Patient safety and quality improvement

Google-Ascension deal reveals murky side of sharing health data

The Google-Ascension partnership is a 'PR failure' that demonstrates a need for greater transparency about what happens to patient health data. Continue Reading

Ransomware attacks on hospitals will worsen if security doesn't improve

Ransomware attacks are insidious. Experts urged healthcare CIOs to invest in proactive security measures to combat the growing threat. Continue Reading

Experts expect hospital ransomware attacks to continue

One week after being hit by a ransomware attack, hospitals in Alabama are turning away patients while working on recovery, and experts warn of similar attacks in the future. Continue Reading

Hospital ransomware attacks lead to patients being turned away

Ransomware attacks hit seven hospitals in Australia and three in Alabama, with the Alabaman hospitals being forced to turn away patients because of the attacks. Continue Reading

Healthcare CIOs straddle fee-for-service, value-based care

For health systems with one foot in a fee-for-service model and the other in value-based care, reimbursement for services can get tricky. Continue Reading

Social determinants of health data provide better care

Knowing the use cases for social determinants of health, such as coordinating care and identifying care gaps, is an important first step in making the data worthwhile. Continue Reading

EASE app increases patient-provider communication

EASE, a mobile healthcare app, can be used to send updates on patients from the OR to their families. Mobile apps like this create more transparency, but also present a challenge for CIOs. Continue Reading

Nexera launches self-assessment for hospital supply chain

Nexera's free Hospital Supply Chain Performance Self-Assessment tool will help supply chain and CQO professionals evaluate and improve supply chain processes. Continue Reading

Improve patient engagement with mHealth, monitoring technology

Providing patients with mobile health technology, as well as reminder systems and options for virtual visits, can help keep them engaged in their healthcare. Continue Reading

Patient engagement strategies get consumerization booster shot

Healthcare organizations are being tasked with developing effective methods to keep their patients engaged, with nudges from government agencies that anything less won't be tolerated. Continue Reading

Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine to train students with modern tech

Kaiser Permanente's new medical school will combine cutting-edge tech and a clinical setting to train future doctors. Continue Reading

'Nurse hangover' cures include self-service tools, communication

Nurses aren't in control of their schedules, which can lead to staffing issues that affect patient care. Self-service tools like WorkJam ensure adequate shift coverage. Continue Reading

NHS AI code launched to set rules of engagement for tech firms

The government says its code of conduct for the use of artificial intelligence and other data technologies in the NHS sets out the data privacy rules of the game for tech firms Continue Reading

Population health approaches buoy value-based care

Value-based care extends population health's use of data analytics to identify care gaps and cost reductions. A prominent college dean sees the efforts always being connected. Continue Reading

Physicians can reduce medical errors with the help of AI

EHRs on their own don't always have the capabilities needed to detect abnormalities in a patient's chart. Fortunately, AI can help detect medical errors that may go unnoticed. Continue Reading

Medical group sees the future in value-based healthcare

The fee-for-service healthcare payment model is broken, according to the CEO of a medical group. The better model, and the path to better patient care, he says, is value-based care. Continue Reading

FDA challenge encourages development of pain management devices

An FDA innovation challenge pushes developers to create pain management devices as a way to address the ongoing opioid crisis in the United States. Continue Reading

Hacking and fraud escalate concerns about AI in healthcare

While many in healthcare tout the benefits of AI in clinical settings, artificial intelligence isn't immune to nefarious misuses, such as hacking and clinical fraud. Continue Reading

Hospital cybersecurity might slightly increase heart attack deaths

Although the findings are not a slam-dunk, statistics in a study show some sort of link between more deaths of heart attack patients and hospitals' responses to data breaches. Continue Reading

Physician burnout targeted by health IT, wellness vendors

Industry consolidation, tech reporting mandates, heavy workloads and 'EHR fatigue' are causing high levels of stress and work dissatisfaction among healthcare professionals, experts say. Continue Reading

Preventing diagnostic errors in medicine with software

In this podcast, a medical expert talks about how physicians can avoid diagnostic errors -- a top threat to patient safety -- by using AI-based clinical decision support software. Continue Reading

Researchers use EHR data to predict opioid prescriptions

EHR data can help healthcare providers identify which patients in a hospital were most likely to be prescribed opioids after discharge, according to researchers at the University of Colorado ... Continue Reading

5 healthcare cybersecurity best practices for care organizations

Hospital CIOs who want to ensure that their environments are protected should be sure to implement multifactor authentication and AI-based monitoring to prevent data breaches. Continue Reading

Healthcare ransomware attacks threaten patient safety

Worry about health IT cybersecurity has shifted from hacker-triggered health data breaches to ransomware and malware exploits that shut down hospitals and threaten patient safety. Continue Reading

New risk to cybersecurity in healthcare: Hacker as a service

Health IT and hospital security professionals must try to stay ahead of cyberattacks against electronic patient records. But now hackers are prepping the next generation. Continue Reading

Hospitals bone up on medical device cybersecurity plans

Healthcare cybersecurity can be likened to those old movie westerns pitting the good guys against the bad guys. Back then, however, it was easy to distinguish the white hats from the black hats. Not so in today's complex, sinister world of computer hacking, malware, ransomware and botnets, where the black hats stealthily maneuver through the shadows of a cyberspace that has often been compared to the wild wild west. In some respects, healthcare systems have shown definite signs of improvement in preventing certain types of cybercrimes. But crime reductions in one area can mean increases in other areas as cybercriminals turn their attention to easier and perhaps more lucrative targets that threaten medical device cybersecurity.

The March issue of Pulse opens with the recognition that hackers are forever vigilant at concocting new and innovative ways to steal patient information and disrupt hospital operations. To add insult to injury, the perpetrators are now offering their hacking "best practices" as a service for less than altruistic reasons.

Along those lines, our cover story reports on healthcare's increasing use of and dependence on connected medical devices and the resulting vulnerability to hacks, namely ransomware. But IT analysts and security executives see artificial intelligence and blockchain as effective weapons in strengthening medical device cybersecurity. In another feature, we examine the misconception that security measures to safeguard electronic protected health information contained in clinical files march in lockstep with HIPAA privacy laws. To overcome that false sense of security, healthcare organizations need to closely assess key HIPAA mandates like risk analysis and policy audits.

Also in this issue, crippling ransomware attacks are supplanting health data breaches as the greatest enemy to patient privacy and safety. Statistics show that even though the number of patient records breached plummeted last year, ransomware and malware incidents doubled, security threats from insiders continued unabated, and health organizations took longer to discover they were breached. But there are several steps CIOs and CISOs can follow to protect patient information and shore up cybersecurity.

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Healthcare ransomware attacks threaten patient safety

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Michigan uses prescription monitoring to fight opioid crisis

Michigan public health officials use e-prescribing and monitoring and analytics software from Appriss Health to fight opioid addiction by tracking overprescribing and abuse. Continue Reading

Patient matching technology helps HIE reduce duplicate records

In this Innovation Spotlight, SearchHealthIT looks at how an HIE reduced duplicate patient records by using NextGate's patient matching technology. Continue Reading

Wearable health technology and HIPAA: What is and isn't covered

Healthcare data many think is protected by HIPAA may not be. With wearable health technology, some experts are concerned by what's not covered. Continue Reading

The top six priorities of a new healthcare CIO

Assessing performance strengths and identifying any gaps should be part of a healthcare CIO's plan of attack when joining a new organization. Continue Reading

Mobile devices facilitate remote patient monitoring

Physicians' comfort with mobile devices allows some to interact with and observe patients in their homes, without need for an office visit. Continue Reading

Healthcare review sites make physicians reevaluate online presence

Today's Internet-savvy patients are doing research before scheduling a physician's visit. In turn, providers must be aware of their own online presence. Continue Reading

Quiz: PACS integration with other imaging systems and EHRs

Implementing a PACS requires preparation and adjustments to be made along the way. Take this quiz to test your knowledge of hospital imaging systems. Continue Reading

Clinicians discuss pros and cons of point-of-care testing devices

The growing use of point-of-care testing devices could improve the efficiency of medical tests, but some users worry about the quality of the devices. Continue Reading