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Adam Landman, MD, will take the reins as chief information officer at Boston's Brigham and Women's Health Care, effective May 2.

Truven Health Analytics prides itself on, well, analyzing data. So when it came to picking this year’s top 15 hospitals, Truven analysts turned to crunching numbers. The winning health systems are those who showed higher survival rates and fewer errors at a lower overall treatment cost than any of the other health systems across the country. Overall mortality rates were 14.7 percent lower than non-winning peer group hospitals Complication rates were 15.1 percent lower ED wait times were 12.3 percent lower. The 15 health systems also lowered cost per episode by 5 percent, discharged patients from the hospital a half-day sooner than non-winners. Moreover, they showed y percent higher Patient Satisfaction Scores compared with the non-winning hospitals. The 2016 edition of 15 Top Health Systems evaluated 338 health systems and 2,912 member hospitals to identify the systems with the highest overall achievement on a balanced scorecard. Here are the winners: Large Health Systems (operating expense of more than $1.75 billion) Mayo Foundation – Rochester, Minn. Mercy – Chesterfield, Missouri Spectrum Health – Grand Rapids, Michigan Sutter Health – Sacramento, California Sutter Health Valley Division – Sacramento, California Medium Health Systems (operating expense between $750 million and $1.75 billion) Kettering Health Network – Dayton, Ohio Scripps Health – San Diego, California St. Luke's Health System – Boise, Idaho St. Vincent Health – Indianapolis TriHealth – Cincinnati, Ohio Small Health Systems (operating expense of less than $750 million) Asante – Medford, Oregon Lovelace Health System – Albuquerque, New Mexico MidMichigan Health – Midland, Michigan

The results of a 2015 HIMSS survey of 20,000 women in health IT on workplace, job satisfaction, recognition and opportunities to move up – coupled with another on salaries for women in this field compared with compensation for men – spoke clearly to HIMSS Executive Vice President Carla Smith. Both surveys revealed pressing needs for resources and community for women in health IT. Men, on average, earned $126,262, compared with $100,762 for women in the HIMSS Compensation Survey of 1,900 healthcare professionals that included CEOs and CIOs. Moreover, women landing their first executive positions make just 63 percent of what men make in their first executive role. "I firmly believe sunlight is the great disinfectant: It's a great way to start conversations and help people be more informed," Smith said at a HIMSS16 session where she presented the findings of the compensation survey. She saw the disparity, but also recognized the opportunity to do something about it – to change the status quo. Not one to procrastinate, Smith gathered together a roundtable of some of the most powerful women in the industry. They met at HIMSS16 to better define the situation, build a community and create an awards program, all to provide women support, recognition, concrete solutions, share ideas, offer resources and content. Content is where Healthcare IT News comes in. Today we launch a dedicated section of the website – "a room of one's own," so to speak – exclusively focused on news, career advice, profiles, success stories and recognition of women in health IT and the issues that are most pressing to us. We are also launching a Women in Health IT newsletter, which will be emailed the fourth Tuesday of each month. Virginia Woolf's slender masterpiece "A Room of One's Own," which explores themes related to women writers and female fictional characters, was published in 1929, at a time when male authors dominated the literary world even more than they do today. It's much the same in the realm of healthcare IT. The disparities may not be as wide as they once were, but they persist. As we see it, closing those gaps and achieving parity – both in opportunity and compensation – will elevate the entire healthcare IT industry.     Watch more video from Women in Health IT  

Healthcare executives indicated a positive outlook for 2016, with 71 percent expecting their revenues to increase this year, according to a new survey.

EmblemHealth, the $10 billion New York-based health insurance plan, informed its IT staff this week that 250 workers would face layoffs as it outsources operations to Cognizant.

My mother had to go to work to support four children after my father died from cancer. I was active in the women’s movement in my college years. So, I can’t imagine women not having a career outside the home if they so choose or if they have to support themselves and their families.

Sixty percent of healthcare IT security executives are increasing spending for better data protection, according to a recent study. Another 46 percent plan to implement data security tools catch up with industry best practices.

With the recent surge in ransomware attacks, cybersecurity is a top priority for healthcare organizations across the nation. But even if providers have top security measures in place, there's another component to consider: the vulnerabilities of third- and fourth-party vendors. Almost three-quarters of businesses said cybersecurity incidents related to vendors are increasing, according to a recent Ponemon Institute survey, requested by BuckleySander and Treliant Risk Advisors. About half of the respondents said their organization experienced a data breach caused by a vendor, but 16 percent of respondents were unsure if a breach had occurred. And another 65 percent said managing cybersecurity incidents involving vendors is difficult. "The type of risk we're seeing now is changing in response to our evolving data-driven economy," Rena Mears, managing director of BuckleySandler, said in a statement. "The risk to strategic data assets extends beyond any single third-party, but rather to the web of relationships that comprise the data ecosystem." [Also: Lack of business associate agreement, risk analysis to cost Minnesota health system $1.55 M in HIPAA fines] More than a third of businesses don't believe their third-party vendors would notify them if a data breach occurred. And a staggering 73 percent of respondents don't believe a fourth-party vendor would contact them regarding a data breach. A fourth-party vendor is often hired by the third-party vendor. Survey respondents admitted their organizations shared sensitive data with third-parties that may have poor security policies in place. More than half said they weren't able to determine the safeguards in place by their vendors to prevent a data breach and 60 percent of respondents said their organizations don’t monitor their vendors’ security and privacy practices. Only 41 percent said their vendors' safeguards were sufficient. "The inability of so many companies to confirm whether third-parties have had a data breach or cyberattack involving sensitive and confidential information should be a wake-up call for businesses across all industries," said Susanna Tisa, chief business officer of Treliant Risk Advisors, in a statement. "To mitigate this risk, companies should compile a comprehensive inventory of and conduct data and privacy risk assessments for all third-party vendors," Tisa added. "However, we found few companies represented in this research, in particular those outside the regulated banking sector, have done so." Twitter: @JessieFDavis Email the writer: jessica.davis@himssmedia.com Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook and LinkedIn

Employment grew in ambulatory services by 27,000 jobs in the last month.

The research also found that womens’ salaries grew at a higher rate than their male counterparts, while orthopedists, cardiologists, dermatologists are the highest-paid doctors.