Government & Policy

The Center for Internet Security's service uses software from the cybersecurity vendor Akamai aimed at proactively identifying, blocking and mitigating threats.

ANSI/CTA-2090 puts the focus on three must-haves, according to the Consumer Technology Organization: human trust, technical trust and regulatory trust.

The Biden administration this week announced the latest round of appointments to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.    Although some vacancies are still drawing attention – a permanent administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services among them – the new hires show the Biden administration continuing to populate and overhaul the agency during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.   "As our country navigates an unprecedented public health crisis, President Biden is building a strong, experienced, and diverse team at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services," said HHS Chief of Staff Sean McCluskie in a statement.   WHY IT MATTERS   Although some of the hires listed on the HHS announcement had been previously reported – including McCluskie, Dr. Rochelle Walensky as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director and Micky Tripathi as National Coordinator for Health IT – a few new names also appeared. Jordan Hefcart, for instance, has been named to the position of special assistant at ONC's Office of Technology's immediate office. Hefcart was a member of the information systems security team on the Biden campaign, and founded and led a team to help nonprofit organizations defend themselves against cyberattacks in addition to helping safety-net providers navigate the technical requirements of complying with health IT regulations. Arielle Woronoff, who since March 2017 has served as senior health counsel to the Senate Committee on Finance, will lead the office of legislation at CMS. Woronoff formulated and led procedural arguments before the Senate Parliamentarian during attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and led policy on private market insurance. Max Lesko, who served on Biden's transition team working on the domestic COVID response, will be Chief of Staff in the Office of the Surgeon General. Previously Lesko was the national executive director at the Children's Defense Fund.    Joining Lesko in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health is Jessica Scruggs, as Senior Advisor and Director of Scheduling and Advance for the Surgeon General. Sonia Chessen, who also served on Biden's transition team, where she was responsible for slating the Domestic and Economic Agency Review Teams, will be the new Chief of Staff at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Chessen also has nearly a decade of experience at the Pew Charitable Trusts. Clare Pierce-Wrobel and Perrie Briskin will be senior advisors to McCluskie, and Shannon Myricks will hold the position of Deputy White House Liaison in the Office of the Secretary.    Kimberly Espinosa will be Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislation, and Kirsten Allen, Sean Higgins and Luisana Pérez Fernández will all join the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs.   THE LARGER TREND    The hires will join a number of high-profile appointees to the HHS, including Rear Admiral Susan Orsega as acting surgeon general. Other HHS nominations are still awaiting Senate confirmation, including Xavier Becerra for Secretary and Dr. Rachel Levine as Assistant Secretary of Health. Both nominations are historic: Becerra would be the first Latino person to lead the department and Levine would be the first openly trans federal official to be confirmed by the Senate.  ON THE RECORD   "Together, in the Biden-Harris Administration, we will tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, protect and strengthen the Affordable Care Act, expand access to quality, affordable healthcare, and advance health equity in communities across the country," said McCluskie. Kat Jercich is senior editor of Healthcare IT News. Twitter: @kjercich Email: kjercich@himss.org Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.

Using GE Healthcare’s Edison Health Services, CUREA’s team will first work on AI-based applications focused on COVID-19 and breast cancer.

Bloomberg reports that the software has blocked users, lost registrations, double-booked appointments and crashed for up to three days.

A report Tuesday from South Korea's Yonhap News Agency on Tuesday alleged that the regime of Kim Jong Un had tried to tap into the servers of a local drugmaker to obtain data on the Pfizer vaccine. WHY IT MATTERS The charge from South Korea's National Intelligence Service, reportedly relayed to Seoul lawmakers in a closed-door session, wouldn't be the first time North Korea was accused of cyber meddling in the search for COVID-19 vaccine data. At the moment, intelligence officials appear uncertain as to the scope of the cyber incursion and how much data might have been accessed if any. While isolated and highly-secretive North Korea hasn't reported a single case of COVID-19, the hermit kingdom is nonetheless scheduled to receive 2 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine from the World Health Organization's COVAX program in the next few months, according to BBC. THE LARGER TREND This isn't the first time North Korea has been accused of hacking systems around the world to obtain vaccine data. This past November, Microsoft pointed the finger at "two actors originating from North Korea that we call Zinc and Cerium" that it alleged were "targeting seven prominent companies directly involved in researching vaccines and treatments for COVID-19." Many security observers believe that the cash-strapped nation, which is said to have armies of trained hackers, might be as interested in selling vaccine data on the black market as in developing therapeutic doses for its own people. Since the first COVID-19 vaccines were first rolled out, there has been intense global concern about how hackers and other bad actors, nation-state and otherwise, might attempt to intrude upon or disrupt the development process. This past December, IBM X-Force published a report that hackers were taking aim at the vaccines' "cold chain" supply lines, in what it described as a worldwide spear phishing effort that had "potential hallmarks of nation-state tradecraft." Phishing emails had been sent to vaccine and supply chain organizations in South Korea and other nations, the report said. And in January, the European Medicines Agency reported that some data related to the Pfizer vaccine, stolen during a cyber attack the previous month, had been posted online. ON THE RECORD "There were attempts to steal COVID vaccine and treatment technology during cyber attacks and Pfizer was hacked," said Ha Tae-keung, a member of South Korea's National Assembly, about this most recent incident, according to a Reuters report on Tuesday. Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS publication.

The directorate aims to maintain the pace of transformation seen under COVID-19.  

The health system was conducting around 25 to 50 virtual visits a day; at the height of the pandemic, that rose to nearly 8,000. It worked with Cisco, Apple and others for clinician-to-clinician video.

The report will focus on the safe use of health data for research and analysis that will benefit patients.