Practice Management
When Scripps Health was hit by a cyberattack a few weeks ago, it sent workers scrambling to ascertain the security of sensitive patient health information, company files, and other protected or proprietary data. It’s also likely that the event shook the company’s sense of its own security, probably leaving some with a PTSD-like sense of dread. Needless to say, it also disrupted care at the hospitals and urgent care centers affected. While Scripps has been …
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As 2020 was winding down, we all became aware of a widespread and highly alarming hack that has since been attributed to operators in Russia. While it does not appear to have been targeted at healthcare organizations, the fact that it happened at all should be a reminder of the potential risks you face with proprietary information, access to financial accounts, and HIPAA-protected patient information. Then there’s the whole issue of online censorship that has …
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A crowded waiting room can stress out both front-desk staff and clinicians. And barring obviously emergent presentations, human error can occur when deciding which patient needs attention first. An article just published in Fortune magazine introduces a new machine learning-powered triage system that was created to streamline and assure appropriate triage—with a focus on urgent care. The new system, developed by a company called Epic, analyzes a patient’s electronic medical records and their current vital …
Read MoreConcern for both patients and staff has the country’s urgent care professionals leaning heavily on their industry partners for support in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the growing of number of people requesting COVID-19 testing and care, Experity has released a COVID-19 Check-in Triage, and Texting Application to help clinics manage patient check-in from home or the clinic parking lot, facilitate communication with patients, and assess risk before a patient enters an urgent …
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Last year—as has been the case for the past several years—data breaches rose across multiple industries in the United States, according to new data from the Identity Theft Resource Center. That 17% increase may be especially hazardous in urgent care and other healthcare settings, wherein the risk is exposure of not only financial information but also sensitive, confidential medical data. Hacking accounts for the greatest number of breaches, following by “unauthorized access.” As we’ve told …
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Data breaches cost the United States healthcare system $6.2 billion in 2016, according to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services. Breaking the numbers down to the facility level over the entire survey period (2016–2018), HHS notes the average cost to each healthcare organization that experienced a breach was $2.2 million. If you haven’t been hit with a breach, consider yourself extremely lucky; roughly 80% of physicians have. HHS recommends taking …
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A pair of data breaches at two lab test companies exposed information relating to more than 19 million consumers this week. First, Quest Diagnostics admitted it experienced a breach that exposed 12 million patients’ information; a day later, LabCorp revealed a breach affecting 7.7 million people. In the latter case, the company said the breach occurred at a third-party collections firm called American Medical Collections Agency (AMCA) between August 1, 2018 and March 30, 2019. …
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Even before telemedicine has reached full-on acceptance in urgent care, the next step in the evolution of remote healthcare “visits” may be in progress as we speak. A company called OnMed is launching self-contained, unstaffed “pods” that will facilitate remote access to a healthcare provider and allow a patient to receive medication without taking another step. Each unit is designed with capabilities for measuring height and weight; determining body temperature; and measuring blood pressure, respiration, …
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We stress the importance of hygiene and a sterile work environment clinically—that’s what keeps patients and staff safe, after all. However, diligence to tech hygiene and security is just as important to the health of your business, as we can see from a couple of news reports this week. First, eClinicalWorks was fined $132,000 for violating an agreement with the Department of Justice that required vendors to report patient safety issues using their EHR system …
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We look at the advent of smart technology as a window to closer contact with patients and more efficient, secure communication among providers and various healthcare stakeholders. It also opens a door for technology companies with no history in healthcare to suddenly become major disruptors. While it’s too soon to know whether that would be a good or bad thing for patients, there’s no question it makes some cogs in the supply chain nervous. If …
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