Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
MedStar Health Denies Report That Flagged Security Flaw Contributed To Hack
The Associated Press: MedStar Says 2007, 2010 Software Flaws Were Not Part Of Hack
MedStar Health Inc. said Wednesday that hackers who seriously disrupted its operations and held some data hostage did not exploit software vulnerabilities that were the subjects of warnings in 2007 and 2010 to break into its corporate network. The hospital chain released a new statement after The Associated Press reported Tuesday that hackers broke into a corporate computer server exploiting flaws that had persisted for years on the network. The AP's report was attributed to a person familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to discuss the findings publicly. MedStar said the new information came from Symantec Corp., which it hired to investigate. (Abdollah, 4/6)
The Baltimore Sun: MedStar Disputes Report It Ignored Warnings That Led To Attack
MedStar Health is disputing a report that the hospital company should have known as early as 2007 about weaknesses in its system that contributed to a massive cyberattack that encrypted its files. (McDaniels, 4/6)
Kaiser Health News: Hospital Software Often Doesn’t Flag Unsafe Drug Prescriptions, Report Finds
Medical errors are estimated to be the third-highest cause of death in the country. Experts and patient safety advocates are trying to change that. But at least one of the tools that’s been considered a fix isn’t yet working as well as it should, suggests a report released Thursday. That’s according to the Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit organization known for rating hospitals on patient safety. Leapfrog conducted a voluntary survey of almost 1,800 hospitals to determine how many use computerized-physician-order-entry systems to make sure patients are prescribed and receive the correct drugs, and that medications won’t cause harm. The takeaway? While a vast majority of hospitals surveyed had some kind of computer-based medication system in place, the systems still fall short in catching possible problems. (Luthra, 4/7)
