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New agentic tools, medication management advances, medical device guidance and the "great tech reckoning" were among just some of the hundreds of artificial intelligence and machine learning stories we published this past year.

An executive who in his career has had oversight of nearly 70% of America's healthcare data explains the concept, and why it's needed for artificial intelligence to succeed in the industry.

The Digital Medicine Society said its three-part artificial intelligence guide for hospitals and health systems is designed to help with planning, sourcing and scaling health AI technologies to protect resources and deliver system-level ROI. 

Many clinicians at group practices already have turned to some type of AI tool – and the majority are realizing big benefits. The tech CEO behind the report offers a deep dive into the eye-opening results.

The Kaiser Permanente Intelligent Navigator, built into the patient portal, has detected urgent medical cases accurately 97.7% of the time. In addition, appropriate care pathways are recommended accurately 88.9% of the time.

Automation and emerging technologies may accelerate efficiencies but can also add to IT burdens. Careful planning, testing and frameworks are a must to avoid creating new security problems, say panelists at HIMSS25.

Tufts University, Kaiser Permanente and other healthcare organizations have launched the National Food is Medicine Network of Excellence to share best practices and measure the health outcomes and costs of produce prescription programs.

The sprawling health system believes artificial intelligence should never replace the judgment of clinicians and must be carefully assessed, says Dr. Daniel Yang, who offers a closer look at Kaiser's successful rollout of a genAI tool for clinicians, among other insights.

A cyberattack on May 8 against healthcare giant Ascension resulted in the medical data of 5.6 million customers being exposed, according to a filing with the Maine attorney general’s office published on December 20. WHY IT MATTERS In June, the health system determined that an attacker gained access to its systems after an employee at one of its facilities inadvertently downloaded a malicious file, believing it to be legitimate. The organization stated there was no indication that the incident was anything other than an honest mistake. Months of investigation with third-party experts also led to Ascension determining sensitive data belonging to current and former patients, senior living residents, and employees was potentially exposed. A December 19 announcement from Ascension noted the compromised information varies by individual and may include medical details such as medical record numbers, dates of service, lab test types and procedure codes. Payment information, including credit card or bank account numbers, insurance details ranging from Medicaid and Medicare IDs to policy numbers and claims, government identification, including Social Security numbers, tax IDs, driver’s licenses or passports, and personal information such as addresses and dates of birth were potentially involved. Ascension also confirmed its electronic health records and other core clinical systems, where full patient records are securely stored, were not accessed during the attack. THE LARGER TREND Among the other major healthcare breaches in 2024 include a cyberattack against Change Healthcare in February, which impacted 100 million people – the largest breach ever reported to federal regulators. In April, Kaiser Permanente reported that 13.4 million people were affected by a data breach that exposed patient and plan members' information. Meanwhile, legislation is being proposed to bolster healthcare cybersecurity defense in the form of the Health Care Cybersecurity and Resiliency Act. The bipartisan bill, introduced in November, would offer grants to healthcare organizations to help them shore up their ability to prevent and respond to cyberattacks. Meanwhile, governance remains a concerning weak point in healthcare, even as cyberattacks are becoming more prominent and the risks of IoT medical devices are coming into sharper focus. ON THE RECORD Tim Rawlins, senior adviser and director for security at cybersecurity consultancy NCC Group, noted healthcare will always be an attractive target, given the sheer quantity of sensitive data organizations hold and the need to make information available to the medical staff as quickly as possible. "Basic cyber security measures, individual log ins, multi-factor authentication, and patched, secure and monitored systems will go a long way to preventing these attacks," he said. Nathan Eddy is a healthcare and technology freelancer based in Berlin. Email the writer: nathaneddy@gmail.com Twitter: @dropdeaded209    

Also: Kaiser Permanente reported that an unauthorized party gained access to the email accounts of two workforce members and viewed patient health information.