Inova Health Is Latest To Report Data Breach At Software Company

Modern Healthcare: Inova Health System Hit By Breach At Software Vendor That Affects 1 Million
Inova Health System in Falls Church, Va., is the latest health system to notify patients and donors that some of their personal data may have been exposed in a ransomware attack at software company Blackbaud. The data breach affected up to 1,045,270 patients, according to a report that Inova submitted to HHS' Office for Civil Rights on Wednesday. The HHS agency publicly posted the report to its online database of healthcare data breaches in an update Thursday. (Cohen, 9/10)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Federal Aid Results In Soaring Profits For Some Hospitals
Tennessee-based CHS is just one hospital company doing work in Georgia that reaped rewards from government pandemic aid far beyond what it took to just get by. Congress in the midst of the pandemic saw hospitals and other health care providers sinking as they suspended elective services and as leery patients continued to stay away. As part of the CARES Act stimulus law, it put $175 billion toward provider relief. (Hart, 9/10)

Modern Healthcare: Jefferson Health To Build $760 Million Specialty-Care Pavilion
Jefferson Health and Thomas Jefferson University will build a $762 million specialty care center in Center City, the academic health system announced Thursday. The 19-story Specialty Care Pavilion will house Jefferson's Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, the Digestive Health Institute, Jefferson Transplant Institute and Korman Respiratory Institute as well as other service lines related to cardiovascular health, neurology, otolaryngology, rheumatology and urology. The health system will repurpose, consolidate or sell more than 177,000 square feet across 10 buildings as it continues to centralize its service lines. (Kacik, 9/10)

Stat: How Lyft's Health Business Is Trying To Close Gaps In Access To Care
When Megan Callahan was weighing whether to join Lyft’s burgeoning health care business two years ago, she was attracted by the idea of being able to work more closely with patients — and make the process of getting care easier for them. Just a few years earlier, Callahan, now the vice president of health care at Lyft, had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She saw firsthand how much of a barrier transportation could pose to care. (Gopalakrishna, 9/10)

Modern Healthcare: Health Systems Rethink Flu Vaccinations Amid COVID-19
As the nation continues to grapple with COVID-19 surges, a persistent message has emerged from public health officials: it's vital to get the flu vaccine this year.Each influenza season puts a strain on the U.S. healthcare system as it leads to hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations. There were an estimated 490,000 hospitalizations last flu season and 810,000 in 2017-2018 when health officials had a difficult time pinpointing which strain would dominate. Concerns are amped up this year that health systems will become overwhelmed if the flu emerges in full force while COVID-19 continues to batter the country. (Castellucci, 9/10)

Crain's Detroit Business: Former Beaumont Director Wants Board To Fire CEO, Top Execs, Delay Merger
A former Beaumont Health board  member and vice chair has sent a scathing five-page letter to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel asking her to "require or suggest" the 16-member Beaumont board of directors fire CEO John Fox and his top two lieutenants. (Greene, 9/10)

Dallas Morning News: When A COVID-19 Vaccine Is Ready, McKesson Will Deliver It — As It Did With H1N1 Over A Decade Ago
Many companies are working to develop a vaccine for COVID-19, but one key player in Irving is focusing on another part of the public health response: how to deliver those hundreds of millions of doses as soon as they’re available. McKesson Corp., which relocated its corporate headquarters from San Francisco last year, recently was named a central distributor for the vaccines and related supplies. (Schnurman, 9/11)

Also —

Stat: As Health Tech Soared, Teladoc And Livongo Saw A Chance To ‘Accelerate’
It took a lot of late-night and early-morning Zoom calls plus some socially distanced in-person meetings to create the first health tech giant, all conducted during a pandemic and in near-total secrecy. Now that telemedicine provider Teladoc Health and diabetes coaching company Livongo are moving closer to clinching their $18.5 billion deal later this year, leaders of both companies say they’re ready to provide a single solution for care that will satisfy consumers, providers, and payers. (Cooney, 9/10)

Stat: Remote Monitoring Technology Raises Questions About Inclusivity, Usability
Remote monitoring technologies let doctors keep tabs on how you’re doing, even when you’re nowhere near the doctor’s office. It’s been touted as a potentially revolutionary development in health care, one with profound implications for getting tangible, objective data to clinicians, in real time. And as Mintu Turakhia, a cardiac electrophysiologist who is the executive director of Stanford’s Center for Digital Health, points out, it’s not even that new of an idea — cardiologists have been monitoring heart rhythms with sensors since the 1990s. (9/10)