To support the sudden increase in test results and medical records being transmitted during the pandemic, hospitals, laboratories, and pharmacies implemented additional devices and remote connections into their networks. After the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) lifted penalties around telehealth to expand care options amid the crisis, new platforms were adopted that were not previously allowed by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
This exercise of discretion
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UK Launches World’s First COVID-19 Human Challenge Study
What You Should Know:
- This week, the United Kingdom (UK) will be the first country in the world to run a COVID-19 human challenge study, following approval from the UK’s clinical trials ethics body.
- First Covid-19 human challenge study will begin within a month, after receiving ethics approval in the same week the UK hits target of offering first dose to 15 million people.
- Researchers call on healthy young people to volunteer for the study, which will play a key role in developing
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Electronic Signatures Speed Care, Keep Providers in Compliance
While certain healthcare regulations—especially those around telehealth visits—have been relaxed during the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, the core compliance and regulatory environment remain intact, including rules around signatures.
Many hospitals and health systems have set up temporary care facilities or COVID-19 testing sites, while all types of healthcare providers have been forced to reconfigure waiting rooms, registration areas, and treatment rooms. The adjustments can throw
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ECRI Institute: Top 10 Health Technology Hazards to Watch in 2021
What You Should Know:
- ECRI Institute identified the complexity of managing medical devices with COVID-19 emergency use authorization as the number one technology hazard in its Top 10 Health Technology Hazards for 2021 report.
ECRI Institute’s Top 10 Health Technology Hazards, now in its 14th year, identifies top health technology concerns that warrant attention from healthcare leaders. The hazards selected are based on a rigorous review of ECRI’s incident
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Holy Name to Offer Needle-Free Blood Draws for Inpatients, First Hospital in NJ
What You Should Know:
- Holy Name Medical Center announced that it is the first hospital in New Jersey among a growing number of health systems nationwide to offer needle-free blood draws for inpatients using the PIVO™ device from Velano Vascular.
- As part of this effort, Holy Name is deploying a new telepresence technology, also provided by Velano, to train staff virtually on the PIVO procedure in accordance with COVID-19 safety protocols.
- By adopting this new standard of care known
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Escalating Cyberattacks on Healthcare Organizations Highlight Need for Security Interventions
Healthcare organizations have faced continual stress from heavy COVID-19 caseloads in 2020. Cyberattacks on their information networks also loomed as a serious threat, and the pressure to protect data is expected to grow this year, as more criminals target healthcare providers.
Protecting patient data from unauthorized access has long been a regulatory prerequisite for healthcare organizations. But increasingly, cybercriminals see profit potential in attacking and crippling their networks,
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Can AI Pave the Path to Reducing Physician Burnout?
The timing couldn’t be more critical for us to start making serious headway to reduce the growing problem of burnout among America’s physicians. In 2018, physician burnout was already at an alarming 42%, but that number is growing as COVID-19 cases surge around the country.
While we are at a hopeful place in the virus’ trajectory with millions of vaccinations administered, the reality – even once we get through the pandemic – is quite grim for physicians and their
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Why Cancer Registries are Part of America’s Fight for Racial Equality
According to a 2019 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, one in 1,000 Black males can expect to die at the hands of the police. Black males were also 2.5 times more likely to die during an encounter with police than white males. For some, those figures are staggering. For many others, they are reminders of the racial disparities that have existed for far too long in this country.
So, in 2020, when recent events have brought racial injustice back into the national
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Experian Health, Epic Partner to Address COVID-19 Identity Verification Challenges
What You Should Know:
-Experian Health is partnering with Epic to expedites access to Precise ID® for Epic customers to address COVID-19 identity verification challenges.
- Collaboration aims to accelerate vaccination efforts with swift implementation and touchless identity proofing for high volume immunization programs.
As part of its ongoing efforts to assist the healthcare industry with pandemic-related challenges through the power of data and
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Telehealth Helped Me Beat COVID-19, But It’s Just A Start
I was the voice of social distancing, a proponent of mask-wearing from the very start. Still, after months of keeping distance from loved ones, the idea of a quick, safe, outdoor family gathering on a beautiful fall day, even if we weren’t going to be wearing masks, was too good to pass up.
A week later, I was sequestered in my bed, with a 103-degree-fever that didn’t break for 12 days, unrelenting migraines and aches, and what felt like an impossibly heavy weight on my chest, making
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