Bonus Features – May 14, 2023 – Only 16% of organizations are using data to define clinical best practices, 84% of orgs hit with ransomware attacks lose revenue, and more

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

• In a temporary rule, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) extended telemedicine flexibilities for prescribing controlled medications for six months following the end of the public health emergency, through November 11.
• DirectTrust released the finalized criteria for the Trusted Network Accreditation Program (TNAP) Participant program, aligning accreditation requirements with the requirements necessary to participate with a Qualified Health Information Network (QHIN) under TEFCA.
• The Health3PT Initiative is creating a vendor directory of organizations that currently have HITRUST e1, i1, or r2 certifications or will have them in the next 12 months.

Studies

• A survey from data analytics vendor MDclone reported that only 16% of healthcare organizations successfully use data to define clinical best practices. It doesn’t help that 80% or organizations don’t have enough analyst resources to meet demand for knowledge work in performance improvement.
• Sixty percent of healthcare organizations have been hit with a ransomware attack in the last year, according to The State of Ransomware 2023 report from Sophos. Of the organizations hit, 84% reported a loss of revenue, and 73% reported that attackers succeeded in encrypting their data.
• Patients increasingly prefer digital communications about bills from providers, according to payment technology company Salucro. The company’s survey found that 62% of patients prefer paying bills online, while 59% prefer SMS bill payment reminders to phone calls.
• Healthcare organizations are spending $9.5 million each year on cloud services, according to The State of Cloud in Healthcare from Forrester. Among organizations using a combination of public and private cloud, 69% primarily use the public cloud.
• A report from consultancy RGP on the impact of healthcare staffing shortages found that outside consultants will make up nearly half (48%) of project execution teams in 2024, up form 42% last year. One reason for this growth: In 25% of hospitals, less than half of major projects met their key goals.
• De-identified real-world data in EHRs can help predict the severity of diabetic retinopathy, according to a paper from Verana Health published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.

Partnerships

• Mayo Clinic Platform added three international hospitals to its data network: Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein in Brazil, Sheba Medical Center in Israel, and University Health Network (UHN) in Canada. They join Missouri-based Mercy Hospital.
• Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation is partnering with TimelyCare, provider of virtual health for higher education.
• Patient engagement technology from Luma Health is now fully integrated with MEDITECH Expanse; in addition, Luma is an initial member of the MEDITECH Alliance program
• Virtual primary care provider LifeMD will be the exclusive telehealth provider for online pharmacy HealthWarehouse.com.
• Nutrition application Lifesum is integrating with smart ring Oura to help users better understand how dietary choices impact sleep patterns.
• Leapfrog Group launched Innovators for Leapfrog, which showcases vendors across seven care delivery and technology categories that meet the organization’s patient safety standards.

Product and Company News

• RCM vendor Savista is expanding to the ambulatory surgery center market, beyond its core of hospitals, health systems, and physician practices.
• Patient community platform Belong.Life launched a conversational AI oncology mentor for cancer patients.
• Tesis Biosciences released a test that can identify those most in danger of COVID-19 complications based on genetic mutations.

Sales

• A group of 21 Ontario hospitals launched an HIE powered by Oracle Health.
• New Hampshire-based Community Health Access Network is implementing athenahealth in seven FQHCs.
• Texas-based Center for Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery selected eClinicalWorks and healow. In addition, Florida-based First Choice Neurology implemented eCW and healow.
• Ronald McDonald House is using EPIC iO AURA, an automated disinfecting system, to clean public spaces and individual rooms.
• Nashville General Hospital is implementing RLDatix governance, risk, compliance, and workforce management software.

Awards

• DrFirst announced its 2023 Healthiverse Heroes Awards, honoring 18 provider organizations and eight technology partners.
• AVIA Marketplace named its top digital behavioral health companies, with nearly 40 vendors making the list.
• Risk-bearing provider enablement platform maker Vytalize was selected as one of Inc. magazine’s Best Workplaces for 2023.

People

• Interoperability company Edifecs hired Chris Lance as Chief Product Officer.
• Mobile care management company MedArrive named Peter “Rocky” Samuel, MD as Chief Clinical Officer.
• Patient engagement company Equiva Health added Scott P. Jones as Chief Operating Officer.

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.

Finally, Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers and mother figures in the Healthcare IT Today community!