Morning Headlines 4/12/16

CMS launches largest-ever multi-payer initiative to improve primary care in America

CMS launches the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus model, a value-based payment program that will give PCPs more financial flexibility when caring for the chronically ill.

Tracking The Impact Of The Affordable Care Act In Kentucky

The Foundation for a Health Kentucky publishes a report studying Kentucky’s implementation of the ACA and its impact on coverage, access, costs, quality of care, and health outcomes.

Security flaws found in 3 state health insurance websites

The AP reports that federal investigators have identified significant cybersecurity weaknesses in the state insurance exchanges in California, Kentucky, and Vermont.

This Intel Healthcare Guru Is About to Head a Major Government Project

The NIH announces that Eric Dishman, general manager of Intel’s Health and Life Sciences Division, will head up Obama’s recently launched Precision Medicine Initiative.

Morning Headlines 4/11/16

Dell: The going rate for a hacker to break into a Gmail account is $130

Dell Security Works publishes its annual Underground Hackers Markets report, which lists the typical cost of various black hat services, including hacking email and social media accounts, running DDoS attacks, and stealing bank account information.

Lessons From More Than A Decade In Patient Portals

In a Health Affairs article, Kaiser Permanente researchers outline lessons learned in the ten years since implementing its patient portal.

Pfizer Taps IBM for Research Collaboration to Transform Parkinson’s Disease Care

Pfizer partners with IBM to co-develop remote patient monitoring solutions for patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Sentient Technologies is using AI to tackle deadly diseases

Artificial Intelligence company Sentient Technologies sets its sights on healthcare with AI nurse, a system that forecasts changes in a patient’s condition, predicting sepsis and other critical conditions.

Morning Headlines 4/8/16

MHS Genesis rolls out as name for new electronic health record

The DoD brands its Cerner implementation project MHS Genesis.

Hospitals’ Computerized Systems Proven to Prevent Medication Errors, but More is Needed to Protect Patients from Harm or Death

A new report finds that CPOE systems fail to flag 39 percent of potentially harmful drug orders and 13 percent of potentially fatal drug orders.

MedStar disputes report it ignored warnings that led to attack

MedStar disputes recent allegations that the ransomware attack it suffered exploited known security flaws from 2007 and could have been prevented with a simple software update.

As hospitals go digital, human stories get left behind

A physician at Massachusetts General Hospital (MA) argues that EHRs fail to capture a meaningful patient story, arguing that EHRs mask “how one symptom relates to another, the emotional context in which the symptoms or events occurred, or the thought process of the physician trying to pull together individual strands of data into a coherent narrative.”

Morning Headlines 4/7/16

Allergan, Pfizer call off proposed $160B merger

Pfizer backs out of its plan to acquire Allegran and move its headquarters to Ireland for tax reasons after the Treasury Department put new rules in places to make tax inversions less lucrative.

National Health IT Coordinator Says Technology Can Help Unblock Patient Data Access

National Coordinator Karen DeSalvo, MD discusses health data portability, information blocking, and cloud technology in a Wall Street Journal interview.

Better Health Care: A Way Forward

Former National Coordinator David Blumenthal writes a JAMA op-ed on improving access, cost, and quality of care.

It’s Time To Stop Pretending Patients Don’t Care About Their Medical Records

Fast Company discusses barriers to expanding patient access to their medical information after an informal internet survey finds that 77 percent of patients are very interested in having access to the information.

Morning Headlines 4/6/16

Variation in Quality of Urgent Health Care Provided During Commercial Virtual Visits

A study published in JAMA finds significant clinical variation among care delivered by commercial telehealth vendors. Researchers suggest vendors begin developing industry best practices aimed at standardizing care.

Mass. General launches Epic health records upgrade

Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, and Newton-Wellesley Hospital all go live on Epic over the weekend as part of Partners Healthcare’s $1.2 billion Epic implementation.

Hackers Broke Into Hospitals Despite Software Flaw Warnings

The Associated Press reports that MedStar Health’s recent ransomware attack was executed by exploiting known vulnerabilities from as far back as 2007. MedStar’s failure to apply security patches in time could leave them legally exposed.

Survey Finds Hospital Executives Increasing Focus on Patient Expectations and Engagement

An Advisory Board Company survey of healthcare CEOs finds that the most common executive action items include minimizing clinical variation, redesigning services for population health, meeting rising consumer expectations, deploying patient engagement strategies, and controlling avoidable utilization.

Morning Headlines 4/5/16

New York’s Epic EHR ‘go-lives’ please officials, staff

Two NYC Health & Hospitals facilities are live with Epic after an April 1 go-live that a spokesman for the health system went well, explaining, “There were minor issues, but they were dealt with right away.”

Theranos Devices Often Failed Accuracy Requirements

A newly released CMS inspection report confirms that Theranos’ proprietary blood testing analyzer, Edison, failed internal quality control tests 29 percent of the time, while its California lab was also cited for doing tests with unqualified personnel and storing samples at the wrong temperatures.

Proteus Digital Health Presents Interim Results at ACC From a Randomized Controlled Clinical Study of Proteus Discover

Proteus Digital Health announces interim results from an RCT study of its smartpill technology, finding that its smartpill technology improves blood pressure control in hypertension patients significantly. 85 percent of patients using the smartpill achieved their target blood pressure within four weeks, while only 33 percent of participants in a control group receiving traditional care were able to do the same.

AMA taking bigger role in key IT initiatives

Michael Hodgkins, MD, CMIO of the American Medical Association, discusses interoperability and his role on the board of the Sequoia Project, formerly Healtheway.

Morning Headlines 4/4/16

Ransomware and Recent Variants

The US Department of Homeland Security issues a ransomware alert focused on the recent increase in healthcare-focused attacks. Alvarado Hospital Medical Center (CA) and Knings Daughters Health (IN) are both hit with new ransomware attacks.

Fitch Affirms Baptist Health Care’s Rev Bonds at ‘A-‘; Outlook Stable

Fitch affirms the A- bond rating of Baptist Health Care Corporation (FL) but notes that EHR-related training costs will impact profits.

e-MDs Finalizes Acquisition of Software Technology Assets from McKesson

e-MDs completes its acquisition of McKesson ambulatory products Practice Choice, Medisoft, Medisoft Clinical, Lytec, Lytec MD, and Practice Partner.

Trades executed – or killed – by final medical opinion

A Cincinnati paper discusses the medical review process involved in baseball contracts, highlighting the MLB-wide EHR that went live in 2010 and houses medical information on every player from every team in one centralized, online database.

Morning Headlines 4/1/16

Hackers offering bulk discount to unlock encrypted MedStar data

MedStar confirms that the cyberattack responsible for bringing down its network was the result of a ransomware attack in which hackers are demanding $1,250 per computer or $18,500 for all computers to restore access to files. The FBI continues to investigate, meanwhile hackers have given the hospital 10 days to pay before encrypted data will be permanently destroyed.

Southcoast Health cutting dozens of jobs on heels of expensive IT upgrade

Southcoast Health (MA) lays of 95 employees as part of cost saving measures put in place after the health system went over budget on their $100 million Epic install.

May 2016 FHIR Release

FHIR publishes release notes for its newest version.

CareFusion Pyxis SupplyStation System Vulnerabilities

The Department of Homeland Security finds security vulnerabilities in versions of CareFusion’s Pyxis SupplyStation, most attributed to outdated third-party software.

Morning Headlines 3/31/16

MedStar Health Update Regarding Computer Downtime

MedStar restores access to its major clinical systems 48 hours after a malware attack crippled the systems network.

It’s game over for the robot intended to replace anesthesiologists

Johnson & Johnson announces that it is pulling the plug on its anesthesiology robot Sedasys because of poor sales.

Analysis of clinical decision support system malfunctions: a case series and survey

A study published in JAMIA analyzing clinical decision support malfunctions at Brigham and Women’s Hospital concludes that malfunctions occur frequently and often go undetected. 93 percent of surveyed CMIO’s reported having experienced a CDS malfunction.

Details of Anthem’s massive cyberattack remain in the dark a year later

A year after a cyberattack that left the medical information of 78 million people exposed, the FBI is still investigating the attack and little new information has come to the surface.

Morning Headlines 3/30/16

Statement from MedStar Health Regarding Computer Downtime

10-hospital system MedStar Health is hit with a computer virus that has restricted access to its network and EHR system, forcing users back to paper documentation. Officials from the hospital have not confirmed whether a ransom has been demanded.

Banner to invest $1 billion for facilities in Tucson, Phoenix

Banner Health will implement Cerner at the recently acquired University of Arizona Health Network by 2017, replacing Epic.

Contracts: Defense Logistics Agency

DoD signs a one-year, $77 million extension with Philips Medical Systems to continue using its “patient monitoring systems, subsystems, accessories, consumables, spare/repair parts, and training.”

Security alert! New ransomware found inside Microsoft Word

A new healthcare-focused ransomware package is being passed around within Microsoft Word macros that uses Microsoft’s PowerShell framework to download malicious code and initiate the ransomware attack.

Morning Headlines 3/29/16

Dell will unload IT services unit to Japan’s NTT Data

Dell will sell its IT services unit to NTT Data for $3.05 billion, money it will use to finance its $67 billion acquisition of EMC.

Google’s bold bid to transform medicine hits turbulence under a divisive CEO

Verily, Google’s life science business, has lost a dozen senior members of its team in the last year.  Former employees say that CEO Andrew Conrad is divisive and impulsive and has created a challenging work environment for staff.

Theranos Results Could Throw Off Medical Decisions, Study Finds

A study by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai finds that Theranos cholesterol results were lower than Quest and LabCorp results by an average of 9.3 percent, enough to influence medical decisions.

House tentatively OK mandatory prescription drug monitoring

In Arizona, legislators are working on a bill that will establish a prescription monitoring program within the state’s HIE.

Protecting Employees’ Health Data

The New York Times calls for limits on employer access to employee health information, citing concerns that it could make workers vulnerable to discrimination.

Morning Headlines 3/28/16

Statement from Joseph Maldonado, MD, President, Medical Society of the State of New York

The president of the Medical Society of the State of New York asks for two exceptions to the new requirement that all prescriptions be written electronically. The first would exempt providers that write less than 25 prescriptions per year, and the second would reduce documentation requirements when technical problems temporarily force providers back to paper.

Dell Services Builds Momentum with Multiple $100M+ Deals

Dell Services signs $100 million deals with Dubai Health Authority and BCBS of Rhode Island.

Hackers Steal Data On 1.5 Million Verizon Enterprise Customers

Verizon loses 1.5 million customer records to hackers who are attempting to sell the information online for $100,000.

Morning Headlines 3/25/16

Raju to explain financial plan to Council, defend records system

NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Ram Raju claims the April 1 Epic go-live was a self-imposed deadline that he would be comfortable moving if needed, clarifying that he would not be fired for making that decision.

The Evolving EPCS Landscape 2016: A Prescription for Stopping Opioid Abuse

DrFirst publishes a paper on e-prescribing of controlled substances in the US, noting that while 82 percent of retail pharmacies are EPCS enabled, only 5.8 percent of providers are setup for EPCS.

Providers must release all of patient data to patients, families

The Ohio Supreme Court rules that any patient data kept by a health care provider must be released to patients and family members on request. Officials at Aultman Hospital argued that only patient data held within the medical records department was required to be turned over.

Thomas Health System Selects Parallon as its Meditech 6.1 Partner

Thomas Health System (WV) selects Meditech 6.1, upgrading its legacy Meditech Magic system and replacing its Cerner/Siemens Soarian system.

Morning Headlines 3/24/16

Allscripts is buying stake in Netsmart Technologies

Allscripts and private-equity firm GI Partners will pay a combined $950 million to acquire behavioral health software vendor Netsmart Technologies as part of a new joint venture. Allscripts will pay $70 million in cash and merge its home health software business into the new venture, resulting in a company with an annual revenue of $250 million.

Opportunities and Challenges in Advancing Health Information Technology

During testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, National Coordinator Karen DeSalvo, MD discussed ONC’s interoperability roadmap and the agency’s efforts to help expand the use of alternative payment models.

New HIPAA audits will target healthcare industry’s business partners

The HHS Office for Civil Rights announces that the next round of privacy and security audits will target business associates and insurers.

In Its First Year, Has Apple’s ResearchKit Revolutionized Medical Research?

Fast Company recaps ResearchKit’s first year in operation, highlighting some of the successes and barriers to growth researchers are seeing with the framework.

Morning Headlines 3/23/16

Methodist Hospital Contains Cyber Attack

Methodist Hospital (KY) contains the ransomware attack on its network and restores access to end users. Hackers were not paid a ransom, and an FBI investigation is ongoing.

Hackers Take Aim At Two More Southern California Hospitals

Hackers attack two Prime Healthcare Services hospitals in Southern California hospitals, Chino Valley Medical Center and Desert Valley Hospital. Administrators refuse to say whether a ransom was demanded, but say patient safety has not been compromised and that steps are being taken to restore full user access.

23andMe Enables Genetic Research for ResearchKit apps

Apple partners with genetic testing vendor 23andMe to integrate consumer genome information into ResearchKit apps.

Call for Papers: Special Focus Issue on Safety of Health IT

JAMIA publishes a call for submissions about the safety of all types of healthcare IT systems for an upcoming special issue.

Morning Headlines 3/22/16

CareKit Is Apple’s Ambitious New Health Monitoring and Tracking Tool

Apple unveils CareKit, an open-source app development platform that extends functionality found in ResearchKit and HealthKit, but designed to help hospitals and patients track medical treatments and share medical information between providers.

FCC auction will scramble patient-monitor airwaves

Despite objections from the medical community, the FCC will move ahead with plans to auction off rights to airwaves within the 600MHz spectrum, a frequency band once reserved almost exclusively for wireless medical telemetry systems.

Petition Calls for Unique Patient Identifier Solution

AHIMA starts a Whitehouse.gov petition calling for the development of a voluntary national patient ID system and the removal of the federal budget ban prohibiting HHS from participating in this effort.

Scripps Health moves to reduce workforce, expenses

Scripps Health (CA) reports a 12 percent increase in operating costs for fiscal year 2015, and announces cost saving measures that includes cutting 100 jobs and restructuring its management team.

Morning Headlines 3/21/16

FBI investigating cyber-attack at Methodist Hospital in Henderson

Methodist Hospital (KY) is the latest victim of a ransomeware attack, forcing the hospital to operate on a backup system while the FBI investigates and administrators decide how to restore access to patient records.

Poor Country, Top Doctors

India-based 32-hospital chain Narayana Hrdayalaya is profiled for its efforts to bring down the cost of healthcare so that quality care is accessible to all, not just the wealthy. The health system performs CABG’s for just $2,600 and insurance for just $3.60 per year.

Private Dell mostly makes PCs – and its sales of those are down

Analysis of Dell financial records shows that the company still makes 65 percent of its revenue from hardware sales, and that the company booked a net loss of $1.1 billion.

Cerner Trails campus construction reaches top of first two towers

Cerner holds a “topping out” ceremony as the first of two towers in its new $4.45 billion campus reached its peak height Friday.