Analytics

While provider customers were largely satisfied with their vendors' response to COVID-19, the report finds some major players stand out and others fall short.

The second phase of the company's Diagnostic Development Initiative will expand to include early disease detection, disease trajectory prognosis and public health genomics.  

The Pittsburgh-based analytics firm will work with the federal government to provide public health officials with information through HHS Protect.

A new MIT study found label errors that could destabilize machine learning benchmarks. 

At providers working closely with Castell, the cost of care for patients has decreased in a meaningful way, its chief analytics officer says.

The international platform is aimed at advancing and accelerating the transformation of healthcare supply chains through knowledge dissemination. 

A healthcare revenue cycle management expert talks about the two technologies' impact on what can be a time-consuming and error-prone process.

The collaboration, focused on high-performance cloud computing and artificial intelligence for healthcare and life science research, will see an IBM 1,000-plus qubit system deployed in Cleveland.

The World Health Organization on Friday issued a warning about counterfeit and stolen COVID-19 vaccines being sold on the dark web.   Fake vaccination certificates are also being sold, as well as fake negative tests, aimed at those traveling abroad.   The WHO is "aware of vaccines being diverted and reintroduced into the supply chain, with no guarantee that [the] cold chain has been maintained," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a press conference.   WHY IT MATTERS   Spiking demand for the COVID-19 vaccine has met inconsistent availability, with scams emerging as a seemingly inevitable result.     The WHO said several ministries of health and regulatory agencies around the world had received suspicious offers to supply vaccines, along with reports of "criminal groups" reusing empty vaccine vials. "We urge the secure disposal or destruction of used and empty vaccine vials to prevent them from being reused by criminal groups," said Ghebreyesus. According to the BBC, doses of AstraZeneca, Sputnik, Sinipharm and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are being offered for prices between $500 and $750 on the dark web.   Researchers at the cybersecurity company Check Point say they've seen a tripling in vaccine advertisements since January, with some sellers offering next-day delivery.   Other forums are advertising fake negative COVID-19 tests and forged vaccination cards for $150.   The WHO on Friday also alerted the public to a falsified vaccine detected in Mexico in February, which had been administered to patients outside of authorized vaccination programs.   "Falsified COVID-19 vaccines pose a serious risk to global public health and place an additional burden on vulnerable populations and health systems. It is important to identify and remove these from circulation," said the agency in a statement.   THE LARGER TREND Experts have warned about the security risks engendered by the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, including issues with the distribution pipeline and increased phishing dangers.   Last month, Invistics founder and CEO Tom Knight told Healthcare IT News that many instances of drug diversion are never detected, with a lack of oversight contributing to ease of potential theft.   "The fragmented controls are definitely a challenge and will lead to more diversion," said Knight.   ON THE RECORD   "We urge all people not to buy vaccines outside government-run vaccination programs," said Ghebreyesus. "Any vaccine outside these programs may be substandard or falsified, with the potential to cause serious harm."   Kat Jercich is senior editor of Healthcare IT News. Twitter: @kjercich Email: kjercich@himss.org Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.

Dr Tim Ferris has been appointed director of transformation at NHS England and Improvement, while Sarah Wilkinson steps down as CEO of NHS Digital.