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Four Tasks that Might Save You from Cybersecurity Landmines In The “New-Normal”
The optimist in me wanted to believe the stories I read a few weeks ago: several hacker organizations had pledged to lay off healthcare after the pandemic started, but the pessimist cyber-guy in me was extremely doubtful, it turned out, for good reason.
When I look at the Health & Human Services “Wall of Shame” – it’s pretty easy to see why the pessimist-me was right. If you draw the line on or about March 15th, there’s been a LOT of new additions to the wall under the category of “Hacking/IT Incident”.
Conversations with CISOs at health systems tell me the same thing – they’re being pounded right now. The bad guys have some amazing scams associated with COVID. Thankfully cyber leaders are working hard to hold the fort.
But I do worry about what’s next given what’s just happened. The COVID-19 emergency caused us to change business/clinical practices almost over-night. We rolled out work-from-home (WFH) for employees, drove exponential increases in telehealth visits, and urgently acquired and installed (sometimes non-standard) equipment (including IoT/IoMT or other gear not following normal procurement processes). We extended capacity by quickly on-boarding previously retired clinicians, and temporary employees; added new locations for drive-thru testing, and connected to new suppliers in an effort to shore up the supply chain.
We did a lot a hurry. Which means we might have bypassed some of our best-practices for cyber hygiene in the name of mission support. And we did it with the best intentions – telling ourselves we’d go back and clean up the cyber issues later.
But what happens if later never comes?
Every discussion I’ve had with healthcare execs in the past 45 days suggests telehealth, WFH, and connections to new suppliers (including staffing, supply chain, and business/clinical relationships) will continue into the future. Healthcare operations may very well have a “new-normal”.
During this emergency, we laid a few landmines for ourselves. With hacker dwell-time – the time the bad guys are in the network before they’re discovered — being measure in months, I wonder how many cyber-thugs may have already breached our networks/applications via well-written phishing emails; or via one of the new third-parties we’ve rushed through the security-vetting process.
Are those hackers quietly exploring for our network’s data-crown-jewels, flying under the radar? It’s nice to imagine they’re “ethical” enough to hold off on springing ransomware in the heat of the pandemic. But even if they are, we know from experience their ethics will eventually give way to greed.
And if many of the new clinical/business practices we fielded during crisis are the new-normal for healthcare, then we’ve definitely increased our level of cybersecurity risk. Here’s at least a few things I think health systems should be doing right now:
- Put your Security Operations Center (SOC) into overdrive. Make sure you’re on top of the team’s monitoring and detection efforts. If you assume you’ve been breached all the time, you create a culture that’s driven to detect and respond quickly to attacks, limiting the damage, and quickly returning operations to normal. If you don’t have a SOC monitoring your network 24/7/365 – find a vendor partner immediately who can fill this gap. Part-time, internal best-efforts are admirable, but sometimes give organizations a false sense of protection.
- Practice good cyber-hygiene. If you had a good cybersecurity program in place prior to the pandemic emergency but got a bit sidetracked in the heat of the battle, return to your governance and risk rules for equipment/staff/vendors/applications ASAP. Sure, it feels like red tape (you should constantly work to improve throughput on your cyber processes), but security and privacy discipline lowers your risk for a cyber incident. If you absolutely have to shortcut processes, be sure to record all non-compliant activities in detail, then remediate them.
- Add a project manager (PM) to the security team. Most health systems have paused major projects, and those now idle PMs are great additions to a security team already juggling more than their fair share of work. PMs can serve as “air traffic control,” tracking variances (those “shortcuts” you may have taken in an emergency) and nagging the team to stay focused on remediation. They are also great at working with business/clinical partners routinely, driving user education, reviewing new requests, and even acting as administrators for some applications. They are, at their core, PROCESS people who understand discipline, and that’s a trait we’ll need more than ever in the new-normal.
- Communicate, communicate, communicate.
- Continue to take the opportunity to coach and teach end-users about dealing with the tidal wave of very tempting phishing emails they see daily.
- Help your remote teammates with work-from-home best practices including changing network passwords, not using personal computing equipment for work activities, and making sure all software is updated and patched.
- Make sure you have double-check processes in place in the CFO and Treasurer’s office (actually anyone dealing with financial information) when account transfers of any kind are requested.
- Do a daily huddle with IT Leadership, Cybersecurity team, Clinical Engineering, and Facilities. Everything is a computer now, and everything is tied to the network: buildings, testing-tents, ventilators, electronic health records – even the badge reader that opens the office door. Don’t let any of your teammates unintentionally plant a security landmine.
- And just in case, get phone numbers of law-enforcement and FBI cyber contacts now. Build those relationships before you need them.
Bottom line: With many healthcare organizations running on razor-thin margins, and burning through their available days-cash-on-hand, the last thing we need is any sort of cyber disruption.
The “good old days” are long-gone and “new-normal” will require more cybersecurity vigilance than ever before.
About Drex DeFord
Drex is CI Security’s Chief Healthcare Strategist, and President of Drexio Innovation Network. He has a long career as a healthcare executive, serving at Steward Healthcare, Seattle Children’s Health System and Research Institute, and Scripps Health in San Diego. Prior to that, he spent 20 years in the US Air Force, where he served as a regional CIO, a medical center CIO, and Chief Technology Officer for the USAF Health System’s World-Wide Operations.
A Past-Chair of both the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and the CHIME Foundation, Drex has also held state HIMSS leadership positions in both Virginia and Washington, and served on the HIMSS National Board. He’s also a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, CHIME, and HIMSS.
As a Recovering-CIO, Drex spends most of his time bringing together trusted health systems, payers, associations, vendors, and investors to solve healthcare’s toughest problems as President of his own healthcare consulting practice, Drexio Innovation Network (Drexio, LLC).
Posted 4.28.2020 -
Nuance Launches Dragon Ambient eXperience for Telehealth Compatible with Any Telehealth Platform
Ambient clinical intelligence solution helps clinicians reduce administrative burden, increase patient throughput, and document care from anywhere
BURLINGTON, Mass. April 20, 2020 –Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) today announced the Nuance® Dragon Ambient eXperience™ (DAX™) solution for telehealth in response to the overwhelming increase in virtual visits sparked by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Working in tandem with electronic health record (EHR) systems, the Nuance DAX™ solution revolutionizes the physician-patient experience by securely capturing and contextualizing physician-patient conversations and powering virtual exams where clinical documentation writes itself.™ With the Nuance DAX solution, physicians can be onboarded and trained remotely, capture patient encounters securely, and automatically create clinical notes as a part of their telehealth visits.
As patients and providers are instructed to interact remotely as often as practical and appropriate, the shift in acceptance, adoption, and use of telehealth technologies is significant. Less than a year ago, just 10 percent of consumers used telehealth instead of an in-person doctor’s office visit. Research firms such as Forrester Research predict that virtual visits in the U.S. alone are expected to exceed 1 billion in 2020, primarily because of COVID-19.
Innovated by Nuance and Microsoft, the Nuance DAX solution is built on decades of healthcare experience, in-depth research investments in conversational AI, and enterprise-focused cloud services. Nuance DAX leverages and extends the proven power of Nuance Dragon® Medical, already relied upon by over 500,000 physicians globally, with the latest advancements in ambient sensing technology and AI to create a fully voice-enabled and ambient exam environment for both physical and virtual visits.
Yaa Kumah-Crystal, MD, MPH, MS, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics and Pediatric Endocrinology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said, “Telehealth has emerged in recent weeks as a vital lifeline for our patients and providers alike. The Nuance DAX solution for telehealth can alleviate the administrative burdens as we care for patients both in clinical settings and remotely. Because the clinical documentation essentially writes itself, Nuance DAX can allow providers to focus on the patient, save time, and comprehensively document and code patient care. Technology like this empowers providers to fully engage with their patients through the new medium of telehealth.”
The Nuance DAX solution securely listens to the physician-patient encounter and documents care automatically across any setting, physical or virtual, and now supports primary care, urgent care, in addition to a rapidly expanding list of ambulatory specialties. A quality review process checks notes for final accuracy and completeness before provider approval and signature directly in the EHR. Early adopters of Nuance DAX, such as EmergeOrtho, Nebraska Medicine, Novant Health, and Rush University Medical Center, are seeing significant benefits, including increased efficiency and patient throughput, higher satisfaction scores, and reduced provider burnout. Examples of outcomes include a 20 percent increase in patient throughput, 50-75 percent reduction in clinical documentation time, 88 percent increase in provider satisfaction scores for clinical documentation, and patient consent rates of over 90 percent.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the ‘fast-forward’ button on the wholesale embracement of telehealth, creating an opportunity for providers to engage with patients no matter what they’re facing, and no matter where they are. Since the Nuance DAX solution works with any telehealth platform via a smartphone, we didn’t spend extra time learning about new technology. Instead, we pivoted quickly to deliver the best patient care possible in this new virtual world. Technology like this is life-changing,” said Dr. William Silver, Medical Director, Triangle Region EmergeOrtho.
“Making it easier to document patient care from virtually anywhere has been our mission for decades, and it’s even more important today,” said Joe Petro, CTO, Nuance. “We are committed to helping our customers who are literally on the front lines of a global effort to battle a pandemic and care for patients. That means accelerating innovation – with the use of Nuance DAX for telehealth – is essential to meet these demands now and as we eventually reach a new normal.”
To learn more about the Nuance DAX solution for telehealth, ambient clinical intelligence, and the exam of the future, visit this site. Learn how Nuance is partnering with healthcare customers to respond to COVID-19 together here.
About Nuance Healthcare
Nuance provides intelligent systems that support a more natural and insightful approach to clinical documentation, freeing clinicians to spend more time caring for patients. Nuance healthcare solutions capture, improve and communicate more than 300 million patient stories each year, helping more than 500,000 clinicians in 10,000 global healthcare organizations to drive meaningful clinical and financial outcomes. Nuance’s award-winning clinical speech recognition, medical transcription, CDI, coding, quality and medical imaging solutions provide a more complete and accurate view of patient care.About Nuance Communications, Inc.
Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: NUAN) is the pioneer and leader in conversational AI innovations that bring intelligence to everyday work and life. The company delivers solutions that understand, analyze, and respond to people – amplifying human intelligence to increase productivity and security. With decades of domain and AI expertise, Nuance works with thousands of organizations globally across healthcare, financial services, telecommunications, government, and retail – to create stronger relationships and better experiences for their customers and workforce. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.Trademark reference: Nuance and the Nuance logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners.
Media Contact
Caitlyn Keating
Tel: 781.565.8926
Email: [email protected]Posted 4.20.2020 -
PatientKeeper Launches Mobile Tool to Help Healthcare Providers Treat More Patients, More Quickly Under Crisis Surge Conditions
“Clinical Communications Suite Now” enables provider access to patient data,
plus secure messaging and quick notes for instant communication
within patient care teams, all via smartphones and tabletsHospitals can get up and running quickly on this hosted offering with only a six-month term
WALTHAM, MA, Apr. 1, 2020 — PatientKeeper®, Inc. today announced the immediate availability of PatientKeeper Clinical Communications Suite Now™ to meet healthcare providers’ urgent and growing needs for mobile anytime, anywhere access to patient data and secure messaging with physician peers, via smartphones and tablets. The launch is especially timely as healthcare providers prepare to treat more patients, more quickly, under surge conditions in a variety of venues during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In crisis care settings – imagine a physician working in a parking lot triage tent, or quarantined at home in the middle of the night – instant access to patient records and communication with care team members from mobile devices is essential. PatientKeeper Clinical Communications Suite Now optimizes and integrates with MEDITECH® acute-care electronic health records (EHR) systems that do not provide such native functionality. It is a PatientKeeper-hosted solution available on a six-month renewable contract for an affordable fixed fee, with a low-overhead implementation.
With Clinical Communications Suite Now, providers can:
- Immediately access patient records via native iOS and Android apps on smartphones and tablets
- Securely instant message care team members, consultants, practice administrators, and any other necessary hospital staff, with access to the full patient record embedded in the message
- Share quick notes about patients with other providers using a simple “scratch pad” to capture the most salient points — ideal for handing off to coverage and/or in a high-volume, high-throughput crisis care / triage environment
- Support telemedicine practice by enabling remote access to patient records
(More)
“Access to clinical data and the ability to perform clinical workflows and securely communicate with care teams through mobile devices has never been more critical to the health and safety of patients everywhere,” Philip S. Meer, PatientKeeper’s CEO, said. “PatientKeeper’s Clinical Communications Suite Now equips clinicians to perform above previous peak levels to address the growing COVID-19 crisis.”
For more information about PatientKeeper Clinical Communications Suite Now, email [email protected].
About PatientKeeper, Inc.
PatientKeeper’s EHR optimization software solutions streamline clinician workflow, improve care team collaboration, and fill functional gaps in existing hospital EHR systems. With PatientKeeper as the “system of engagement” complementing the EHR system-of-record, clinicians can easily access and act on all their patient information from PCs, smartphones and tablets. PatientKeeper has more than 70,000 active users today. For more information about PatientKeeper, visit www.patientkeeper.com or call (781) 373-6100.
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Media contact:
David Domeshek
PatientKeeper, Inc.
(781) 373-6232
Posted 4.17.2020 -
SECTRA WINS ENTERPRISE IMAGING CONTRACT ENABLING EFFICIENT DISTRIBUTED READING AT ST. ELIZABETH HEALTHCARE
Contact:
Andrea Sowitch, Vice President of Marketing
Sectra, Inc.
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 203 925 0899 ext. 268
Torbjörn Kronander, President and CEO
Sectra AB
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +46 705 23 5227
Shelton, CT – April 16, 2020 – International medical imaging IT and cybersecurity company Sectra (STO: SECT B) has signed a five-year medical imaging contract with St. Elizabeth Healthcare. Sectra will install the radiology and breast imaging modules of its enterprise imaging solution throughout the healthcare provider’s five hospitals and numerous outpatient centers. The Sectra solution, integrated with Epic Radiant, will provide physicians a full patient overview regardless of their reading location.
St. Elizabeth Healthcare provides care to residents of Northern Kentucky and the Greater Cincinnati area. They are a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network offering physician collaboration for improved patient care.
“We welcome St. Elizabeth Healthcare to Sectra and look forward to working together in the years to come. Our ability to offer a complete integrated solution with all needed functionality on one platform, created excellent synergies between our organizations,” says Mikael Anden, President of Sectra, Inc.
The contract signed in March 2020 comprises radiology and breast imaging as well as advanced visualization tools, teaching files, image sharing, peer review, and radiation dose monitoring.
Sectra’s enterprise imaging solution provides a unified strategy for all imaging needs while lowering operational costs. The scalable and modular solution, with a VNA at its core, allows healthcare providers to grow from ology to ology and from enterprise to enterprise.
Epic and Radiant are registered trademarks of Epic Systems Corporation.
About Sectra Imaging IT Solutions
With more than 30 years of innovation and approaching 2,000 installations worldwide, Sectra is a leading global provider of imaging IT solutions that support healthcare in achieving patient-centric care. Sectra offers an enterprise imaging solution comprising PACS for imaging-intense departments (radiology, pathology, cardiology, orthopedics), VNA, and share and collaborate solutions. Read more about Sectra and why Sectra PACS is “Best in KLAS” at https://medical.sectra.com/.
Posted 4.16.2020 -
TransformativeMed Expands Free COVID-19 EHR Application to Several Health Systems and Medical Centers Across the U.S. and Saudi Arabia
SEATTLE, April 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — TransformativeMed, which transforms electronic health records (EHRs) with directly embedded apps, has extended its offering of the Core COVID-19 App to several health systems and medical centers across the U.S. free of charge during the COVID-19 outbreak. These institutions are:
- Cabell Huntington Hospital in Huntington, W.Va.
- EvergreenHealth in Kirkland, Wash.
- George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C.
- Holy Cross Health, a member of Trinity Health, Silver Spring and Germantown, Md.
- Inspira Health Network in Woodbury, N.J.
- MedStar Health in Columbia, Md.
- UAB Medicine in Birmingham, Ala.
- University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh, Pa.
- University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, Tenn.
- UW Medicine (University of Washington Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center and University of Washington Northwest Hospital) in Seattle, Wash.
- Virginia Commonwealth University Health System in Richmond, Va.
In addition to the U.S., TransformativeMed is rolling out the Core COVID-19 App to King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Saudi Arabia.
“Even before we knew what we would need, and how we might integrate it into our system, TransformativeMed had exactly the right tool built and their team was incredible in their support during the days it took to implement,” said Sean McKenna, M.D., chief medical information officer at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System. “The app immediately proved to be exactly what our epidemiology team needed. Without TransformativeMed, we would still be working on gathering the specifications and would not have been able to install a tool this helpful in time for the surge of patients we expect in the coming weeks.”
The application fully integrates and is embedded within Cerner’s Millennium EHR, allowing physicians and clinicians to track patient tests and segment them based on their test results as well as monitor symptoms checklists, track lab results, react to summarized comments and submit information to state health departments and, as now required, to the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
Planned enhancements will offer hospitals and health systems relevant operational insight such as mechanical ventilator availability, personal protective equipment inventory levels, intensive care unit bed vacancy and physician availability status.
“As hospitals and health systems face surges of patients with COVID-19, we are learning that it has become difficult to track them all through the EHR alone as they move through different phases of testing and treatment,” said Rodrigo Martinez, M.D., chief clinical officer for TransformativeMed. “The Core COVID-19 App is helping sift through all the data, identify who has tested positive, where they are in the care protocols, all while staying inside the EHR workflow. Even in this chaotic time, the app is simplifying coronavirus triage, management and reporting.”
The existing Core Work Manager App provides specialty-specific workflow and content, integrates workflows and coordinates patient handoffs. A development team at TransformativeMed worked around the clock to make program updates customized for COVID-19. The newly designed app was first implemented in the Seattle-area UW Medicine facilities in early March, when the metropolitan area became one of the first hot spots in the U.S. Since then, the virus has spread rapidly throughout the country while new cases and deaths in the Seattle area and throughout Washington appear to have slowed.
“Seattle is beginning to flatten the curve while other hot spots have yet to emerge in other parts of the country,” said Doug Cusick, CEO of TransformativeMed. “We continue to closely monitor all of our clients and learn from their experience so we can continually improve the software and push those updates across our client network. Hopefully, we can help flatten the curve much sooner in other parts of the country that are in the midst of, or preparing for, a patient surge.”
TransformativeMed’s Core COVID-19 application is still free of charge during the coronavirus outbreak to all other hospitals and health systems using the Cerner Millennium EHR system. For more information, please visit transformativemed.com.
About TransformativeMed
TransformativeMed dramatically improves the usability of Electronic Health Records (EHRs), with specialty-specific and disease-specific workflows, which are embedded within the EHR. The Core Work Manager and Core Diabetes App securely synchronize clinical workflow, tasks, alerts, notifications and messages to harmonize the care team and create seamless communication across clinicians, using any device, including mobile. With TransformativeMed, clinicians are happier and clinical work is streamlined, more efficient, less costly and safer. Learn more at TransformativeMed.com.
Media Contact:
Christopher Currington for TransformativeMed
Amendola Communications
[email protected]
314.799.1987SOURCE TransformativeMed
Related Links
Posted 4.14.2020 -
Aster DM Healthcare and MphRx launch COVID-19 Self Checker to screen, triage, monitor and manage patients with COVID-19 symptoms
The daily monitoring system for potential patients helps in pre-test triage from home and provides appropriate guidance as needed. This is in addition to Aster’s existing free teleconsultation service for COVID-19.
April 14 2020, Park Ave, NY- Aster DM Healthcare and MphRx today announced a partnership to launch the COVID-19 Self Checker, a digital tool to help Aster’s patients to screen for COVID-19 symptoms, assess their risk and educate them on the appropriate next steps.
A link is made available on Aster DM Healthcare’s corporate and hospital websites, along with their social media channels, for their patients, to access a secure online questionnaire that allows them to report their current health symptoms and travel history. Based on their responses, the tool provides the user credentials to access the patient app, along with a risk rating for their exposure to COVID-19. The tool then sends them alerts and reminders each day to further track the progression of their symptoms. Depending on the responses on the app, the patient is automatically triaged and then put on pre-defined care workflows. A high-risk patient shall receive an advisory notification with guidelines to call the government’s hotline number while a medium/low-risk patient is assigned to a self-quarantine care plan, which sends them daily reminders to report their symptoms, temperature and educational videos to help them take care of themselves.
MphRx and Aster collaborated to deploy the tool within 48 hours to assist the rising number of queries on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Veneeth Purushotaman, Group CIO, Aster DM Healthcare, said, “The Aster COVID-19 Self-assessment tool is not just another ChatBot or App that informs the person of the potential risk profile and provide additional instructions. Instead, this tool provides them with a personalized dashboard that can be accessed through their Web or Mobile devices . The app continues the engagement every day to keep assessing any changes in their risk profile, while providing them educational content on self-quarantine, hand hygiene, and more. The platform also extends access to the Aster Tele-consultation for anyone who wishes to initiate it.”
The tool is powered by Minerva, MphRx’s Digital Transformation platform. This deployment is an example of how fast health systems can be enabled to rapidly deploy scalable and transformative applications to help patients access care – even in such challenging and unforeseen times.
“We are extremely pleased to have partnered with Aster to bring this tool to our fellow citizens in India. We have been following the situation on the ground globally as all our customers are on the frontlines in this fight against COVID-19. We realized that risk with COVID-19 is how symptoms vary in individuals and also change over time, often leading to rapid deterioration of their respiratory functions. It’s therefore absolutely necessary to go beyond just a one-time check and track these symptoms daily across the entire population,” said Varun Anand, Co-founder & COO, MphRx.
Chetan Uberoy, Co-founder & CTO, MphRx, added, “The only way to beat the virus is to ensure that we can aggressively test, triage and monitor patients in the community and help reduce the risk of further transmission. We are trying to play a small role in this fight against this pandemic by streamlining this process using our extensible platform, ”
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About Aster DM Healthcare
Aster DM Healthcare Limited is one of the largest private healthcare service providers operating in multiple GCC states and is an emerging healthcare player in India. With an inherent emphasis on clinical excellence, we are one of the few entities in the world with a strong presence across primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary healthcare through our hospitals and clinics. We have over 20,000 plus dedicated employees across the geographies that we are present in, delivering a simple yet strong promise to our different stakeholders: “We’ll treat you well.” We reach out to all economic segments in the GCC states through our differentiated healthcare services across the “Aster”, “Medcare” and “Access” brands.
About MphRx
MphRx, Inc. is a rapidly growing healthcare technology company headquartered in New York City, with offices in Australia, UK, India, Singapore, and Brazil. MphRx is an ISO 13485, ISO 27001 certified organization.
About Minerva
MphRx’s Minerva is an enterprise-level SMART on FHIR digital healthcare platform, engineered to aggregate data from disparate IT systems to build a unified longitudinal patient health record. Minerva’s capabilities are configurable to deliver scalable digital transformation through dedicated cloud deployments. The platform is deployed in over 20 countries and manages over three-hundred million patient records. Minerva has enabled large health systems to aggregate healthcare data and orchestrates workflows across complex and diverse technology environments using a unique vendor-neutral approach. The platform complies with HIPAA, GDPR, and other global data protection acts.
To learn more, visit https://www.mphrx.com/ and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook
PR Contact
Aditi Gupta
Digital Marketing Manager
MphRx
Cell: +91 9870106252
Email: [email protected]
Lavanya Mandal
Head of PR and Internal Communications
Aster DM Healthcare
Cell: +971 528126577
Email: [email protected]
Bejoy Changarath
Assistant General Manager – PR & Media Relations
Aster DM Healthcare
Cell : +971 524073559
Email: [email protected]
Posted 4.14.2020 -
Penn State, CHIME Collaborate to Distribute COVID-19 Survey Globally
ANN ARBOR, MI, April 13, 2020 – Misinformation and misunderstanding about COVID-19 and how the coronavirus spreads are fueling the pandemic whose death toll has surpassed 100,000 worldwide. To assess public perceptions about COVID-19 and identify populations whose behaviors put them at risk of infection, researchers at Penn State University released an online survey for the general public.The survey, which is anonymous and offered in 20 languages, is available here. The first round of data collection will end at midnight EDT April 20.“As the world takes on the COVID-19 pandemic, the value of good information and the dangers of misinformation have become clear,” said Robert P. Lennon, MD, JD, an associate professor of family and community medicine at Penn State College of Medicine. “In fact, misinformation has always been one of the greatest challenges of pandemic infection. Only by understanding public misconceptions, planned compliance with prevention practices like social distancing and preferred information sources can we effectively ensure maximum public participation and minimize the spread of infection.”A Penn State College of Medicine team developed the questionnaire to measure public knowledge about COVID-19, their intentions to follow recommended safety practices such as social distancing and hand washing, and their preferred method of receiving new information. It is modeled after the Effective Communication in Outbreak Management for Europe’s standard questionnaire, and was successfully used in central Pennsylvania, identifying groups most at risk and how best to reach them.Penn State is collaborating with the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), which built the technology infrastructure for the survey along with its distribution. With members in 56 countries and 11 international chapters, CHIME will help distribute the survey on a global scale using platforms such as social media as well as partnerships with other organizations. The more responses researchers receive, the better they will be able to identify knowledge gaps, at-risk populations and strategies to inform those groups.“At its core, this is really about saving lives,” said Russell Branzell, CHIME’s president and CEO. “It is critical that we reach as many people as possible and as quickly as we can. CHIME can help by using our membership, our strong relationships across the global healthcare ecosystem and our digital tools to distribute the link to the survey.”About CHIMEThe College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers (CIOs), chief medical information officers (CMIOs), chief nursing information officers (CNIOs), chief innovation officers (CIOs), chief digital officers (CDOs) and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 3,200 members in 56 countries and over 150 healthcare IT business partners and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate, exchange best practices, address professional development needs and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and care in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit chimecentral.org.About Penn State College of MedicineLocated on the campus of Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pa., Penn State College of Medicine boasts a portfolio of nearly $100 million in funded research. Projects range from development of artificial organs and advanced diagnostics to groundbreaking cancer treatments and understanding the fundamental causes of disease. Enrolling its first students in 1967, the College of Medicine has more than 1,700 students and trainees in medicine, nursing, other health professions and biomedical research in both Hershey and State College, Pa.ContactsCandace StuartDirector of Communications and Public Relations, CHIME734.665.0000Scott GilbertTeam Lead for PR and Multimedia, Penn State College of Medicine717.782.1121Posted 4.13.2020 -
FairWarning Fuels Innovation and Growth with New Chief Technology Officer
Tech Industry Veteran and Engineering Leader Darrell Swope Broadens Cybersecurity Expertise for FairWarning
Clearwater, Fla. – April 13, 2020 – FairWarning, the proven leader in protecting the privacy of people and organizations by securing their most sensitive data, has welcomed cybersecurity and technology industry veteran Darrell Swope as Chief Technology Officer. Swope will use his expertise to accelerate FairWarning’s growth and expand its portfolio of innovative technology, which includes solutions for healthcare organizations, financial service firms, and other businesses to protect against insider threats, amongst other security concerns.
Swope joins FairWarning with a wealth of product development and technology experience particularly in cybersecurity. As Vice President of Engineering at Ionic Security, he led their team in building a highly scalable SaaS-based data security platform. He also has broad expertise building security products to protect applications, networks and host computer systems as a chief architect and senior engineering leader at IBM, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Micro Focus. As Chief Technology Officer, Swope will serve as a proven, experienced technology executive to help scale the organization and add depth to FairWarning’s cybersecurity capabilities.
“Joining the FairWarning team means I can make an impact at an organization that has built an excellent reputation as a trailblazer in protecting the privacy and security of patients and organizations,” said Swope. “After 25 years of experience and leadership in software and hardware product development, I’m excited to bring this expertise to FairWarning and help drive its innovative approach to security for highly regulated industries.”
With organizations handling a barrage of evolving security threats, IT leaders need to face the challenge of keeping data secure using technology that leverages artificial intelligence (AI). FairWarning’s AI-based cybersecurity solutions can be used to proactively detect activities to protect an organization’s most sensitive data. Swope will lead the product development and IT support teams in helping customers prevent activities that include employees accessing the wrong patient files or discovering patterns of alarming behaviors.
“Darrell has already made his mark as Chief Technology Officer by developing FairWarning’s technology to meet the needs of the rapidly evolving industries that we serve,” said Ed Holmes, Chief Executive Officer at FairWarning. “Recently, with Darrell leading the charge, we were able to spring into action and launch our COVID-19 solution within a short period of time. Among many other things, his skills allow FairWarning to leverage our data to feed our AI solutions and strong customer relationships, all in an effort to help organizations keep their data secure from threats no matter the location.”
FairWarning has been honored as one of Tampa Bay Times’ Top 100 Workplaces for eight consecutive years. In 2018, the company announced a $60 million growth equity investment from Mainsail Partners, which has been used to accelerate product innovation and help customers stay ahead of the curve of emerging privacy legislations, safeguarding patient and consumer information, and preventing the growing threat of costly data breaches.
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About FairWarning®
FairWarning helps healthcare, financial services, and other organizations establish a culture of security, privacy, and compliance to expand trust with their patients, investors, and customers. FairWarning’s patented cloud-based platform simplifies the full lifecycle of privacy and insider security incident management and helps those in highly regulated industries more easily detect, investigate, mitigate, and remediate improper user access or behavior. With its Patient Privacy Intelligence and FairWarning for Cloud Security offerings, FairWarning helps satisfy key regulatory requirements across multiple industries and localities, including GDPR, PCI, SOX, and HIPAA. FairWarning’s Managed Privacy Services seek to enhance the protection of patient data with a team of healthcare privacy and security experts that function as an extension of the customer’s team. For more information on FairWarning, visit http://www.FairWarning.com or email [email protected].
Media Contact:
Alexis Feinberg
Matter Communications
401-330-2823
Posted 4.13.2020 -
Mimecast Research: 90 Percent of Healthcare Organizations Hit with an Email-Borne Attack in the Past Year
Report Highlights Latest U.S. Healthcare Email Security Attacks And Need For More Effective Employee Awareness Training
Lexington, MA – March 10, 2020 –Mimecast Limited (NASDAQ: MIME), a leading email and data security company, today announced the availability of a new joint research report from Mimecast and HIMSS Media, How U.S. Hospitals and Health Systems Approach Email Security. This research provides quantitative insights on the latest email-borne threats facing healthcare organizations. The report found a staggering 90 percent of healthcare organizations experienced an email-borne threat in the past year – with one-in-four respondents stating these attacks were very or extremely disruptive. The research also revealed that employee security awareness training is not properly prioritized within cyber resilience programs.
Healthcare organizations hold massive amounts of medical and personal information, making them lucrative targets for threat actors. While many organizations are investing in people and technology to improve cybersecurity defenses, attackers have also up-leveled their tools and tactics to evade detection and more effectively land their exploits. According to the research, the top attack types targeting healthcare organizations’ email are malicious URLs and broad phishing attacks. Even though 3-in-4 organizations reported having or are in the process of rolling out a comprehensive cyber resilience program, only half of respondents disclosed high levels of confidence with their current email security deployment.
In fact, 72 percent of organizations experienced downtime as a result of an attack, with productivity (55 percent), data (34 percent) and financial (17 percent) being the three most common types of losses. Healthcare organizations experiencing the most disruptions over the course of the last 12 months were hit more frequently by attacks impersonating trusted vendors or partners (61 percent) and credential harvesting focused phishing attacks (57 percent) in comparison to other kinds of email-borne attacks.
“The popularity of email as a communications channel makes it one of the top attack vectors used to target healthcare organizations. All the reasons it is effective for legitimate use, makes it a key path for threat actors to use maliciously, often with minimal efforts and a high return on investment,” said Matthew Gardiner, director of enterprise security at Mimecast. “This research puts a spotlight on the email security challenges faced by the healthcare industry. To better prepare, information technology and security professionals must strengthen their email security programs by combining the best technical controls with knowledgeable staff and resilient business processes to avoid disruption from email-borne attacks.”
Additionally, employee training is key element of a comprehensive cyber resilience program – one that is often overlooked. Seventy-seven percent of respondents agreed that employee-focused security awareness training is essential to protecting their organization against email-borne attacks, yet 40 percent indicated that their organization provides security training less than once per quarter. Shockingly, 11 percent admitted to only offering trainings during onboarding or ad hoc after a negative incident had occurred.
“Organizations are better off doing five minutes of training once a month, instead of 15 minutes of training once a quarter,” said Gardiner. “Even though it’s the same amount of time, it’s better to do the training more often so the information stays top of mind.”
Cyber Resilience Think Tank member, Taylor Lehmann, who serves as the vice president and chief information security officer at athenahealth said, “Leveraging a combination of training, sophisticated technology and threat intelligence,” can help strengthen an organization’s cybersecurity defenses.
Read the full whitepaper based on the results of How U.S. Hospitals and Health Systems Approach Email Security.
Visit Mimecast’s new Threat Intelligence Hub for more reports and research.
Methodology
HIMSS Media conducted this research in November 2019 on behalf of Mimecast. A total of 101 qualified respondents answered the survey. Qualified respondents had significant involvement with email security initiatives at U.S. hospitals and health systems. This was a blind data collection effort. Mimecast was not identified as a sponsor of the research.
About Mimecast:
Mimecast is a cybersecurity and compliance provider that helps thousands of organizations worldwide make email safer, restore trust and strengthen cyber resilience. Mimecast’s expanded cloud suite enables organizations to implement a comprehensive cyber resilience strategy. From email and web security, archive and data protection, to awareness training, uptime assurance and more, Mimecast helps organizations stand strong in the face of cyberattacks, compliance risk, human error and technical failure. www.mimecast.com
Mimecast is either a registered trademark or trademark of Mimecast Services Limited in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Mimecast Social Media Resources
LinkedIn: Mimecast
Facebook: Mimecast
Twitter: @Mimecast
Blog: Cyber Resilience Insights
Press Contact
Alison Raymond Walsh
[email protected]
617-393-7126Investor Contact
Robert Sanders
617-393-7074
Posted 4.10.2020 -
Independence Blue Cross Offers Quil COVID-19 Preparedness Tool to Members
Digital resource helps members navigate and adjust to new work/life balance realities
Philadelphia, PA — April 8, 2020 — During these uncertain times, it can be difficult to keep up with the latest health advice and to maintain a sense of normalcy. To help its members navigate some of the challenges they may be facing during the COVID-19 outbreak, Independence Blue Cross (Independence) is offering a comprehensive COVID-19 Preparedness Tool developed by Quil to some Independence members at no cost.
Quil, the digital health joint venture of Independence Health Group and Comcast, is updating content in the tool daily based on new information and best practices. The tool includes resources for ways to support healthy living at home and help individuals adjust to new work/life balance realities.
“Independence is proud to be the first insurance carrier to offer the Quil COVID-19 Preparedness Tool to its members,” said Daniel J. Hilferty, Independence CEO. “We are committed to helping our members navigate during these uncertain times. With this new tool, our members will stay informed on COVID-19 and receive practical advice to help them maintain their health and wellness.”
“Independence is proud to be the first insurance carrier to offer the Quil COVID-19 Preparedness Tool to its members,” said Daniel J. Hilferty, Independence CEO. “We are committed to helping our members navigate their well-being during these uncertain times. With this new tool, our members will stay informed on COVID-19 and receive practical advice to help them maintain their health and wellness.”
“The amount of information coming in about the pandemic can feel overwhelming,” said Carina Edwards, CEO of Quil. “Our tool helps people understand what they need to know and what to do next. It’s our way of helping, by giving people a sense of control and a gentle reminder that this can be managed.”
The COVID-19 Preparedness Toolkit includes:
- A “What’s New” section highlighting daily updates
- Symptoms checklist and links to CDC recommendations
- Tips to prevent contracting the virus
- How to care for a loved one with the virus
- Self-care, stress-reduction, and in-home exercise techniques and resources
- Working from home and homeschooling best practices
The COVID-19 Preparedness Tool is available on the Quil Health Platform. Members can access the platform by downloading the Quil app to their smartphone and entering the invitation code provided by Independence. A web version of the app is also available.
The Quil app is also available over the Internet on Comcast’s Xfinity X1 and Flex. Independence members who are also X1 or Flex customers can also view select video content from the Quil COVID-19 Preparedness Tool on their TV by saying “Quil Health” into their Xfinity Voice Remote and pairing their account.
About Independence Blue Cross
Independence Blue Cross is the leading health insurance organization in southeastern Pennsylvania. With our affiliates, we serve nearly 8 million people nationwide. For more than 80 years, we have been enhancing the health and well-being of the people and communities we serve. We deliver innovative and competitively priced health care products and services; pioneer new ways to reward doctors, hospitals, and other health care professionals for coordinated, quality care; and support programs and events that promote wellness. To learn more, visit www.ibx.com. Connect with us on Facebook at facebook.com/ibx and on Twitter at @ibx. Independence Blue Cross is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
About Quil
Quil, a digital health company, delivers actionable and personalized health itineraries for patients and caregivers, answering the question “What Happens Next?” in their healthcare journeys. Quil is a joint venture of Independence Blue Cross and Comcast. We combine the powers of precision data, state-of-the-art technology, and security with unparalleled consumer reach to help individuals navigate today’s chaotic healthcare landscape. Headquartered in Philadelphia, PA with additional offices in New York City, Quil serves individuals, healthcare providers, and payors nationally.
Media contacts:
Ruth Stoolman
Independence Blue Cross
[email protected]
215-667-9537Susanna Arntz
Quil
[email protected]
973-223-2153Posted 4.9.2020 -
SECTRA AND HOSPITAL FOR SPECIAL SURGERY COLLABORATE TO INTEGRATE FDA APPROVED DIGITAL PATHOLOGY IMAGING SOLUTION
Contact:
Andrea Sowitch, Vice President of Marketing
Sectra, Inc.
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 203 925 0899 ext. 268
Torbjörn Kronander, President and CEO
Sectra AB
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +46 705 23 5227
Shelton, CT – April 7, 2020 – International medical imaging IT and cybersecurity company Sectra (STO: SECT B) has gone live with an initial phase of its digital pathology solution at New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), the world’s leading academic medical center focused on musculoskeletal health. This module—incorporated within the existing Sectra enterprise imaging solution and integrated with laboratory information system Epic Beaker—provides integrated diagnostics capabilities between radiology and pathology, giving physicians a full patient overview of images across the two disciplines.
“The pathology team at HSS was thrilled to partner with Sectra on this initiative to integrate pathology and radiology diagnostics,” said Thomas Bauer, MD, PhD, Pathologist-in-Chief at HSS. “We believe this advancement will enhance the care we provide our surgical patients, which is what we strive for every day.”
Pathologists select slides of interest and scan them into the patient file. A microscope icon informs users that digital pathology images exist side-by-side with the radiology images. Physician users will then be able to navigate and zoom the whole slide images. HSS installed Sectra PACS for radiology in 2010 and added its specialty orthopedic modules in 2018.
“We are excited to see the benefits HSS will experience by incorporating digital pathology into their workflow. The ability for radiologists, pathologists, and surgeons to easily access both the radiology and pathology images should be a game-changer for patient care, especially in complex cancer cases,” says Mikael Anden, President of Sectra, Inc.
Sectra’s digital pathology solution received FDA clearance last week, read more here >>
Epic and Beaker are registered trademarks of Epic Systems Corporation.
About Sectra Imaging IT Solutions
With more than 30 years of innovation and approaching 2,000 installations worldwide, Sectra is a leading global provider of imaging IT solutions that support healthcare in achieving patient-centric care. Sectra offers an enterprise imaging solution comprising PACS for imaging-intense departments (radiology, pathology, cardiology, orthopedics), VNA, and share and collaborate solutions. Read more about Sectra and why Sectra PACS is “Best in KLAS” at https://medical.sectra.com/.
Posted 4.7.2020 -
Change Healthcare Launches COVID-19 Information Hub to Help Providers and Payers Navigate Administrative, Data, and Financial Challenges
New information hub offers technology and business resources for payers and providers to access services, solutions, and content around continuity and scalability during the COVID-19 crisis
NASHVILLE, Tenn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Change Healthcare (Nasdaq: CHNG) today launched the COVID-19 Updates and Resources hub, an online source of technology, business, and informational resources to give providers and payers guidance on how to maintain administrative, financial, and operational stability during the COVID-19 pandemic. With a focus on keeping critical processes moving forward in this time of uncertainty, the hub offers information from Change Healthcare, its partners, and third-party expert sources to help customers maintain the flow of medical data, claims, prescriptions, and other essential information.
Change Healthcare launches COVID-19 Updates and Resources hub to give providers and payers guidance on how to maintain administrative, financial, and operational stability during the pandemic
To help mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure continuity, the Change Healthcare COVID-19 Updates and Resources hub provides a continually updated repository of information for customers and partners. Resources include a directory of administrative and financial solutions and services to help providers and payers better cope with the crisis now; the latest information from Change Healthcare solutions teams; special solution and service offers to help providers and payers address immediate pandemic-related issues; service notifications related to specific products that are updated as COVID-19-related coding and regulatory changes occur; and expert advice from Change Healthcare industry experts related to operational and financial issues.
“Providers and payers need relevant and timely information regarding the data, administrative, and financial aspects of their operations during this critical time in the industry,” said Tom McEnery, EVP, CMO & Corporate Affairs at Change Healthcare. “Providers and payers can turn to us as a trusted partner to help them navigate this crisis, support their financial stability, and keep critical processes running smoothly to meet the immense technological and administrative demands posed by this pandemic now, and in the future.”
The Change Healthcare COVID-19 Updates and Resources hub is available now, and will be updated with new information, solution-related offers and services notices, and advisory resources for healthcare providers and payers on a daily basis.
For more information on Change Healthcare, please visit our website, hear from our experts at Viewpoints; Follow us on Twitter; Like us on Facebook; Connect with us on LinkedIn; and Subscribe to us on Libsyn, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and YouTube.
About Change Healthcare
Change Healthcare (Nasdaq: CHNG) is a leading independent healthcare technology company that provides data and analytics-driven solutions to improve clinical, financial and patient engagement outcomes in the U.S. healthcare system. We are a key catalyst of a value-based healthcare system, accelerating the journey toward improved lives and healthier communities. Learn more at changehealthcare.com.
CHNG-IR
Contacts
Kerry Kelly
Vice President
External Communications
Change Healthcare
339-236-2756
[email protected]Posted 4.1.2020