Health IT

Healthcare information (HIT) systems are designed to connect all the elements together for patient data, reports, medical imaging, billing, electronic medical record (EMR), hospital information system (HIS), PACS, cardiology information systems (CVIS)enterprise image systemsartificial intelligence (AI) applications, analytics, patient monitors, remote monitoring systems, inventory management, the hospital internet of things (IOT), cloud or onsite archive/storage, and cybersecurity.

Artivion, an Atlanta-based medical device company, has received a Humanitarian Device Exemption (HDE) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its AMDS Hybrid Prosthesis designed to treat DeBakey Type 1 dissections when malperfusion occurs. This HDE ensures select patients can be treated with the device before the FDA makes its final approval decision.

First surgical device of its kind granted key FDA exemption

This update helps ensure Artivion's AMDS Hybrid Prosthesis can be used to treat high-risk patients as the FDA makes its final approval decision. The news came as Artivion works to bounce back from a cybersecurity attack that occurred in November.

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Study reveals shocking list of the most common corporate passwords

A cybersecurity firm found '123456' and '123456789' are the most common passwords used in the workplace after analyzing 2.5TB of data.

Healthcare hacker sentenced to 10 years in prison

Robert Purbeck, 45, of Georgia was found with data on more than 132,000 individuals taken from various breaches, including multiple providers, a police station and a city government. 

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Ransomware group deploys ticking clock to threaten Georgia hospital

Memorial Hospital and Manor announced the data breach through Facebook on Nov. 3. The cybercrime group Embargo has taken credit for the incident, claiming to have 1.15TB of stolen information. 

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Hackers were inside an Iowa hospital’s network for two weeks

St. Anthony Regional Hospital confirmed patient data was taken by cybercriminals, but the August incident is still being investigated.

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Microsoft: Ransomware hit nearly 400 healthcare entities this year—a 300% rise since 2015

A study from Microsoft on the impact of ransomware found unaffected nearby hospitals see a rise in stroke and cardiac arrest cases, in addition to an influx of patients. 

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Feds make it official: Change data breach was the largest in healthcare history, impacting 100M

Updated reporting from HHS shows UnitedHealth Group's estimate that roughly one-third of people in the U.S. would be affected was correct. 

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CMS contractor takes $1.2M loss after data breach, DOJ lawsuit

Federal Data Solutions allegedly failed to encrypt screenshots of patient data, stored on a server being paid for with Medicare funds.

Around the web

The American College of Cardiology has sent a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that outlines some of the organization’s central priorities and concerns. 

One product is being pulled from the market, and the other is receiving updated instructions for use.

If the Trump administration continues taking a laissez-faire stance toward AI—including AI used in healthcare—why not let the states go it alone on regulating the technology?