Editor's Note On June 27, The Justice Department announced the 2024 National Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action, leading to criminal charges against 193 defendants, including 76 medical professionals across 32 federal districts in the U.S. for their involvement in various health care fraud schemes. These schemes accounted for approximately $2.75…

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Editor's Note Although SecurityScorecard gave the US healthcare a “better than expected” B+ rating for cybersecurity in 2024, the supply chain cybersecurity firm also highlighted significant risks in application and endpoint security, HealthcareIT News reported June 25.   Overall, 35% of third-party data breaches in 2023 affected healthcare organizations, the…

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Editor's Note A June 24 advisory from the FBI and Department of Health and Human Services warns healthcare organizations about attempts to steal payments through phishing and social engineering tactics, according to a post from the American Hospital Association (AHA). The attackers target employee email accounts to access login information…

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Editor's Note Qilin, a ransomware group based in Russia, claimed responsibility for a cyberattack against pathology services provider Synnovis that paralyzed London Hospitals and is now requesting $50 million, Becker’s Health IT reported June 20. Citing a report from Bloomberg, the article notes that the attack disrupted services at London-based hospitals…

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Editor's Note Change Healthcare has started to notify health care providers about patient data stolen in the February cyberattack and announced plans to mail affected individuals as well. A unit of UnitedHealth Group, the organization issued the update June 20. “CHC is providing this notice now to help individuals understand…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced assistance for providers affected by the Change Healthcare cyberattack ends next month. According to the June 17 announcement, payments under the Accelerated and Advance Payment (AAP) Program for the Change Healthcare/Optum Payment Disruption (CHOPD) will end July 12,…

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Editor's Note Surgeons and surgical trainees who are female or from minority racial or ethnic backgrounds report higher levels of negative emotions and self-doubt after adverse events, according to a recent study in JAMA Network Open. According to a June 5 report in MedPage Today, the single-site, mixed-methods study found…

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Editor's Note Ascension has restored electronic health records (EHRs) throughout all hospitals and clinics nationwide, according to a June 14 update from the St. Louis-based health system. "Clinical workflow in our hospitals and clinics will function similarly to the way it did prior to the ransomware attack," the statement reads,…

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Editor's Note A mass spectrometry platform that identifies key brain cancer mutations in real-time during surgery shows potential for improving outcomes in a procedure when time is of utmost importance, Technology Networks reported June 3. Developed by the Mayo Clinic, the platform specifically targets dehydrogenase (IDH) mutations on samples taken…

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Editor's Note A prospective cohort study among general surgery residents in Singapore highlighted the need for ergonomic improvements and education for surgical trainees during minimally invasive abdominal surgery.  Published May 31 in Scientific Reports, the study was limited by a small sample size and variability in respondent characteristics and practices.…

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