When it comes to keeping data safe, experts say artificial intelligence can be a “double-edged sword.”

The Universal Health Services attack this past month has brought renewed attention to the threat of ransomware faced by health systems – and what hospitals can do to protect themselves against a similar incident.

Security experts say that the attack, beyond being one of the most significant ransomware incidents in healthcare history, may also be emblematic of the ways machine learning and artificial intelligence are being leveraged by bad actors.

With some kinds of “early worms,” said Greg Foss, senior cybersecurity strategist at VMware Carbon Black, “we saw [cybercriminals] performing these automated actions, and taking information from their environment and using it to spread and pivot automatically; identifying information of value; and using that to exfiltrate.”

The complexity of performing these actions in a new environment relies on “using AI and ML at its core,” said Foss.

The rapid development of medical technology affects every aspect of medicine and healthcare. Even the seemingly most remote and ivory-tower-like institution isn’t impervious to digital health disruption. We are, of course, talking about the pharmacy.

Although these institutions play a crucial role in the healing process, the impression about pharmacists and their drug store is often that they offer a type of commercial/business-like service. The doctor prescribes the appropriate medicine with the appropriate instructions, and the pharmacist provides it in exchange for money. In short, a clear business.

However, with the medical technological revolution, traditional, clear-cut roles become a thing of the past. Empowered patients have more agency over their health, while new technologies support the democratisation of care; shifting the hierarchical doctor-patient relationship to a partnership level. As patients of the 21st century evolve, so must pharmacies and pharmacists in the age of digital health. They have to redefine their place in medicine as well. A simple drug dispenser will not be enough in a shared and community-based economy.

Why don’t we deal with longevity at The Medical Futurist? A substantial amount of our followers have asked the question and requested us to cover related topics. I have even received questions about it during events and live Q&As.

After all, at The Medical Futurist we deal with topics about the latest healthcare trends and technologies that parallel science-fiction, and prolonging one’s life is at the core of sci-fi culture. Even Mary Shelley’s iconic Frankenstein, which is often credited as the world’s first science fiction novel, dealt with similar themes by imagining life evolving past its natural course.

However, even though a lot of intellectual and financial resources are invested in the field of longevity, we are far from facing related matters.

Nearing the end of 2020, we are globally far from seeing the end of the pandemic that ruled (and ruined) 2020. Every day we see hundreds of thousands of new cases of coronavirus infections, with the WHO reporting a record one-day rise, while people have a hard time complying with the strict safety measures again. We are all waiting for this nightmare to stop, but will it ever? How long, ‘till we need to keep masks on and stay away from grandma? After this dystopian 2020, how are we looking at 2021?

If you are among the millions of smartwatch owners with a cardiac abnormality detection feature, you might very well have tried this feature on yourself. But what would you do if it told you that you have atrial fibrillation (AFib), an irregular heart rhythm disorder that increases stroke risk? If you don’t have a history of cardiovascular ailments, you might, at first, think it’s an issue with the firmware, an incorrect reading or even a faulty device.

Spending a career in health IT means I have heard many interpretations – both right and wrong – of the often-cited patient privacy law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA. Unfortunately, those who have not studied these highly complex rules are very likely to misinterpret it. This is not surprising, as a law degree and time on the bench is likely needed to make sense of the complicated legalese in the 115-page document.

Medical IoT devices have become essential for the healthcare industry to carry out many of its day-to-day responsibilities. From helping to stop the spread of COVID-19 throughout this year to assisting ambulances, this industry relies heavily on technology to get the job done. Unfortunately, connecting IoT or IoMT devices to an IT network expands the attack surface, and many hospitals are still running on older network systems. This adds new entry points for hackers to target.

Deloitte is adding a new home-monitoring and remote-care feature to its ConvergeHEALTH MyPath. The new tech, dubbed ConvergeHEALTH Hospital in Home, is focused on combining telemedicine and wearable tools.

It works by capturing data from remote-monitoring tools like wearables, enabling virtual care and linking both up on a dashboard that allows for integrated analytics tools. The tool is able to integrate with EHR systems. Patients are able to tap into support via the service’s digital Rx kit, which helps them set up home monitoring equipment.

New report from Kaufman Hall entitled, “2020 State of Healthcare Performance Improvement Report: The Impact of COVID-19”

Back in April, Borderlands 3 – a big budget, role-playing first-person shooter videogame that sold over 8 million copies within six months of its release – received a free update that introduced a new mini-game to its players.

Taking the form of a retro-style arcade cabinet in the home base’s medical bay, “Borderlands Science” has players shifting colored blocks between rows and columns to solve puzzles. Their successes are rewarded with in-game currency, which players can then use to better combat the aliens, mercenaries, machines and space cultists of the main game.

But Borderlands Science has a bit more than high-score calculations going on under the hood. The colored blocks and puzzles that it’s serving players each represent nucleotides and fragments of microbial 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences, all of which were collected from human stool samples contributed to and sequenced by an open research platform called the American Gut Project.

Rather, Borderlands Science’s true goal is to help artificial intelligence iron out errors when organizing and analyzing those sequences en masse. By compiling the millions of matches that players are making, and then feeding them into a sequencing algorithm, the project aims to build a higher-quality body of data that researchers could someday use to develop novel health or wellness treatments.

Amwell, a national telehealth leader, released the results of its annual Physician and Consumer Survey. The results show physicians and consumers expect to use telehealth more often following COVID-19 than they did before the pandemic. Telehealth usage is up considerably in 2020, with 22% of consumers and 80% of physicians having a virtual visit this year, up from 8% and 22%, respectively, in 2019. This adoption is largely driven by a shift to scheduled visits across all specialties, whereas prior to COVID-19 the majority of visits were for on-demand urgent care.

Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Print Allscripts is suing a telemedicine startup over its name, claiming that CarePortMD has infringed on a trademark it holds.

The health IT giant filed a lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Delaware against CarePortMD claiming it has held a trademark registration for “CarePort” from the U.S Patent and Trademark Office since January 2013.

In 2016, Allscripts acquired CarePort Health, a software company that connects acute and post-acute providers and payers. The health technology announced this week that it plans to sell the CarePort Health care coordination business to WellSky for $1.3 billion.

Join us for a series of collaborative, interactive and engaging presentations, workshops and discussions to help distinguish signal from noise in digital health.

The role of the CIO in digital transformation is changing with current and future challenges because of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the CIOs role as the leader of business IT strategy development and implementation remains unchanged, the pace at which they must adapt and respond to digital transformation has increased. The need for the CIO to take a leadership role in embracing the consumer-first approach perfected by the B2C industry (retail, for example) is on the rise as telemedicine plays a larger role in the care health systems provide. Ensuring that IT systems are running properly is only half the battle. To be leaders in digital transformation, CIOs must be Chief Experience, Chief Education, and Chief Innovation Officers. As organizations redefine their IT priorities, CIOs must be able to lead and pivot and fill gaps where necessary.

A one of a kind virtual event, CareAsOne Summit 2020 brings together the who’s who of the healthcare industry. Register Now

Better performing medical practices spend almost 9% more on their operations than their peers according to a new report released by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). These same practices enjoyed higher revenues and physician compensation compared to the average.

Tyto Care announced the company’s evolution from telehealth to tele-diagnosis with its AI-powered diagnostic support solution

Florida Blue is expanding its partnership with Teladoc to add Livongo’s virtual diabetes solution for its members.

It’s the first health plan to sign on for the integrated technology platform as a result of Teladoc’s proposed $18.5 billion acquisition of Livongo, a company that provides diabetes monitoring and remote monitoring.

Florida Blue, a subsidiary of GuideWell Mutual Holding Corp. and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan of Florida, currently offers Teladoc Health’s virtual care program to its members and will expand its virtual services to provide access to Livongo for Diabetes to select members, the company said.

There has been a notable increase in telemedicine use amidst pandemic-induced quarantine measures and travel curbs, which are meant to reduce workplace transmission. In the US, for instance, telemedicine accounted for 35.3% of all primary care visits during the second quarter (Q2) of 2020, a big leap from 1.1% of total Q2 2018-2019 visits, says a new study (Alexander et al. 2020).

Bradley Merrill Thompson, an FDA-watcher, lawyer and occasional MobiHealthNews guest contributor, joins the MobiHealthNews team for a closer look at what the FDA has been up to around digital health and AI.

When it comes to taking bets on what’s next in healthcare, investors are often the ones calling the shots. Hemant Taneja, managing director of General Catalyst, has sat in the driver’s seat on some of the biggest digital health deals. His firm has invested in a number of digital health companies, from behavioral health company Mindstrong to fitness startup Tempo. But perhaps Taneja’s is best known for his investing in chronic care startup Livongo.

Over the summer, the digital health world was abuzz with news that Livongo was scooped up by Teladoc in a historic $18.5 million merger. As lead investor, Taneja had a front-row seat to the evolution of the company. In fact, he and Livongo founder Glen Tullman sat down together and developed a business plan.

The promises of medical augmented reality and virtual reality are compelling enough to get anyone excited about what’s possible. These companies intend to be at the forefront of VR and AR healthcare.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) offers emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for unapproved products or new uses for approved items in urgent situations where no suitable alternatives exist. Dozens of companies have sought and received EUAs for their testing kits that screen for SARS-CoV-2 — more commonly referred to as COVID-19 or the novel coronavirus.

It is a grim irony that the greatest health crisis of our generation separated most Americans from their healthcare providers. During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, most medical practices that responsibly followed social-distancing guidelines drastically limited in-person visits or were shuttered entirely. But as doctors start to open their doors to patients again, one thing should be clear: We cannot go back to the way things used to be. For even though pre-COVID surveys showed that patients love their doctors, they also showed that they don’t love their interactions with their practices. As consumers, Americans are three times more likely to recommend a hotel or bank they’ve patronized than they are to recommend their healthcare provider — and are also about twice as likely to complain about them, according to a report by Accenture.

If ever there were a year for a company to show what it’s truly made of, this is it.

While the uneven impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have created true winners and losers across the healthcare industry between providers, health IT companies and payers, they have also illuminated the strategy, creativity and stamina behind some of healthcare’s most revolutionary companies.

In the spirit of recognizing how companies have responded to the roller coaster of 2020 while positioning themselves to best thrive in 2021, we are opening nominations for our 2021 Fierce 15 awards.