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Veterans Affairs will require Cerner to work with agency affiliates, providers and other EHR vendors to fuel interoperability.
With attacks continuing unabated and healthcare again expected to be 2018's top cyber target, just 11 percent of providers plan to get a cybersecurity officer in 2018, the new research report finds.
Everyone working in healthcare will use those – and the five other words the CDC is banned from writing – no matter what.
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Smartphone software programs from the likes of athenahealth’s Epocrates, Doximity, Medscape, Wolters Kluwer and others are giving both clinicians and patients more confidence in diagnosis and treatment options.
The framework's five categories include data governance, quality, operations, platforms and standards.
In response to an ever-worsening cybersecurity environment in healthcare, with an increasing number of cyberattacks on hospitals, health systems and clinics, the American Health Information Management Association has issued new cybersecurity guidelines for healthcare professionals to reference as they seek ways to implement cybersecurity prevention measures.
These include actions that can be started immediately as well as comprehensive efforts that require more long-term commitments. The roadmap, tittled, AHIMA Guidelines: The Cybersecurity Plan, was primarily authored by Kathy Downing, vice president, information governance, informatics, privacy and security, at AHIMA, who has the apt Twitter handle @HIPAAQueen.
[Also: Precision med is about to have its breakout moment ]
“Information governance – the development of an organization-wide framework for managing information throughout its lifecycle and supporting the organization’s strategy, operations, regulatory, legal, risk and environmental requirements – is a critical organizational initiative that healthcare organizations must embrace in order to thrive in the environment of cyber threats and attacks in healthcare today,” Downing wrote.
[Also: 2018 is primed for blockchain, big data and cloud computing advancements, all with a better security plan]
“The cybersecurity plan is a part of the privacy and security competency and needs to address people, processes and technology," she added.
The new cybersecurity guidelines outline 17 steps to completing a successful cybersecurity plan. These steps include:
Conduct a risk analysis of all applications and systems.
Recognize record retention as a cybersecurity issue.
Patch vulnerable systems.
Deploy advanced security endpoint systems that provide more effective protections than standard antivirus tools.
Encrypt workstations and laptops, smartphones and tablets, and portable media and backup tapes.
Improve identity and access management.
Refine web filtering (blocking bad traffic).
Implement mobile device management (MDM).
Develop incident response capability.
Monitor audit logs to selected systems.
Leverage existing security tools like intrusion prevention system/intrusion detection system (IPS/IDS) to detect unauthorized activities.
Evaluate business associates.
Improve tools and conduct an internal phishing campaign.
Hire an outside security firm to conduct technical and non-technical evaluations.
Prepare a “State of the Union” type presentation for an organization’s leaders on cybersecurity.
Apply a “defense in depth” strategy.
Detect and prevent intrusion.
"Review current access control protocols and tighten them up," AHIMA advises. "Another proactive step you can take is to conduct an evaluation or assessment of current security policies. If they have not been updated or modified to account for risks of hacking, this is an action item that should be undertaken."
Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT
Email the writer: bill.siwicki@himssmedia.com
Siemens Healthineers bought Fast Track Diagnostics to build out its precision medicine technologies.
Adding Fast Track Diagnostics molecular-testing technologies enables hospitals to target conditions such as respiratory infections, gastroenteritis, meningitis, hepatitis, infections of the immunosuppressed, tropical diseases, sexually transmitted diseases, and early childhood diseases.
[Also: Precision med is about to have its breakout moment ]
The tests can detect more than 140 viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi.
Siemens Healthineers head of Molecular Diagnostics Fernando Beils said that the acquisition expands its precision medicine portfolio, while Fast Track Diagnostics CEO Bill Carman added that combining the technologies can help customers improve outcomes for patients.
Fast Track has about 80 employees in Luxembourg, Malta and India. Siemens did not disclose terms of the acquisition.
Twitter: @Bernie_HITN
Email the writer: bernie.monegain@himssmedia.com
Salesforce continued its march into healthcare this week when, along with analytics specialist Geneia, it unwrapped an app for population health and value-based care.
The jointly developed tool, which the companies announced at Dreamforce in San Francisco, combines Geneia’s Theon analytics with the Salesforce Health Cloud’s communications services and workflows for hospitals, health plans and employers.
[Also: Cloud computing decision guide: Breaking down 7 top solutions for healthcare]
Geneia said customers can use the new app for population health and value-based initiatives, including identifying gaps in care to increase Medicare star ratings, reducing inpatient hospital and emergency department admissions, and cutting down on claims costs.
Salesforce General Manager of Healthcare and Life Sciences Susan Collins said combining those population health and value-based care capabilities with Salesforce’s customer and patient relationship management also can help hospitals move to patient-centric models of care.
The software-as-a-service CRM vendor has been adding healthcare-centric functionality to its portfolio since 2015 — when reports emerged that CEO Marc Benioff was projecting the company could earn a cool $1 billion in the market.
That began when the company announced Health Cloud in September 2015, which Chief Medical Officer Joshua Newman, MD said described at the time as a platform for the post-EHR world.
And the company has been adding to Health Cloud since then. Salesforce in August of 2016 debuted telemedicine tools in Health Cloud that clinicians and care teams can use to conduct video consults with patients via Apple and Android phones or tablets.
Then in February of 2017, the SaaS vendor added new capabilities to identify at-risk patients, including analytics for risk stratification and patient engagement, communication and management features.
Twitter: SullyHIT
Email the writer: tom.sullivan@himssmedia.com