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/digital-duds-the-mhealth-wearable-market-looks-to-sensor-embedded-clothing
Digital Duds: The mHealth Wearable Market Looks to Sensor-Embedded
Clothing
mHealth
wearables have often focused on watches, wristbands and jewelry. Now the
spotlight is shining on sensor-embedded clothing that can help providers track
movement and other health data.
By Eric Wicklund
May 21, 2021
- The mHealth wearables industry has long been focused on activity bands
and watches, even jewelry and smartglasses. Often overlooked is the concept of
sensor-embedded clothing, but that form factor is now seeing interest from care
providers who want a better way to monitor health on the move.
At Modesto
Junior College in California, Jamie Derollo, an athletic trainer and the
school’s director of sports medicine, is using a sensor-embedded sleeve to help
athletes recover from injuries. The sleeve, developed by Denver-based Cipher
Skin, helps her track arm movement and design a care plan around mobility
exercises.
But that
sleeve offers more opportunities. Along with tracking motion, the sensors
gather biometric data that is then integrated into a telehealth platform,
allowing care providers like Derollo to track not only physical performance but
clinical outcomes.
“I’m just
getting started, but there are a lot of possibilities with this,” she says. “It
gives me insight and data that I haven’t had before.”
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https://patientengagementhit.com/news/digital-health-literacy-considerations-for-rpm-in-senior-care
Digital Health Literacy Considerations for RPM in Senior Care
Boosting
remote patient monitoring (RPM) use in senior care is going to require a strategy
for addressing digital health literacy and patient navigation.
By Sara Heath
May 21, 2021
- As remote patient monitoring (RPM) gains a toehold in the healthcare
industry, it will be essential for medical professionals to address the digital
health literacy issues that could come with it, especially when using RPM for
senior care.
After all, if
there is one thing the pandemic underscored, it is the steep digital divide in
healthcare. The influx of telehealth and remote patient monitoring use for
chronic care management underscored who does and who does not have the ability
to engage with digital technologies.
Recent data
from Insights by Xtelligent Healthcare Media, for example, showed digital
health literacy as one of the biggest barriers to patient engagement for senior
populations. Thirty-seven percent of respondents strongly agreed that senior
patients don’t fully understand telehealth, and 31 percent agreed.
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https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/practices/study-automated-prior-authorization-may-lower-costs-improve-care-for-cancer-patients
Study: Automated prior authorization may lower costs, improve care for
cancer patients
by Paige Minemyer
May 20, 2021
7:10am
A
new study from researchers at CVS Health finds that an automated prior
authorization process may drive lower cost, more efficient cancer care.
The
research, released for the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference,
found that from April to December 2020, 279 prior authorization requests were
submitted by a large health system through the Novologix platform, a clinical
decision support tool for prior auth.
Of
those submissions, 83% were automatically approved in real time, according to
the study. None of the submissions were ultimately denied, according to the
researchers, and those not approved automatically were reviewed via a
partnership with the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
CVS
developed Novologix to provide a more streamlined care management option for
oncology treatment, based in the NCCN guidelines, and is available to all of
its health plan clients, Roger Brito, divisional head of enterprise
oncology at CVS Health, told Fierce Healthcare.
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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/few-fl-medicaid-docs-stuck-with-meaningful-use-attestation
Few FL Medicaid Docs Stuck With Meaningful Use Attestation
After
receiving the first-year meaningful use EHR incentives, most Florida Medicaid
providers dropped out of the program.
By Christopher Jason
May 20, 2021
- Between 2011 and 2018, the state of Florida distributed nearly $100
million to healthcare providers that eventually did not maintain meaningful use
status after obtaining first-year financial incentives, according to a study published
in the International Journal of Medical Informatics. Only 43 percent of Florida
Medicaid providers achieved meaningful use after receiving the first-year
incentive.
Numerous
studies have found the HITECH ACT to be directly responsible for the
significant increase in provider EHR adoption rates. Incentivizing EHR
adoption was based partially on the premise that EHRs would enhance patient
safety and healthcare quality.
Florida
Atlantic University researchers aimed to assess provider participation beyond
the initial incentive of up to nearly $22,000.
Following
the initial incentive in State 1 Meaningful Use, healthcare providers were
eligible receive upwards of $8,500 annually if they participated in the
remaining five years of that program. Such participation in Stages 2 and 3
Meaningful Use would entail utilizing certified EHR or health IT to improve
care quality, patient safety, and clinician efficiency.
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https://www.statnews.com/2021/05/21/ransomware-hospitals-cybersecurity-health-records/
‘Swept under the carpet’: When health records are held ransom, patients
are the hardest hit — and last to know
By Marion
Renault May 21, 2021
Allison Savage waited years for surgery to remove the
elongated bones at the base of her skull that have compressed her jugular
artery, making her vision blur and head spin every time she leaned over to
garden, fold laundry, or look at her computer.
“I
have to rest up before I brush my teeth, and I have to rest up after,” said
Savage, 54. Covid-19 postponed a second surgery to remove the bone on the right
side of her neck; during the 14-month delay, her symptoms became “a nightmare.”
“It feels literally like someone is strangling me,” Savage said.
Earlier
this month, anxious about the upcoming procedure, Savage tried to check in with
her doctors using her online patient portal with Scripps Health, a San Diego
hospital and clinic system. It was shut down. Then, two of her appointments were
cancelled last-minute. She called her doctors, but they, too, were locked out
of patient record systems.
Scripps
Health had been hit with a ransomware attack that led to an IT network outage and
forced its staff to divert critical care patients to nearby hospitals and
revert to pen-and-paper recordkeeping. For Savage, the outage couldn’t come at
a worse time. “I just needed reassurance, and no one from Scripps would talk
with me or help me,” she said. “It’s scary.”
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https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/telehealth/gao-tells-congress-to-halt-expanding-telehealth-until-there-s-more-research.html
GAO tells Congress to halt expanding telehealth until there's more
research
Hannah Mitchell – 20 May, 2021
The
Government Accountability Office testified in front of Congress that government
agencies should wait until after the pandemic, when there is more research,
before expanding telehealth coverage for Medicare and Medicaid programs,
according to a May 19 report.
Telehealth
capabilities were vital during the start of the pandemic, but now it's deemed
safe to return to a physician's office. Some officials from GAO are concerned
that there have not been enough studies proving that virtual visits are just as
effective as in-person visits.
In
addition, telehealth visits can increase CMS' spending if virtual visits are
reimbursed the same as in-person visits. There is also an increased risk of
fraud, waste and abuse that GAO has previously noted because some program
safeguards have been suspended.
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/apac/doctors-provide-free-telehealth-services-covid-19-patients-india
Doctors provide free telehealth services for COVID-19 patients in India
The services
are being provided to keep mild cases out of emergency rooms.
By Thiru
Gunasegaran
May 21, 2021
04:02 AM
Volunteer
doctors from the US-based American Association of Physicians of Indian-Origin
and Hindu faith-based group Sewa International have been offering
teleconsultations and medical advice to COVID-19 patients in India via the
eGlobalDoctors platform.
WHAT
THEY DO
Over
100 volunteer physicians from both AAPI and Sewa International have joined its
platform, according to eGlobalDoctors Chairman Dr Sreeni Gangasani. The
healthcare website, which registered at least 2,000 COVID-19 patients, has been
visited more than 100,000 times since the start of May. About 500 patients have
already received medical counselling.
Sewa
International's team of volunteers is helping to match patients to doctors who
speak the same language and placing them into virtual consultation rooms. They
are also helping to connect patients who do not have video access and access to
the internet.
"Sewa's
work on the ground is streamlining the process by reaching the people who are
most in need – even those from smaller, rural areas," Dr Gangasani said.
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/emea/uk-launches-implementation-plan-genomic-healthcare-system
UK launches implementation plan for genomic healthcare system
The plan
focuses on expanding the diversity and reach of genomics in the UK as well as
improving patient diagnosis, treatment and sickness prevention.
By Sophie Porter
May 21, 2021
01:04 AM
UK
Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, has today announced the launch of the Genome UK 2021-2022 implementation plan.
Following
the Genome UK policy paper published in September 2020, the
plan outlines 27 priority actions for the next year that will help the UK to
advance its ambition to become “the world’s most advanced genomic healthcare
ecosystem”.
WHY IT
MATTERS
The
plan outlines 27 commitments to further genomics in the UK, with 5 key goals:
- A partnership between Genomics
England and NHS England/Improvement to enable faster and more
comprehensive genomic testing of cancer
- Whole genome sequencing for
patients with rare diseases
- Ensure diverse datasets through
bespoke screening programmes so that everyone in the UK can benefit from
genomic databases
- The advancement of Our Future
Health research programme, supported by £79 million from UKRI
- Develop global standards and
policies for sharing genomic health data securely
Genomics
England projects that support the implementation of the Genome UK strategy will
receive £17 million from the government, it was announced
in April. This will be used in part to increase data from ethnic minorities in
particular genomic cohorts, which could enhance diagnosis and treatment of
those in the BAME community.
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https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/a-week-from-hell-as-health-service-grapples-with-cyberattack-1.4571814
A week from hell as health service grapples with cyberattack
The
HSE has had its hardest year dealing with Covid. Now it has had its hardest
week
21 May,
2021
Paul
Cullen Health Editor
Fifteen months into a pandemic, just when it seemed things were
looking up, along came the cyberattack to upend the health service and deliver
the week from hell.
“The hardest six days of my working life,” was how paediatric
radiologist Dr Gabrielle
Colleran described her state of exhaustion after a week of shutdowns and
work-arounds in the Dublin hospitals where she works.
“A major disaster,” said Dr Vida
Hamilton, who as the HSE’s national clinical adviser for acute operations
played a central role in trying to prevent the system coming to a complete
collapse. “We know nothing about the individual. We have no charts, no record
number.”
This experience of “flying blind” was widespread across the
system; from oncologists deprived of scan information about their patients in
the operating theatre to psychiatrists in clinics making decisions about
vulnerable people without access to their records.
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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/tripathi-lets-do-great-things-with-ehr-systems-interoperability
Tripathi: Let’s Do Great Things With EHR Systems, Interoperability
ONC leader
Micky Tripathi said the federal agency wants healthcare stakeholders to open up
interoperability.
By Christopher Jason
May 20, 2021
- The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) is
maintaining its focus on information blocking, interoperability, and coordination
between federal agencies, according to Micky Tripathi, national coordinator for
health IT.
“We built
this foundation of EHR systems and we are now able to pause and ask the
question ‘what is it that we want to do with these systems now?” Tripathi posited at the Workgroup for
Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) 2021 Conference.
“There is
still hard work to do and there are still adoption issues in parts of the
healthcare delivery system that haven’t benefited directly from the federal
government incentives,” Tripathi said. “But in terms of hospitals and the
ambulatory side, they were able to benefit from those incentive programs and do
the hard work of implementation.”
Now that ONC
and healthcare stakeholders laid the foundation, Tripathi urged the industry to
think deeply and “jump ahead” to do great things with EHR systems.
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https://patientengagementhit.com/news/patient-data-sharing-concerns-warrant-public-health-messaging-plan
Patient Data Sharing Concerns Warrant Public Health Messaging Plan
Most
Americans are not interested in patient data sharing or using digital COVID-19
mitigation tools, indicating the need for public health messaging.
By Hannah Nelson
May 20, 2021
- More than half of adults are not interested in patient data sharing for
COVID-19 mitigation efforts such as contact tracing and case identification,
according to a study
published in JAMA Network Open that calls for targeted public health messaging.
Consumer
digital tools used to collect COVID-19 data, like the Apple-Google digital
contact tracing program, allow for public
health insight to reduce COVID-19 transmission. However, these tools
introduce consumer privacy concerns.
The
cross-sectional survey study gathered insight from 3,547 adults regarding the
use of consumer digital health data for COVID-19
control purposes. Respondents were given nine different use cases that included
case identification, digital contact tracing, policy setting, and quarantine
enforcement.
Willingness
to share digital health data was low, ranging from 28 percent to 43 percent
depending on the scenario. Respondents showed the greatest support for the use
of smartphone data for contact tracing.
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https://patientengagementhit.com/news/text-message-patient-outreach-supports-healthy-behavior-change
Text Message Patient Outreach Supports Healthy Behavior Change
Nearly a
quarter of young adults who vape quit using the device after enrollment in a
text message patient outreach program for healthy behavior change.
By Sara Heath
May 19, 2021
- Text message patient outreach and coaching has proven effective for
promoting healthy behavior change in young adults, according to a new study
published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
The text
message campaign helped nearly a quarter of young adults quit vaping, while
only about 18 percent of those not receiving text messages made the same step
toward healthy
behavior change.
Nicotine use
among young people is becoming a bigger problem again, with the rise of vaping
precipitating an increase in nicotine dependence. But considering the novelty
of vaping devices, the researchers said there’s a limited evidence base suggesting
how to motivate healthy behavior change and smoking cessation.
Text
message patient outreach and patient motivation could be effective,
particularly with this population, the researchers posited. Cellphone ownership
is nearly ubiquitous, especially among young people.
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https://healthitsecurity.com/news/the-telehealth-security-impact-now-and-beyond-the-covid-19-pandemic
The Telehealth Security Impact: Now and Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic
IEEE and
Impact Advisor leaders share best practice policies for encryption, risk
remediation, and security reviews to reduce possible telehealth security
impacts beyond COVID-19.
By Jessica Davis
May 20, 2021
- The COVID-19 response resulted in a virtual care
boom that’s expected to last well beyond the pandemic. As telehealth
continues to support the shift in healthcare, ensuring a minimal security impact
will be crucial in light of critical infrastructure attacks and exploits.
The
Department of Health and Human Services enforcement waivers around remote tech
will end with the close of the national emergency. Beforehand, providers should
review existing policies and procedures to ensure the protection of patient
data and their privacy.
Overall,
telehealth platforms don’t necessarily pose new threats to the enterprise.
Instead, the risk stems from the accelerated implementation of new technologies
without adequate due diligence to prevent introducing new vulnerabilities to
the network, explained Mike Garzone, vice president of Impact Advisors.
For
Rebecca Herold, CEO and found of The Privacy Professor and member of IEEE,
a nonprofit technical organization, the swift deployment of new technologies
may have started with insufficient planning and consideration of cybersecurity
and privacy risks.
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https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20210514.126700/full/
Centering Equity In The Design And Use Of Health Information Systems:
Partnering With Communities On Race, Ethnicity, And Language Data
May 19, 2021 10.1377/hblog20210514.126700
Our
ability to identify, track, and address the disproportionate morbidity and
mortality from COVID-19 in Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color is
contingent upon capturing meaningful race and ethnicity data. Yet, at the first
peak of the pandemic, only 24 states had reported the race and ethnicity of
people who had died, with two states having greater than 40 percent missing information on race and
ethnicity.
In
response, federal entities mandated state reporting of race and ethnicity data
for COVID-19 testing, morbidity, and mortality. Despite these mandates, and advocates calling for comprehensive data collection and
reporting for public health surveillance, there continues to be a lack of and poor-quality race and ethnicity data. During
the first month of the US vaccine rollout, race and ethnicity data were missing for 48 percent of people, even though collection
was required.
This
inability to implement comprehensive changes in collection and reporting has
resulted in ongoing and significant impediments to the clinical and public
health care system responses to the current pandemic and is the result of
structural racism embedded within our US health information systems.
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https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg25033350-100-artificial-intelligence-has-been-of-little-use-for-diagnosing-covid-19/
Artificial intelligence has been of little use for diagnosing covid-19
Technology |
Comment 19 May 2021
By Michael Roberts
IS THERE no
problem artificial
intelligence can’t tackle? Methods such as deep learning are finding uses
in everything from algorithms that recommend what you should purchase next to
ones that predict someone’s voting habits. The result is that AI
has developed a somewhat mystical reputation as a tool that can digest many
different types of data and accurately predict many different outcomes, an
ability that could be of particular use for solving previously impenetrable
problems within healthcare.
However, AI
is no panacea. Too often, it is turned to too quickly and in an impulsive way,
resulting in claims that it works when it doesn’t. This has become increasingly
apparent during the covid-19 pandemic, as many AI researchers try their hand at
healthcare – without much success.
It is no
wonder many people think healthcare is a promising area for AI as hospitals generate
lots of data, which deep learning relies on. The partnership has already borne
fruit, with AI systems able to help identify cancer earlier and better predict
which treatments people will respond to.
In
the initial stages of the pandemic, there was a deluge of publications
attempting to do the same for covid-19. In
particular, there are hundreds of papers claiming that machine-learning
techniques can use chest scans to quickly diagnose covid-19 and to accurately
predict how patients will fare.
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https://consumer.healthday.com/b-5-17-what-type-of-stent-did-i-get-where-most-heart-patients-dont-know-2652974086.html
May 19, 2021
What Type of Stent Did I Get, Where? Most Heart Patients Don't Know
WEDNESDAY,
May 19, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- When someone comes in for a new heart stent,
it's critical that the medical team doing the procedure knows several key facts
about previous stents the patient has had.
But
fewer than half of patients receiving a stent were still carrying the stent
card that has those details with them, a new study finds.
Most
of them — about 88% — do carry their phones, according to study author Dr.
Jordan Safirstein, who suggests keeping stent info on smartphones.
"Stent
design has advanced significantly since the mid-1990s, with the evolution of
new polymers and advanced drug-eluting stents," said Safirstein, director
of transradial catheterization for Morristown Medical Center, part of Atlantic
Health System, in New Jersey.
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https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/125179192/waikato-doctors-go-old-school-while-teams-face-demanding-task-of-recovering-it-systems-following-cyber-attack
Waikato doctors go old school while teams face 'demanding' task of
recovering IT systems following cyber attack
Ellen O'Dwyer15:18, May 19 2021
A doctor at Waikato Hospital says
staff are going back to processes used 20 years ago to make it through a
cyberattack that’s crippled its IT systems.
And an IT expert says
cybersecurity teams face a hugely “demanding” process to recover the DHB’s
infected software.
The doctor, who Stuff
has agreed not to name, said hospital staff were using whiteboards as a way to
record patients’ names.
Without electronic systems, it was
“very challenging” to keep track of patients in a busy emergency department
with 80 to 90 patients.
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/many-us-adults-balk-their-contact-tracing-info-being-used-fight-covid-19
Many U.S. adults balk at their contact tracing info being used to fight
COVID-19
Conservative
individuals were less supportive of using digital data to mitigate transmission
than moderate or liberal ones.
By Kat Jercich
May 20, 2021
04:04 PM
Throughout
the pandemic, health departments and private companies touted the potential for
contact-tracing apps to help control the spread of COVID-19.
But
more than a year in, many of those initiatives have failed to gain meaningful
traction – and new research suggests that public interest (or lack thereof) may
have played a role.
The
study, published this week in JAMA Network Open, found that approval among U.S.
adults was generally low for the use of consumer digital data for activities
such as case identification, digital contact tracing, policy setting and
quarantine enforcement.
"Understanding
consumer views on digital privacy is critical as the world confronts the
immediate challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and considers preparedness for
future pandemics," wrote researchers.
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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/humans-top-digital-scribes-for-better-ehr-documentation
Humans Top Digital Scribes For Better EHR Documentation
Clinicians
scored digital scribes well behind hybrid models and human scribes when it came
to EHR documentation.
By Christopher Jason
May 19, 2021
- Human scribes still trump digital scribes in EHR documentation,
according to a study published
in the Association for Computing Machinery Digital Library.
A digital
scribe is not currently capable of widespread adoption because of a lack of
accuracy, completeness, and medical synthesis, clinician respondents said.
Healthcare
organizations are beginning to adopt and implement
digital scribe solutions to ease the burdensome EHR documentation process.
A digital scribe aims to automate the clinical summary during a patient-physician
interaction.
But that’s
not exactly the case, recent data showed. In a simulation with 24 clinicians,
researchers let participants interact with anonymous digital scribes from
behind a one-sided mirror. Researchers analyzed clinician interaction with the
scribe, perception about note quality, and workflow impact.
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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/epic-systems-dominates-2020-ehr-implementation-market-share
Epic Systems Dominates 2020 EHR Implementation Market Share
Only Epic
Systems and Azalea Health had a positive net change in EHR implementation
market share during 2020.
By Christopher Jason
May 19, 2021
- Nearly 150 hospitals implemented Epic Systems EHR throughout 2020, which
further contributed to Epic’s stronghold on the EHR implementation market
share, according to a recent KLAS
report.
Additionally,
EHR adoption was up in 2020 despite
COVID-19. KLAS revealed large organizations fueled EHR purchasing, along
with standalone community hospitals.
“Contracting
naturally took a back seat as COVID-19 cases ramped up and the country went
into lockdown,” KLAS explained.
“It rebounded
some in Q3 and then spiked in Q4 as organizations reinstated budgets and
revived tabled HIT initiatives. Decisions by large organizations (>10
hospitals) often take several years, and most of those that were paused in 2020
are back in full swing, with Epic, Cerner, and MEDITECH leading in
consideration.”
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https://mhealthintelligence.com/news/ama-launches-initiative-to-redefine-the-value-of-virtual-care
AMA Launches Initiative to Redefine the Value of Virtual Care
The
American Medical Association has introduced a new framework to improve the way
payers and providers assess the value of virtual care.
By Victoria Bailey
May 19, 2021
- The American Medical Association has announced
a new initiative that is designed to help healthcare providers and payers
better understand and measure the value of virtual care.
“Understanding
the value of virtual care is vital to inform decision making that facilitates
the shift to digitally enabled care models that blend the best features of
in-person care with those of virtual care,” AMA Board Member Jack Resneck Jr.,
MD, said in a press release.
“The AMA’s
framework fills a critical need to inclusively define and measure the various
benefits generated by virtual care as decision makers design new care models,
prioritize investments, and determine appropriate coverage and payment policies
in the future,” he added.
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https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/tech/google-previews-ai-dermatology-tool-to-help-consumers-identify-skin-conditions
Google debuts AI-powered app to help consumers identify common skin
conditions
by Heather Landi
May 19, 2021
10:00am
Consumers
frequently turn to Google to search for information on skin, hair and nail
issues, to the tune of 10 billion search queries each year.
But
users only find relevant information online related to a rash on their arm or a
mole on their wrist about 13% of the time, according to Peggy Bui, M.D.,
product manager at Google Health, the tech giant’s health and wellness
division.
Google
is using its artificial intelligence chops to help consumers, and
potentially doctors, better identify dermatologic conditions using just
smartphone or digital cameras.
At
Google's annual I/O developer conference Tuesday, the company previewed its AI-powered
dermatology assist tool, which is a web-based application. Users
upload three well-lit images of the skin, hair or nail concern from different
angles. The tool then asks a series of questions about the
user's skin type, how long they've had the issue and other symptoms
that help the tool narrow down the possibilities.
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https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/digital-health/mitre-proposes-national-strategy-digital-health-to-level-playing-field-for
Mitre proposes national strategy on digital health to 'level the playing
field' for healthcare access, technology
by Heather Landi
May 18, 2021
2:00pm
The
COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the use of digital health tools and telehealth to
expand access to care at a time when patients were encouraged to stay home
and prevent the spread of the virus.
"Digital
health technologies such as telehealth certainly weren’t invented during
COVID-19, but their potential to deliver care was most certainly tested and
proven," said Jay Schnitzer, M.D., chief medical and technology
officer at Mitre Corporation, a national research and development
center.
But
the pandemic also laid bare the health inequities faced by many populations and
amplified the risks of further exacerbating the "digital divide,"
Schnitzer said.
The
U.S. is now at an inflection point as there is an opportunity to take lessons
from the pandemic to better prepare for the next global health emergency while
also leveling the playing field around access, technology and care for all
populations.
-----
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/report-finds-10-pharma-manufacturers-high-risk-ransomware
Report finds 10% of pharma manufacturers at high risk for ransomware
The cyber
risk platform Black Kite also found that vendors – especially data management
platforms – can expose their business partners to vulnerabilities.
By Kat Jercich
May 19, 2021
02:44 PM
The
cyber risk platform Black Kite released a new report this week finding that one
in 10 global pharmaceutical manufacturers are at a high risk of suffering a
ransomware attack.
The
report, published on Tuesday, evaluated the cybersecurity posture
of the 200 largest global pharmaceutical companies and 166 associated
third-party vendors.
"We
have seen how ransomware attackers can shut down a gasoline pipeline in the
past week. Imagine if a ransomware attack halted a manufactured COVID-19
vaccine hostage or stopped the production of vital chemotherapy drugs,” said
Bob Maley, Black Kite’s chief security officer, in a statement.
WHY IT
MATTERS
Billions
of people worldwide rely on the pharmaceutical industry, sometimes for daily
medications.
-----
https://www.healthcareittoday.com/2021/05/19/providers-prepared-for-information-blocking-rules-but-arent-sure-theyll-boost-interoperability/
Providers Prepared For Information Blocking Rules, But Aren’t Sure They’ll
Boost Interoperability
May 19, 2021
Anne Zieger
New
research data from KLAS suggests that while providers generally feel
comfortable with their preparations for complying with new information blocking
rules, they’re not sure their efforts will be much help in winning their
ongoing interoperability battles.
The
new rules from ONC went into effect April 5 of this year, arising from
requirements imposed by the 21st Century Cures Act. To see how
providers were coping with these requirements, KLAS reached out to 42 provider
organizations and asked them about their attitudes and expectations around
complying with the rules.
When
asked about their readiness to comply with information blocking requirements,
21% of respondents said they were very prepared, 50% prepared, 17% neutral, 7%
unprepared and 5% very unprepared.
Among
those who felt prepared, their reasons included that they felt they’d had
sufficient time and resources to plan in advance, and also, had resources in
place and were ready to go. Another subset of respondents said they are
preparing now and will be cutting it close.
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https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/technology/intermountain-clinicians-benefit-self-serve-analytics-software
Intermountain Clinicians Benefit From Self-Serve Analytics Software
Analysis
| By Scott Mace |
May 19, 2021
Spur-of-the-moment
care and research is enabled by posing questions in plain English.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
·
The software taps 25 years of data warehouse
data and 3 million current patients' EHRs to advance medical knowledge.
·
The ability to quickly get answers to queries
helps Intermountain attract cutting-edge clinical trials on new therapeutics.
·
Reducing readmissions is one area benefitting
from the new patient timeline-oriented tool.
Clinicians
and researchers are benefitting from new self-serve analytics software in use
at Intermountain Healthcare.
The
Utah-based system, which operates 24 hospitals and 215 clinics in Utah, Idaho,
and Nevada, has been using software from MDClone
to investigate everything from cardiology to genetics to hyperbaric medicine,
according to officials at the health system.
-----
https://ehrintelligence.com/news/why-a-behavioral-healthcare-facility-transitioned-to-an-ehr-system
Why a Behavioral Healthcare Facility Transitioned to an EHR System
Prior to
its recent EHR implementation, clinicians at Rogers Memorial Hospital were
forced to utilize a hybrid EHR model.
By Christopher Jason
May 18, 2021
- Despite climbing EHR adoption rates across the healthcare industry,
adoption and EHR implementation within the behavioral healthcare sector is
woefully behind, leaving many clinicians to use outdated paper charts.
Mental and behavioral
health are growing and indispensable fields of medicine. According to a
recent Commonwealth Fund brief,
roughly 25 percent of US adults report a mental health diagnosis, such as depression
or anxiety, or experience emotional discomfort. Additionally, the US has the
highest suicide rate and second-highest drug-related death rate compared to
other high-income countries.
But according
to the ONC
Health IT Dashboard, only 49 percent of psychiatric hospitals have
certified EHRs, compared to 89 percent of rehabilitation centers, 87 percent of
children’s hospitals, and 59 percent of long-term care hospitals.
Rogers
Memorial Hospital, a behavioral healthcare hospital in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin,
was one of the countless behavioral healthcare facilities without a dedicated
EHR. Brian Kay, director of clinical effectiveness at Rogers, hypothesized two major
ailments to behavioral health EHR adoption.
-----
https://ehrintelligence.com/news/developing-an-automated-de-identified-data-ehr-tool
Developing an Automated De-Identified Data EHR Tool
The
automated de-identified data EHR tool outperformed six other tools and methods
during this study.
By Christopher Jason
May 18, 2021
- Researchers leveraged an ensemble learning approach to develop and
integrate an automated EHR tool that produces de-identified data by flagging
personally identifiable information in clinical notes and replacing that data
by concealing identifiers, according to a study published
in Patterns.
Certain types
of information comprise personally
identifiable information (PII), making the use of that data in research
projects subject to privacy and security concerns. Specifically, identifiable
information can include names, all geographic data (state, address, zip code,
etc.), birth date, telephone numbers, Social Security numbers, and other
information to identify a specific individual.
More
recently, individuals are starting to understand the importance of sharing
their respective data to help researchers in the future, so long as that
information is kept private and secure. With the rise of patient data sharing
and the promise of precision medicine, it will be critical for medical
professionals to generate de-identified
patient EHR data.
Researchers
leveraged ensemble learning, which combines several machine learning techniques
into one predictive model, and incorporated deep-learning models and rule-based
methods to create what they called the nference de-identification system. The
solution detected identifiers and transformed the identifiers into plausible
surrogates to further change the identifier.
-----
https://ehrintelligence.com/news/onc-prompts-health-it-leaders-to-make-interoperability-outcome-goals
ONC Prompts Health IT Leaders to Make Interoperability Outcome Goals
A project
launched by ONC aims to gather health IT leader insight on goals regarding the
development of interoperability over the next ten years.
By Hannah Nelson
May 18, 2021
- ONC called for health IT leaders to consider where health IT
interoperability has taken them and where they hope to see the industry go in a
recent post
announcing its “Health Interoperability Outcomes 2030” project.
ONC will use
public feedback from health
IT industry leaders to create a prioritized set of interoperability
outcomes that health IT leaders hope to achieve by 2030. Insights will be
published in the fall.
“Over the
next few months, we’re looking for your take on aspirational and achievable ‘health
interoperability outcome statements,’” Steven Posnack, deputy national
coordinator for Health IT, wrote in the post. “Your perspectives will help
shape our thinking and what we, as a nation, seek to achieve this decade.”
Posnack
said that while the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act) of 2016 will
continue to play a significant role in ONC work as the nation recovers from the
COVID-19 pandemic, health IT leaders also have a “remarkable opportunity to
look ahead” at the beginning of a new decade.
-----
https://healthitanalytics.com/news/using-real-time-data-analytics-to-enhance-care-in-the-nicu
Using Real-Time Data Analytics to Enhance Care in the NICU
Real-time
data analytics tools help providers at Stanford Children’s Health deliver comprehensive,
compassionate care to newborns.
By Jessica Kent
May 18, 2021
- Across the healthcare industry, leaders are increasingly leveraging
real-time data analytics tools to advance insights and improve decision-making.
In high-risk
care settings, these tools are especially critical. Patients who require a step
above standard care often improve or deteriorate
rapidly, and providers need solutions that allow them to continuously
monitor these individuals.
In the
neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), real-time
data analytics technologies are just as essential. While the same level of
risk exists in the NICU as it does in other intensive care units, clinicians
are also tasked with providing care to extremely delicate patients.
“The
patients we care for are very different from any other patient in ICU settings,
even in pediatrics,” Lance Prince, MD, PhD, chief of neonatal and developmental
medicine at Stanford Children’s Health, told HealthITAnalytics.
-----
https://healthitsecurity.com/news/healthcare-ransomware-outages-scripps-ireland-hse-and-nz-hospitals
Healthcare Ransomware Outages: Scripps, Ireland HSE, and NZ Hospitals
In the
last few weeks, ransomware attacks on the healthcare sector have led to system
outages and EHR downtime at Scripps Health, New Zealand hospitals, and Ireland's
health system.
By Jessica Davis
May 18, 2021
- Healthcare remains a key target for ransomware hacking groups, as seen
in recent research
data and multiple hospital system outages. Scripps Health is continuing
recovery efforts two weeks after an attack, while Ireland’s health system and
multiple New Zealand hospitals are currently operating under EHR downtime
procedures.
In light of
the continued targeting in healthcare, covered entities and relevant business
associations should review ransomware mitigation, tech, and mediation guidance
provided by NIST,
Microsoft,
and the Office for Civil
Rights.
Scripps
Health Attack
On
May
1, a ransomware incident drove San Diego-based Scripps Health into EHR
downtime procedures. In the days that followed, critical care patients were
diverted to nearby hospitals, while its patient portal, website, and systems
were taken offline.
The
ransomware impacted the health system’s servers, disrupting care and services
at two of the four main Scripps hospitals and its backup servers based in
Arizona. Telemetry data went down at the majority of care sites, as well as
medical imaging access.
-----
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/telehealth-can-be-effective-alternative-seniors-study-shows
Telehealth can be an effective alternative for seniors, study shows
Researchers
examined more than 300,000 virtual visits for patients older than 60 over the
course of three years.
By Kat Jercich
May 18, 2021
02:24 PM
A
wide-ranging study published in the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare
this past month found that telehealth can be an effective modality of care for
patients over 60, particularly when deployed in the confines of their existing
primary care provider.
When
researchers, including a team from the West Health Institute, which
focuses on addressing the care needs of seniors, analyzed 313,516 telehealth
visits across three healthcare organizations, they found that virtual
encounters successfully resolved urgent and non-emergent needs in the vast
majority of cases.
"While
the median rate of visit resolution for telehealth visits was lower than
clinically comparable in-person visits, telehealth was effective in resolving
urgent, non-emergent conditions a high percentage of the time," read the
study.
WHY IT
MATTERS
The
COVID-19 pandemic has shone a new spotlight on the potential for telehealth to
complement in-person care – especially for people who may face mobility
challenges in going to a brick-and-mortar office.
-----
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/apac/patients-first-malaysias-digital-health-transformation
Patients first: Malaysia's digital health transformation
This HIMSS
Digital Maturity Series webinar featured experts sharing their digital
transformation stories and thoughts on how to advance toward a digital health
ecosystem.
By Thiru
Gunasegaran
May 18, 2021
09:00 PM
COVID-19
has accelerated the digital transformation of Malaysian healthcare systems.
During the 'Building a Successful Digital Transformation Roadmap in Malaysia'
webinar held on 6 May, Derrick Chan Kum Keong, CEO of Sunway Medical Centre
Velocity, shared how they were able to design a digital health ecosystem that
prioritises patients.
Bruce
Winzar, executive director for Innovation and Digital Services and regional CIO
of Australia-based Bendigo Health, also joined the session to share insights
that his organisation gained in their digital health journey.
Empowering
patients through systems interoperability
Derrick
shared about his work at a diagnostics company prior to joining SMCV, where
systems are integrated to provide patients with access to their records. In
turn, this empowers patients to use their records at their own discretion.
"To
be able to connect other systems together give us a lot of flexibility because
we are empowering the patient to be able to bring their records to wherever
they want, such that it doesn't hamper them in terms of critical medical
treatment," he said.
Emphasising
patient data privacy, Derrick mentioned that medical facilities must seek
patients' approval first before drawing their information from the system.
"The patients themselves must be the ones [to send] medical records or
images to the clinicians… so they still hold authority and control over their
own medical records," he continued.
-----
https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/telehealth/pediatric-telemedicine-gains-traction-during-pandemic
Pediatric Telemedicine Gains Traction During Pandemic
Analysis
| By John Commins |
May 18, 2021
While many
of the 2,000 parents nationally who responded to the survey still have
reservations about pediatric telemedicine, most said they were satisfied with
their experience.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
·
The survey suggests that the transition to
virtual care was facilitated by the "new normal" that the pandemic
created, with children attending school remotely and communicating with family
and friends on Zoom.
·
Another factor was that parents often had no
recourse but to use virtual care during the pandemic. About half of respondents
said they weren’t given an "in-person" option because of fears of
contagion.
·
For the one-in-three parents who chose virtual
care, reducing exposure was the primary reason, and another third of parents
chose telehealth for convenience. These virtual physician visits were a first
for many parents, but 90% said they were satisfied with the visit.
A new survey
of parents suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has made telehealth an acceptable
alternative for many pediatric care visits.
One in five
parents responding in a just-released C.S.
Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health say their child
had a virtual health visit over the past year for either check-ups, minor
illnesses, mental health or a follow up – a marked increase in remote care for
children.
-----
https://ehrintelligence.com/news/clinical-layout-is-key-to-patient-interaction-ehr-screen-gazing
Clinical Layout is Key to Patient Interaction, EHR Screen Gazing
Widespread
EHR adoption has negatively impacted patient interaction, resulting in
increased EHR screen gazing during appointments.
By Christopher Jason
May 17, 2021
- Health systems can integrate an automated EHR screen gaze and dialogue
tool to track provider-patient interactions, according to a study published in JMIR Publications.
Clinical layout is vital to provider-patient interactions and providers tend to
screen gaze at a higher rate when the EHR is out of peripheral vision.
Provider-patient
communication is critical to driving patient safety, satisfaction, and
outcomes. However, according to numerous studies,
communication is impacted by EHR adoption and usability. EHR prevalence can
have a negative impact on eye contact, decrease active listening, and provide
interruption during an appointment.
Researchers
integrated an automated tool and utilized the computers’ camera and microphone
to detect and classify screen gaze and provider-patient dialogue during medical
appointments. Recent advancements in machine
learning allowed researchers to evaluate pose and voice activity,
researchers said.
In
both semi-inclusive and fully inclusive layouts, the tool detected the
clinician gazing at the EHR while having a patient conversation, the clinician
conversing with the patient while looking away from the EHR, and the doctor
gazing at the EHR without conversing with the patient. Any other form of
dialogue or gazing was considered out of scope, the study authors said.
-----
https://healthitanalytics.com/news/bias-a-chief-barrier-to-artificial-intelligence-in-healthcare
Bias a Chief Barrier to Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
The
potential for algorithms to perpetuate bias and exacerbate disparities is a
critical hurdle for artificial intelligence in healthcare.
By Jessica Kent
May 17, 2021
- To ensure the safe and effective use of artificial intelligence in
healthcare, researchers and developers will need to work to eliminate bias in
these tools, according to a perspective
paper by Stanford University researchers.
As artificial
intelligence tools grow more prevalent in the medical field, leaders need to
make sure these technologies benefit all populations and demographics.
“The white
body and the male body have long been the norm in medicine guiding drug
discovery, treatment and standards of care, so it’s important that we do not
let AI devices fall into that historical pattern,” said Londa
Schiebinger, the John L. Hinds Professor in the History of Science in
the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford.
“We’re hoping
to engage the AI biomedical community in preventing bias and creating equity in
the initial design of research, rather than having to fix things after the
fact.”
-----
https://healthitsecurity.com/news/ransomware-attacks-surge-102-in-2021-as-triple-extortion-emerges
Ransomware Keeps Healthcare in Crosshairs, Triple Extortion Emerges
A Check
Point report on ransomware attacks seen in the first half of 2021, shows a 102
percent increase from 2020’s numbers, as hackers begin employing triple
extortion to increase profits.
By Jessica Davis
May 14, 2021
- The rate of ransomware attacks seen across the globe so far in 2021 has
increased by 102 percent, when compared to the same period in 2020. A new Check
Point report also revealed nefarious hackers are increasingly using triple
extortion attempts to increase their profits.
Since April
2021, the healthcare and utility sectors have been the most targeted by
ransomware threat actors. During that time, researchers observed an average of
1,000 entities impacted by ransomware attacks each week: a 21 percent increase
during the first trimester of 2021 and 7 percent rise in April, alone.
Check Point
researchers warned the attacks show no signs of slowing down.
he report
follows the DarkSide ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline, which prompted
a federal agency alert
and an executive order from the Biden
Administration meant to tackle ransomware and supply chain cyberattacks.
DarkSide
ransomware actors took credit for the attack. The actors work within a
Ransomware-as-a-Service model, where partner cybercriminals use the variant and
pay its developers a percentage of the profits.
-----
https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/tech/himss21-to-require-conference-attendees-exhibitors-to-be-fully-vaccinated-for-covid-19
HIMSS, HLTH conferences will require attendees, exhibitors to be fully
vaccinated for COVID-19
by Heather Landi
May 17, 2021
11:00am
Editor's
Note: This story has been updated to include information about HLTH's
vaccination requirement.
If
you want to set foot inside the Venetian-Sands Expo Center in August for
HIMSS21, or even the HLTH conference in Boston later this year, you will have
to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19.
The
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) announced Monday
morning that it has adopted a
“vaccination required” approach for all attendees, exhibitors, and HIMSS
staff for HIMSS21, slated to take place August 9-13 in Las
Vegas.
HIMSS21
will be the largest on-site healthcare conference since the start of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The
HIMSS21 "campus" includes events at the newly expanded Wynn meeting
space, the Venetian-Sands Expo Center and the newly built Caesars Forum
Conference Center.
-----
https://www.healio.com/news/primary-care/20210514/report-increasing-payment-access-will-help-restore-weakening-primary-care-system
May 14, 2021
Report: Increasing investment, access will help restore ‘weakening’
primary care system
The
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine recently issued a
report on how to make “high-quality primary care” available to all patients in
the United States.
“Primary
care is weakening in the United States and eroding, particularly in underserved
and rural areas,” Bob Phillips, MD, MSPH, a co-chair of a
committee that produced the report, said during a recent webinar hosted by the
Primary Care Collaborative.
He
added that primary care makes up “about 5% of total health care spending, which is lower than most countries
and starving our capacity to deliver on health equity.”
In
the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) report,
experts outline five objectives — payment, access, workforce, digital health
and accountability — that need to be fulfilled to achieve high-quality primary
care for all:
Payment
According
to the report, Medicaid, Medicare, commercial insurers and self-insured employers
should “pay for primary care teams to care for people, not for doctors to
deliver services.” This will require payers to use payment models that focus on
promoting high-quality primary care, “not on their ability to achieve
short-term cost savings,” the report stated.
Phillips
said that payers using a fee-for-service model should move towards a “hybrid
model” of reimbursement that is part fee-for-service and part capitated.
-----
https://histalk2.com/2021/05/14/weekender-5-14-21/
Weekly News Recap
- Patient payments platform vendor
Cedar announces that it will acquire competitor OODA Health for $425
million.
- ONC will spend $80 million of
American Rescue Plan funds to train public health professionals to
modernize the public health data infrastructure.
- “Hospital at home” and
decentralized clinical trials platform vendor Huma raises $130 million.
- Mayo Clinic and Kaiser Permanente
make a rumored $100 million investment in Medically Home.
- Regulators in England block
Imprivata’s planned acquisition of digital identity vendor Isosec.
- Amwell’s Q1 results send shares
down sharply as investors fear a growth slowdown.
- CPSI acquires TruCode.
- Aetion, which offers a real-world
evidence platform for drug companies and payers, raises $110 million.
- “Hospital-at-home” company Huma
raises $130 million.
- Walmart Health acquires telehealth
provider MeMD.
- Health Catalyst’s Q1 results beat
expectations.
-----
Enjoy!
David.
