A business associate for a South Carolina cardiology practice caused a data breach when some patient’s personal information was inappropriately downloaded onto a flash drive. The business associate, a leader in remote monitoring of cardiac patients, discovered that one of…
Healthcare data breaches are growing ever more expensive climbing to an average of $4 million this year, according to the Ponemon Institute. The two biggest healthcare IT security concerns among hospitals and physician practices are phishing attacks (77%) and viruses/malware…
Phishing attacks, where cybercriminals use false emails or websites to extract confidential information, are proving to be profitable. According to a recent Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) trends report, the total number of unique phishing sites observed in the second quarter of 2016…
Defense contractor Northrup Grumman is working on a computer system that is aimed at reducing medical fraud and anticipating medical disorders in patients. The system uses data to predict people’s future healthcare needs based on their interactions with doctors, hospitals…
By Pauline Bartolone | Kaiser Health News Workers in California’s hospitals and doctors’ offices may be less likely to get hit, kicked, bitten or grabbed under workplace standards adopted by a state workplace safety board. Regulators within the California Division…
The Centers for Disease Control warned this month that open heart surgery patients that they may be at risk of a life-threatening infection from a medical device. Up to 600,000 patients who had valve transplants or prosthetic implants since 2012…
Sponsors of 403(b) retirement plans, such as universities and hospitals, are facing a new potential for class action lawsuits. Similar to 401(k) plans offered by for-profit companies, 403(b) accounts allow eligible employees to defer money from their paychecks for retirement….
More surgeons are expected to turn to robotic tools for bone surgeries in 2017, according to reports. A new wave of robotic tools are moving beyond soft tissue surgery and will be used for knee and hip surgeries, according to…
Superbugs in hospitals are leading to the death of thousands of Californians, according to the Los Angeles Times. The cause of death from these infections is not being recorded in death certificates, leading some scientists to declare an epidemic of…
Yelp and other online reviews can be used to measure patient satisfaction with hospitals, and possibly lead to better care, according to the New York Times. “It’s still unclear how people are getting the information to choose the hospitals, but…
