Editor's Note: Ransomware group RansomHub is threatening to sell information stolen in the Change Healthcare cyberattack after leaking some of the material to the dark web, according to an April 16 report in Becker’s Health IT. Comprising contracts, records, and other personal patient data, the posted material is part of…

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Editor's Note New federal guidelines require obtaining written informed consent before conducting pelvic and other sensitive medical examinations, according to an April 2 Associated Press report. The new guidance from the US Department of Health and Human Services focuses specifically on medical students, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants performing breast,…

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Editor's Note Private payers initially deny reimbursement on 15% of claims, only to later approve more than half of those initial denials, according to a national survey of healthcare institutions published March 21 by Premiere, Inc. Additionally, the denied claims on average tend to be more prevalent for higher-cost treatments…

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Editor's Note According to a March 11 research letter published by JAMA Internal Medicine, most physicians have a negative view of private equity’s growing involvement in healthcare. The findings mostly come from a January 2023 survey of 525 medical doctors conducted by the American College of Physicians (ACP). Some highlights…

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What if a surgeon decided to perform a procedure on a patient that was not totally necessary? It happens more often that one might realize. As recently as August 2023, Forbes published an article that cited a Harvard Business Review report stating that over 50% of lumbar spine surgeries are…

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Editor's Note The healthcare spending burden of Medicare households was double that of non-Medicare households in 2022, according to an analysis published by KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) on March 14.  Using data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, KFF found that average health-related expenses made up 13.6% of Medicare households’ total…

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Editor's Note New standards from The Environmental Protection Agency promise to cut nationwide emissions of ethylene oxide—employed to sterilize more than half of US medical devices—by more than 90 percent. According to a March 15 MedPage Today report, the aim is to reduce cancer risk among the 13 to 14…

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Editor's Note The recent cyberattack on Change Healthcare created a financial impact for the lion’s share of US hospitals surveyed recently by the American Hospital Association, with more than half reporting “significant or serious” impact and three of every four also reporting direct impacts on patient care. These data reflect…

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Editor's Note US Representatives from California and Texas reintroduced the National Patient Safety Board (NPSB) Act, which aims to establish a public-private research and development team “dedicated to preventing and reducing healthcare-related harms." The March 11 announcement comes during Patient Safety Awareness Week, an annual awareness initiative focusing on the…

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Editor's Note A new Alabama law provides civil and criminal immunity for providers and patients of in vitro fertilization (IVF) services, the Associated Press reported March 7. Last month, the Alabama Supreme Court effectively ruled that frozen embryos are people with a constitutional right to life, casting doubt on the…

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