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://mhealthintelligence.com/news/telehealth-bolsters-maternal-care-outcomes-patient-satisfaction
Telehealth Bolsters Maternal Care Outcomes, Patient Satisfaction
New
research shows that implementing telehealth, either in place of or as a supplement
to in-person care, led to good clinical outcomes and high patient satisfaction
in maternal care.
By Mark Melchionna
July 29, 2022
- A
new study from the Annals of Internal Medicine found that replacing or
supplementing in-person maternal healthcare with telehealth led to positive
clinical outcomes and high levels of patient satisfaction.
The US has the
highest maternal death rate among high-income countries. Following the rise
in healthcare access barriers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, pregnant and
postpartum women especially faced great uncertainty.
To battle
this issue, researchers sought to determine the efficacy of telehealth use in
maternal healthcare through a review of previous studies, which included 28 randomized
controlled trials (RCTs) and 14 observational studies.
They found
that patient-reported outcomes from telehealth interventions were similar to, if
not better, than those that resulted from in-person care. This was particularly
true when treating conditions relating to mental health, general maternal care,
and diabetes during pregnancy.
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https://www.digitalhealth.net/2022/07/guys-and-st-thomas-it-issues-continue-some-systems-online/
Some systems back online but Guy’s and St Thomas’ IT issues continue
Guy’s and
St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT) is still experiencing issues after its
IT systems failed last week as a result of the UK’s extreme heatwave.
Jordon Sollof
27 Jul, 2022
Some IT
systems are now back online but the trust is still suffering significant IT problems at its sites which is
impacting services.
A
spokesperson for Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust said: “We continue
to respond to significant IT problems on our sites, which is having an ongoing
impact on our services. While the majority of appointments have gone ahead,
unfortunately we have had to postpone some operations and appointments.
“We are very
sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused and our staff are doing
everything possible to minimise the impact on patients. Where urgent care has
been affected we will be contacting patients to rearrange their care at the
earliest opportunity.
“The trust
has well established business continuity plans to allow us to continue as much
activity as possible and to ensure that patient safety is prioritised at all
times.
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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/onc-mulls-health-information-exchange-data-for-patient-centered-research
ONC Mulls Health Information Exchange Data for Patient-Centered Research
ONC plans
to implement data standards, APIs, and machine learning (ML) infrastructure to
leverage health information exchange data for patient-centered outcomes
research (PCOR) about COVID-19.
By Sarai Rodriguez
July 28, 2022
- ONC has announced
a new project to leverage health information exchange (HIE) data to support
COVID-19 focused patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) by implementing new
data standards and technology.
State and
local HIEs aggregate patient EHR data from more than 60 percent of hospitals in
the United States. Yet, these extensive datasets have restricted use because of
technical and privacy-related barriers, ONC officials stated.
“HIEs
routinely collect patient data from a variety of sources and then facilitate
the exchange of patient health information with clinicians, public health
agencies, and laboratories,” ONC officials Adam Wong and Wei Chang wrote in
the HealthITBuzz blog post.
“Increased
use of this data for patient-centered research could help facilitate research
activities, including in public health emergencies such as COVID-19,” Wong and
Chang continued. “However, varied technical and privacy requirements often put
in place by states can make it difficult for HIEs to make data easily usable
for researchers.”
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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/surescripts-reports-increase-in-specialty-medications-health-it-use
Surescripts Reports Increase in Specialty Medications Health IT Use
Health IT
vendor Surescripts completed 421 percent more Specialty Medications Gateway
transactions in the first five months of 2022 compared to the same period in
2021.
By Hannah Nelson
July 28, 2022
- More prescribers and specialty pharmacists nationwide are leveraging
Surescripts Specialty Medications health IT to optimize prescribing
workflows.
From May 2021
to May 2022, the number of prescribers enabled for Specialty Patient Enrollment
grew 24 percent.
Additionally,
the number of Specialty Medications Gateway transactions was 421 percent higher
in the first five months of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021.
“Eliminating
the time-consuming and manual process of prescribing specialty medications and
simplifying the delivery of patient information removes delays that threaten
medication adherence,” Frank Harvey, CEO of Surescripts, said in a press
release. “It also means healthcare professionals can spend less time on
paperwork and more time focused on what matters most: patients’ health.”
Accredo
specialty pharmacy recently implemented automation enhancements with Specialty
Medications Gateway to obtain current information on a patient’s weight for use
in weight-based dosing.
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https://healthitanalytics.com/news/clinical-decision-support-tool-provides-effective-precision-medicine-guidance
Clinical Decision Support Tool Provides Effective Precision Medicine
Guidance
Researchers
have found that an automated tool for genetic disease diagnosis and management
guidance can achieve accurate results within 13.5 hours.
By Shania Kennedy
July 28, 2022
- A study
published this week in Nature Communications shows that an automated clinical
decision support tool for genetic disease diagnosis and treatment can provide
accurate results and disease management guidance within 13.5 hours.
The tool,
known as Genome-to-Treatment (GTRx), is a virtual disease management system
that integrates whole genome sequencing to provide diagnostics and guidance for
500 diseases, according to a press
release discussing the study’s findings. The study was completed in
collaboration with multiple organizations, vendors, and health systems.
The study
states that the 7,200 genetic disorders currently known to medical science
result in high levels of morbidity and mortality in children, specifically in
neonatal, pediatric, and cardiovascular patients. Approximately 140 million
children worldwide suffer from rare genetic diseases, and experts estimate that
30 percent of them will not survive until their 5th birthday.
The researchers
further note that the progression of these diseases is often extremely rapid in
ICUs, which can lead to increased morbidity or mortality without timely
diagnosis and treatment.
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https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/health-tech/how-amazons-one-medical-deal-could-boost-its-healthcare-ambitions-and-heat-competition
What Amazon's $4B One Medical play reveals about its healthcare ambitions
By Heather Landi
Jul 25, 2022 02:00am
With
Amazon's proposed deal to buy One Medical, the company is placing another
massive bet on its healthcare strategy—to the tune of nearly $4 billion.
Amazon
has been rapidly expanding its reach in the healthcare space, most notably in
2018 with its acquisition of online pharmacy PillPack.
"Amazon
is obviously making decisions based around assets in the market at the right
price. Frankly, [the One Medical acquisition] is one of the more
foundational ones for them because this is where you are touching the patient.
This is likely going to be the largest driver for them to be able to
execute the rest of their strategy," Brad Haller, a senior partner
in West Monroe's mergers and acquisitions practice, said in an interview.
The
online retail giant announced plans last week to buy
One Medical for $18 per share in an all-cash transaction
valued at approximately $3.9 billion including the company's net debt,
according to a press release.
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https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/health-tech/teladoc-takes-3b-impairment-charge-dragging-down-q2-earnings
Teladoc takes hefty impairment charge in Q2 with losses mounting to nearly
$10B
By Heather Landi
Jul 27, 2022 04:39pm
Telehealth
giant Teladoc Wednesday reported a hefty loss of $3.1 billion that dragged
down its second-quarter earnings. The company's share price tumbled in after-hours
trading as management set lower expectations for its 2022 outlook.
The
company took a $3 billion hit from an impairment charge that pushed the company
to a loss of $19.22 per share in the second quarter compared to a loss of
$133.8 million, or a loss of 86 cents per share, for the same period a
year ago.
In
the first quarter, Teladoc took a $6.6 billion hit to write down the value of
its Livongo acquisition two years ago. With those two impairment charges, the
company's losses have ballooned to $9.8 billion in the first half of the year.
Companies
opt for impairment when the value of assets or goodwill on their books is no
longer fully recoverable.
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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/is-physician-ehr-use-a-detriment-to-the-patient-experience
Is Physician EHR Use a Detriment to the Patient Experience?
Two-thirds
of physicians reported that EHR use negatively impacted patient experience, but
patients felt differently, with 91 percent of patients saying physician EHR use
had a positive impact.
By Sarai Rodriguez
July 27, 2022
- EHRs are supposed to improve the care experience for providers and
patients. However, both groups have contrasting attitudes towards physician EHR
use and its impact on the patient experience, a recent study published in
Annals of Family Medicine found.
The
EHR is intended to promote safe, efficient, and high-quality medical care,
the researchers wrote. Yet, it has been previously described as a “third
person” in the examination room. During clinical encounters, EHR use can change
a healthcare practitioner’s eye gaze, posture, and attention given to patients.
“Entering
health information, placing electronic orders, and retrieving results can be
distracting to patients and practitioners,” Ellen C Meltzer, lead study
author and internal medicine specialist at Mayo Clinic-Phoenix, and colleagues
wrote. “When practitioners focus on their computer, dialog is easily disrupted
and can lead to gaps in communication and patients feeling unheard.”
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https://healthitanalytics.com/news/ai-protein-design-software-trained-to-generate-medicines-vaccines
AI Protein Design Software Trained to Generate Medicines, Vaccines
An
artificial intelligence software developed to design proteins may also be used
to create medicines, vaccines, and cancer treatments.
By Shania Kennedy
July 27, 2022
- Researchers at Harvard and the University of Washington School of
Medicine (UW Medicine) have developed
an artificial intelligence (AI) software that uses deep
learning to design proteins with various functions, some of which could be
used in the creation of medicine, vaccines, and medical treatments.
Protein design, also
known as protein engineering, is a process by which researchers create proteins
with enhanced or novel functional properties. These engineered proteins have
various uses, but many are used in medical research to design protein-based
vaccines, such as some COVID-19 vaccines, or medical treatments for conditions
like cancer.
In the past,
researchers have used computers to try to design proteins for research, but
this is a difficult process, according to the press release. Because a single
protein molecule can contain thousands of bonded atoms, proteins created in a
lab are difficult to engineer and study.
These
challenges spurred the research team to look for alternative solutions.
Inspired by machine
learning and its ability to generate images from prompts, the researchers
set out to build a similar algorithm for protein design.
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https://www.medicaleconomics.com/view/web-apps-offer-a-way-in-for-cyberattacks-in-health-care-computer-networks
Web apps offer a way in for cyberattacks in health care computer networks
July 26, 2022
Richard
Payerchin
HHS
calls for added security in latest threat brief on apps such as patient
portals, telehealth.
Web
applications such as patient portals, telehealth services and online pharmacies
can become openings for computer network attacks against physicians and health systems,
according to federal experts.
The
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued the warnings and
potential security upgrades in its latest threat brief, “Web Application
Attacks in Healthcare.” HHS offers guidance through its Office of Information
Security and the Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center (HC3).
“Even
though there are a variety of web application attacks, there are also
processes, technologies and methods to protect against them,” the threat brief said.
Web apps in use
Web
apps are application programs “stored on a remote server and delivered over the
Internet through a browser interface,” according to the official definition.
Those exist as online forms, shopping carts, word processors, spreadsheets,
video and photo editing programs, file convertors, file scanners and email
programs including Gmail, the threat brief said.
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https://medcitynews.com/2022/07/health-data-silos-are-growing-can-cds-hooks-help-bridge-the-gaps/
Health data silos are growing: Can CDS Hooks help bridge the gaps?
The CDS Hooks API is a new specification that builds on FHIR, describing
how EHRs can automatically invoke external platforms or apps. For the first
time, by CDS Hooks invoking FHIR apps, EHR-only users can have insights
relevant to the clinical situation and within their EHR workflow based on data
sourced outside of it. CDS Hooks is potentially a powerful way to ensure that
all patient data can be accessed via the EHR.
By Mark Braunstein
Jul 26, 2022
at 2:00 PM
Data
interoperability has long been a challenge that has become increasingly
important as healthcare moves toward a value-based care model. Being able to
share clinical records and other patient data among providers and across
different systems is key to helping meet the goals of cost-efficient care with
better patient outcomes.
But
does the current application of standards bind medical records,
patient-generated data and clinical decision support (CDS) tools into a
continuous workflow to benefit providers and their patients?
Finding
a cure for data access through FHIR integration
Before
we dig deeper into this issue, let’s look at how far we’ve come. In 2016, the
21st Century Cures Act enshrined healthcare data access into law by addressing
some of the ongoing challenges with regard to data interoperability and
electronic health records (EHRs). It required certified EHRs to support
patient-facing APIs to allow for increased data access, transparency and
interoperability across different vendors and third-party applications. It also
outlawed ‘data blocking’ ensuring access to EHR data.
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https://www.healthdatamanagement.com/articles/improving-healthcare-services-with-automated-translators
Improving healthcare services with automated translators
New
translation services from Microsoft, Amazon and Google, integrated with EHRs,
can help organizations avoid the high cost of interpreters.
Jul 21 2022
Mike
Davis
Analyst, KLAS
Research
When a
non-English-speaking person presents for healthcare services, their inability
to converse with care providers can become a safety and care quality issue.
Limited
English proficiency, or LEP, is an independent driver of health disparities and
negatively impacts other social determinants of health. Language interpreters
may not be readily available to some care providers. If the person needing
healthcare does not have a family member that can translate for them,
diagnosing and delivery of care can be challenging.
In many
cases, providers hire interpreters to assist with patient communications. The
use of professional interpreters is likely to decrease communication errors,
increase patient comprehension, equalize healthcare utilization, improve
clinical outcomes and increase satisfaction patient satisfaction for patients
with LEP.
But these
interpreter services add significant costs. The cost of interpreter services
can range from $45 to $150 per hour for in-person interpreters, $1.25 to $3 per
minute for telephone interpreters, and $1.95 to $3.49 per minute for remote
video interpreting. In some cases, these services may be covered by a patient’s
Medicaid or other federally funded medical insurance.
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https://www.healthdatamanagement.com/articles/ai-data-acquisition-challenges?id=130686
AI – data acquisition challenges
A
data normalization process can require significant resources to initiate and
maintain.
Jul 27 2022
Mike
Davis
Analyst, KLAS
Research
More
healthcare organizations are trying to generate accurate and reliable
artificial intelligence algorithms to assist with improving healthcare delivery
while reducing costs.
These
organizations can control the quality of their own data. But they also must use
large volumes of data from third-party resources or other organizations to
develop accurate and defensible AI algorithms. And using that data
requires a formidable data normalization process that can involve significant
resources to initiate and maintain.
Data
scientists spend 45 percent of their time on data preparation used to inform
their algorithms, according to one report.
Data normalization challenges include the identification and ingestion of data
sources, mapping data so it’s searchable and building algorithms for analytics
and AI.
While
healthcare has codified several data elements (e.g., DRGs, ICD-10, CPT-4, and
HCPCS), a significant portion of healthcare documentation is still captured as
unstructured text data. Using natural language processing engines to extract
and map unstructured text into coded data elements is improving the quality of
internal data for organizations, but it’s challenging when external data
acquisition is incorporated into larger data sets.
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https://www.healthcareittoday.com/2022/07/27/reduce-physician-burnout-by-addressing-usability-and-interoperability-says-cma-president/
Reduce Physician Burnout by Addressing Usability and Interoperability Says
CMA President
July 27, 2022
Colin Hung
All
around the globe, healthcare systems are beginning to strain and fray as
physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals leave their positions or
scale back their hours. There is no silver bullet. Restoring our health systems
and re-energizing staff is going to require change and improvement on many
fronts. Technology can help, but only if it reduces the administrative burden.
Dr. Katharine Smart, President of the Canadian Medical Association believes
interoperability is key to reducing physician burnout.
Healthcare
IT Today sat down with Dr. Smart at a recent conference in Toronto
to discuss the healthcare workforce crisis and how Health IT can help.
Worrying
Trend
“Physicians
are absolutely experiencing burnout at double the rate before the pandemic,
it’s now over 50% of physicians and extends to nurses and other healthcare
professionals,” stated Dr. Smart. “It’s really worrisome. We are in a situation
where we have problems with access and not enough staff. That’s not where we want
to be.”
Recently,
there have been noticeable signs of the healthcare workforce crisis. In Canada headlines
are starting to appear around local Emergency Departments reducing their hours
due to a shortage of staff. The same is happening in Europe.
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https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/finance/data-breaches-hit-healthcare-industry-right-wallet
Data Breaches Hit Healthcare Industry Right in The Wallet
Analysis | By Amanda Schiavo | July 27, 2022
Average breach costs in healthcare increased to $10.1 million this year.
The
healthcare industry has been hit hard financially by an increase in data breaches,
with the average breach costs in healthcare increasing by nearly $1 million in
2021 to $10.1 million in 2022, according to recent data
from IBM.
For
12 consecutive years the healthcare industry—defined as hospitals and clinics
in the IBM research—has had the highest average cost of data breaches per year,
with financial organizations coming in second. Sixty percent of organizations
across a variety of industries have reported needing to increase the price of
their products and services because of costly data breaches. However, the IBM
report shows that the right strategies coupled with the right technology can
make a positive and significant difference when healthcare organizations are
attacked.
Healthcare
organizations have reported nearly two-times as many breaches between January
and July of 2022 than for the same period last year, according to a Politico report. Additionally, four out of five
organizations surveyed by IBM said they'd experienced at least one successful
attack.
Some
organizations may think the best approach is to simply pay the ransomware
demands and move on, but the IBM data shows this approach is more
costly—especially when factoring in the cost of the ransom. Those in the study
who decided to pay saw only $610,000 less in average breach costs
compared to those that chose not to pay—and that is not including the cost of
the ransom.
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/healthcare-breach-costs-hit-record-high
Healthcare breach costs hit record high
The newest
IBM X-Force Cost of a Data Breach Report also shows healthcare organizations
have the longest breach cycle of any industry, requiring nearly 11 months to
identify and contain security incidents.
By Nathan Eddy
July 27, 2022
09:57 AM
The
average breach costs in healthcare surpassed $10 million, with the industry
maintaining its the top rank for costliest industry breaches for the 12th
consecutive year, according to IBM X-Force's latest Cost of a Data Breach
Report.
The
average total cost of a breach in healthcare increased 9.4% from $9.2 million
in the 2021 report to $10.1 million in 2022.
The
study also found healthcare organizations have a higher breach cycle
than any industry, requiring nearly 11 months to identify and contain a breach.
"In
recent years, we've increasingly seen cybercriminals rely on the concept of
leverage," says John Hendley, head of strategy at IBM Security X-Force.
"Healthcare is simply a very attractive and lucrative target as operations
and downtime are considered both costly and urgent."
Malicious
actors use this sense of urgency as leverage to pressure their victims – often
through ransomware attacks.
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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/latest-oracle-cerner-ehr-outage-occurs-at-va-roseburg-medical-center
Latest Oracle Cerner EHR Outage Occurs at VA Roseburg Medical Center
The nearly
four-hour Oracle Cerner EHR outage left doctors unable to access the health
center’s patient registration platform.
By Sarai Rodriguez
July 26, 2022
- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Roseburg Medical Center was the
latest facility to be affected by an unplanned Oracle Cerner EHR outage, according
to reporting from FedScoop.
The EHR
system implemented less than two months ago went down on July 21, 2022, leaving
doctors and clinicians unable to register patients for almost four hours.
Patients were able to receive treatment during the EHR downtime, VA emphasized.
The outage
between 11:42 a.m. and 3:51 p.m. Pacific Time restricted access to VA Roseburg
Medical Center’s patient registration platform.
“During this
time, clinical staff could not check-in, discharge, or transfer patients,” a VA
spokesperson said to FedScoop. “While staff may not have been able to register
patients or transfer them to another unit within the EHR, patients were seen
and treated. When the issue was resolved, patients were registered and
transferred within the system to the appropriate patient unit.”
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https://healthitanalytics.com/news/ml-model-estimates-weekly-opioid-overdose-deaths-using-proxy-data
ML Model Estimates Weekly Opioid Overdose Deaths Using Proxy Data
New
analysis shows that a machine learning model can estimate national opioid
overdose mortality trends in near real-time using proxy data sources.
By Shania Kennedy
July 26, 2022
- Researchers have developed a machine
learning (ML) model capable of estimating national weekly opioid overdose
mortality trends in near real-time using proxy data sources such as public
health information and law enforcement data.
Forecasting
opioid overdose deaths is a major component of efforts to combat the opioid
crisis, but issues around overdose data prevent public health officials from
doing so effectively. According to the study, national data on opioid overdose
deaths are often delayed by several months or more, seriously limiting their
usability.
Earlier in
2022, researchers from the National Institute of Drug Abuse at the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) argued
that these data lags are such a large issue that they force public health
officials to fight the opioid epidemic “blindfolded.”
Further, the
researchers stated that the only way to effectively address the opioid crisis
is to use real-time, disaggregated data to identify which groups of individuals
are most at-risk and use that information to target prevention and treatment at
the local level.
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https://mhealthintelligence.com/news/digital-therapeutics-provide-many-benefits-but-threats-challenges-remain
Digital Therapeutics Provide Many Benefits, But Threats, Challenges Remain
Research
shows that the growth of digital therapeutics provides many benefits and
opportunities for patient care, but organizations must consider the potential
drawbacks.
By Mark Melchionna
July 25, 2022
- While examining digital therapeutics (DTx) and their effect on
healthcare, researchers from Forrester released a report that identified
various benefits and risks associated with this type of technology.
DTx
is essentially a set of software and devices that organizations often use
to deliver care for various conditions, including substance use disorders and
diabetes.
While
recognizing the growth of DTx use, the researchers noted several strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats that need to be considered. The report, which was
shared with mHealthIntelligence via email, is based on interviews with numerous
DTx companies.
The strengths
of DTx highlighted in the report were ease of use, high levels of accessibility
and delivery, and data collection.
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https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/digital-health/digital-pharmacy-startup-capsule-lays-13-workforce-media-report
Digital pharmacy startup Capsule lays off 13% of workforce: media report
By Heather Landi
Jul 22, 2022 07:20am
Capsule
joins the growing list of digital health and health tech companies slashing
head counts in the face of a market downturn.
The
New York-based digital pharmacy startup initiated staffing cuts this week that
impacted 13% of its workforce, Crain's
New York Business reported. Sales and marketing, software engineering,
product, operations and expansion growth were among the affected departments,
according to LinkedIn posts from former employees who were part of the layoffs.
Capsule
did not respond to a request for comment.
The
company had 938 employees as of May, according to Pitchbook.
Founded
in 2015, the company has expanded beyond New York City to more than a dozen
markets including Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles and Minneapolis. The startup
aims to build a "one-stop-shop" for digital healthcare where
consumers can access Capsule’s digital pharmacy along with a curated set
of products and services—such as telemedicine or mental health support—all from
within a single app, according to company executives.
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https://www.medtechdive.com/news/johns-hopkins-sepsis-alert-reduced-deaths/627918/
Johns Hopkins sepsis alert tool reduced patient deaths, studies find
Published July 22, 2022
Elise Reuter Reporter
Dive Brief:
- Three
studies published in
Nature by researchers at Johns Hopkins University and machine learning
startup Bayesian Health found that a sepsis early detection tool reduced
relative deaths from sepsis by 18.2%. Sepsis is a life-threatening
response to an infection that is estimated to cause about a third of
hospital deaths, according to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
- The prospective studies, which took
place across five hospitals, found that Bayesian’s
machine learning platform identified 82% of sepsis cases, and 38% of
alerts were confirmed by a doctor. When an alert was confirmed by a doctor
within three hours, patients received antibiotics nearly two hours faster
than patients whose alert was addressed later, dismissed or never
confirmed.
- Although sepsis prediction tools
have been adopted at hundreds of hospitals, few prospective studies
evaluate how they perform in the real world. A
study published last year found that a widely used model developed by
Epic Systems missed 67% of sepsis cases at one hospital, despite
generating alerts for 18% of hospitalized patients.
Dive Insight:
Bayesian
Health, a startup spun out of Johns Hopkins, tested its sepsis-detection
platform across two academic hospitals and three community hospitals between
2018 and 2020.
At
first, researchers ran the system in the background and measured how it
performed against the current standard of care. Then, they deployed it in
hospitals and measured provider adoption of the tool and how it affected
patient outcomes.
-----
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/nist-revises-healthcare-guidance-improve-hipaa-security-rule-compliance
NIST revises healthcare guidance to improve HIPAA Security Rule compliance
The draft
publication 800-66 focuses on helping inform the industry about security issues
around electronic protected health information.
By Nathan Eddy
July 25, 2022
10:47 AM
The
National Institute of Standards and Technology announced an update to its
healthcare cybersecurity guidance, placing a greater emphasis on the guidance's
risk management component, including integrating enterprise risk management
concepts.
WHY IT
MATTERS
The draft publication 800-66 focuses on helping inform the
industry about security issues around electronic protected health information,
or ePHI, which runs the gamut of patient data from lab results to hospital
visits within the context of the HIPAA Security Rule.
The
HIPAA Security Rule, which focuses on protecting the confidentiality,
integrity and availability of ePHI, is separated into six main sections,
ranging from general rules and administrative safeguards to technical and
physical safeguards.
The
guidance also draws attention to the new challenges posed by telehealth and
telemedicine technologies, as well as cloud services and mobile device
technology.
Also
included are resources made available to help healthcare organizations protect
ePHI from ransomware and phishing, two common threats that are rapidly
evolving.
-----
https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/vulnerabilities-health-data-privacy-causing-tension-among-patients
Jul 25 2022
Vulnerabilities in health data privacy causing tension among patients
More than 92% of patients believe privacy is a right, and their health
data should not be available for purchase, survey shows.
Jeff Lagasse, Editor
Confidence
in the security and confidentiality of personal health information is beginning
to erode, if the results of a new survey are any indication. Released by the
American Medical Association, it showed that more than 92% of patients believe
privacy is a right, and their health data should not be available for purchase.
Close
to 75% of the 1,000 patients surveyed by Savvy Cooperative expressed concern
about protecting the privacy of personal health data, and only 20% of patients
said they knew the scope of companies and individuals with access to their
data.
This
concern is magnified with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson
Women's Health Organization as the lack of data privacy could place patients
and physicians in legal peril in states that restrict reproductive health
services. That ruling overturned the right to abortion that had been protected
by Roe v. Wade for decades.
The
survey indicated patients are most comfortable with physicians and hospitals
having access to personal health data, and least comfortable with social media
sites, employers and technology companies having access to the same data.
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https://www.healthcareittoday.com/2022/07/25/how-should-rpm-vendors-choose-remote-patient-monitoring-device-suppliers/
How Should RPM Vendors Choose Remote Patient Monitoring Device Suppliers?
July 25, 2022
The
following is a guest article by Jack Wang, the Vice President of AOJ Medical.
RPM
service and Telehealth are not new topics In the current health care market,
and many RPM
and Telehealth vendors have already set up services, systems, and applications
for specified diseases or target patients. These kinds of vendors also treat
remote monitoring devices as a key part of the services, such as different
kinds of vital signs monitoring and chronic disease monitoring devices.
The
benefit of continually monitoring the conditions of the patients provides
health care vendors an ongoing status from a technical and data-oriented view
so that they can evaluate the patients’ state and optimize the care solutions
more effectively.
Vendors
need various monitoring devices and these devices also need to be integrated
into the entire health care system. How to choose these kinds of device
partners and suppliers is a little bit complicated for heath care vendors and
many vendors have no hardware design and manufacturing background. During our
three years of working side by side with RPM vendors, our experts at AOJ
Medical summarized a few principles as good practices to help RPM vendors make
more efficient decisions.
Principle
1: Evaluate the technical competence of the suppliers.
Due
to the global supply chain division and cooperation, most hardware devices are
from some manufacturing countries like China. Normally, there are no big
differences in basic manufacturing competence among different suppliers in
China. Most of them have their own manufacturing plants with high-cost
materials and labor.
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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jul/21/london-nhs-trust-cancels-operations-as-it-system-fails-in-heatwave
London NHS trust cancels operations as IT system fails in heatwave
Guy’s and St
Thomas’ trust having to postpone and divert appointments, with doctors unable
to see patients’ notes
Denis Campbell
Health policy editor
Fri 22 Jul
2022 01.26 AEST Last modified on Fri 22 Jul 2022 14.28 AEST
One of the
NHS’s biggest hospital trusts is facing major problems after its IT system
failed because of the extreme temperatures earlier this week.
Guy’s and St
Thomas’ trust (GSTT) in London
has had to cancel operations, postpone appointments and divert seriously ill
patients to other hospitals in the capital as a result of its IT meltdown.
The situation
means that doctors cannot see patients’ medical notes remotely and are having
to write down the results of all examinations by hand. They are also unable to
remotely access the results of diagnostic tests such as X-rays and CT and MRI
scans and are instead having to call the imaging department, which is
overloading the department’s telephone lines.
GSTT has
declared the problem a “critical site incident”. It has apologised to patients
and asked them to bring letters or other paperwork about their condition with
them to their appointment to help overcome doctors’ loss of access to their
medical history.
Both its
datacentres, one at Guy’s hospital and the other at St Thomas’ hospital,
stopped working on Tuesday afternoon as Britain experienced record
temperatures. The air conditioning units intended to keep them cool failed,
sources at the trust said.
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Enjoy!
David.
