The Persistent Challenge of Healthcare Access and Cancer Screening Disparities
In the United States, the healthcare landscape remains plagued by significant disparities, particularly for underserved populations. People of color, low-income families, rural residents, and immigrant communities often face a daunting array of barriers that prevent them from accessing quality preventive and diagnostic services.
These barriers include limited access to healthcare facilities, financial
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HIPAA and Modern Healthcare Realities: Dispelling Data Sharing Myths
Myths in healthcare data sharing often cloud the understanding of permissible practices, but this hesitance usually stems from risk avoidance rather than regulatory constraints. HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) stands as a sentinel, guarding the security and privacy of patient information, but its limitations in supporting contemporary information-sharing needs must be acknowledged. As “health care” continues to evolve beyond just medical care, clear guidance is
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Preventing and Mitigating Gun-Related Violence in Hospitals: The Intersection of Proactive and Reactive Security Technologies
Gun-related violence continues to pose a significant threat to society, with the Gun Violence Archive reporting over 650 mass shootings in 2023. Disturbingly, even institutions dedicated to healing and safeguarding individuals, like hospitals, are not immune to these threats; in fact, they’re uniquely susceptible. Since 2018, more than 100 gun-related incidents have been reported within hospital premises.
These statistics highlight the urgent need for hospitals and healthcare
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PCR is the Gold Standard of Testing. How Can It Be Improved?
Most of us have been tested for COVID-19 over the past few years. If that’s true of you, you know the routine: you go to a testing site, give your sample, a medical professional sends it to a laboratory, and you receive your results in a day or two. If this sounds familiar, you’ve benefited from PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) testing.
PCR is well known for its accuracy. It has limitations, however: it’s costly, time-consuming, and requires samples to be sent to central laboratories.
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How EHRs Should Help not Hurt Health System Finances
Hospitals and health systems continue to face persistent challenges from rising costs and labor shortages across clinical, administrative and revenue cycle teams. Recent news from Humana highlights that rising costs, “may persist for an extended period or, in some cases, permanently reset the baseline.” In addition, half of hospitals and health systems surveyed reported $100 million in Accounts Receivable (AR) for claims older than 6 months, amounting to $6.4 billion in delayed or unpaid claims,
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Olympics 2024 Anti-Doping: Why Innovation in Testing Is Key
As we approach the 2024 Summer Olympics, ensuring a clean game is a major priority for the International Olympic Committee. More than 1,000 people will be involved in various anti-doping testing stages, including chaperones, sample collection personnel, and dedicated anti-doping control spaces at each competition venue. The goal is to maintain fair competition so we can all trust that those Olympians who earn their podium moment did so without any artificial enhancement. Unfortunately, the
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Crossing the Digital Divide to Serve Medicaid Populations
A discussion of technology and the Medicaid population inevitably raises the topic of the digital divide — that is, the gap between people who have access to modern information and communications technology (ICTs) and those who don't.
“We can’t deliver internet-dependent solutions to Medicaid enrollees because they don’t have access to the internet.” Or so the argument goes.
But this is an outdated and manifestly untrue statement that relies on a very limited definition of
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WannaCry Wasn’t Enough: Why Healthcare Still Struggles with Cybersecurity Communication
According to the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR), cyber incidents in health care are on the rise. From 2018-2022, there has been a 93% increase in large breaches reported to OCR (369 to 712), with a 278% increase in large breaches involving ransomware.
Ascension, a healthcare provider with 140 hospitals across 19 states, recently suffered a cyberattack that disrupted multiple critical systems. Another significant breach occurred earlier in February, impacting Change Healthcare and affecting
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Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities in Implantable Medical Devices
While digitalization saves lives, it may also threaten them. The uptick in data breaches and cyberattacks targeting the healthcare industry correlates to the number of internet-connected and insecure technology facilities are adopting. Implantable medical devices are one of the latest victims of this trend — and their vulnerabilities could be deadly.
Why are Hackers Targeting Implantable Medical Devices?
According to a report from the U.S. Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center
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3 Strategies to Develop A More Flexible Healthcare Workforce
A recent survey by the American College of Healthcare Executives revealed that workforce issues topped hospital CEOs' concerns for the second year. The ongoing challenge of staff shortages, nurse turnover, and high vacancy rates continues to increase reliance on costly contract labor, eroding hospital margins and contributing to clinician burnout.
Work preferences are also changing in healthcare. Nurses and other clinicians are prioritizing work-life balance, turning to flexible staffing
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