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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https://www.digitalhealth.net/2020/07/in-the-vanguard-of-the-covid-19-tech-revolution/
In the vanguard of the Covid-19 tech revolution
Ian Bailey, district nurse and senior clinical director at EMIS Health looks at how nurses have embraced technology during the Covid-19 outbreak and argues that changes in working practices are now the new normal.
DHI News Team – 14 July, 2020
For many of us, the beginning of June brought proof that the digital revolution in primary care since the Covid-19 outbreak is here to stay. The British Medical Association’s coronavirus survey revealed that nine out of ten GPs want to carry on doing consultations remotely, even after this terrible pandemic is over.
More than three quarters of them also said that using video technology for multi-disciplinary and clinical team meetings should continue. It is the same for community nurses, who have harnessed technology to give essential and complex hands-on care in people’s homes under the most challenging of conditions.
As early as the beginning of April, a Royal College of Nursing survey of district nurses reported that ‘technology has come to the fore, with online team meetings and virtual huddles supporting care delivery, team working and staff morale.’
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https://ehrintelligence.com/features/covid-19-accelerating-interoperability-data-exchange-analytics
COVID-19 Accelerating Interoperability, Data Exchange, Analytics
The COVID-19 pandemic opened doors for health data information exchange, improving interoperability and data analytics. Continuing these efforts will have implications beyond the pandemic.
July 17, 2020 - Health information exchanges have fueled interoperability and demonstrated how leveraging analytics can help respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coronavirus cases in the United States show no signs of slowing. Limited testing capacity in March made it challenging to fully understand the number of individuals infected. As testing capabilities have increased, more individuals have been tested and more cases identified.
But this has led many to falsely suggest that increased testing is the sole reason for the country’s rise in cases. Re-opening efforts, challenges with enforcing mask laws, and a lack of social distancing are also contributing to the rise in cases.
Studies continue to prove the efficacy of this, as public health experts advocate for increased testing in order for the country to get a handle on the coronavirus. But minimal information at the start of the pandemic and a lack of data transparency are hindering efforts.
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This Band-Aid-Like Patch Could Detect Early COVID-19 Symptoms
Northwestern University scientist John Rogers has developed a wearable that adheres to the throat and relays data to a physician
smithsonianmag.com
July 14, 2020
Humans are almost constantly connected to devices and electronics that generate a significant amount of data about who they are and what they do. Many commercially available products like Fitbits, Garmin trackers, Apple watches and other smartwatches are designed to help users take control of their health, and tailor activities to their lifestyle. Even something as unobtrusive to wear as a ring can collect data on sleep patterns, body temperature, heart rate variability, calorie burn, and steps, and even go a step beyond to analyze these biostatistics and package the information so it can be read on a user’s smartphone. Similar, less common but more precise monitoring devices are also being used at clinics and hospitals to help health care providers individualize treatments for a range of conditions from cardiac care to stroke rehabilitation.
Researchers working to contain COVID-19 are increasingly turning to these sleek new wearables for a diagnostic solution. But there is some debate about the best way to do so. Can commercially available devices be leveraged as a tool, or would clinical-grade wearables be more effective?
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https://www.diagnosticimaging.com/view/ai-has-a-clinical-role-but-many-challenges-exist
AI Has a Clinical Role, But Many Challenges Exist
July 17, 2020
Artificial intelligence tools have many drawbacks and face many barriers to clinical implementation, and radiologists must pay close attention to how – and what kind of – data is used in models.
At every turn, artificial intelligence (AI) continues to blossom as a coveted tool used in radiology research as the industry strives to identify ways to can improve diagnostic and productivity performance. That is largely where its utility has stalled, however. The vast horizon of AI clinical implementation awaits, but the specialty has work to do before it reaches that goal, one industry expert says.
In a presentation given during the European College of Radiology 2020 virtual meeting, Nickolas Papanikolaou, Ph.D., head of Computational Clinical Imaging Group, Center for the Unknown, at Champalimand Foundation in Lisbon, Portugal, discussed the current state of AI in medical imaging, as well as some of the challenges this technology faces when approaching clinical integration.
“The main driver behind artificial intelligence applications in radiology has been the necessity for greater efficacy and efficiency in clinical care,” Papanikolaou said. “Diagnostic demand continues to grow at a disproportionate rate when compared to the number of available board-certified radiologists.”
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/asia-pacific/key-lessons-learnt-covid-19-responses-apac
Key lessons learnt from the COVID-19 responses in APAC
“Countries that had the most comprehensive responses to the pandemic seem to be those that had a recent memory of an adverse event,” said Dr Charles Alessi, Chief Clinical Officer, HIMSS.
By Dean Koh
July 17, 2020 02:44 AM
In the final episode of HIMSS APAC Digital Dialogue Series hosted by Dr Charles Alessi, HIMSS Chief Clinical Officer, guest speaker Tim Kelsey, Senior Vice President, HIMSS Analytics International joins Dr Alessi as they provide a summary and discussion of some of the key lessons from the various APAC countries in their handling of the pandemic.
Summary of episodes
The first episode of the series featured Taikang Health care in China, in which Francis Qiu, Chief Hospital Commissioning Officer, provided insights on the use of robotics in drugs and food delivery, particularly in protecting their aged care clients against COVID-19.
Dr Tan Cher Heng, Assistant Chairman Medical Board (Clinical Research and Innovation), at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) in Singapore in episode two explained how TTSH managed to prevent nosocomial infections of COVID-19, using tech to manage potential COVID-19 patients and non COVID-19 patients. Barry Chaiken, Clinical Lead, Healthcare, Tableau in the same episode emphasized the value of information dashboards for hospitals and health systems, both in normal times and crisis periods such as during a pandemic.
In the case of South Korea in episode three, Dr Hwang Hee, Chief Information Officer, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, South Korea and Kim Dong-Hee, Country Leader, Philips, South Korea shared their thoughts on what was done differently to manage the COVID-19 situation in the country, and how telehealth might look like post COVID-19.
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Jul 17 2020
Former Kaiser CEO George Halvorson promotes universal healthcare through 'Medical Advantage' for all
Halvorson envisions an integrated system which unites healthcare payment, improvement and racial and economic equity.
, Managing Editor
Former Kaiser Permanente Chairman and CEO George Halvorson is promoting universal healthcare through "Medical Advantage," a plan uniting the goals of care improvement, cost savings and healthcare equity.
This is not a single payer plan. Halvorson is recommending a national Medicare Advantage system extended to cover not only the over-65 population it currently does but working Americans of all ages. Insurers would continue to compete for members.
Halvorson's vision is co-supported by Dr. Mehmet Oz, the surgeon and television personality.
While they are not the first to raise the suggestion of replacing Senator Bernie Sanders' Medicare for All plan with a Medicare Advantage for All plan, they represent two of its highest profile supporters. Both have been getting national attention.
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/microsoft-unveils-azure-iot-connector-fhir-help-rpm-security
Microsoft unveils Azure IoT Connector for FHIR, to help with RPM security
The cloud service can enable developers to more easily create security pipelines to handle streaming biometric data and other PHI from remote patient monitoring devices.
By Mike Miliard
July 17, 2020 04:59 PM
Microsoft is previewing its new Azure IoT Connector for FHIR, an API feature that enables healthcare organizations to scale secure connectivity for an array of devices streaming protected health information.
WHY IT
MATTERS
As health systems ramp up telehealth and, especially, remote patient monitoring
programs, they're looking for technologies to help them manage multiple
connected devices as they extend care delivery into patients' homes.
Azure IoT Connector for FHIR leverages HL7's Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources spec to enable secure and private interoperability among internet of medical things devices and electronic health records.
"Today remote data capture often requires device-specific platforms, making it difficult to scale when new processes are added or if patients use multiple devices," explains Heather Jordan Cartwright, general manager of Microsoft Healthcare, in a blog post. "Developers have to build their own secure pipelines from scratch.
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Medical Practices Expect To See Telehealth Volume Plummet Over Next 12 Months
July 17, 2020
All of the data I’ve seen so far suggest that while doctors may have been leery of getting involved in telehealth services, COVID-19 forced the matter and has fostered the widespread adoption of these technologies.
What I haven’t seen though, at least until today, is the suggestion that the volume of telehealth services they deliver are likely to fall back to pre-COVID levels in the foreseeable future. However, that’s just what the data from a new medical practice survey suggests.
The survey, which reached out to 4,380 physicians working in multiple specialties, was conducted by Sage Growth Partners and Black Book Research.
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https://www.digitalhealth.net/2020/07/special-report-digital-imaging-3/
Special Report: Digital Imaging
There is an increasing awareness that digital imaging could play a significant role in the diagnosis of Covid-19. Imaging can help evaluate how severely the patient’s lungs are affected, and how the patient’s disease is evolving, which helps in making adequate treatment decisions. Maja Dragovic looks at the role of digital imaging during a global pandemic and its impact on the future of diagnostics.
Medical imaging has played a big role in Covid-19 management through chest X-rays, CT scans and even ultrasound.
Stephen Townrow, the imaging systems manager at the Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust, says that although digital imaging is not usually used as a diagnostic tool. Yet when the Covid pandemic hit, it started to be used as such because of the turnaround speed of results.
“We had patients coming in who weren’t in for that particular issue, but it just happened we scanned them and they had Covid on the lungs,” he explains.
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https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/malicious-router-logins-soar/
16 Jul 2020 News
Malicious Router Log-Ins Soar Tenfold in Botnet Battle
Phil Muncaster
Home users are being urged to ensure their routers are adequately protected after experts revealed a tenfold spike in brute force log-in attempts.
Trend Micro’s latest research, Worm War: The Botnet Battle for IoT Territory, describes a threat landscape in which rival cyber-criminals are competing against each other in a race to compromise as many devices as possible, to conscript into botnets.
The vendor claimed that automated log-in attempts against routers rose from 23 million in September to nearly 249 million attempts in December 2019. As recently as March this year, it detected almost 194 million brute force logins.
The report also revealed an uptick in routers attempting to open telnet sessions with other devices. As telnet is unencrypted it’s a favorite way for hackers or their botnets to sniff user credentials and therefore infect more routers or IoT devices.
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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/using-health-information-exchange-to-automate-disease-reporting
Using Health Information Exchange to Automate Disease Reporting
Regenstrief and Indiana University utilized Indiana’s statewide health information exchange data to automate a previously burdensome process.
July 15, 2020 - For most healthcare organizations, reporting and finding all the necessary information about a new case of a reportable disease can be a burdensome process that could take up to two weeks to fully process, and sometimes it can get lost in the shuffle.
It begins with the laboratory faxing a report to the health department. Then the health department follows up with the clinic to get a more detailed report. If the detailed report does not come back right away, an administrator would have to follow up with the clinic again.
With more cases piling up over the course of a week or two, the health department could be forced to close the case and move on if they did not receive the detailed report from the clinic.
Because of this manual process, Brian Dixon, PhD, director of public health informatics at the Regenstrief Institute, and his team of experts knew they needed to automate disease tracking and surveillance in the state of Indiana.
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Russian hackers targeting healthcare orgs for coronavirus vaccine info
British, Canadian and U.S. intelligence agencies released a statement saying the group is "almost certainly" part of the Russian intelligence services.
By Kat Jercich
July 16, 2020 12:57 PM
The United Kingdom's National Cyber Security Centre said in an advisory Thursday that Russian hackers are targeting organizations involved in coronavirus vaccine development and testing.
The statement, which was endorsed by the U.S. and Canadian governments, said that the hacking group uses a variety of methods "to predominantly target governmental, diplomatic, think-tank, healthcare and energy targets for intelligence gain."
According to the NCSC, throughout 2020, the hackers – known as APT29, "the Dukes" or "Cozy Bear" – have zeroed in on organizations working on the COVID-19 vaccine in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.
It is highly likely that APT29 has acted "with the intention of stealing information and intellectual property relating to the development and testing of COVID-19 vaccines," said the NCSC assessment.
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The Fight Against COVID-19 Needs the Real-World Data Now Available to Researchers Worldwide
July 16, 2020
The following is a guest article by Dan O’Connor, SVP, Growth at Ciox Real World Data.
With the resurgent spread of COVID-19 through American communities nationwide comes an explosion of COVID-19 data as a byproduct; real-world data (RWD) necessary and useful to accelerate containment, tracing, and treatment solutions. But to access the intelligence within the data, our industry must step up in the proliferation of innovative data-driven solutions.
An Explosion of COVID-19 Data
Coronavirus is on the rise once more. With each positive (and negative) test, every interaction of care with a professional, every hospital visit, every ICU admission, and sadly, every death comes vast amounts of clinical data captured at the various points of care.
That care information is the raw form of real-world COVID-19 data, all of it, and every line on every chart represents the exact data point at which researchers and clinicians could begin to understand the critical characteristics of the novel coronavirus. The data is how we will power understanding to develop therapies, provide clinical guidance, and build containment strategies.
Significant insights will come when organizations gain access and can deep-dive into the aggregate COVID-19 RWD dataset. Gathering and distributing that data has been the order of the day for organizations like Ciox Real World Data and others in health data. As more and more meaningful data reaches the hands of researchers and analysts, key learnings that solve important COVID-19 questions may be right around the next corner.
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https://academic.oup.com/jpubhealth/article/doi/10.1093/pubmed/fdaa081/5869906
Using informatics to guide public health policy during the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA
Jay G Ronquillo, William T Lester, Diana M Zuckerman
Journal of Public Health, fdaa081, https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdaa081
Published: 13 July 2020
Abstract
Background
Current and future pandemics will require informatics solutions to assess the risks, resources and policies to guide better public health decision-making.
Methods
Cross-sectional study of all COVID-19 cases and deaths in the USA on a population- and resource-adjusted basis (as of 24 April 2020) by applying biomedical informatics and data visualization tools to several public and federal government datasets, including analysis of the impact of statewide stay-at-home orders.
Results
There were 2753.2 cases and 158.0 deaths per million residents, respectively, in the USA with variable distributions throughout divisions, regions and states. Forty-two states and Washington, DC, (84.3%) had statewide stay-at-home orders, with the remaining states having population-adjusted characteristics in the highest risk quartile.
Conclusions
Effective national preparedness requires clearly understanding states’ ability to predict, manage and balance public health needs through all stages of a pandemic. This will require leveraging data quickly, correctly and responsibly into sound public health policies.
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https://healthitanalytics.com/news/how-geographic-data-supports-population-health-during-covid-19
How Geographic Data Supports Population Health During COVID-19
Geographic data has helped leaders better understand where to allocate population health resources during the COVID-19 pandemic.
By Jessica Kent
July 13, 2020 - Although COVID-19 has spread to communities around the world, as the pandemic wears on it’s clear that the virus has impacted some populations more than others.
Studies have demonstrated the disproportionate effects COVID-19 has had on minority communities, individuals with comorbidities, and older adults. These trends have led researchers to increasingly examine geographic data and pinpoint where to target population health efforts.
“There has been a fair amount of conversation about COVID-19 being an equal opportunity killer. But frankly, that’s just not true,” Helen Dowling, MPH, data in action coordinator for the Public Health Alliance of Southern California, recently told HealthITAnalytics.
“There are communities that are dying at much higher rates than others, and it’s really important that we look at the data, spell it out by race and ethnicity, and focus on how we can improve the communities where these individuals live.”
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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/ehr-training-experience-leads-to-decreased-ehr-use-for-residents
EHR Training, Experience Leads to Decreased EHR Use For Residents
Researchers found clinicians and interns spend the same amount of time on the EHR throughout the year, but resident EHR use decreased following EHR training and experience.
July 14, 2020 - Physicians at large community hospitals spend nearly four hours during work hours, or roughly 40 percent of their day, on the EHR, according to a study published in the Public Library of Science (PLOS ONE).
Additionally, researchers found a significant decrease in resident EHR use with increased training and experience, although the overall amount of time spent on the EHR remained high.
“Studies exploring EHR use emphasized extensive time as one of the significant drawbacks to EHR,” wrote the study authors. “It has been reported that physicians spend up to 6 hours a day on EHR in the hospital setting alone.”
However, the study authors noted many studies that document hours spent on the EHR system are self-reported. Researchers aimed to record data to illustrate how much total time is spent using the EHR and to analyze the levels of clinical experience to see if there is a correlation between hours worked and experience status.
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https://healthitsecurity.com/news/report-over-1-in-10-ransomware-attacks-results-in-data-theft
Report: Over 1 in 10 Ransomware Attacks Results in Data Theft
Double extortion ransomware attacks were made popular by the Maze hacking group, but other threat actors are following suit; Emsisoft finds over one-tenth of these attacks results in data theft.
July 14, 2020 - More than one out of 10 ransomware attacks results in data theft, increasing the risk of data loss, business interruption, regulatory penalties, legal harm, and reputational damage, according to recent Emsisoft data.
In fact, of the 100,001 ransomware attacks reported to ID Ransomware between January 1 and June 30, 2020, 11,642 of those attacks (11 percent) were tied to the hacking groups publicly known to steal data before encrypting impacted systems.
Double extortion ransomware attacks were first made popular by the Maze hacking group. Beginning in late November, Maze cybercriminals began hitting US organizations by first gaining a foothold on the network and moving laterally across the network through connected devices. The threat actors can remain undetected on the victim’s network for days and even months, waiting for the ideal moment to deploy the ransomware.
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UNC ties up with Google to launch mental health app for front-line workers
By Heather Landi |
Jul 15, 2020 12:36pm
ER doctor Sam McLean understands the intense pressures facing front-line healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Working on a COVID unit, McLean himself contracted coronavirus and, unfortunately, infected two of his family members.
“First responders and healthcare workers are facing a lot of challenges right now. There is the personal risk of severe illness or death. Much worse, there is the anxiety and fear of infecting loved ones," McLean said.
This an even greater challenge for first responders or health workers who live with someone particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/technology/health-misinformation-online.html
How to Fight Health ‘Cures’ Online
Junk health information that preys on people’s fears spreads online. Here’s how we can stamp it out.
By Shira Ovide
· July 14, 2020
Anne Borden King had already battled online health misinformation as a parent of a child with autism. Then, as a patient, she was barraged on Facebook by bogus cancer “cure” advertisements after posting about her diagnosis.
Borden, a co-founder of the Campaign Against Phony Autism Cures, talked to me about what we and Facebook can do to stamp out the worst kinds of junk health information that preys on people’s fears. It requires us to have some uncomfortable conversations, and for Facebook to fundamentally change how it works.
Stories like Borden’s feel distressingly familiar. Internet grifters looking to make money have been responsible for spreading false vaccine conspiracies online or selling illegal drugs. And because our health is a perennial anxiety, there’s a big market for false hope.
“You can’t get rid of the impetus for pseudoscience, but you can stop a lot of vulnerable people from being exploited,” Borden said.
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https://healthitanalytics.com/news/good-data-targeted-action-needed-to-reduce-covid-19-disparities
Good Data, Targeted Action Needed to Reduce COVID-19 Disparities
Significant racial disparities exist in confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths, indicating the need for better quality data and more targeted action.
By Jessica Kent
July 15, 2020 - Quality data on race, ethnicity, and gender is needed to reduce disparities in confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths, according to a report from researchers at the Medical College of Georgia.
The marked racial disparities that have come to light in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic reveal the urgent need to ensure adequate testing and treatment for African Americans, as well as safer working and living conditions so that they can better protect themselves, the researchers noted.
“A colorblind approach to public health surveillance and response cannot bring about equity when both the health care system and the structural conditions that inform it are so weak,” said corresponding author Dr. Steven S. Coughlin, interim chief of the Division of Epidemiology in the MCG Department of Population Health Sciences.
Poverty, lack of health insurance, and limited access to healthcare are factors that have contributed to longstanding healthcare disparities among black populations. Research has shown that a higher percentage of African Americans work in jobs where it’s difficult or impossible to work from home or maintain a safe social distance at work.
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White House to hospitals: Bypass CDC, report COVID-19 data directly to HHS
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield says the controversial new process, which calls on hospitals to send capacity and utilization data to HHS, was made with CDC support.
By Kat Jercich
July 15, 2020 02:41 PM
The Trump administration has directed hospitals to stop reporting COVID-19 data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Healthcare Safety Network.
Instead, starting Wednesday, they have been told to send capacity and utilization information – including patient numbers, remdesivir inventory and bed and ventilator usage rates – to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the new HHS Protect system.
On a press call Wednesday, CDC Director Dr. Robert R. Redfield said that the change had been made with the CDC's support.
"We at CDC know that the lifeblood of public health is data," said Redfield, adding that collecting and disseminating data "is our top priority and the reason for the change."
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Study Shows COVID-19 Body Count 20 Times Higher Than Seasonal Flu Deaths
By John Commins | May 20, 2020
Confusion about lethality comparisons may be owing to "a knowledge gap" in how the CDC reports on seasonal influenza and COVID-19.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
· On average, CDC seasonal influenza death estimates are about six times greater than the number of counted deaths.
· Conversely, COVID-19 deaths are not estimated, but counted and reported directly.
· During two weeks in mid-April, 29,933 COVID-19 deaths were counted in the United States.
· CDC counted deaths during the peak weeks of the influenza seasons from 2013-2020 ranged from 351 in 2016 to 1,626 in 2018.
New research shows that counted deaths from COVID-19 in mid-April were about 20 times greater than seasonal influenza counted deaths recorded during peak weeks of the past seven flu seasons.
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https://hitinfrastructure.com/news/microsoft-previews-text-analytics-for-healthcare
Microsoft Previews Text Analytics for Healthcare
The new text analytics for healthcare preview feature in Azure Cognitive Services will detect phrases mentioned in unstructured medical data without the need for manual development of custom models to extract insights from the data, Microsoft says.
July 10, 2020 - Microsoft recently launched a preview feature of text analytics for healthcare, which enables developers to process and extract insights from unstructured medical data, according to a recent press release.
The feature is part of Text Analytics in Azure Cognitive Services and is capable of processing a broad range of data types and tasks without the need for time-intensive, manual development of custom models to extract insights from the data, Microsoft said.
Text Analytics for Health is trained on a range of medical data, including various formats of clinical notes, clinical trial protocols, and more.
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https://healthitsecurity.com/news/41-providers-reported-ransomware-attacks-in-first-half-of-2020
41 Providers Reported Ransomware Attacks in First Half of 2020
While the rate of successful ransomware attacks remained flat during Q1 and Q2 of 2020, Emsisoft predicts a likely uptick due to the season and as the workforce returns to the office.
July 10, 2020 - At least 41 hospitals and healthcare providers organizations reported being impacted by successful ransomware attacks during the first half of 2020, according to recent Emsisoft research. However, the rate of attacks is expected to increase due to the season and as employees return to the office.
The end of 2019 saw some of the highest frequency of both ransomware attacks and successful incidents, with attacks on healthcare doubling from the numbers seen in 2018.
Multiple providers reported being infected with ransomware on a frequent basis, especially during the last quarter of 2019. In fact, Q4 2019 saw a staggering 350 percent increase in ransomware attacks on healthcare providers.
In May, Emsisoft threat analyst Brett Callow told HealthITSecurity.com that these numbers have remained consistent throughout 2020. The only decline has been seen in reported number of successful attacks, meaning providers should not take the decline in reports as a lack of ongoing attempts.
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https://healthitsecurity.com/news/samhsa-revises-privacy-rule-part-42-cfr-for-substance-use-patients
SAMHSA Revises Privacy Rule 42 CFR Part 2 for Substance Use Patients
A year after asking for industry comment, HHS SAMHSA has adopted revisions to the Health Privacy Rule Part 42 CFR designed to fuel care coordination and maintain patient privacy.
July 13, 2020 - The Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) announced the agency has revised the Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records regulation, 42 CFR Part 2.
In the last few years, industry stakeholders and lawmakers have asked for an update to 42 CFR Part 2, which is seen as outdated and burdensome for providers when it comes to sharing the patient records of substance use disorder patients. Other leaders have pressed for an alignment with HIPAA to reduce those challenges.
The rule was drafted in 1972 and intended to shield patients from any stigma or bias associated with substance abuse, which could deter those patients from attempting to receive treatment. However, given its strict requirements on the use and disclosure of those records, 42 CFR Part 2 often prevented providers from attempting to treat patients with substance use disorders.
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FDA proposes changes to atherectomy, BPH device guidances
Posted 13 July 2020 | By Michael Mezher
The
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday released two draft guidances
proposing changes to two final device guidances, one on 510(k) submissions for
peripheral vascular atherectomy devices and the other on clinical and
nonclinical investigations for devices intended to treat benign prostatic
hyperplasia (BPH).
Both draft guidances present updates to sections of the related final guidances
that will be incorporated into the documents following a public consultation.
FDA adds that other sections of the final guidances not addressed in the drafts
will “not be substantively changed and will remain in effect.”
Peripheral
vascular atherectomy devices
Just months after finalizing its guidance
on 510(k) submissions for peripheral vascular atherectomy devices, FDA is proposing
to change some of its recommendations pertaining to software, pyrogenicity
testing and nonclinical performance testing. (RELATED: FDA
revises atherectomy 510(K) guidance in response to cook comments, Regulatory
Focus 12 February 2020).
For the section on software, FDA has added a new paragraph noting its
acknowledgement of voluntary consensus standards supporting interoperability
and pointing device makers to consult its guidance, Design Considerations and Pre-market Submission Recommendations for
Interoperable Medical Devices, if their device can exchange
information electronically with other devices or systems.
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https://khn.org/news/covid-tracking-apps-proliferate-but-will-they-really-help/
COVID-Tracking Apps Proliferate, But Will They Really Help?
Bernard J. WolfsonJuly 8, 2020
My 18-year-old daughter, Caroline, responded quickly when I told her that she’d soon be able to download an app to alert her when she had been in risky proximity to someone with COVID-19, and that public health officials hoped to fight the pandemic with such apps.
“Yeah, but nobody will use them,” she replied.
My young smartphone addict’s dismissal sums up a burning question facing technologists around the country as they seek to develop and roll out apps to track the newly resurgent pandemic.
The app developers, and the public health experts who are watching closely, worry that if they do not engage enough people, the apps will fail to catch a significant number of infections and people at risk of infection. Their success relies on levels of compliance and public health competence that have been sorely lacking in the U.S. during the COVID crisis.
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Geisinger's digital strategy to combat COVID-19 and accelerate enterprise transformation
The COVID-19 pandemic may be viewed as the single largest disruptor in the history of American healthcare. At Geisinger, the crisis has been a catalyst to accelerate digital transformation.
By Geisinger
July 14, 2020 09:02 AM
This post was co-authored by Rebecca A. Stametz, Geisinger's vice president of digital transformation; Karen Murphy, RN, its chief innovation officer; David Vawdrey, chief data informatics officer; John Kravitz, chief information officer; and Paddy Padmanabhan, CEO of Damo Consulting.
In January 2020, Geisinger, the Pennsylvania-based integrated health system known for decades of clinical innovation, launched a multi-year digital strategy to make health easier for patients and members in its health plan.
Built on a foundation of advanced information technology, informatics and data science, Geisinger’s digital strategy was designed to promote continuous improvement opportunities across the spectrum of healthcare delivery. Just as the digital strategy was beginning to take shape, the first COVID-19 patient was admitted to a Geisinger hospital.
As with the rest of the world, the COVID-19 crisis came to Geisinger in a severely disruptive fashion. With the implementation of social distancing measures to slow the spread of the virus, healthcare delivery systems have drastically scaled back services, including postponing clinic visits, procedures and nonurgent surgeries.
Against these headwinds, and entering a new era that could redefine healthcare, rather than slow innovation, COVID-19 has accelerated Geisinger’s digital efforts.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/13/upshot/coronavirus-response-fax-machines.html
Bottleneck for U.S. Coronavirus Response: The Fax Machine
Before public health officials can manage the pandemic, they must deal with a broken data system that sends incomplete results in formats they can’t easily use.
By Sarah Kliff and Margot Sanger-Katz
· July 13, 2020
Public health officials in Houston are struggling to keep up with one of the nation’s largest coronavirus outbreaks. They are desperate to trace cases and quarantine patients before they spread the virus to others. But first, they must negotiate with the office fax machine.
The machine at the Harris County Public Health department in Houston recently became overwhelmed when one laboratory sent a large batch of test results, spraying hundreds of pages all over the floor.
“Picture the image of hundreds of faxes coming through, and the machine just shooting out paper,” said Dr. Umair Shah, executive director of the department. The county has so far recorded more than 40,000 coronavirus cases.
Some doctors fax coronavirus tests to Dr. Shah’s personal number, too. Those papers are put in an envelope marked “confidential” and walked to the epidemiology department.
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https://healthitanalytics.com/news/healthcare-looks-to-ai-powered-chatbots-to-ease-covid-19-anxiety
Healthcare Looks to AI-Powered Chatbots to Ease COVID-19 Anxiety
Chatbots powered by artificial intelligence have emerged as a potential way to support individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
By Jessica Kent
July 09, 2020 - Artificial intelligence tools have played a pivotal role in the COVID-19 pandemic thus far, helping researchers and healthcare organizations identify hot spots, prepare for potential resource gaps, and better understand virus risk factors.
Now, the industry is seeking to use artificial intelligence to assist with yet another aspect of the pandemic: patient anxiety.
Organizations are exploring the use of AI-powered chatbots to support individuals during COVID-19, which could result in improved patient experiences and better outcomes.
In a recent study published in JAMIA, researchers from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business conducted an online experiment with participants who viewed a COVID-19 screening session between a hotline agent – either human or chatbot – and a user with COVID-19 symptoms.
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CVS rolls out 'talking' prescription labels for visually impaired patients
Jul 10, 2020 11:41am
CVS Pharmacy has rolled out a new feature on its app that reads prescription information out loud to assist visually impaired patients.
The drugstore giant worked with the American Council of the Blind to design and test out the new feature. The feature, Spoken Rx, is the first in-app prescription reader application to be developed by a national retail pharmacy, according to CVS.
The in-app reader helps to avoid potentially detrimental errors, which are all too common for patients who are visually impaired or can’t read standard print labels, the company said.
Special RFID labels will allow patients to scan their prescription bottles using Spoken Rx in the CVS app.
By the end of 2020, 1,500 CVS Pharmacy locations will be equipped to affix special RFID labels to prescription vials. The program will be available in all CVS Pharmacy locations by the end of 2021.
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https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/tech/allscripts-microsoft-strike-5-year-cloud-partnership-to
Allscripts, Microsoft strike 5-year cloud partnership to enhance EHR software
Jul 13, 2020 8:00am
Allscripts is extending its partnership with Microsoft to use the tech giant's cloud technology to enhance its electronic health record (EHR) software.
The new five-year strategic partnership will support Allscripts’ cloud-based Sunrise EHR, making Microsoft the cloud provider for the solution and opening up co-innovation opportunities with a focus on developing smarter, more scalable technology, the companies said.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"We're bringing together the capabilities and expertise of both companies—Allscripts' expertise in EHRs and Microsoft's cloud technology to deliver better tools to enhance healthcare and ultimately improve the patient experience," Lisa Khorey, Allscripts’ chief client delivery officer, told Fierce Healthcare.
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Medical Students Should Be Taught How to Care for Immigrant Patients
Physicians depend on race-based markers to determine what to look for—but where someone grew up can be more important than their ethnicity
For immigrants, a medical appointment is never just another routine errand. Instead, it is a challenge, a test of strength, one that provokes anxiety at every step. Will the receptionist understand my accent, or flash a toothy, disingenuous smile while asking me to repeat myself for the third time? Will the doctor ask my own child to translate my diagnosis for me, or attempt to explain using broken phrases learned from a college language class? Should I mention my traditional herbs, or will I be chastised for using “fake medicine”?
Immigrant patients face countless barriers constructed by the medical system, encompassing issues related to limited English proficiency (LEP), health literacy and cultural differences. Nearly 14 percent of the U.S. population are immigrants, and over 25 million individuals have LEP. Unfortunately, the medical system at-large provides subpar accommodations to these patients. Based on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services standards, all hospitals are required to provide language services to LEP patients. Yet, in practice, there is inconsistent compliance to these requirements, and these protections have come under attack. Appallingly, over 30 percent of hospitals provide no language services at all.
However, it’s not merely language differences at fault. Instead, the underlying structure of medicine fails to account for the diverse backgrounds of the patients we treat on an everyday basis.
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July 10, 2020
Legislative efforts aim to address privacy concerns amid COVID-19
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, privacy laws and regulations have been loosened to accommodate increased telehealth services and avoid in-office visits.
For instance, CMS announced that smartphone apps and platforms that would not typically be permitted under HIPAA regulations would be allowed for use during telehealth visits, and that telehealth visits would be reimbursed at the same rate as in-office visits for many services.
These and other efforts have led to a rapid increase in telehealth utilization among primary care physicians. In a recent survey conducted by the Primary Care Collaborative and the Larry H. Green Center, 60% of PCPs reported that they were experiencing an all-time high of non-face-to-face patient contact.
However, the increased use of telehealth services and other efforts with reduced or limited privacy laws, such as contact tracing, has led to concerns regarding privacy breaches.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53333633?intlink_from_url=&link_location=live-reporting-story
Smartwatch hack could send fake pill reminders to patients
· 9 July 2020
Some of the watches are targeted mainly at dementia patients - and a hacker could even send a reminder to "take pills" as often as they wanted to.
The researchers said they were concerned that "an overdose could easily result".
The security flaw has now been fixed after they notified the Chinese company behind it, they said.
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/europe/personal-privacy-does-pandemic-change-rules
Personal privacy – Does the pandemic change the rules?
The pandemic has inevitably made discussions about the use of data even more urgent as we strive to find solutions to dilemmas around managing personal privacy argues Dr Charles Alessi, chief clinical officer at HIMSS.
July 13, 2020 05:24 AM
It is helpful to explore this dilemma a little bit further. Rules and legislation around the right to personal privacy is at the heart of our standing and relationships within communities. Given the extent to which the use of devices is now ubiquitous, as well as the potential for data associated with these devices to identify individuals and when aggregated with other data, to provide a fuller picture of an individual’s habits, the fact that there is strict legislation controlling this is a positive factor.
In different jurisdictions, there are different rules that manage these data flows. In the US it’s Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), in the European Union it’s the General Protection Data Regulation (GDPR) that regulates the use of data and this is mirrored to a greater or lesser extent in most of the other countries in the world. While the interpretation of data legislation is often a contentious issue, and in places there are instances where it impeded, not assisted data transfer, the mainstream judgement is that these rules are worthy as they protect us, the citizens, from the indiscriminate use of our data by everyone from major corporations to governments.
The pandemic does introduce another dimension into this discussion, however. It is widely acknowledged that for effective management of outbreaks, it is necessary to identify, then track and trace every individual who is potentially at risk of developing COVID-19, specifically when individuals could well be shedding virus and be infective prior to the development of symptoms. In looking around the world at which countries have been particularly successful at managing the first wave of COVID-19, they tend to be ones which instituted processes around test, track and trace early and comprehensively. To do this with the requisite speed and scale, it is beneficial to use electronic means to contact trace, as happened in Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and a host of other countries.
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Leveraging digital health in times of COVID-19 and beyond
The two panelists shared their first-hand experience in exploiting technologies to battle the pandemic in China and Malaysia.
July 13, 2020 08:59 AM
The HIMSS APAC Malaysia Digital Health Summit (7-8 July 2020) started with a keynote dialogue on “Leveraging Digital Health in Times of COVID-19 and Beyond”, moderated by Dr Tim Kelsey, Senior Vice President from HIMSS Analytics International. Panelists Dr Francis Qiu, Chief Hospital Commissioning Officer, Taikang Healthcare, China and Dr Helmi Zakaria, Chief Executive Officer, AIME Inc, Selangor COVID-19 Task Force Committee Member, Malaysia, shared their insights and first-hand experience in exploiting technologies to battle the pandemic in China and Malaysia, respectively.
Lessons Learnt
In his experience working with the China authorities to fight the outbreak during the early days, Dr Qiu noted some key factors from a country’s perspective in quickly containing the disease.
First was prompt action and execution. The central and local governments, together with other parties, were galvanized to consolidate resources and pool energy to control the spread and flatten the curve. Second, strong public and private partnership to tackle the challenge in a concerted manner.
Third, technology such as contact tracing app from tech giants Wechat and Alibaba was rapidly deployed. The government was able to swiftly conduct contact tracing using the ubiquitous Alipay and QR code.
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Patients have positive telehealth experiences – but things could be better
A recent survey found that three-quarters of patients said they were very or completely satisfied with the virtual care they'd received, but many left the visit without understanding the next steps.
By Kat Jercich
July 13, 2020 09:43 AM
Three-quarters of patients who obtained healthcare virtually during the pandemic said they want it to be a standard part of care in the future. The result lends weight to the ongoing conversation around telehealth.
A Kyruus survey of 1,000 patients found that more than 75% said they were very or completely satisfied with the virtual care they'd received, and 96% said it was somewhat, very or extremely easy to arrange a visit.
However, a majority also said they left the visit without knowing what the next steps were – suggesting that providers still have a role to play in follow-up care.
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https://healthitsecurity.com/news/41-providers-reported-ransomware-attacks-in-first-half-of-2020
41 Providers Reported Ransomware Attacks in First Half of 2020
While the rate of successful ransomware attacks remained flat during Q1 and Q2 of 2020, Emsisoft predicts a likely uptick due to the season and as the workforce returns to the office.
July 10, 2020 - At least 41 hospitals and healthcare providers organizations reported being impacted by successful ransomware attacks during the first half of 2020, according to recent Emsisoft research. However, the rate of attacks is expected to increase due to the season and as employees return to the office.
The end of 2019 saw some of the highest frequency of both ransomware attacks and successful incidents, with attacks on healthcare doubling from the numbers seen in 2018.
Multiple providers reported being infected with ransomware on a frequent basis, especially during the last quarter of 2019. In fact, Q4 2019 saw a staggering 350 percent increase in ransomware attacks on healthcare providers.
In May, Emsisoft threat analyst Brett Callow told HealthITSecurity.com that these numbers have remained consistent throughout 2020. The only decline has been seen in reported number of successful attacks, meaning providers should not take the decline in reports as a lack of ongoing attempts.
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Mayo Clinic Rolling Out Hospital Care At Home As Part Of Long-Term Innovation Program
July 13, 2020
As I recently reported, the Mayo Clinic has managed to continue with its IT innovation program despite the financial and operational stresses imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. As it turns out, the system has some pretty ambitious plans.
Earlier this month, it announced plans to implement new AI-based technology designed to improve the efficiency of the triage process at its Rochester, MN location. More recently, the Clinic has set plans to roll out a new care model offering advanced services to patients in their homes, working in partnership with tech vendor Medically Home.
The Clinic will begin enrolling patients in the advanced care program in July and August of this year, working with patients served by its Jacksonville, FL and Eau Claire, WI locations. Patients who opt in and qualify for the program will be transitioned quickly from the hospital to their home.
The program is offering a wide range of services at home, including infusions, skilled nursing, medications, laboratory and imaging services, behavioral health and rehabilitation services. Mayo will support the program with help from a network of paramedics, nurses and support team members.
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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/university-health-system-to-remotely-launch-epic-systems-ehr
University Health System to Remotely Launch Epic Systems EHR
The South Texas health system and Epic Systems plan to execute a remote, virtual EHR implementation over the weekend.
July 09, 2020 - University Health System (UHS), a South Texas and San Antonio-based hospital and network of outpatient healthcare centers, announced it is launching a $170 million health IT upgrade in partnership with Epic Systems EHR, according to San Antonio Express-News.
Due to COVID-19, health IT experts at UHS and Epic Systems were unable to work together to guide the implementation, which resulted in a two-month implementation delay. As a result, the health system was forced to conduct a remote, virtual EHR implementation.
“Installing a new EHR is a significant undertaking. It’s like replacing a health system’s central nervous system,” Lee Wasvick, an executive at Epic, said in a statement to San Antonio Express-News.
“That’s why a team of IT staff, administrators and clinicians spend months preparing for the launch. This preparation includes testing hundreds of scenarios and training staff on how to use the system.”
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https://mhealthintelligence.com/features/the-promise-and-potential-for-telehealth-in-home-health
The Promise and Potential for Telehealth in Home Health
Despite reimbursement barriers, home health care providers have long used telehealth and mHealth tools to improve care. Could COVID-19 expand those opportunities?
Eric Wicklund
Editor
ewicklund@xtelligentmedia.com
July 10, 2020 - With the world stuck in the midst of a pandemic, health systems are looking to telehealth to shift the balance of care out of the hospital or clinic and into the home.
That strategy is shining a spotlight on the home health care industry, which has long balanced connected and in-person care but – faced with a shortage of providers and a growing surplus of patients – could use more of the former and less of the latter.
COVID-19 aside, home health care providers are looking to push the envelope on care management and coordination. They’re using telemedicine technology, ranging from mHealth apps and connected devices to remote patient monitoring and smart home programs, to provide a continuous care experience, and one that balances clinical support with self-management.
The pandemic has certainly helped that strategy, with a record number of care providers using telehealth to bypass crowded or closed hospitals and clinics and offer care at home. But while federal and state regulators have enacted a slew of emergency measures to expand telehealth access and coverage, the home health care industry has seen few benefits.
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https://histalk2.com/2020/07/11/weekender-7-10-20/
Weekly News Recap
- Health Catalyst will acquire Healthfinch for $40 million in shares and cash.
- A Health Affairs blog post calls for ONC to start measuring the impact of the interoperability requirements of the 21st Century Cures Act.
- VA seeks robotic process automation to import patient documents from external providers into VistA and Cerner.
- Walgreens will spend $1 billion over the next five years to open VillageMD primary care clinics in up to 700 of its stores.
- Informatics pioneer Octo Barnett, MD dies at 89.
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Enjoy!
David.
