Bonus Features – July 28, 2024 – 69% of patients will switch providers if communication doesn’t meet expectations, business associates account for 39% of data breaches, plus 21 more stories

Welcome to the weekly edition of Healthcare IT Today Bonus Features. This article will be a weekly roundup of interesting stories, product announcements, new hires, partnerships, research studies, awards, sales, and more. Because there’s so much happening out there in healthcare IT we aren’t able to cover in our full articles, we still want to make sure you’re informed of all the latest news, announcements, and stories happening to help you better do your job.

News

• HHS announced a reorganization, with ONC renamed the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ASTP/ONC). Micky Tripathi will serve in the Assistant Secretary role and continue to serve as the Acting Chief AI Officer for HHS.
• The Sequoia Project released the draft Data Usability Workgroup Implementation Guide, Version 2, with a public comment period open through August 23.

Studies

• According to a Surescripts report, only 27% of pharmacists and 39% of clinicians say it’s easy to share patient information. Tellingly, 29% of clinicians are likely to leave the profession in the next year due to burnout.
• A recent survey from Smart Communications found 69% of healthcare consumers are willing to switch providers if communication doesn’t meet their expectations, while two-thirds are concerned about the use of AI in communication.
• Data breaches reported by business associates account for 39% of all breaches, according to a recent Fortified Health Security report. That doesn’t yet account for the Change Healthcare breach, as that hasn’t yet been reported to OCR.
• A report from data security vendor Metomic revealed 25% of publicly shared files owned by healthcare organizations contain PII, as do 68% of private files that are shared externally.
• Long hold times lead 23% of patients to cancel appointments and 21% of patients to delay or skip prescription refills, according to a recent Hyro report.
• More than 80% of patients have a positive experience with at-home monitoring, according to a recent Vivalink report, with 46% saying the convenience and comfort of home are the main reason for doing it.

Partnerships

• Clinical data vendor Carta Healthcare is partnering with MedAxiom, which provides data and services to cardiovascular providers.
• Healthcare data security vendor CloudWave joined the Iroquois Healthcare Association, a regional trade organization representing more than 50 hospitals and health systems in Upstate New York.
• CareFirst, Highmark, and LifeBridge Health are partnering to sponsor the next cohort of Healthworx Accelerator; applications for the accelerator program close August 6.

Products

• Operations automation software vendor Qventus launched an expanded version of its Inpatient Solution.
• AGFA HealthCare released Enterprise Imaging for Pathology in North America.
• Wolters Kluwer Health launched ClinicalPulse, a continuing education solution for nurse practitioners.
• b.well Connected Health updated its platform to offer a configurable AI architecture.

Sales

• Humana signed a multi-year agreement with Google Cloud for cloud infrastructure and AI capabilities. This builds on an existing relationship the insurer has with Google Health.
• Independent primary care network Aledade is offering AI scribe Sunoh.ai to new practices that use eClinicalWorks.
• Illinois-based Advanced Heart Group chose NextGen for EHR, practice management, patient experience, and ambient assistance.
• California-based San Mateo County Health selected Innovaccer for AI and population health management.
• Utah-based mental health and substance abuse treatment provider Odyssey House went live with Oracle Health EHR.
• Patient communications vendor Artera added more than a dozen FQHCs to its network.
• Sutter Health is deploying FloPatch, a wireless, wearable Doppler ultrasound device from Flosonics Medical.
• South Carolina-based McLeod Regional Medical Center installed Delphinus SoftVue Breast Ultrasound Tomography.

If you have news that you’d like us to consider for a future edition of Healthcare IT Today Bonus Features, please submit them on this page. Please include any relevant links and let us know if news is under embargo. Note that submissions received after the close of business on Thursday may not be included in Bonus Features until the following week.

Welcome to the weekly edition of Healthcare IT Today Bonus Features. This article will be a weekly roundup of interesting stories, product announcements, new hires, partnerships, research studies, awards, sales, and more. Because there’s so much happening out there in healthcare IT we aren’t able to cover in our full articles, we still want to make sure you’re informed of all the latest news, announcements, and stories happening to help you better do your job.

News

• HHS announced a reorganization, with ONC renamed the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ASTP/ONC). Micky Tripathi will serve in the Assistant Secretary role and continue to serve as the Acting Chief AI Officer for HHS.
• The Sequoia Project released the draft Data Usability Workgroup Implementation Guide, Version 2, with a public comment period open through August 23.

Studies

• According to a Surescripts report, only 27% of pharmacists and 39% of clinicians say it’s easy to share patient information. Tellingly, 29% of clinicians are likely to leave the profession in the next year due to burnout.
• A recent survey from Smart Communications found 69% of healthcare consumers are willing to switch providers if communication doesn’t meet their expectations, while two-thirds are concerned about the use of AI in communication.
• Data breaches reported by business associates account for 39% of all breaches, according to a recent Fortified Health Security report. That doesn’t yet account for the Change Healthcare breach, as that hasn’t yet been reported to OCR.
• A report from data security vendor Metomic revealed 25% of publicly shared files owned by healthcare organizations contain PII, as do 68% of private files that are shared externally.
• Long hold times lead 23% of patients to cancel appointments and 21% of patients to delay or skip prescription refills, according to a recent Hyro report.
• More than 80% of patients have a positive experience with at-home monitoring, according to a recent Vivalink report, with 46% saying the convenience and comfort of home are the main reason for doing it.

Partnerships

• Clinical data vendor Carta Healthcare is partnering with MedAxiom, which provides data and services to cardiovascular providers.
• Healthcare data security vendor CloudWave joined the Iroquois Healthcare Association, a regional trade organization representing more than 50 hospitals and health systems in Upstate New York.
• CareFirst, Highmark, and LifeBridge Health are partnering to sponsor the next cohort of Healthworx Accelerator; applications for the accelerator program close August 6.

Products

• Operations automation software vendor Qventus launched an expanded version of its Inpatient Solution.
• AGFA HealthCare released Enterprise Imaging for Pathology in North America.
• Wolters Kluwer Health launched ClinicalPulse, a continuing education solution for nurse practitioners.
• b.well Connected Health updated its platform to offer a configurable AI architecture.

Sales

• Humana signed a multi-year agreement with Google Cloud for cloud infrastructure and AI capabilities. This builds on an existing relationship the insurer has with Google Health.
• Independent primary care network Aledade is offering AI scribe Sunoh.ai to new practices that use eClinicalWorks.
• Illinois-based Advanced Heart Group chose NextGen for EHR, practice management, patient experience, and ambient assistance.
• California-based San Mateo County Health selected Innovaccer for AI and population health management.
• Utah-based mental health and substance abuse treatment provider Odyssey House went live with Oracle Health EHR.
• Patient communications vendor Artera added more than a dozen FQHCs to its network.
• Sutter Health is deploying FloPatch, a wireless, wearable Doppler ultrasound device from Flosonics Medical.
• South Carolina-based McLeod Regional Medical Center installed Delphinus SoftVue Breast Ultrasound Tomography.

If you have news that you’d like us to consider for a future edition of Healthcare IT Today Bonus Features, please submit them on this page. Please include any relevant links and let us know if news is under embargo. Note that submissions received after the close of business on Thursday may not be included in Bonus Features until the following week.