Having a strong first line of defense is key in any battle—and the same goes for the fight for cybersecurity. A recent newsletter released by HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) urges healthcare organizations to arm their employees with knowledge in order to prevent cyberattacks.

By an easy vote of 94-1, the Senate passed the FDA Reauthorization Act (FDARA) of 2017, approving the user fee agreements paid by pharmaceutical and medical device companies to the Food and Drug Administration.

CMS has finalized the Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTCH) payment rules, lowering the total increase to $2.4 billion while removing a controversial proposal to require public release of previously confidential hospital inspections by accrediting organizations (AOs).

The Physician Insurers Association of America (PIAA), a group which lobbies for medical liability insurance companies, is claiming a bill passed by the House to limit malpractice damages was largely written by the group, not members of Congress.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has allowed 16 state attorneys general to intervene in a lawsuit surrounding the Affordable Care Act’s cost-sharing reduction subsidies, or CSRs, paid to insurers for lowering deductibles for low-income ACA enrollees.

In response to the opioid epidemic, U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, MA, PhD, R-Pennsylvania, has introduced the Overdose Prevention and Patient Safety (OPPS) Act, which allows physicians to review patient information regarding previous addiction treatment through electronic health records (EHRs).

Years of efforts by Republicans to repeal and/or repeal the Affordable Care (ACA) culminated in a dramatic early-morning defeat as three GOP senators voted against the rest of their party. Which leaves the healthcare industry wondering: What now?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released its “Digital Health Innovation Action Plan” to provide guidance on medical devices and software in the 21st Century Cures Act. The Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) was launched as a pilot precertification program for the development of digital health technology.