When it comes to protecting patients from the impacts of ransomware, the time has come for the healthcare sector to rethink the way it approaches cyber resilience -- starting with Zero Trust strategies.
The unprecedented wave of ransomware attacks on the healthcare sector has upended long-held assumptions about network security. Confidence in traditional methods alone and the philosophies behind them, have been undermined. The ransomware era has become a time of reckoning – particularly
Read More
Overcoming Ripple Effects of COVID-19 to Boost Patient Outcomes: 3 Insights
Fear of COVID-19 exposure isn’t the only thing holding patients back from seeking needed care during the pandemic. So are the complexities of navigating life after COVID-19—and it’s a struggle that physicians, who are overworked and burned out, can relate to as well.
Even as data indicates that consumer deferment of care—common during the first 18 months of the pandemic—has decreased, not all consumers have returned for care as soon as expected. In some instances, financial concerns
Read More
5 Tips for Building Your Revenue Cycle Metrics Constellation
If you scan a bright, clear night sky, you will likely pick out familiar shapes. Depending on your creativity, you might see Ursa Major and Minor or perhaps only the Big Dipper and its little brother. But those stars are not only entertaining, they also are important points of navigation used by ancient sailors, the Apollo missions, and even the Mars Rover.
Just as sailors might choose the North Star to guide them, CFOs and healthcare revenue cycle leaders often seek a simple,
Read More
The Gains and Pains of Using AI in the Pharmaceutical Industry
The costs for drug discovery and development are skyrocketing, but AI (artificial intelligence) is introducing new efficiencies to help find effective treatments faster.
A study in 2020 concluded that the estimated median capitalized research and development cost per product was $985 million. Contributing factors to this included larger trial sizes, the need to assess health technology, the requirement to provide data on comparative drugs’ effectiveness, and most
Read More
Healthcare Payments: 3 Ways to Make the Experience Better for Patients and Providers Alike
The past few years have seen an enormous acceleration in the adoption of technologies that streamline and modernize payments across all industries. As embedded finance becomes more popular and companies begin to embrace automation technologies, there’s a clear opportunity for healthcare providers to embrace digital payments. Through the use of digital payment technology, healthcare professionals can make their services easier for their vendors, suppliers and patients.
Simplifying the Patient
Read More
Should I Get Another Booster? How Doctors Can Help Patients Navigate the Next Phase of COVID-19
The general consensus is that COVID-19 in some form is here to stay. As people come to terms with this reality, primary care providers may be getting more questions from patients – especially older and immunocompromised ones – asking for advice on how to handle different situations. Should I get another booster? Can I start traveling? Is it OK to go to a wedding next weekend? How cautious do I need to be in social settings?
The answers to these questions aren’t always clear. A lot depends on
Read More
When Advancing a Medical Device, Be A Partner First & Seller Second to Hospital Systems
US hospital systems validate the safety, clinical utility, and robustness of newly FDA-approved devices, 510(k) cleared, before adopting them into clinical practice. This work occurs alongside evaluating how to integrate the medical device into the hospital system’s diagnostic paradigms, including in relation to quality improvement programs. Companies can have a role but there are 415 US hospital systems (comprising ~5,000 hospitals), and each has a bespoke process and ever-changing set of
Read More
Payers Must Increasingly See The Consumer As The Customer
Last year, the average annual premium for employer-sponsored family health coverage rose 4% to $22,221—including employer and worker contributions—according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. While employers are most often the ones selecting the health plan options and insurance for employees, the worker is the one who is left to navigate the healthcare continuum (including their true cost of care). In a recent study, 96% of patients indicated that the quality of their financial experience
Read More
Healthcare’s Evolution: Agile, Secure, Hybrid Work
Whether it’s expanding service-line offerings or embracing remote work models, there have been significant changes in the way healthcare is delivered to patients and supported by providers. The culture of healthcare has long been, “If the physicians and clinicians need to be onsite, then everyone does.” While remote work did happen within healthcare organizations, it was often limited to a very small population and/or very few use cases.
Two Years of Change
Over the last two years, with
Read More
Moving The Focus of Healthcare to Building Healthy Habits That Last
Without addressing root causes through sustained behavior modification, all results are temporary
The most effective approach to preventing and treating chronic disease today focuses on the creation of healthy habits that fundamentally change behavior in a sustainable way. Smart solutions involve personalized programs based on genetic testing, nutrition, exercise, mental well-being and 1:1 personal health coaching. This combination has achieved remarkable success in both warding off chronic
Read More