Worldwide Tech Outage Blamed On Software Bug Sent To Users’ Devices
After identifying what caused the shutdown, CrowdStrike is revising its protocol for rolling out updates. Also in the news: the mining of patient data, and the questionable use of medical codes.
The Wall Street Journal:
CrowdStrike Explains What Went Wrong Days After Global Tech Outage
CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity company that upended computer systems across the world last week, said it had identified a quality-control flaw that led to outages for millions of Microsoft Windows users — including health care systems — and how it got onto its systems. In an incident report published Wednesday, the company said a bug in a quality-control tool it uses to check system updates for mistakes allowed a critical flaw to be pushed to users’ machines. (Vipers and Rundle, 7/24)
Modern Healthcare:
Humana’s CenterWell To Move Into 23 Walmart Health Clinics
Humana's CenterWell health services unit plans to offer senior care at 23 Walmart Supercenter stores, taking space previously occupied by the now-shuttered Walmart Health business. The clinics in Georgia, Missouri and Florida, which will operate under the CenterWell Senior Primary Care and Conviva Care brand names, are expected to open in the first half of next year, Humana said Wednesday. (DeSilva, 7/24)
Bay Area News Group:
East San Jose Leaders Criticize Plans To Expand Good Samaritan Hospital While Downgrading Care At Regional Medical Center
San Jose community leaders are decrying a plan by HCA Healthcare to expand a local hospital on the western edge of the city while downgrading care at Regional Medical Center on the East Side. ... On Wednesday evening, community members continued to rally in front of the hospital — this time taking aim at HCA’s decision to expand Good Samaritan Hospital just 14-miles away in a more affluent part of the city. The project, which is being done to comply with state seismic regulations, calls for two new hospital wings that will increase the number of beds from 404 to 419. (Hase, 7/24)
KFF Health News:
Montana Looks To Become Latest State To Boost Nonprofit Hospital Oversight
Montana is poised to become the latest state to increase scrutiny of how its nonprofit hospitals deliver community benefits in exchange for their tax-exempt status. Under proposed rules, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services plans to collect data on nonprofit hospitals’ charitable acts, such as discounting prices, providing health education, or conducting free screenings. Montana officials expect to adopt the new rules in August, but state officials have yet to set standards for exactly what constitutes acceptable giving or how much hospitals must do. (Houghton, 7/25)
PoliticoPro:
A Data Dispute Is Making Waves In Health Tech
A below-the-radar dispute over the mining of patient data and how companies exchange that information is rattling the health tech industry. Electronic health records giant Epic claims that Integritort, which provides analysis of medical records for legal cases, incorrectly accessed its patient data through Carequality, a nonprofit framework for sharing health data. Epic says Integritort retrieved the data by falsely claiming it was for treatment purposes, which made it easier to gain access without a physician’s authorization in violation of Carequality’s rules. (Leonard, 7/25)
On the health insurance industry —
KFF Health News:
Oregon Senator Proposes Criminal Charges And Fines For Rogue Obamacare Agents
Health insurance agents who fraudulently enroll consumers in Affordable Care Act health plans could be subject to criminal charges — and civil penalties of $10,000 to $200,000 — under legislation introduced Wednesday by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee. Wyden first promised the bill in May, when he called on federal regulators to do more to combat sketchy Obamacare enrollment schemes. (Appleby, 7/24)
Modern Healthcare:
Aetna, Kaiser, Oscar Health Owe Risk-Adjustment Payments
Marketplace health insurers will pay $10.3 billion under the risk-adjustment program for 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Monday. While insurers will transfer 11.5% more to other carriers than they did the previous year, payments are 10.4% less as a share of premiums. (Berryman and Broderick, 7/24)
Stat:
How Insurers Can Use Medical Codes To Profit From Medicare Advantage
Insurers like UnitedHealth are profiting off of the Medicare Advantage system, and it’s causing problems for both doctors and patients. (Empinado, 7/25)
