unique opportunity to test the concept of a learning health system.
The C19 Healthcare Consortium, led by Mayo and MITRE, convened a workgroup to develop a clinical guideline for COVID-19 severity classification. Members of the workgroup came from a variety of healthcare organizations, including the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and the COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition.
-----
Digital Therapeutics Stakes its Claim to the Fast Growing mHealth Marketplace
The Consumer Technology Association has unveiled standards for digital therapeutics, an emerging segment of the mHealth market that focuses on software products that either act as a medical intervention or guide the delivery of a medical intervention.
October 22, 2021 - The Consumer Technology Association has created standards for the use of digital therapeutics in an effort to define and establish value for the mHealth platform.
“The biggest challenge in the digital therapeutics industry is the wide variety of terms used to define it, from digital devices to digital medicine,” Kerri Haresign, the CTA’s director of technology and standards, said in a press release issued this week. “A clear standard will eliminate industry confusion, making these technologies more widely available for use and adoption. Greater access will lead to better health outcomes for patients. Establishing a common vocabulary allows our industry to focus on the more complex problems, such as evidence-based performance criteria that allow doctors and clinicians to integrate digital therapeutics in their practices.”
The organization, which oversees the massive Consumer Electronics Show (CES) each January in Las Vegas, defines digital therapeutics as “an evidence-based, standalone or combination software product intended for management, maintenance, prevention or treatment of a disease, disorder or condition acting directly as a medical intervention or guiding the delivery of a medical intervention.” The definition groups together everything from mHealth apps integrated with virtual reality to virtual exercise programs for chronic care management.
The standards are the by-product of an initiative launched in August 2020 by the CTA and roughly two dozen mHealth and telehealth companies intent on carving out a niche in the digital health lexicon. At the time, Haresign said the COVID-19 pandemic was pushing innovation to new heights, and supporters needed to develop a common language and understanding of how the technology is used.
-----
Key initiatives taking place across the digital health landscape
The digital health landscape in the UK is complex and evolving, with many organisations involved it its regulation and functioning. Andrew Davies, digital health lead at the Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI) gives an overview of some of the key organisations and initiatives.
DHI Newsteam 19 October 2021
It is perhaps a fitting time to take a stock take of where we are on the journey to deliver digital heath solutions in the NHS. It was a decade ago, in 2011, that the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) was abandoned, arguably the low point in the NHS journey to digitisation. However, since then we have been on an upward trajectory, with some substantive policy work such as the Five Year Forward View setting out the (unrealised) ambition for paperless 2020, the Wachter review in 2016 crucially setting the tone for the further work, and the Future of Healthcare from the Department for Health and Social Care in 2018 getting more into the practical aspects, whilst the 2019 Long Term Plan built further on Wachter.
This has led to some important programmes such as the Global Digital Exemplars (GDEs), which have created just that, some world leading digital centres. However, as is often the case in the NHS, the consistent adoption of best practice, as highlighted in the GDEs, is still lagging, leading to a switch in emphasis from investing in the best, to supporting the next wave to improve their digital maturity through the Digital Aspirants programme.
A 2019 study by Bertelsmann Stiftung placed England sixth, compared to 16 other comparator countries. Those countries performing better than England, such as Israel, Estonia and those in the Nordics, tended to have a much smaller population, arguably making national programmes and adoption easier. The UK is still well placed when compared to most similarly sized countries, but I would say that some are closing, and fast.
-----
Microsoft makes virtual healthcare visits easier to manage in Teams
The company announced a slew of updates to its collaboration app aimed at front-line workers, including enhancements to the virtual visit experience.
Senior Reporter, Computerworld | 22 October 2021 0:00 AEDT
Microsoft has added several features to Teams aimed at expanding use of the collaboration application among front-line workers. This includes a Viva Connections mobile app, updates to approvals, and improvements to virtual medical visit management.
While much of the focus around Teams during the pandemic has centered on knowledge workers and the ongoing boom in video meetings, use of the app by front-line workers has increased significantly too, up 150% over the past year, Microsoft said.
Microsoft is one of a number of productivity and collaboration software providers targeting workers in front-line roles, such as those in the retail, manufacturing, and healthcare sectors. These “deskless” jobs have tended to be subject to less investment in digital tools from businesses, though spending has grown in recent years. Facebook’s Workplace and Google’s Workspace both have dedicated pricing and features for front-line workers, for example, as does Microsoft 365.
From the end user perspective, demand for collaboration tools among front-line workers will continue to rise, according to a recent survey from 451 Research titled “Voice of the Enterprise Workforce Productivity & Collaboration: Work Execution Goals & Challenges Q2 2021.”
-----
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/text-messages-move-needle-covid-19-vaccinations
Text messages move the needle on COVID-19 vaccinations
The SVP of consumerism at AVIA Health explains how texting has proven its value in increasing vaccination rates – and why health system IT leaders should consider new approaches to digital patient engagement campaigns.
By Bill Siwicki
October 22, 2021 11:28 AM
As communities across the nation seek new ways to bring COVID-19 vaccination rates up to levels that can more effectively mitigate the spread of variants, they are looking for new and better ways to reach those who are just hesitant, undecided or unaware of how to get vaccinated.
A study of one regional health system's digital campaign found that sending interactive text messages increased vaccinations rates by more than 4%, in this case by using "psychological ownership" techniques designed to make the message receiver think of the vaccine shot as "theirs."
In an interview with Healthcare IT News, Sonia Singh, senior vice president of consumerism at AVIA Health, a digital health company, sheds light into this concept and explains the value of digital campaigns. She draws on the company's work helping promote the study's interactive text messaging program and other similar digital campaigns.
-----
How Tech Solutions Can Help Restore Trust In Phone Calls
October 22, 2021
The following is a guest article by James Garvert, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Communications Solutions at Neustar.
Faced with a ballooning epidemic of illegal robocalls and phone scams — in 2020, U.S. consumers received nearly 46 billion robocalls and lost $3.3 billion to phone fraud — legislators and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have taken a variety of steps to combat call spoofing and scams, including mandating that communications service providers implement STIR/SHAKEN call authentication technology.
But the damage, to more than just the direct scam victims, has already been done: 88% of calls now go unanswered, in no small part because consumers are too wary to pick up the phone if they aren’t sure who’s calling. For healthcare organizations, which often call patients about appointment scheduling, test results, medication instructions, and other critical and time-sensitive matters, this is a troubling development.
And healthcare isn’t alone in placing a high value the phone channel: 78% of respondents to a recent Neustar-commissioned Omdia survey of large U.S. enterprises say that even in this digital age, phone calls remain their most important channel for communicating with customers, followed by a four-way tie (33% each) among mobile apps, email, website and online chat. Health is, of course, an extremely personal and high-priority matter, and it’s no surprise that most patients prefer the phone for urgent notifications or to discuss complex issues.
-----
https://ehrintelligence.com/news/how-fls-centralized-ehr-data-repository-supports-clinical-research
How FL’s Centralized EHR Data Repository Supports Clinical Research
Ten healthcare systems across Florida contribute EHR data to a centralized data repository that supports clinical research.
October 21, 2021 - A centralized, statewide patient data repository has boosted the use of EHR data for clinical research in Florida, according to a new article published in JAMIA.
The OneFlorida Clinical Research Consortium is one of nine clinical research networks (CRNs) in the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute’s (PCORI) National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network (PCORnet) 2.0.
The OneFlorida Data Trust, created and managed by the OneFlorida Clinical Research Consortium, houses data on 17.2 million unique individuals dating from January 2012 through March 2021.
Ten healthcare systems across the state contribute EHR data to the repository. In total, OneFlorida estimates that its partners serve between 40 and 50 percent of the state’s population.
The data trust is different than other clinical research networks as it leverages a centralized data exchange approach; partners contribute data to a single, secure data warehouse managed by the OneFlorida Coordinating Center (OFCC) at the University of Florida.
-----
Better Online Provider Reviews Linked to Higher Clinical Outcomes
The better online provider reviews for facilities in a certain area, the higher the county mortality rate, researchers found.
By Sara Heath
October 21, 2021 - Regions with hospitals getting higher online provider reviews tend to have lower mortality rates, demonstrating not only unequal quality of care, but also confirming that online provider reviews could be a good insight into that quality, according to data published in JAMA Network Open.
The analysis, conducted by researchers from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, showed that for every one-star drop in online provider review score, the typical hospital saw 18 more deaths per 100,000 people.
This comes as the healthcare industry works to better understand how both patient satisfaction and online provider reviews are tied to clinical quality outcomes. There has been some evidence showing that higher patient satisfaction scores are linked to better clinical outcomes, but this latest study shows that online provider reviews, specifically, can provide a lens through which healthcare policymakers can understand mortality.
“Patient experience and satisfaction with health care are increasingly recognized as important measures of health care quality, but data on these factors are less widely collected,” the researchers wrote. “Favorable evaluations of health care are associated with both patient-level outcomes, such as improved medication adherence, and facility-level outcomes, such as lower mortality.”
------
https://healthitsecurity.com/news/spoofing-phishing-ransomware-continue-to-overwhelm-health-systems
Spoofing, Phishing, Ransomware Continue to Overwhelm Health Systems
One hospital is being inundated with reports of spoofed phone calls, as others deal with unauthorized email access, phishing, and ransomware.
By Jill McKeon
October 21, 2021 - Hospitals and health systems continue to face an overwhelming amount of cyberattacks, spoofing and phishing incidents, and breaches resulting from unauthorized email access.
Threat actors such as FIN12 and REvil/Sodinokibi are ramping up their attacks on the healthcare sector, adding an additional burden on providers in the middle of the pandemic.
To prevent, prepare, and effectively respond to security incidents, healthcare organizations should focus on improving cyber resiliency, investing in technical safeguards, and assessing third-party risks.
Henry Ford Health System Spoofing Incident Overwhelms Operators
Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System alerted patients to an ongoing phone spoofing scam that involves bad actors committing fraudulent phone calls with Henry Ford Macomb Hospital as the caller ID. Henry Ford operators have been fielding upwards of 200 calls per day from people who believe they have received calls from the hospital’s main phone number.
-----
Access to patient information is on the rise, aiding engagement
Portals and API interfaces with third-party apps put more power in patients’ hands to view their health data and act upon it.
Oct 20 214 min read
Fred Bazzoli
One way to better engage patients is to make sure they have access to their medical information. Recent federal initiatives are aiming to do just that – recent federal policy levers include the ONC Cures Act Final Rule, promulgated under Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, and the Implement Interoperability and Patient Access Provisions of the Bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act, under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. For the past several years, ONC’s Health IT Certification Program requires that providers’ electronic health records systems have features, such as portal functionality, that enables patients to electronically view, download and transmit their health information.
This past summer, ONC provided estimates about the percentage of U.S. hospitals that enable patients to have electronic access to their health information. ONC’s data show that portals are in wide use, and that a majority of hospitals enable access to health information through mobile or other software applications. However, small, rural, independent and critical access hospitals are lagging behind larger provider organizations in enabling such data access for patients. ONC based its research findings on data from recent Annual Survey Information Technology Supplements from the American Hospital Association.
More hospitals make health info available via app
ONC’s study found that seven out of every 10 hospitals in 2019 have the technology in place to enable inpatients to access their health information through an app. The agency reported that the proportion of hospitals that enabled inpatients to use apps to get their health data rose by more than 50 percent from 2018 to 2019. And there was a 30 percent increase in the proportion of hospitals that enabled patients to view clinical notes.
-----
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/hl7-snomed-renew-five-year-collaboration-agreement
HL7, SNOMED renew five-year collaboration agreement
The announcement follows HL7's launch of a new FHIR accelerator for public health, supported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.
By Kat Jercich
October 21, 2021 02:10 PM
HL7 International and SNOMED International announced this week that they had renewed their collaborative relationship for five years, extending their commitments to develop projects advancing global health data interoperability.
The organizations say they will focus on initiatives satisfying the use of the SNOMED CT terminology product with FHIR and other HL7 tools – especially when it comes to maintaining the HL7 International Patient Summary Free Set in line with new requirements and changes to SNOMED CT.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly heightened the demand for more seamless health data exchange. Our collaboration with SNOMED International is critical to fostering data interoperability," said HL7 CEO Dr. Charles Jaffe in a statement.
WHY IT MATTERS
The organizations, which have been working together for the past seven years, said they continued to see the need for cooperation among global health standards.
"Our long-standing collaboration with SNOMED and the resulting incorporation of SNOMED CT vocabulary within HL7 standards, including FHIR, will advance us to a world in which everyone can access the right data where and when they need it," Jaffe said.
-----
https://ehrintelligence.com/news/are-templates-good-for-ehr-clinical-notes-clinician-burden
Are Templates Good for EHR Clinical Notes, Clinician Burden?
Healthcare organizations should invoke standards for EHR clinical note templates to mitigate clinician burden and boost note quality, a study suggests.
October 20, 2021 - While clinical note templates aim to streamline EHR documentation processes, their individualized nature could contribute to poor note quality and clinician burden, according to a study published in JAMIA.
Clinical note templates aim to mitigate EHR-related clinician burnout by reducing documentation time, supporting chart review, and providing clinical decision support. But this most recent study found clinical note templates aren’t always effective, and in fact can be counterproductive.
Researchers analyzed outpatient EHR metadata from an academic health center between 2018 and 2020 and found that clinicians used templates to document 89 percent of visits.
However, while template use was pervasive, it was also fragmented across the organization. Clinicians used 100,000 unique templates over the course of the two-year study period, and 83 percent of templates were only used by one clinician.
-----
https://ehrintelligence.com/news/how-ehr-data-standards-support-sdoh-data-quality-health-equity
How EHR Data Standards Support SDOH Data Quality, Health Equity
Standardized EHR documentation practices for SDOH such as race and ethnicity could help prevent data quality issues that can lead to bias.
October 19, 2021 - Social determinant of health (SDOH) data quality issues signal the need for standardized SDOH EHR documentation practices to avoid bias and promote health equity, according to a study published in JAMIA.
Researchers conducted a review of 76 studies related to SDOH data quality.
The majority of articles that discussed race, ethnicity, or country-of-origin data (65 percent) examined data plausibility, which refers to data accuracy.
Accurate race/ethnicity data is key for clinical research, especially as the industry continues its focus on SDOH data and health equity.
-----
Integrating Social Determinants of Health Into Risk Prediction Models
A new study uses social determinants of health in risk prediction models to determine the likelihood of patient referral to a social worker and hospital admission.
October 19, 2021 - While many risk factors patients face concerning their health are due to genetics, researchers suggest that social determinants of health could also play a role in risk prediction.
In a recent study, researchers examined how different social determinants of health (SDoH) impact risk prediction models.
“We’ve been interested in risk prediction for some time. My particular interest is in helping identify patients who have social risks and getting to the services they need to address those risks. Risk stratification of modeling is a key first step in that process,” study co-author Joshua Vest, PhD, of the Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health told HealthITAnalytics.
The research team set out to provide empirical guidance by comparing the performance of six different area-level social determinants of health measurement approaches in predicting patient referral to a social worker and hospital admission following a primary care visit.
-----
HC3 Identifies Top 10 Ransomware Threat Actors in Q3 2021 for Healthcare
HC3 identified the top 10 global and US threat actors in Q3 2021, including Conti, REvil/Sodinokibi, and Hive.
By Jill McKeon
October 20, 2021 - The HHS Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center (HC3) released an analyst note outlining the top 10 global and US ransomware threat actors in Q3 2021 who are targeting the healthcare sector. Conti, Avaddon, and REvil/Sodinokibi topped the list globally, and Conit, REvil/Sodinokibi, and Hive led the US list.
Researchers noted 68 healthcare ransomware incidents globally in Q3, from July 1 to September 30. Over 60 percent of those ransomware attacks were targeted at US-based healthcare organizations. After the US, France, Brazil, Thailand, Australia, and Italy faced the most healthcare ransomware attacks.
Within the US, California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Texas, Arizona, Indiana Maryland, New York, and Georgia were hit hardest, though some states may have experienced more attacks due to population size.
“Ransomware remains a major threat to the health sector worldwide, with many healthcare organizations operating legacy technology with limited security resources,” the analyst note explained.
-----
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/one-rpm-experts-take-why-tech-needed-alongside-telehealth
One RPM expert's take on why the tech is needed alongside telehealth
The CEO of remote patient monitoring company Vivify Health talks how RPM, virtual care and analytics can improve outcomes and better move providers toward value-based care.
By Bill Siwicki
October 20, 2021 10:30 AM
As the COVID-19 pandemic struck in early 2020, healthcare provider organizations across the country began implementing telehealth technologies and services en masse. Telemedicine finally made it to the mainstream.
But only a subset of that group of providers implemented remote patient monitoring. Like telehealth, RPM can really improve care, gain efficiencies and trim costs. And RPM provides visibility outside of the actual patient encounter.
Eric Rock is CEO of remote patient monitoring company Vivify Health. He sat down with Healthcare IT News to discuss how telehealth and RPM can work together, the role analytics plays with RPM and the future of RPM.
Q. You've suggested that many healthcare provider organizations have been shortsighted during the pandemic, only implementing telehealth when they really needed remote patient monitoring, too. Please elaborate.
A. Early on in the pandemic, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) extended telehealth waivers that helped bring virtual care services into the mainstream. Unfortunately, when the pandemic subsides, it's likely those waivers will go away.
-----
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/healthcare-groups-cheer-senate-progress-national-patient-id
Healthcare groups cheer Senate progress on national patient ID
The upper chamber has followed the lead of the House of Representatives and removed a ban on national identifier research from its newest appropriations bill. Patient ID Now wants to maintain the momentum.
By Mike Miliard
October 20, 2021 10:13 AM
The U.S. Senate has removed language prohibiting innovation around national patient identification from its most recent appropriations bill. Health industry stakeholders are applauding the move – and pushing for more progress toward solving this longstanding interoperability challenge.
WHY IT
MATTERS
Patient
ID Now – a stakeholder group comprising HIMSS (parent company of Healthcare
IT News), the American College of Surgeons, the American Health
Information Management Association, the College of Healthcare Information
Management Executives, Intermountain Healthcare and Premier Healthcare Alliance
– cheered the removal of the ban from the Labor, Health and Human Services,
Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) appropriations bill.
Since its founding in 2020, and even before that, Patient ID Now and its member groups have sought to build bipartisan momentum toward enabling accurate patient identification – starting first by removing the "antiquated" legislative barriers blocking research into new strategies for unique patient identification.
The group has cast a spotlight on the many challenges caused by patient misidentification: misfiled diagnoses, hobbled interoperability and, especially during the pandemic, "duplicate health records created during the vaccination registration process and disruptions in vaccine availability at provider sites because of inaccurate patient documentation."
-----
Key Points and Messages from New Cerner CEO’s First Public Address
October 20, 2021
At the recent Cerner user conference, Dr. David Feinberg, new CEO at Cerner addressed the Cerner community and shared at least his initial vision for the organization. He recorded the address on day 3 on the job, so no doubt this vision could change as he gets to know the company better and refines his plans for the future. However, his initial thoughts tell us a lot about what’s important to him and what he’ll likely focus on at Cerner.
Dr. Feinberg definitely leveraged the theme of the user conference in his address: One Patient. One Community. One World. Plus he pointed out an interesting perspective on the healthcare experience when he said that “Healthcare is a personal, but shared experience.” That dichotomy is quite fascinating. He also highlighted the importance of the patient in what Cerner does. “Our job is to make sure caregivers around the world have the right information to get their communities back to health. We do that by keeping the patient at the center of everything we do.”
It was interesting to have Dr. Feinberg acknowledge both the “promises” and the “frustrations” of the digital age of care delivery. As a Cerner user in his previous roles, he knew some of the promises that were made and how well we’ve lived up to those promises. He certainly acknowledged that there’s still more work to be done to fulfill those promises. Although, he highlighted how his experience at Geisinger also taught him of what healthcare can accomplish when they love their community. He said multiple times that “Healthcare is about people caring for people.”
-----
https://ehrintelligence.com/news/how-ehr-data-standards-support-sdoh-data-quality-health-equity
How EHR Data Standards Support SDOH Data Quality, Health Equity
Standardized EHR documentation practices for SDOH such as race and ethnicity could help prevent data quality issues that can lead to bias.
October 19, 2021 - Social determinant of health (SDOH) data quality issues signal the need for standardized SDOH EHR documentation practices to avoid bias and promote health equity, according to a study published in JAMIA.
Researchers conducted a review of 76 studies related to SDOH data quality.
The majority of articles that discussed race, ethnicity, or country-of-origin data (65 percent) examined data plausibility, which refers to data accuracy.
Accurate race/ethnicity data is key for clinical research, especially as the industry continues its focus on SDOH data and health equity.
However, researchers noted misclassification bias as a problem or a potential problem in more than half of the articles about race/ethnicity data plausibility. What’s more, several studies reported that implausible data and misclassification errors were more likely for certain groups.
-----
Using Telehealth for Pre-Anesthesia Evaluations for Cancer Patients
Cancer patients who received pre-anesthesia evaluations via telehealth prior to surgery saved time and money, Florida researchers found.
October 19, 2021 - Using telehealth to conduct pre-anesthesia evaluations for cancer patients reduced travel and saved time and money while having no impact on cancellation rates, according to a retrospective study out of Florida’s H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center.
Patients living with cancer travel frequently for lab work, imaging, surgeries, and treatment, many of which are time-sensitive. Family members also experience caregiver burdens and take time off work to assist with care and travel arrangements.
Anesthesiologists at Moffitt Cancer Center launched a telehealth program in the PreAnesthesia Testing (PAT) Clinic in June 2020 in an attempt to facilitate care access for cancer patients and their families.
The Florida-based center is the only National Cancer Institute (NCI) Comprehensive Cancer Center in the state. Studies have shown that CCCs produce better patient outcomes and lower cancer mortality rates compared to non-CCC health systems. These centers perform more complex surgeries with fewer complications, as well.
-----
https://healthitsecurity.com/news/30-nations-pledge-to-combat-ransomware-promote-cyber-resilience
30+ Nations Pledge to Combat Ransomware, Promote Cyber Resilience
The US, along with more than 30 countries, pledged to improve cyber resilience, counter illicit finance, and focus on diplomacy in order to combat ransomware threats.
By Jill McKeon
October 19, 2021 - President Biden met with world leaders from over 30 nations and pledged to tackle ransomware threats and promote cyber resilience together, according to a White House press release. The countries agreed to focus resources and energy on improving cyber hygiene, addressing illicit finance risks, and using diplomacy law enforcement actions to stop cybercriminals.
Participating countries included Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, European Union, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lithuania, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland, Republic of Korea, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
“From malign operations against local health providers that endanger patient care, to those directed at businesses that limit their ability to provide fuel, groceries, or other goods to the public, ransomware poses a significant risk to critical infrastructure, essential services, public safety, consumer protection and privacy, and economic prosperity,” the press release explained.
“As with other cyber threats, the threat of ransomware is complex and global in nature and requires a shared response. A nation’s ability to effectively prevent, detect, mitigate and respond to threats from ransomware will depend, in part, on the capacity, cooperation, and resilience of global partners, the private sector, civil society, and the general public.”
-----
Healthcare grapples with enormity, complexity of information blocking rules
Even without enforcement provisions in place, many segments of the industry see challenges in complying with regs that grant easier access to data.
Oct 19 2121
Diana Manos
The federal government is aiming to put an end to the intentional blocking of patient data through new rules established earlier this year, known as the information blocking rules.
Executives of some healthcare organizations that have begun preparing for and studying these significant rules contend that they are overwhelmed by their far-reaching nature, and they're pressing regulators for clarifications, even as they await the second portion of the rules, which will detail how the regs will be enforced.
The provisions are implemented under two rules, one by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), known as The ONC Cures Act Final Rule. The other, issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is called the Implement Interoperability and Patient Access Provisions of the Bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act).
The rules call for patient data to be readily available to patients for free upon request via any method, including a smartphone app, and it sets the goal of punishing any provider, health IT vendor, health information exchange or health information network that blocks the exchange of these data. Disincentives and penalties have yet to be announced.
-----
HLTH21: DeSalvo says baking health into all Google's efforts opens the door to 'billions' of healthy consumers
by Dave Muoio
Oct 18, 2021 8:10am
Times have certainly been turbulent for those working on health and wellness projects at Google.
The tech giant’s Google Health division underwent two reorgs this summer, the latter of which resulted in department chief David Feinberg, M.D., jumping ship to lead health IT company Cerner and the Google Health team being scattered across the rest of the company’s health adjacent projects.
Internal memos and comments from the company suggested Google was winding back its siloed health approach to instead bake health-focused capabilities into its various existing business lines—surfacing verified health information on YouTube or providing care navigation help through Google Maps, for example.
Despite the organizational shuffle, Chief Health Officer Karen DeSalvo, M.D., says the company has done anything but scale back its health efforts.
-----
https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/18/22732615/health-record-app-hacks-patinet-data
Third-party health apps are vulnerable to hacks, report finds
When data leaves patient health records, it’s less protected
Third-party health apps that pull patient data from electronic health record systems are vulnerable to hacks, according to a new report. The electronic health records themselves, which are housed at health centers and subject to the federal privacy law HIPAA, are well protected. But as soon as a patient gives permission for their data to leave the health record and head toward a third-party app — like programs that track people’s medications, for example — it’s easy for hackers to access.
Hospitals and health care systems are a major target for hackers, and attacks have only escalated over the past few years. Patient health data is some of the most valuable information to hackers: each record can be worth hundreds of dollars on the dark web, in part because they can’t be changed easily and it’s harder to detect when the data is used fraudulently. Credit card numbers, on the other hand, can easily be changed and are only worth a few dollars.
For this new report sponsored by app security company Approov, cybersecurity analyst Alissa Knight checked for vulnerabilities in apps built using the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standard, which was set up to encourage information exchange in healthcare. She started by checking apps built within the electronic health records themselves and didn’t find weaknesses. But when she tested third-party programs that link up with health records to pull out data, she found major problems. Knight was able to access over 4 million patient and clinician records from over 25,000 providers through those holes.
-----
Philips' maternal health champion discusses digital women's health
The digital evolution of women's health is an important topic for all health IT leaders to understand and embrace. Veronica Adamson provides a deep dive.
October 19, 2021
In the past five to 10 years, there has been an explosion in digital solutions in maternal health. And it's not by coincidence. This is a space in desperate need of innovation to help providers turn the tide of worsening outcomes.
Since the 1980s, maternal mortality has more than doubled in the U.S., at-risk pregnancies have reached nearly ~30%, and costs have exploded to more than $118 billion. Today, the No. 1 surgical procedure in the U.S. is the C‑section.
The digital evolution of women's health is a major trend today. Technology is transforming obstetrical care by empowering clinicians, families and communities.
Veronica Adamson, head of the general care solutions business and maternal health champion at Philips, talked with Healthcare IT News about the evolution and its benefits, obstetrics, remote patient monitoring, and more.
-----
https://www.healthcareittoday.com/2021/10/19/big-bet-on-fhir-paying-off-for-smile-cdr/
Big Bet on FHIR Paying Off for Smile CDR
October 19, 2021
Smile CDR has built a clinical data repository that is completely based on the HL7 FHIR standard. The founders bet their entire company on this standard and that bet is paying off. The company has grown from 5 employees to over 250 in just a few years and recently closed a $20 Million Series A.
Healthcare IT Today sat down with Duncan Weatherston, CEO of Smile CDR, just ahead of their appearance at the #HLTH2021 conference down in Boston. We wanted to find out more about the company and their solution that lets health systems, payers and hospitals store and share information quickly and securely through APIs.
Company Growth
Smile CDR was founded only five years ago, in Toronto. In those early years they bootstrapped their way to success and grew the company smartly. They now have over 250 employees across multiple office locations. Their impressive client base stretches across 17 countries and includes organizations like Change Healthcare, Highmark, LabCorp, and an organization near and dear to my heart – the Government of Canada.
In August 2021, the company closed $20 Million in Series A growth capital led by 30 North Group, a Seattle-based family office and UPMC Enterprises. The funds will bolster the Smile CDRs sales and marketing efforts as well as supporting new client implementations.
-----
https://ehrintelligence.com/news/joint-hie-fhir-adoption-support-data-sharing-for-veteran-care
Joint HIE, FHIR Adoption Support Data Sharing for Veteran Care
DOD and VA FHIR adoption and a joint HIE have helped support data sharing for veteran care coordination, according to FEHRM director Bill Tinston.
October 18, 2021 - The implementation of a joint HIE and FHIR adoption have helped support data sharing for veteran care, Bill Tinston, director of the Federal Electronic Health Record Modernization Effort (FEHRM), noted at a Cerner Health Conference session.
As the DOD and VA work to implement a single common federal EHR system for veterans, Tinston explained that federal officials created a joint health information exchange (HIE) to support interoperability with community healthcare providers. This is especially critical given the MISSION Act, which allows veterans facing extraordinary care access barriers to get that care a non-VA facilities.
Prior to the creation of the joint HIE, interoperability with community healthcare providers was relatively low among VA and DOD healthcare organizations, Tinston noted.
“At this point, we're at about 65 percent interoperability from a data perspective and it appears to us that we're going to get well over 95 percent by the end of this calendar year,” Tinston said.
-----
https://ehrintelligence.com/news/onc-shifts-svap-timeline-health-it-data-standards-coordination
ONC Shifts SVAP Timeline, Health IT Data Standards Coordination
ONC has announced changes to its SVAP timeline to better support the health IT data standards community.
October 18, 2021 - ONC has adjusted its Standards Version Advancement Process (SVAP) timeline in order to support coordination across the health IT data standards community, the agency wrote in a blog post.
ONC established SVAP in 2020 as part of the ONC Cures Act Final Rule. The process allows health IT developers in the ONC Health IT Certification Program to update their systems to support newer data standards versions for interoperable health information exchange.
“While the standards community has enthusiastically supported the SVAP concept, its real-world use is new,” ONC officials Avinash Shanbhag and Jeff Smith wrote in the blog post.
ONC’s Health IT Certification Program includes data standards developed by numerous organizations with their own standards development timelines. In addition, ONC has finalized the first new version of the United States Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI) version 2 and initiated the process to identify USCDI version 3.
-----
https://healthitsecurity.com/news/hc3-applications-benefits-of-blockchain-in-healthcare
HC3: Applications, Benefits of Blockchain in Healthcare
Blockchain in healthcare is tamper-resistant and shows extreme potential for ensuring healthcare supply chain transparency and electronic health record management.
By Jill McKeon
October 18, 2021 - Blockchain technology is the basis of most cryptocurrencies, but the Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center’s (HC3) latest brief suggested that blockchain has a multitude of useful applications in the healthcare sector.
A blockchain is a tamper-resistant, secure, and collaborative ledger that maintains transactional records, HC3 explained. A block is a unit of data, or one record, that contains a collection of transactions. When arranged with other blocks in a specific order, a blockchain is formed.
Each block contains data, a hash, and a previous hash. The purpose of the blockchain dictates the type of data. A hash is a digital fingerprint that identifies the block, and a previous hash links the current block to the previous block, providing an extra security measure.
“A block is connected to the previous one by including a unique identifier that is based on the previous block’s data. As a result, if the data is changed in one block, it’s unique identifier changes, which can be seen in every subsequent block (providing tamper evidence),” the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) explains on its website.
-----
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/960979
House Committee: Racial Bias in Clinical Decision Support 'Unacceptable'
Ken Terry
October 15, 2021
As a rising chorus of healthcare experts decries the harmful racial bias in clinical decision support tools (CDSTs), the House Ways and Means Committee has released a report spelling out in detail what the problem is, how it affects health equity, and how healthcare stakeholders can address it.
Among the issues described in the report is the widespread practice of applying "racial correction" modifiers to clinical guidelines and algorithms so as to adjust for the supposed biological differences among races and ethnicities — an assumption that has been disproved by abundant scientific evidence. For example, one CDST predicts the odds for success in a vaginal birth after cesarean delivery at 80.9% for White women, 68.4% for Black women, 68.2% for Latina women, and 52.3% for women of mixed Black and Latina heritage. The report notes that the rate of maternal mortality among Black, American Indian, and Latina women is two to three times higher than the rate among White women. The rate of cesarian delivery is also higher, despite the known health benefits of vaginal delivery.
House Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal (D-MA) said in a news release that the feedback he'd gotten on racial/ethnic bias from medical societies and other industry voices was divergent. He said his powerful committee is looking for ways to do something about the unequal treatment of racial and ethnic minorities that has resulted from the bias in CDSTs.
"One thing is for certain: the status quo is unacceptable," Neal declared. "Racial correction in clinical algorithms contributes to worse outcomes for patients of color receiving treatment for a broad range of conditions, from cancer, to osteoporosis, to end-stage renal disease, to child birth. The Ways and Means Committee remains committed to working with stakeholders and advancing policies that prioritize justice and equity in our health care system."
-----
U.S. Moves Pandemic Data Tracking to CDC, Reversing Trump
15 October 2021, 8:49 am AEDT
‘HHS Protect’ platform to shift into the oversight of CDC
Biden administration aims to stabilize pandemic data systems
The Biden administration is moving the U.S. government’s largest public-health tracking system back to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, undoing a much-criticized move by the Trump administration to shift custody of critical data from the nation’s top epidemiological agency.
According to a document obtained by Bloomberg News, the Department of Health and Human Services on Oct. 1 signed off on a recommendation to move the system, designed to track pandemic data, out of the management of its own Office of the Chief Information Officer and into CDC’s oversight. The shift comes in the wake of scrutiny over the federal government’s handling of public health data infrastructure, and is intended to ensure long-term stability and ownership of the data system.
Designed under the Trump administration through a contract with Palantir Technologies Inc., the system, called HHS Protect, monitors real-time data from federal, state and local sources to track the needs of the American health-care system. Co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel, Palantir has numerous deals with government agencies, including the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Coast Guard and the Federal Aviation Administration.
The platform pulls information from more than 6,000 hospitals on Covid-19 cases and vaccination rates as well as the use of intensive-care unit beds, testing, vaccines, therapeutics and personal protective equipment. With more than 500,000 data points per day, often down to the facility level, HHS Protect has helped federal health officials across both administrations determine where supplies should be allocated. It’s also been made available to non-government entities via the HHS Protect Public Data Hub.
-----
Telehealth has been key for primary care, but clinicians are still feeling hopeless
Providers report burnout and compassion fatigue amidst the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, especially regarding conversations with vaccine-hesitant patients.
By Kat Jercich
October 18, 2021 12:07 PM
A survey published by the Larry A. Green Center and the Primary Care Collective found that telemedicine has been vital to maintaining patient access to services for almost two-thirds of primary care clinicians – and many providers worry what will happen if pre-pandemic regulations are restored.
According to the survey, which drew on answers from 1,263 respondents from nearly every state, the pressures of providing care amidst COVID-19 have continued to weigh heavily on primary care clinicians.
"Burnout and a sense of hopelessness and compassion fatigue [are] escalating as this next COVID surge continues. We thought there was light at the end of the tunnel once the vaccine was available, but the pandemic continues to escalate," said one clinician in Illinois.
WHY IT MATTERS
This survey is the thirtieth of its kind since PCC and the Green Center teamed up to better understand the impact of COVID-19 in real time.
This particular round focused on the effect of the Delta surge on patients and providers, and the role virtual care can play in addressing such a burden.
-----
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/asia/future-proofing-healthcare-top-mind-himss21-apac-kicks
Future-proofing healthcare top of mind as HIMSS21 APAC kicks off
Opening address speakers set the tone for the event by emphasising how digital technologies can help build sustainable healthcare.
October 18, 2021 01:43 AM
HIMSS21 APAC started with Benedict Tan, Group Chief Digital Strategy Officer and Chief Data Officer at SingHealth in Singapore sharing that with COVID-19, it has become urgent to reimagine better health systems, to future-proof healthcare, and to harness ingenuity with digital technologies.
He went on to say that many significant digital health developments have taken place in the Asia-Pacific recently, in areas such as personalised healthcare and innovative healthcare. Additionally, in a HIMSS APAC digital health survey published earlier this year, it was found that Australia, South Korea and Singapore were role models for digital health in the region.
Hal Wolf, President and CEO of HIMSS mentioned that before the pandemic, digital health tools like telemedicine were critical as they addressed geographic displacement, providing increased access to urban and rural areas.
"The pandemic changed our perceptions of how to incorporate digital health – a simple example is the increased use of telehealth of outpatient appointments," he said.
-----
https://histalk2.com/2021/10/15/weekender-10-15-21/
Weekly News Recap
- Intelerad acquires Ambra.
- Healthcare Triangle shares drop after IPO.
- GetWellNetwork renames itself to Get Well.
- A security researcher documents widespread security vulnerabilities in FHIR APIs.
- Best Buy announces its planned acquisition of Current Health.
- Cerner President and CEO David Feinberg, MD, MBA kicks off the virtual Cerner Health Conference with a call to “eliminate the noise in healthcare.”
- SSM Health outsources services, including digital transformation and RCM, to Optum and will send 2,000 employees to the company.
- The VA contracts for a year-long cost review of its Cerner implementation.
-----
Enjoy!
David.
No comments:
Post a Comment