Pharmacy

The new expansion, known as EmmeRx, means patients in 16 states will be able to get contraception prescribed and delivered.

D. Geoffrey Vince, a biomedical engineer at the health system, will lead new efforts to build out computer science and data research, with the goal of drug discovery and other clinical innovations.

A health app that allows parents to access NHS paediatricians and midwives has come under fire for operating without a Care Quality Commission (CQC) registration. The digital service, called Juno, became available to download for free across the UK in December last year following trials by 1,000 parents during its beta phase. Juno was launched as a paid service in March, but according to a report in HSJ [paywall], the app was not registered by the CQC until May.              A spokesperson for Juno Health told Healthcare IT News that the usual 10-12 week registration approval process had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and it had begun providing consultation services while awaiting approval. They added that the company had been in contact with CQC during the registration process.  WHY IT MATTERS  With more than 374,000 health and fitness apps available via Google Play and Apple, consumers face a dizzying choice when choosing digital solutions. This has led to debate about whether health apps are being adequately regulated.  THE LARGER CONTEXT  Earlier this year NHSX launched the digital technology assessment criteria (DTAC), in a bid to provide confidence that digital health tools meet NHS standards. Meanwhile, a recent study by the Organisation for Review of Care and Health Applications (ORCHA) found that only 32% of 676 mental health apps tested met the organisation’s minimum quality threshold.  ON THE RECORD A Juno spokesperson said: “The Juno Health app has received CQC approval and we were in contact with the CQC throughout the process of building and launching our free research pilot. They’ve been brilliant every step of the way, but finalising our registration was understandably delayed due to the pandemic. During this time, we’ve kept them fully informed on our progress.  “We could not take the safety of our patients and the quality of the services we provide through our app more seriously. The app is staffed exclusively by NHS consultants, senior registrars and senior midwives. We also have a designated risk management and safeguarding officer, data protection officer, and a clinical lead. We are absolutely stringent about patient safety and data protection; Juno meets NICE digital guidelines, is registered with the ICO, has ISO 27001 certified data centre accreditation, and all clinicians are held to NHS standards of care and accreditation.”  A CQC spokesperson said: “If a provider wishes to carry out ‘Regulated Activities’ (RA) then they have a responsibility to register with CQC before the point where their actions would constitute RA. “We have been in dialogue with the provider as is usual and provided advice concerning the progress of their application during the process — including reminding them of their legal responsibilities around registration. “We are aware of this particular provider and have recently approved an application to register relating to this service on 18 May 2021. Separate to the registration process, any evidence of activities being carried out by any organisation without registration would be considered following our usual processes.”

This week's top stories include a cyberattack that led to a network outage at Scripps Health, the HRSA telling six drugmakers they're in violation of the 340B statute and Google giving a sneak peek into its new AI dermatology assistant.

The cyber risk platform Black Kite released a new report this week finding that one in 10 global pharmaceutical manufacturers are at a high risk of suffering a ransomware attack.   The report, published on Tuesday, evaluated the cybersecurity posture of the 200 largest global pharmaceutical companies and 166 associated third-party vendors.   "We have seen how ransomware attackers can shut down a gasoline pipeline in the past week. Imagine if a ransomware attack halted a manufactured COVID-19 vaccine hostage or stopped the production of vital chemotherapy drugs,” said Bob Maley, Black Kite’s chief security officer, in a statement.   WHY IT MATTERS   Billions of people worldwide rely on the pharmaceutical industry, sometimes for daily medications.   "An interruption in manufacturing lifesaving drugs or therapies would be catastrophic for many. A cyberattack on a pharmaceutical company could mean life or death for consumers," noted the Black Kite report.   The organization used open-source intelligence sources, in combination with machine learning, to evaluate companies' susceptibility to ransomware attacks on a scale of 0.0 to 1.0.   Nearly 10% of companies were over what Black Kite considers a "critical" threshold of 0.6, indicating high susceptibility.   Medium-sized pharmaceutical companies had the highest average susceptibility.   Security issues included out-of-date systems, phishing vulnerability, publicly visible critical ports, credentials in lists shared on the deep web and past data breaches.   Vendors are also vulnerable: 12.2% of IT solutions are above the critical threshold, and nearly 5% of software vendors are – but the report flagged data management vendors as the riskiest.   "The people you do business with matters, more so now than ever," said Maley in the report. "Supply chain continuity is everyone's responsibility, especially amidst today's evolving cyber landscape.    "That said, your risk management obligations are never entirely fulfilled, not even after you've achieved a 'good' cyber rating. Your suppliers, partners, vendors and third parties all open other gateways to your network," he added.   So what makes pharma such a rich target? The report outlined several reasons, including digital transformation, data access, widely adopted medical technology and complex supply chains.   "The pharmaceutical industry is the world’s third-largest industry, following the finance and e-commerce sector. With a predicted compound annual growth rate of 13.7% through 2027, it's no secret that pharmaceutical organizations will become a more valuable target to cyber criminals," read the report. THE LARGER TREND   As Maley mentioned, ransomware attacks have been in the news since they led to the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline earlier this month.  But for the healthcare industry, they're nothing new. Just this week, Scripps Health marked two weeks of a network outage following what was reported to be a ransomware attack – while Ireland's national health service faced a shutdown of its own.   And when it comes to the pharmaceutical supply chain, one major effort stands out: the COVID-19 vaccine. Experts have warned that the process of manufacturing and distributing the vaccines presents a number of vulnerabilities – and hackers have already begun to take aim.   ON THE RECORD   "Billions across the globe rely on pharmaceutical manufacturers. Ransomware attacks on 10% of the globe’s pharmaceutical companies could have an immense impact," said Maley.   Kat Jercich is senior editor of Healthcare IT News. Twitter: @kjercich Email: kjercich@himss.org Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.

The company is reportedly considering making an at-home COVID-19-testing kit available in June, then possibly kits for other respiratory infections.

At least five healthcare providers were affected by the incident, which occurred in February.

My Script List was first rolled out in Tasmania and will be introduced in other states and territories by the end of May.

The software, Outcomes, includes medication therapy management, digital patient engagement and pharmacy telehealth tools.

Some companies are betting on telehealth's "gold rush," but virtual care may run into limiting factors.