About healthcare IT
FCC close to finalizing $100M telehealth pilot program: “The Federal Communications Commission will soon move to issue a final order for its new $100 million Connected Care Pilot Program, which is intended to boost the use of telehealth for underserved patient populations.”
FDA, MITRE offer tips for med device cybersecurity: “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in partnership with the MITRE Corporation, has already championed two initiatives to improve medical device cybersecurity preparedness and response.
The first is the development and use of a medical device cybersecurity sandbox to enable security research and technical evaluation of medical device vulnerabilities and potential mitigations across health systems, device manufacturers, and the FDA…
The second initiative involves the exploration of the viability and execution of a CyberMed Safety Analysis Board to integrate critical patient safety and clinical environment dimensions into the assessment and validation of high-risk/high-impact device vulnerabilities and incidents.”
Navigating Privacy Laws to Deliver STI Health Services in High Schools: (In Pediatrics- subscription required): This article discusses the fact that information about students’ sexually transmitted infection history (and hence other health issues) can legally make its way into their educational records, which are not protected in the same way as HIPAA projects medical records.
About the publics’ health
Company efforts to stamp out tobacco often go up in smoke: Tobacco cessation and other wellness programs do not always pan out.
About pharma
Why physicians are fighting BCBS plan requiring use of mail-order pharmacies: Physicians claim that if health plans make them order injectable therapies on an as-needed from mail order pharmacies, that there will be delays in care. BCBS in Tennessee argues that such a practice will lower costs and avoid waste from ordering too much. The evidence supports the health plan, since any delays are rarely critical and the process avoids physicians from marking up the medicines when they bill the insurer.
About hospitals
6 hospital, health system construction projects costing $300M or more: Large construction projects are returning to several hospital systems around the country.