Bernie Monegain

New rules under MACRA mean that qualified providers can share or sell analyses of Medicare and private claims data, which the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could be a boon to better care delivery.

A CHCS iPhone housing protected health information of 412 nursing home residents that was unencrypted and not password protected was stolen, according to the Office for Civil Rights.  

Congressmen from both sides of the aisle weigh in on ransomware worries.

Flatiron Health newest version of its OncoEMR, a cloud-based electronic ​'medical'​ record is designed specifically for medical oncology.

A third-party vendor is responsible for the security breach of the protected health information of 4,300 patients at Mass. General. Hospital executives posted an apology on its website on June 29.

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, revealed her Tech & Innovation Agenda on June 28 while on – where else? – the campaign trail.

The effort will help doctors boost access to precision medicine for 10,000 VA veterans with cancer.

The move, announced June 28, expands Medsphere’s enterprise healthcare IT products and services to include ChartLogic’s ambulatory EHR, practice management and medical billing technology.

Cedars Sinai Medical Center will begin to use virtual reality technology from Applied VR, in hopes of easing patients' pain with without use of drugs. Hospital executives say it will introduce VR content first in its Spine Center. Cedars-Sinai is among the first hospitals to employ scalable VR technology. It invested in AppliedVR via its TechStars healthcare accelerator. AppliedVR’s developed its main products in partnership with Cedars-Sinai. The first product suite, Pain RelieVR, offers immersive VR games that divert the patient's focus away from the procedure or recovery process. As an example, Guided Relaxation, which was developed with psychologists and leading academics, is used to help transport a patient from the medical environment to a peaceful scenic place, to relax and learn mindfulness and acceptance-based techniques. It is designed to help the patient manage stress and anxiety. "VR is entering an 'age of utilization' in healthcare, with hospitals and surgery centers seeking new ways to increase patient satisfaction, better manage pain, and reduce hospital stays, Matthew Stoudt, AppliedVR, co-founder and CEO, said in a statement. [Also: Cedars-Sinai deploys HomeHero's Apple CareKit app for care transitions] "AppliedVR is an extremely valuable option for healthcare providers seeking to enhance the patient experience and positively impact patient outcomes," Richard B. Jacobs, executive vice president and chief strategy officer at Cedars-Sinai, added. Brennan M. Spiegel, MD, director of Health Services Research in Academic Affairs and Clinical Transformation at Cedars-Sinai, describes virtual reality as similar to "dreaming with your eyes open." It helps patients reduce pain without medications or drugs. AppliedVR has begun a limited roll out of the technology in the Orthopaedic Center with the remaining areas scheduled to come onboard next month. Twitter: @Bernie_HITN Email the writer: bernie.monegain@himssmedia.com Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook and LinkedIn

Payers reject 6.4 percent of claims on the first go-round, company data show.