2015 was unsurprisingly the year with the highest-profile healthcare data breaches to-date. With more and more patient information being transferred and stored digitally it’s a trend likely to continue for many years to come. Clinics, doctors offices, insurers and hospitals, however, are equally increasing their measures in fighting back.Similar to money and jewels, no data is completely immune from unauthorized access so long as legitimate access is granted to specific people. That doesn’t mean
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NIH Awards Mayo Clinic $142M to Create Biobank for Precision Medicine Initiative
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Mayo Clinic $142 million over five years as part of President Obama's Precision Medicine Initiative to create the world’s largest biobank for the PMI Cohort Program. Mayo Clinic will use the funding to support the collection, storage and distribution for research use of biological samples known as biospecimens. Laboratory analyses of the biospecimens, including chemical and genetic tests, will be a key component of the core PMI Cohort Program
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Medtronic, Qualcomm Team Up to Develop Next-Gen Continuous Glucose Monitoring
Medtronic and Qualcomm has signed a global, multi-year collaboration to jointly develop future generation continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems that aim to improve health outcomes for people with diabetes. Both companies want to enable more informed care, by giving insights to doctors and people with type 2 diabetes concerning glucose levels specifically for those who do not have control of their diabetes today.Collaboration DetailsThe initial focus of the collaboration would be to develop
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How Wearable Technology Is Transforming the Insurance Industry
Infographic created by Life Insurance Post illustrates how wearable technology is impacting the insurance industry including its effects and benefits for consumers.
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Mercy Health Named “Analytics Wizard” by SAP, Saves Provider $9M in Surgery-Related Costs
What began a decade ago as a vision for a unified electronic patient record has propelled Mercy into a model of care driven by information. Today, Mercy’s physicians, care team and leaders have intelligence – not just data – at their fingertips boosting productivity and driving improvements that minimize unnecessary care and cost, and keep patients healthier.Mercy’s move from collecting data to delivering information has earned its IT division, Mercy Technology Services, international
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FDA, Flatiron Health Team Up for Cancer Research Initiative
Flatiron Health and the FDA have teamed up on a new research collaboration agreement to determine how real-world evidence derived from de-identified, HIPAA-compliant patient data captured outside of clinical trials can provide new insights into the safety and effectiveness of emerging anti-cancer therapies such as immunotherapeutic agents.Research Initiative DetailsAs part of this research initiative, Flatiron Health and the FDA are collaborating on a project to investigate the use of
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CareFirst Shells Out $3M to Deliver Telemedicine to Underserved Communities
According to a company statement, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst) plans to shell out nearly $3 million dollars for regional telemedicine programs to 10 health care organizations in Maryland, Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. The telemedicine programs will focus on expanding healthcare to underserved communities. Last year, CareFirst issued a request for proposals from public health entities and nonprofit organizations aiming to use telemedicine programs to remove common barriers
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Actiance Unveils Compliance Platform for Healthcare, Pharma
Actiance, a provider of communications compliance, archiving, and analytics has unveiled its new Actiance Platform for healthcare and pharmaceutical industries to address changing regulations. Similar to financial services, the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries are highly regulated and highly litigious. The introduction of new regulations, constant changes to existing protocols, and the explosion of collaboration technology has necessitated healthcare and pharmaceutical companies to
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Sensifree Lands $5M for Contactless Biometric Monitoring Sensors
Sensifree, an Israeli digital health startup provider of low power, contact free, electromagnetic sensors that accurately collect a range of continuous biometric data without the need to touch the human body, today announced it has raised $5 million in Series A funding. The round was led by TransLink Capital with participation from existing and new investors, including UMC Capital, a subsidiary of United Microelectronics Corp. and an undisclosed strategic investor.The latest round adds to seed
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SSM Health Goes Live on Surescripts National Record Locator Service
Today, Surescripts announced that it has activated more than 10,000 SSM Health clinicians in Illinois, Missouri and Oklahoma on its National Record Locator Service, to locate patient records and obtain a more complete view of the health of a patient, regardless of where the patient received care.Imagine the scenario: you are visiting the Chicago area, and you fall ill and have to visit the ER at one of SSM Health’s many hospitals in the region. You’re too ill to properly remember your complete
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