Bill aims to strengthen cybersecurity standards for healthcare providers
Editor's Note The Health Infrastructure Security and Accountability Act, introduced by Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.), proposes new mandatory cybersecurity standards for the healthcare sector, with oversight from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Nextgov/FCW reported September 26. The bill, which amends the Health Insurance…
OR am – 9-6-2024
September 6, 2024 FDA announces Class 1 recall for ventilator adapter assemblies The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designated Baxter’s recall of certain Single Patient Use Circuits and Blue Ventilator Adapter Assemblies as Class 1, the most severe recall category indicating significant risk of injury…
Iranian group intensifies cyberattacks on US healthcare
Editor's Note Cyberattacks in August 2024 are the latest examples of a specific Iranian group intensifying efforts against US organizations since 2017, Healthcare IT News reported September 3. Citing an advisory issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Department of Defense…
Extreme heat, cyberattacks impact blood supply
Editor's Note The Red Cross is reporting a 25-percent drop in its national blood inventory due to hot weather a month after the American Hospital Association (AHA) warned about the impact of cyberattacks on critical supplies at hospitals. According to an August 6 report in The Hill, heat-related challenges have…
Healthcare pays dearly for data breaches
Editor's Note Responding to and recovering from data breaches in healthcare is more expensive than any other industry, according to a report by IBM and the Ponemon Institute. Healthcare Dive reported on the results August 1. According to that article, the $9.8 million average cost for a breach this year…
OR am – 8-1-2024
August 1, 2024 Postoperative recovery Listen now: Pain management, surgical technique advances improve patient outcomes Study reveals puzzling paradox on bilateral mastectomy, breast cancer survival outcomes Medical professionals have long accepted that bilateral mastectomy does not improve survival outcomes for breast cancer patients. However, a study…
Health systems learn lessons from CrowdStrike global IT outage
Editor's Note Hospitals and health systems have largely returned to normal operations in the wake of a global IT outage caused by a faulty update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, according to a July 29 article in Becker’s Health IT. The outage, which began July 18, resulted in many health systems'…
North Korean hackers extort hospitals to fund attacks on US government
Editor's Note North Korean hackers targeted U.S. hospitals and healthcare systems with ransomware to fund a covert information exfiltration campaign against American military and scientific entities, according to a July 25 report from CBS News. The first attack was a May 2021 ransomware infiltration of a hospital in Kansas. The…
OR am – 7-25-2024
July 25, 2024 Physician survey illuminates negative impact of prior authorization The American Medical Association (AMA) annual, nationwide prior authorization survey reveals that over 90% of physicians believe prior authorization negatively impacts patient clinical outcomes. “More telling,” AMA reported July 17, is the fact that 78%…
ASC Leader Weekly 7-24-24
July 24, 2024 HCA reports strong Q2 performance, sees decline in labor costs HCA Healthcare reported nearly $1.5 billion in net income for the second quarter (Q2), exceeding expectations, Modern Healthcare July 23 reports. The Nashville-based system attributed part of this success to a significant reduction…