Health Officials To Unveil $50 Million Program To Beat Cyberattacks
The effort will create tools to defend net-connected private hospitals from cyberattacks like the recent Ascension and Change Health hacks — the effects of which are still reverberating, with cybersecurity experts reportedly on "edge" and looking for system weaknesses.
Bloomberg:
US Invests $50 Million To Help Prevent Cyberattacks On Private Hospitals
The US government is seeking to play a more active role in protecting the private health-care sector from a deluge of cyberattacks that have disrupted patient care and left providers unpaid. US health officials will unveil Monday a new program to create tools that defend internet-connected hospital equipment from cyberattacks that could take them offline or leave them incapacitated. (Griffin, 5/20)
Modern Healthcare:
Cybersecurity Execs On Weaknesses Post-Ascension, Change Outages
A recent string of massive healthcare cybersecurity breaches has put data security leaders on edge. Health system cybersecurity executives are looking at their biggest points of weakness in the aftermath of large-scale breaches at St. Louis-based health system Ascension, UnitedHealth Group's Change Healthcare and Chicago-based Lurie Children's Hospital. (Turner, 5/20)
CBS News:
Patient Information Possibly Accessed During Data Breach At LA County Department Of Mental Health
The Los Angeles Department of Mental Health notified some of their clients after their personal information may have been accessed during a data breach two months ago. It happened on March 20 when a LACDMH employee clicked on a phishing email, compromising their account. The department said the employee had a confidential client and patient information in those accounts. LACDMH said it immediately enlisted the help of a "nationally recognized forensic firm" to determine what had been accessed and downloaded. (Rodriguez, 5/20)
More health care industry developments —
Modern Healthcare:
Medicare Physician Pay Reform Proposals Floated By Senate Finance
Declining doctors' pay in Medicare is getting its most serious look in nearly a decade in the Senate, with a bipartisan push launched Friday by the Senate Finance Committee. Doctors have grown especially vocal in recent years about falling Medicare reimbursement. Groups including the American Medical Association have estimated doctors were effectively getting paid 26% less in 2023 than in 2001 because the physician fee schedule set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is not adjusted for inflation. (McAuliff, 5/20)
Modern Healthcare:
Steward Health Care's Bankruptcy Sale Moves Forward With Timeline
Steward Health Care is seeing interest from potential buyers of its 31 hospitals, particularly in Massachusetts and Arizona, and it hopes to complete sales this summer. The health system, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month, also is in advanced discussions with UnitedHealth Group's Optum to buy physician network Stewardship Health. Optum, which had been negotiating with Steward before the bankruptcy filing, submitted a "stalking horse" bid. (Hudson, 5/20)
Houston Chronicle:
Court Order Granted Against Memorial Hermann Transplant Surgeon
The families of five patients who died awaiting liver transplants at Memorial Hermann were granted a temporary injunction Monday against a surgeon accused of potentially preventing some patients from receiving organs. The order granted by 295th District Court Judge Donna Roth prevents Dr. J. Steve Bynon from deleting or destroying critical evidence, such as emails and text messages, that may be relevant to a potential wrongful death claim in the future. Roth previously granted a temporary restraining order in the case, which expired after 14 days. (MacDonald, 5/20)
USA Today:
Dental Care And Insurance Costs Too Much. ACA Rule Could Change That
Even when she had a massive infection and grueling pain from a cracked tooth, Nicole Sutton could not get a dentist to provide timely care. Sutton, a single mother based in Tampa, Florida, could only get herself on a waitlist where she got in line to see one of the few dentists who take Medicaid, the government insurance for low-income families. She visited a hospital emergency room and a federally funded community health center, but those appointments only yielded prescriptions for antibiotics and pain pills. (Alltucker, 5/20)
