Make time for these 8 HIMSS sessions
HIMSS is finally here, and if you’re already overwhelmed, take a deep breath and check out our list of eight sessions that you’ll want to attend this year. Some of our top picks include a look at Kaiser’s telehealth program, a chat with National Coordinator Donald Rucker, M.D., regarding health IT fraud and abuse compliance and medical device cybersecurity. FierceHealthcare article
Plus, here's our rundown of keynote speakers this year. FierceHealthcare article
Nuance attack involves 45,000 records
Nuance Communications, the medical transcription software that was taken out by the NotPetya ransomware attack last year, was hit by another malware attack in December involving approximately 45,000 records.
Nuance reported the recent attack in its year-end financials. The company said a third party illegally accessed a single transcription platform, which was “promptly shut down.”
The company lost $92 million recovering from the NotPetya attack in 2017, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Nuance said it expects to “expend additional resources” in 2018 to update its information security systems. SEC filing
Intermountain doubles-down on telehealth
Intermountain Healthcare plans to bring 35 different telehealth programs under one roof in a facility that will house 150 Intermountain physicians, according to the Salt Lake City Tribune. The new program, called Connect Care Pro, will be one of the largest in the country, according to officials.
The health system also plans to put telehealth kiosks in schools, community centers and homeless shelters. Those kiosks will include digital thermometers and scales. Salt Lake City Tribune article
Uber launches new health dashboard
Uber has launched Uber Health, a dashboard that providers can use to schedule rides for patients in order to avoid no-shows.
But research so far has found little evidence to support the idea that patients actually take advantage of ride-sharing programs. One recent study found just 1 in 4 Medicaid patients took advantage of such services. FierceHealthcare article
UCSF launches blood pressure app on Samsung phones
The University of California San Francisco (UCSF) is partnering with Samsung to launch My BP Lab, a research app that helps users monitor their blood pressure. The app uses a sensor on the Samsung S9 and S9+ and sends users personalized information to better understand their blood pressure and stress levels.
Users will also be voluntarily enrolled in a three-week study incorporating behavioral data like sleep, exercise and diet.
“This study could provide the largest dataset yet on stress, daily emotional experiences, and blood pressure,” said Wendy Berry Mendes, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry at UCSF and the director of the Emotion, Health, and Psychophysiology Lab. Release
Big pharma wants your medical records data
Pharmaceutical companies, seeing the value of data buried in medical records, are scooping up technology companies to support efforts to build real-world evidence into drug research. Roche’s $1.9 billion purchase of Flatiron Health, an EHR company for oncologists, shows just how valuable those data sets are.
While some, including the FDA’s Scott Gottlieb, see real-world evidence as a way to cut down on drug development costs, others are concerned patient data will be used to boost drug sales. Reuters article