Monday Morning Update 7/15/24

Top News

Ransomware hackers who breached the Vital Statistics system of Florida’s health department publish 100 gigabytes of HIV results, immunization records, and clinical notes to the dark web after the state declines to pay a ransom.

Florida says that 20,000 records from 2023 and 2024 were exfiltrated. Those records include patient names, dates of birth, addresses, Social Security numbers, and insurance information.

The system outage has caused delays in issuing birth and death certificates, as families report that they are unable to hold funerals, close bank accounts, file insurance claims, and update Social Security records.

Reader Comments

From Smitten: “Re: Epic. More campus expansion. Meanwhile, is Oracle really moving its HQ to Nashville?” The Verona paper covers how city and state government help fund Epic’s never-ending expansion, including its latest Other Worlds campus. I haven’t heard any fresh Nashville news from Oracle, although the guy who owns nearly half of the company says it will happen and he tends to get what he wants.

HIStalk Announcements and Requests

Poll respondents name insurers as being most responsible for physician dissatisfaction.

New poll to your right or here: What did you like least about your most recent PCP visit? I’m in the N/A group because I have never had any of these problems with my direct primary care physician.

Webinars

July 18 (Thursday) noon ET. “New CMS Final Rule: Strategies to Get EHR and IT Vendors Up to Speed.” Sponsor: DrFirst. Presenters: Nick Barger, PharmD, VP of product, DrFirst; Tyler Higgins, senior director of product management, DrFirst. The new final rule that was issued by CMS on June 13, 2024, goes beyond a basic upgrade of SCRIPT standards and improves care connections among doctors, pharmacies, and patients. The presenters will lead EHR and IT vendors through the final rule, provide details on key provisions and compliance deadlines, offer tactics to tackle roadmap development, and provide direction on where and how partners can best leverage the requirements for the benefit of their customers.

Previous webinars are on our YouTube channel. Contact Lorre to present or promote your own.

People

CereCore promotes Joel St. Francis to COO and Phil Sobol to chief commercial officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Samsung releases its first Galaxy Ring smart ring that supports AI-backed biometric monitoring of sleep, pulse, stress, and activity via the Samsung Health app. The $400 ring costs $100 more than the Oura Ring, but the latter requires a $6 per month subscription.

Other

A Microsoft Asia blog post describes how pharmacists in Taiwan’s 2,500-bed Chi Mei Medical Center doubled the number of patients they can see using a generative AI copilot that displays patient records from multiple systems. Doctors at the same hospital use a copilot for generating reports from medical records, nurses use it to create shift change reports, and nutritionists create dietary recommendations using their own copilot.

CNBC profiles SimVET, a $43 million simulated hospital in Orlando where the VA tests new technologies and procedures. The facility, which opened in 2016, has 60 full-time employees.

Sponsor Updates

• Netsmart’s TheraOffice EHR and practice management software earns ONC Certification.
• Symplr signs the US CISA Secure by Design pledge and achieves SOC 2 Type II compliance attestation for its flagship products.

Blog Posts

• Exploring the Evolving Landscape of Electronic Visit Verification (Netsmart)
• 3 ways automation and AI advance patient-centered care (Nordic)
• 3 Major CMMS Roadblocks That Mobile Apps Can Overcome (Optimum Healthcare IT)
• Reduce Time to Treatment with Care Team Alerts (PerfectServe)
• Curiosity and Asking ‘Why Not’ is Helping Avant Pharmacy Rethink Healthcare (Surescripts) 

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
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