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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Wastewater Monitoring Tool Tracks COVID-19 Trends, Public Health Threats
Researchers have leveraged a wastewater-based epidemiology tool to track opioid use and serve as an early warning system for COVID-19 surges.
December 09, 2022 - Researchers from Arizona State University and personnel from the city of Tempe, Arizona, have showcased the potential utility of a wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) tool to provide health hazard detection and an early warning of public health threats, such as COVID-19, in a study published in The Lancet Microbe.
According to the press release, WBE is an emerging field of study that allows researchers to track chemicals and viruses in sewers and use that data to inform municipality-wide public health policies and interventions. The tool was developed in May 2018 to track opioid use, which allowed public health officials to pivot and use the existing population health monitoring infrastructure to detect SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater at the onset of the pandemic in April 2020.
The wastewater data is combined with other information, such as county and state data on vaccines and test results, to inform interventions.
“Wastewater science is a valuable tool for our city. The data helps us in determining where to set up clinics, intensify community outreach and adjust first responder operations,” said Wydale Holmes, interim director of the Tempe Strategic Management and Innovation Office, in the press release. “Our partnering with ASU and the trust from our community made this innovation possible."
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Baptist Health to Add Remote Physical Examinations to Telehealth Offerings
A partnership between Baptist Health and TytoCare aims to expand access to primary and urgent care through the implementation of remote physical examinations.
December 09, 2022 - To expand its telehealth offerings, Baptist Health is deploying two TytoCare solutions that provide patients with access to remote physical examinations within schools, workplaces, and other clinical locations.
Baptist Health, based in Louisville, Kentucky, comprises nine hospitals and over 400 points of care. It employs more than 23,000 people, including 1,500 clinicians.
Through the new partnership with TytoCare, the organization aims to provide its patients with a telehealth solution that can help supplement in-person primary and urgent care.
The two TytoCare solutions that Baptist Health is deploying are TytoHome and TytoClinic. TytoHome includes a set of remote examination devices that can connect patients with primary and urgent care from home. TytoClinic consists of a similar set of tools that can connect patients to care from their workplace and school settings.
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KLAS: Security is a Top Factor in Public Cloud Adoption For HIT Vendors
Vendors want to see improvements in security, cost, and product enhancements when it comes to public cloud adoption, KLAS reported.
By Jill McKeon
December 09, 2022 - Security is a top priority for HIT vendors when it comes to public cloud adoption, KLAS found. For its 2022 report, KLAS surveyed senior IT leaders from 44 HIT software vendors, all of which are customers of public cloud providers. The report was the first time that KLAS had sourced feedback solely from HIT software vendors.
Nearly half of the interviewed vendors said they had migrated all their go-forward solutions to the cloud. The rest are in varying stages of implementation or migration. While Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the most widely used primary cloud provider, Microsoft Azure is gaining momentum. About three-quarters of respondents whose companies were in the early phases of moving to the cloud are using Microsoft Azure, KLAS found.
Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is also a contender, but KLAS found that vendors use GCP more often as a secondary cloud provider to “fill functionality gaps or enhance capabilities.”
As cloud adoption increases in the healthcare sector and in the vendor space, cloud customers are still facing challenges when it comes to things like support and training from the cloud provider, billing complexity, and interoperability between cloud providers.
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Scotland gets National Digital Platform to improve data access
A new National Digital Platform for Scotland has been launched with the aim of transforming digital healthcare services for the local population, supporting developers and improving access to data for healthcare professionals.
Core Lydon Dec 8, 2022
The platform will help to ensure that there is interaction between digital services allowing them to talk to each other, store and share information as appropriate. By doing so, accessing such services will be made easier for the people of Scotland.
Humza Yousaf, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care in the Scottish Government, said: “Within our health and social care system, services are steadily becoming available on digital platforms for those who wish to use them.
“It is important that these digital platforms work seamlessly together to ensure that people are able to access the right care, at the right place, at the right time.
“I welcome the launch of the National Digital Platform’s website which will offer useful information on using digital platforms and how the NDP can bring together multiple services in one place.”
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5 Takeaways from Health IT Leaders on 2022 Technology Priorities
Jordan Scott is the web editor for HealthTech. She is a multimedia journalist with experience in B2B publishing.
During the tumultuous first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare organizations experienced a rapid increase in technology adoption, a worsening staff shortage related to burnout, and an increase in the amount and sophistication of cyberthreats.
While the future effects of the pandemic — and even this winter’s “tripledemic” — are yet to be seen, healthcare and health IT leaders are reflecting on the industry’s recent evolution and finding ways to prepare for the future through digital transformation.
Here are some of the top takeaways from health IT leaders on healthcare’s digital transformation based on HealthTech’s event coverage, blogs, interviews and Twitter polls this year.
1. Staff Shortage Impacts on Healthcare Severe and Likely to Continue
Staff shortages were a major concern for health IT leaders in 2022, and they will likely continue into 2023. In April of this year, 39 percent of leaders surveyed in a HealthTech Twitter poll responded that staff shortages were their biggest health IT concern.
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Dec 08 2022
Clinicians need the right messaging to pay attention to cybersecurity
The clinical workforce must be cyber aware, and the cybersecurity team must become clinically aware, experts say.
, Executive Editor
BOSTON - The issue with cybersecurity from a clinical point of view is that physicians and nurses just want things to work. They often want cybersecurity to be bolted on to make patient information secure, according to experts speaking during the HIMSS Healthcare Cybersecurity Forum this week.
Clinicians are busy, and get so many messages, that when they receive an email message from the chief information security officer, that information had better be attention-grabbing to rise above the noise. A cybersecurity newsletter is not going to cut it, according to Srinivasan Suresh, vice president, chief information officer and chief medical information officer at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.
"Messaging is key," Suresh said. "We are competing for attention from clinicians who receive dozens of messages every day. Similar attacks at hospitals similar to our hospitals get attention. That hits home," as do the amounts paid in ransomware attacks and the chaos caused by systems going down during cyberattacks.
"Some of these sound a little dramatic," he said. "The point is to get their attention."
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/ai-machine-learning-rtls-and-robotic-process-automation-2023
Looking ahead to 2023: AI, machine learning, RTLS and robotic process automation
These advanced technologies will do more to help provider organizations with workflow optimization, staff shortages and the patient experience in the year ahead, one expert predicts.
By Bill Siwicki
December 09, 2022 10:09 AM
Workflow optimization, staff shortages and the patient experience are three areas that will benefit greatly in 2023 from artificial intelligence, machine learning, real-time location systems (RTLS) and robotic process automation (RPA), predicts Kenny Woods, senior vice president of sales and professional services at CenTrak, which offers locating, sensing and security technologies for the healthcare industry.We spoke with this expert in the field to obtain his opinions on these areas of healthcare and exactly how these technologies will boost them in the year ahead.
Q. Workflow is a big topic in healthcare. What does workflow optimization in healthcare look like to you in 2023?
A. An efficient workflow platform is crucial in healthcare and ensures that daily operations run smoothly by providing ongoing visibility and actionable insights. Like any organization, healthcare facilities must analyze data to make decisions concerning facility performance, customer satisfaction, staffing and long-term planning.
Enterprise visibility is critical throughout this process. To achieve the best patient care and workflow optimization in 2023, healthcare professionals need access to platforms that automate workflows to alleviate the burden of manual documentation – which often can be delayed or potentially inaccurate – and offer proactive communications to each other, patients and family members.
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HL7 Calls on NCVHS to Designate FHIR as Clinical Attachments Data Standard
HL7 officials outlined how the FHIR data standard can support HIPAA-mandated prior authorization and clinical attachments workflows.
December 08, 2022 - In a recent letter, Health Level Seven International (HL7) called on the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) to include FHIR as a data standard for electronic clinical attachments.
HL7 officials expressed concern that the proposed Attachments rule in the CMS Unified Agenda may not include HL7 FHIR and the Da Vinci Clinical Data Exchange Implementation Guide (CDex) as standards since NCVHS did not recommend a specific standard in their July 2022 letter to the HHS Secretary.
“If they are not included, the healthcare industry may miss a significant opportunity to build upon the FHIR foundations,” Charles Jaffe, MD, PhD, HL7 CEO, said in a public statement.
“This may have lasting impact on patients, providers, government and commercial entities and the broader healthcare community. We must continue to adopt HL7 FHIR to support HIPAA-mandated transactions,” Jaffe added.
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The Exec: El Camino Health's CMO Pushes the Boundaries of Innovation While Maintaining Patient Safety
Analysis | By Christopher Cheney | December 07, 2022
El Camino's CMO says the health system uses artificial intelligence that creates a deterioration index, which alerts physicians when a patient is deteriorating clinically.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
· Innovative health systems anticipate change, then apply changes in a way that benefits patients.
· To balance innovation and patient safety, health systems should conduct robust research and have an institutional research board.
· Culture, work environment, and healthcare worker camaraderie are essential to maintain a workforce.
Innovative health systems anticipate change, then apply changes in a way that benefits patients, says Mark Adams, MD, chief medical officer of El Camino Health.
Adams has been the CMO of the Mountain View, California–based health system since 2018. Prior to joining El Camino Health, he was interim system chief clinical officer of SSM Health and CMO of PeaceHealth. He earned his MD degree from University of Pennsylvania.
HealthLeaders recently talked with Adams about a range of issues, including CMO leadership, innovation, physician burnout, and workforce shortages. The following transcript of that conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
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Digital health investment in 2023: 4 key things to know
– 7 Dec 2022
Investors in the healthcare technology space expect digital health investments to reach a valuation of $15 billion to $25 billion in 2023, according to a Dec. 1 survey by global investment firm GSR Ventures.
Four digital health investments trends to know, according to the report:
- Return on investment and clinical
validation of a technology's platform will be greatest indicators of a
digital health company's success in 2023.
- Investors said valuations will be down in 2023 by around 20 percent for seed stage investments and down by 20 percent to 40 percent for Series A and Series B investments.
- Digital health startups specializing in provider and clinician burnout will have the most opportunity, according to investors. Startups specializing in changing reimbursement models and interoperability will also see an increased opportunity.
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Dec 07 2022
How hospitals can financially measure the risk of cybersecurity attacks
The value proposition is making sure everyone is using the same process for cyber risk quantification.
Susan Morse, Executive Editor
BOSTON – The question that arises when the topic of risk quantification comes up in healthcare is, "How much is it going to cost me?" said Jack Lewin, speaking during the HIMSS Healthcare Security Forum in Boston.
"How do we value the healthcare data we're trying to protect here?" asked Lewin, founder and principal of consultant Lewin & Associates.
Chief information security officers and other experts taking part in "Cyber Risk Quantification in Healthcare" indicated there is no definitive answer.
Hospitals and other healthcare entities are the only organizations able to make multimillion-dollar investments in which no ROI is shown and the benefits are unclear outside of the security team, said Michael Meis, associate chief information security officer for the University of Kansas Health System.
Security is believed to be either secure or not, Meis said.
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/new-research-urges-governments-invest-healthcare-digitization
New research urges governments to invest in healthcare digitization
The Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience emphasizes the need for digital transformation, even amid economic uncertainty. Jan-Willem Scheijgrond, global head of government and public affairs at Philips, unpacks the new report.
December 08, 2022 10:35 AM
The Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience, or PHSSR, a collaboration between academia, non-governmental life sciences and healthcare organizations, and businesses such as Philips – published research in November spotlighting the urgency for governments to address gaps in healthcare, including funding data sharing and digitization.
Jan-Willem Scheijgrond, the global head of government and public affairs at Philips, spoke with HIMSS to discuss the research findings and how data sharing can improve healthcare systems, patient outcomes, and lessen healthcare's environmental impact.
Q. Can you talk about the importance of PHSSR's research?
A. Sure. A lot of governments were saying that we needed more resilience in the healthcare system [during COVID]. And I was very interested in that. Let's have a resilient healthcare system. And at that time, the demands from governments to Philips changed like every week.
First, it was we need oxygen and then we need different oxygen because we need more oxygen for these patients than we normally have in the ICU. So, can you do that differently? And then we started looking at diagnostics. We need CT scanners. Well actually CT scanners don't really work for communicable diseases where we don't know if they have COVID or not. So can you do a bedside X-ray and bedside ultrasound? And can you change the protocols? Can you adapt and develop algorithms?
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New Zealand expanding e-script service to cover controlled drugs
Prescribers can start issuing digital scripts for controlled drugs on 22 December.
By Adam Ang
December 08, 2022 12:02 AM
Prescribers will soon be able to provide electronic prescriptions for controlled drugs as the government expands the coverage of the New Zealand e-Prescription service.
The New Zealand government has recently made amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 1997, which will allow prescribers to issue signature-exempt prescriptions for controlled drug medicines starting on 22 December.
The amendments to the regulations will also allow prescriptions for Class B controlled drug medicines to cover a period of up to three months when these are issued through the NZePS.
WHY IT MATTERS
At present, prescribers and pharmacists have to provide a signed, hard copy of any prescription for a controlled drug medicine. Expanding the coverage of the NZePS to include such medications will then reduce the administrative burden for prescribers, the Health Ministry noted.
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EHR vendors ask FDA for revisions to clinical decision support software guidance
A letter from the HIMSS EHR Association outlines concerns and requests clarifications around issues such as automation bias and how the industry would transition away from legacy technologies that conflict with the guidance.
By Andrea Fox
December 08, 2022 11:45 AM
The HIMSS Electronic Health Record Association, a national trade association of EHR developers composed of 30 member companies, sent a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week outlining concerns about the regulatory agency's final Guidance for clinical decision support software.
WHY IT MATTERS
The 21st Century Cures Act amended section 520 of the Federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act to exclude certain medical software functions, including certain decision support software, from the definition of device.
The EHR Association wrote in its December 6 letter that, while its members had contributed input on the draft guidelines in September 2019, and have long awaited the final guidance, they are concerned about five key areas based on the members' experiences supporting healthcare providers in their use of EHRs and other healthcare information technology.
The EHR vendors say CDS is highly intertwined with EHR technology, but can be sourced from a number of places, making compliance responsibility murky.
"The FDA’s guidance does not appropriately reflect the reality that decision alerts are frequently created and configured by provider organizations and that for many health IT solutions, the developer asserts little or no control over CDS configuration," the EHR Association said in the letter.
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AHA Asks CMS to Halt National Healthcare Provider Directory Operation
The hospital group listed several concerns with the CMS proposed national healthcare provider directory, ranging from provider burden concerns to lack of technical readiness.
December 07, 2022 - The American Hospital Association (AHA) detailed several concerns and requested that CMS not proceed with the proposed national healthcare provider directory, the trade group said in a public comment on the pitch.
Earlier this month, CMS published an RFI on establishing the first national directory of healthcare providers and services (NDH) that could serve as a data hub for healthcare providers, facilities, and entities nationwide.
Although patients already use provider directories to locate and research healthcare providers, the fragmentation of current provider directories leads to inaccurate reporting.
CMS said the NDH would help patients navigate health plan networks and facilitate health information exchange and public health data reporting to advance equity goals.
While AHA agreed with advancing patient access to provider information, the hospital group showed apprehension about the additional provider directory requirements associated with the NDH.
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AHA Shares Recommendations Regarding Cybersecurity Policy Proposals
The latest cybersecurity policy proposals included in Senator Warner’s policy options paper could benefit from better federal leadership, cyber hygiene practices, and cyber emergency preparedness, AMA said.
December 07, 2022 - Hospitals and healthcare systems have implemented the necessary steps to protect patients and defend their networks from cyberattacks, but they need future support through cybersecurity policies to address cybersecurity threats, the American Hospital Association (AHA) stated following Senator Mark R. Warner’s policy options paper.
Specifically, the “Cybersecurity is Patient Safety” paper examined the cyber security challenges federal agencies face regarding jurisdiction over healthcare cybersecurity, approaches the government could take to help the private sector tackle threats through mandates and incentives, and policies that could help cyberattack responses.
Senator Warner also requested feedback from individuals, advocacy groups, researchers, and businesses on the cybersecurity policy proposals released in November.
In a letter to Senator Warner, AHA expressed its agreement with certain aspects of the letter but offered recommendations to help policies provide appropriate support for hospitals and health systems.
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AI improves physician readiness for patients while cutting time spent on charts
Published on: December 7, 2022
AAFP, developer apply artificial intelligence to primary care.
Computerized artificial intelligence (AI) cut the time primary care physicians spent sifting through patient charts – but helped them feel better prepared for patient visits.
The findings were part of a study by the American Academy of Family Physicians’ (AAFP) Innovation Lab. AAFP worked with computer program developer Navina to test its Navina AI Assistant program in a 30-day trial with 10 physicians in three practices.
After at least 991 patient encounters, the doctors reported a 61% decrease in visit preparation time, a 25% increase in diagnoses found, and a 37% increase in risk adjustment factor scores. Every participant said they would recommend the AI Assistant to a colleague, according to the study, “AI Assistant for Clinical Review To Reduce Burden and Improve Quality and Value-Based Care Outcomes,” announced by AAFP and Navina on Dec. 6.
“The dramatic impact on these family physicians suggests that an AI Assistant for Clinical Review may be an essential technology to optimize the family medicine experience,” the report said.
"Chart review is a significant burden for physicians today using just an EHR,” or electronic health record, Steven E. Waldren, MD, MS, AAFP vice president and chief medical informatics officer, said in a news release. “In our lab, we saw the promise of leveraging an AI assistant for clinical review and look forward to further understanding these technologies' positive impacts in care delivery and transition to value-based care."
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https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/health-tech/experts-question-femtech-apps-claims-privacy-post-roe
Consumer demand for more digital security is up post-Roe. Can femtech deliver on it?
Dec 6, 2022 07:20am
Since the fall of Roe v. Wade, concerns about digital tracking have grown as consumers abandon their usual femtech apps in search of better privacy. Prosecutors can weaponize health app data, alongside other digital trails of data, in cases related to abortion.
In Nebraska, in a case involving a teenager allegedly mishandling fetal remains, additional abortion charges were brought after the Dobbs ruling when police obtained the girl’s Facebook messages. According to one estimate, police and prosecutors have used at least 50,000 extractions of digital data from 2015 and 2019 for various crimes.
Following the Supreme Court decision, some femtech companies have made an effort to amp up their security. But recent studies, such as those from Mozilla and Consumer Reports, reveal that not all claims about privacy hold true. Despite the popular consensus that personal health information should be protected, U.S. law does little to guarantee this. Until regulations catch up to the latest push for greater privacy, experts say, companies may continue to exploit health data for profit.
At the same time, some are innovating toward a better end. Data encryption company Virtru debuted a prototype of an encrypted period tracking app at the annual hacker convention DEF CON in August, where reproductive health was a topic of focus. The prototype, SecureCycle, was built on OpenTDF, an open-source Virtru project giving software developers a framework for building E2E encrypted apps. Its stated goal was to showcase the technology and prove a user can own their data.
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Te Whatu Ora loses access to 14,000 health data following cyberattack
The incident did not cause any disruption to its health services.
By Adam Ang
December 06, 2022 11:56 PM
Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand is currently investigating a cyber incident involving its IT service provider which impacted access to thousands of data relating to bereavement and cardiac services across its network.
On Tuesday, the organisation said access to some information held by its IT service provider was blocked following a cyber attack.
This includes approximately 8,500 bereavement care services records from Middlemore Hospital dating back to 2015 and 5,500 records from the cardiac inherited disease registry dating back to 2011 and accessed by clinicians in Auckland, Wellington, Tauranga, Waikato, and Nelson.
The incident, however, did not cause any disruption to Te Whatu Ora health services as its systems were not directly targeted. Moreover, there is no evidence so far that the inaccessible data has been subject to unauthorised access or download.
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Report into Waikato DHB cyberattack forwards cybersecurity recommendations
Among things, it recommended systemic logging and monitoring across Te Whatu Ora's data estate.
By Adam Ang
December 06, 2022 11:49 PM
An analysis report concerning last year's cyberattack on the former Waikato District Health Board has given several recommendations to beef up cybersecurity across New Zealand's health system.
The Ministry of Health had engaged managed cybersecurity service provider InPhySec Security to review the 18 May incident and provide advice on what can be learned from it.
RECOMMENDATIONS
One of the report's major recommendations is a cybersecurity design which involves data segmentation, identification of high-risk data assets, the use of encryption for data, access controls, and systematic logging and monitoring across the health system's data estate, including legacy systems.
"The design phase can limit damage in the event of an intrusion and make the system more resilient," it said.
The report also forwarded some typical post-incident recovery recommendations such as patching, regular exercise of incident response plans, and having the "closest possible" controls on the number and activities permitted of privileged access accounts.
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/blog/tips-being-effective-healthcare-it-leader-2023-and-beyond
Tips for being an effective healthcare IT leader, in 2023 and beyond
To fight for the best and the brightest, don't give employees a reason to go. Pay them well, keep them engaged and ensure that managers know their roles.
December 07, 2022 03:00 PM
I have been reflecting as 2022 winds down, realizing that as healthcare IT leaders prepare for a new year, there will be many headwinds facing our future path. Although it's been almost three years since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, leading healthcare IT organizations has never been more challenging.
What worked for many years in terms of leading technology teams is often no longer enough in today's new healthcare setting. The skills, traits and experience that made leaders successful in the past continues to change direction and evolve as the fallout from the great resignation and remote working impact the workforce.
I'd like to share, from my experience, several strategies that IT leaders may benefit to focus on as we move into 2023 and beyond to maximize retention and productivity.
Assuming that you have a healthy organizational culture, having your finger on the pulse of the environment and setting your sights toward prioritizing efforts to continue thriving is of utmost importance. Also, it's going to be important to recognize the difference between a "forced" culture and an "inspired" culture.
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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/pprl-boosts-patient-matching-across-clinical-research-networks
PPRL Boosts Patient Matching Across Clinical Research Networks
Privacy-preserving record linkage (PPRL) produces unique sets of de-identified tokens to support patient matching for clinical research.
December 06, 2022 - Privacy-preserving record linkage (PPRL) technology helped enhance patient matching within the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network (PCORnet), according to a study published in JAMIA.
PCORnet network partners harmonize EHR and claims data to the PCORnet Common Data Model (CDM) specifications and use DataMart resources to respond to queries.
Researchers used a PPRL solution from Datavant to quantify patient overlap across ∼170M patient records and report a de-duplicated analysis of the PCORnet population. PPRL technology produces unique sets of de-identified tokens to match patients.
Researchers found a high degree of variation in the overlap between DataMarts, with the highest percentage occurring between geographically close organizations or those with an organizational or health plan relationship.
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Deep-Learning Model Assists Researchers in Obtaining Useable EHR Data
MIT researchers found that a deep-learning model can help extract information from clinical notes recorded in EHRs, ultimately enabling clinicians to provide more personalized recommendations.
December 06, 2022 - With the goal of identifying a more efficient method of deciphering clinical notes, researchers from MIT described how a deep-learning model helped clean up her data, leading to information extraction and more accurate analyses of patient data.
EHRs play a distinct role in healthcare, assisting providers in several ways. Ten years ago, the US government decided to encourage the adoption of EHRs, as it believed that these systems would lead to improvements in care, the press release notes.
Even though encouraging EHR use aimed to ease provider burdens, it became clear that data contained in EHRs are often disorganized and rife with jargon and abbreviations that many cannot easily comprehend.
This issue, along with the goal of creating a single model to extract information, which can work well within various hospitals and learn from limited amounts of labeled data, led MIT researchers to act. Affiliated with the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), the researchers believed that large language models could proficiently extract and analyze EHR data. Thus, they used a GPT-3 styled model to perform those tasks.
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Direct-to-Consumer Healthcare Websites Need Better Patient Education
Direct-to-consumer healthcare websites for testosterone therapy helped improve access to care, but they don’t meet industry standards for patient education.
By Sara Heath
December 06, 2022 - Direct-to-consumer healthcare websites that offer a medication after online screening might be improving patient access to care, but they often fail to provide the patient education industry groups say is necessary to ensure informed treatment decisions, according to research in JAMA Internal Medicine.
The researchers zeroed in on DTC websites offering testosterone therapy to cisgender men. In an analysis of these websites, the team found that services don’t follow American Urological Association (AUA) or Endocrine Society (ES) guidelines for patient education.
This comes as direct-to-consumer online services become commonplace in healthcare. These companies are prevalent in the mental and reproductive healthcare space and provide patients access to prescription medications after a telehealth consultation with an online provider.
They are also advantageous in the men’s healthcare space, the authors argued in a research letter. Low testosterone levels, known as hypogonadism, can cause some highly stigmatized issues, like erectile dysfunction, decreased libido, fatigue, and depression. An online DTC platform may help connect men to testosterone treatments that can help these ailments.
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https://healthitsecurity.com/news/balancing-digital-transformation-with-healthcare-cybersecurity
Balancing Digital Transformation With Healthcare Cybersecurity
Forrester researchers shared best practices for maintaining healthcare cybersecurity amid rapid digital transformation at the HIMSS Healthcare Cybersecurity Forum in Boston.
By Jill McKeon
December 06, 2022 - BOSTON, Mass.
As organizations continue to digitally transform their ecosystems to enable new operations and care delivery models, healthcare cybersecurity concerns must remain top-of-mind.
During a December 6 keynote presentation at the HIMSS Healthcare Cybersecurity Forum, held in Boston, Forrester researchers Alla Valente and Kara Wilson presented several trends that have the potential to disrupt healthcare security and privacy. Valente and Wilson also offered key recommendations for how healthcare organizations can take action today to mitigate risk.
The Dual Reality of Healthcare
“Healthcare exists in two states simultaneously,” Valente, a senior researcher at Forrester who specializes in governance, risk, and compliance, suggested to the audience. “The first state is transformative, advanced, and disruptive.”
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted this state of healthcare. Scientists were able to develop the COVID-19 vaccine was developed in a matter of months, with the help of data analytics and global cooperation. In addition, healthcare organizations were able to quickly pivot and implement telehealth solutions to maintain patient care amid a global crisis.
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https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/patientcenteredmedicalhome/102059
Please, Spare Us Your Paperwork Glitches
— Practicing medicine is challenging enough without unnecessary hoops to jump through
The null set feels like it's full to overflowing.
One day this week, one of my partners sent me an email, telling me she's started receiving faxes that include the entire admission record from each one of her patients who gets admitted to the hospital. Each one has contained 40 to 100 or more pages, every note, every lab, every vital sign, every imaging report. From our own hospital. That uses the same medical record. That we can see in our office.
How did someone decide that this was a good idea?
Someone, somewhere, probably figured out there was a way to select "fax medical records to PCP" with the click of a button, and they turned this on without bothering to check whether it would do it regardless of where the PCP was located, even if it's in the same hospital. This wastes a lot of paper, a lot of energy, and a lot of human resources. Someone has to get it out of the fax machine and direct it to the right person, and even if she ends up doing nothing except shredding it, that's a lot of time and effort for nothing.
One day this week included in my faxes was a letter from a subspecialist at a hospital on the West Coast where a patient of mine had been seen for a surgical issue. I'd asked him to ask their office if they could send me a copy of their records for me to review. The fax was addressed to me, from the surgeon, and the next page was what looked like an auto-generated letter from within their electronic medical record:
"Dear Dr. Pelzman,
No notes on file
Sincerely,
Dr. Smith"
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https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/technology/how-are-cios-planning-their-technology-purchases
How Are CIOs Planning Their Technology Purchases?
Analysis | By Eric Wicklund | December 06, 2022
A new survey from the Merritt Group finds that CIOs value input from key industry and thought leaders, as well as the media, when purchasing technology. And industry events are popular again as well.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
· A survey of healthcare CIOs finds that 90% rely on key industry and thought leaders when purchasing technology, 70% use the media, and 75% eye industry events for information.
· Some 75% of CIOs look at videos supplied by vendors, while 65% like case studies and 60% check out vendor websites and webinars.
· Only 40% look at social media, and only 20% listen to podcasts.
Healthcare CIOs considering their next big technology purchase are looking to media and key industry and thought leaders for input on what to buy. And they're not all that interested in Twitter, Facebook, or the latest whitepapers.
That's the takeaway from a survey of 20 CIOs conducted by the Merritt Group, a marketing and PR firm. It speaks to the challenges faced by health system leaders as they sift through the ever-growing vendor landscape to find the right tool or platform.
According to the survey, 90% of CIOs say the endorsements of key opinion leaders and industry influencers add weight to their purchasing strategy, and 70% use the media to influence their decisions. Some 80% get their healthcare news from the media—trade publications, medical journals, professional organizations, and business press—while only 40% look at social media and 20% listen to podcasts.
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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/onc-interoperable-health-it-key-for-hiv-prevention-health-equity
ONC: Interoperable Health IT Key for HIV Prevention, Health Equity Efforts
The latest National HIV/AIDS Strategy Federal Implementation Plan outlines interoperable health IT as a strategy to enhance HIV prevention efforts and health equity.
December 05, 2022 - Interoperable health IT can help drive health equity to end the HIV epidemic and support people living with HIV, ONC officials said in a recent HealthITBuzz blog post.
Collaborative, community-based, and cross-sector approaches addressing clinical and social determinants of health (SDOH) are needed to support communities disproportionally affected by HIV.
The White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) incorporated health IT as a strategy in the latest National HIV/AIDS Strategy Federal Implementation Plan for the United States 2022-2025.
“Strategy 4.3.2 in the plan is focused on using health IT to enhance HIV prevention efforts, support early intervention, and improve care outcomes,” they wrote. “The actions under this strategy are focused on advancing data standards to facilitate interoperability, including clinical decision support for HIV testing and treatment, HIV case management and care coordination, and SDOH information exchange.”
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https://patientengagementhit.com/news/health-it-investments-remain-fixed-on-patient-access-to-care
Health IT Investments Remain Fixed on Patient Access to Care
Patient portals, appointment reminders, and telehealth are among the top health IT tools health systems use to improve patient access to care.
By Sara Heath
December 05, 2022 - For the second year in a row, the Center for Connected Medicine (CCM) Top of Mind for Health Systems report showed that health IT investments will focus on improving patient access to care.
The report, completed in partnership with KLAS Research, showed that health systems are still being challenged by the disruptions the COVID-19 pandemic caused in patient behavior and engagement. More than a quarter (28 percent) of the survey respondents said that patient access is the top area in which technology has the greatest promise for making improvements.
“It’s no secret that health systems have been facing significant challenges since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and must address consumer demands for greater convenience and accessibility from their health care providers,” Joon Lee, MD, the executive vice president of UPMC and president of UPMC Physician Services, said in a statement about the CCM/KLAS report.
“The CCM’s Top of Mind report underscores the priority we’re placing on patient access and highlights the improvements we’re focusing on, including options for virtual care, greater self-scheduling functionality, and more engagement with our patient portal.”
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https://healthitsecurity.com/news/cisa-fbi-alert-healthcare-sector-of-cuba-ransomware-tactics
CISA, FBI Alert Healthcare Sector of Cuba Ransomware Tactics
The Cuba ransomware group has collected over $60M in ransom payments and comprised more than 100 critical infrastructure organizations, including many within the healthcare sector.
December 05, 2022 - The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a joint cybersecurity advisory to warn critical infrastructure organizations of tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and indicators of compromise (IOCs) associated with Cuba ransomware.
The FBI and CISA have observed threat actors using Cuba ransomware from November 2019 through August 2022, pursuing attacks against financial services, government facilities, technology companies, manufacturers, and healthcare organizations.
As of August 2022, Cuba ransomware actors have victimized more than 100 companies globally, demanded nearly $145 million, and raked in more than $60 million in ransom payments. According to the advisory report, the number of attacks had doubled since December, when the FBI released a flash alert to organizations about Cuba ransomware actors.
Threat actors typically use commercial software vulnerabilities, compromised credentials, phishing emails, or legitimate Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) tools to gain access to networks.
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https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/984944
EHR Alerts to Both Doc and Patient May Boost Statin Prescribing
Automated alerts to aid clinical decision-making are designed with the best of intentions but can be easy to ignore or overlook. But a randomized trial testing such electronic alerts or "nudges" for promoting statin prescribing may have identified a few design features that help their success, researchers say.
In the trial's primary finding, for example, reminders displayed to primary care physicians in the electronic health record (EHR) worked best when the system also reached out to the patient.
Reminders sent only to the clinician also boosted statin prescribing, but not as well, and nudging only the patient didn't work at all compared to a nudge-free usual care approach. The patient-only nudges consisted of text messages explaining why a statin prescription may figure in their upcoming appointment.
Nudge Trustworthiness
Importantly, the clinician nudges were more than simply reminders to consider a statin prescription, Mitesh S. Patel, MD, MBA, Ascension Health, St. Louis, Missouri, told theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology. They also displayed the patient's atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) 10-year risk score and explained why a statin may be appropriate. He thinks that information, often left out of such clinical-decision support alerts, increases physician trust in them.
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Digital health VCs eye healthcare workforce, cancer care as ripe for startups in 2023
Dec 2, 2022 07:00am
Despite the market downturn and economic pressures, the majority of investors expect digital health dollars in 2023 to be roughly on par with 2020, bringing in an estimated $15 billion to $25 billion.
In fact, VCs plan to make roughly the same number of health tech investments this year as compared to 2021, according to a new survey of 50 digital health venture capital investors conducted by GSR Ventures.
For context, digital health investment in 2021 was an eye-popping $29.1 billion, according to Rock Health, and that was a huge jump from $15 billion in 2020. Venture capital firms invested $8.3 billion in digital health startups in 2019.
Compared to a record year in 2021, digital health funding has plummeted this year. With the third quarter included, 2022 year-to-date funding totals $12.6 billion across 458 deals, raising doubts that this year’s digital health pot will reach even half of last year’s haul, according to Rock Health, a venture fund dedicated to digital health.
Despite this, many VCs seem relatively optimistic about the sector in 2023 and see many bright spots for innovation.
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HHS bulletin clarifies when pixel tracker use may violate HIPAA
Dec 2, 2022 03:55pm
The Biden administration has issued a bulletin warning that pixel trackers may come up against federal privacy law.
Healthcare organizations regulated under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) may use third-party tracking tools, such as Google Analytics or Meta Pixel, to perform analysis on data key to operations. What they can't do, however, is use these tools in a way that may expose patients' protected health information to these vendors, according to the bulletin from the Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
For example, a healthcare organization cannot allow a third-party entity to access protected data for marketing purposes without HIPAA-compliant approval from patients, OCR said.
Facebook parent company Meta's Pixel has been the source of controversy in the industry in recent months as multiple health systems revealed the tool led patient data to be shared with multiple third-party companies. Advocate Aurora Health System, for example, revealed that sensitive health data on 3 million patients may have been compromised and shared with vendors.
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2023 may bring progress in SDOH tech, telehealth and interoperability
So say experts from Unite Us, who also offer a deep dive into health equity in 2022 and 2023.
By Bill Siwicki
December 05, 2022 10:42 AM
Health equity and technological innovation are top priorities for the healthcare industry – with new standards, technology and policy driving the way.
Despite innovations, a new study from the Yale School of Public Health finds the nation is losing ground on access to healthcare, with more barriers now than 20 years ago.
Dan Brillman, CEO of Unite Us, and Melissa Sherry, vice president of social care integration at Unite Us, offer Healthcare IT News readers insights into how these and other challenges are likely to be handled in 2023.
Unite Us is a technology company that builds coordinated care networks of health and social service providers. Using Unite Us technology, providers across sectors identify social care needs, send and receive secure electronic referrals, report on tangible outcomes, and transform payment models within a secure and collaborative ecosystem.
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/improving-cyber-preparedness-collective-responsibility
Improving cyber preparedness is a collective responsibility
"The adversary has to beat all of us to beat one of us," said Greg Garcia of the Healthcare and Public Health Sector Coordinating Council at the HIMSS Healthcare Cybersecurity Forum.
By Andrea Fox
December 05, 2022 04:43 PM
BOSTON – Greg Garcia, executive director of the Healthcare and Public Health Sector Coordinating Council cybersecurity working group, asked the audience at the HIMSS Healthcare Security Forum a facetious question: "What is your problem?"
During his discussion here on Monday, Garcia made the point that information security is actually "our problem."
He explored the ways the health sector is collaborating – and falling short on collaboration – on managing cybersecurity risks.
There's been more than 4,500 data breaches affecting 315 million patient records, he pointed out, and the healthcare industry should know by now what its problems are:
- Data breaches from cyberattack have increased 350% over the past five years, according to the HHS Office of Civil Rights
- Ransomware has caused disruption in clinical operations and patient harm
- Aging medical devices are no longer supported or supportable
- Third-party service providers and vendors are vectors to healthcare attack.
- The clinical workforce must acknowledge and become part of the cybersecurity solution
Garcia said that while many solutions will be discussed at the two-day cybersecurity conference that will focus on the tactical and operational, he wanted to talk about one larger strategic solution – collaboration.
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/are-we-taking-patient-privacy-seriously-we-ought-be
Are we taking patient privacy as seriously as we ought to be?
At the 2022 HIMSS Healthcare Cybersecurity Forum in Boston, keynote speaker Anita Allen described the delicate and complex balance between the imperative of data sharing and the need to protect privacy.
By Andrea Fox
December 05, 2022 10:57 AM
BOSTON – Anita Allen, professor of law and philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, kicked off the 2022 HIMSS Healthcare Cybersecurity Forum on Monday, with a nuanced and thought-provoking discussion on patient privacy in an era of widespread data sharing.
Allen said ahead of the conference that she wanted to bring her expertise in law and bioethics to bear on problems of great concern to healthcare and technology and would focus her discussion on data exchange and patient privacy.
In her keynote speech, Allen focused on the shifting narrative of data sharing and privacy, which she has been studying and writing about for 35 years.
"Attitudes about health data privacy are rapidly changing," she said. "They have rapidly changed. And disclosure is becoming the new norm."
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AHIP Survey Says Telehealth is Popular Because of Its Convenience
Analysis | By Eric Wicklund | December 02, 2022
The survey of 1,000 commercially insured consumers finds that they used telehealth because it's more convenient than a trip to the doctor's office, but frequency is still an issue.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
· According to a survey commissioned by America's Health Insurance Plans, almost 70% used telehealth in the past year because it's more convenient than in-person care, and almost 80% say telehealth makes it easier to seek out care.
· Almost 50% used telehealth because they were unable to make an in-person appointment, while 24% said they wanted to save money.
· Some 36% used telehealth just once over the past year, while 53% used it between two and five times.
Convenience is still the top reason that consumers enrolled in commercial insurance plans use telehealth, and most would like Congress to make sure it stays that way.
Almost 70 percent of respondents to a survey commissioned by America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) in October said they've used telehealth during the past year because it's more convenient that a trip to the doctor's office, clinic, or hospital. And almost 80% say telehealth makes it easier for them to access care when they need it.
“Patients and providers accept – and often prefer – digital technologies as an essential part of health care delivery,” Jeanette Thornton, AHIP's executive vice president of policy and strategy, said in a press release announcing the survey of 1,000 consumers, which was conducted by NORC and the University of Chicago. “Telehealth can be just as effective as in-person care for many conditions and allows patients to receive more services ‘where they are.’ That’s why health insurance providers are committed to strengthening and improving both access and use for the millions of Americans who use telehealth for their healthcare needs.”
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Enjoy!
David.
