News

EHR makers Epic and Cerner are building advanced directive features into their software to enable data sharing, an official said. Some lawmakers are looking to make directives portable while U.S. states are building databases to store them.  

A new 451 Research report found 90 percent of security executives are concerned about threats and 60 percent have experienced breaches. But they also listed attracting talent and investing in security as top barriers. 

CIO Craig Richardville said Carolinas has reduced its duplicate medical records error rate from 2.9 percent to 0.01 percent using the ID and authentication technology in conjunction with its master patient index.

A Government Accountability Office report points to security weaknesses and to Health and Human Services’ incomplete information about how many people are impacted when breaches happen.  

A member of the U.S. House of Representatives and a Federal Trade Commission official have called for greater protections against and notifications of ransomware attacks – and bolstered cybersecurity for healthcare overall.

In a deal also involving the private equity firm GI Partners, the EHR maker will combine its Homecare products with Netsmart’s human services offerings.

Chino Valley Medical Center and Desert Valley Medical Center are the latest in a string of attacks that has security experts predicting more ransomware in the near-term. 

The Office for Civil Rights has launched a new round of HIPAA audits. Will the program succeed in improving privacy and security practices and protecting patient data? Or could it have the opposite impact?  

The Pittsburgh Health Data Alliance also announced that it will begin working on apps to help prevent falls, share medication lists, and reduce hospital-acquired ulcers.

Hospital is looking to the public to nominate one of three initiatives: a patient identification shield, a surgery blood loss manager, or a bioprinter to produce living tissue replacement.