A cyberattack that crippled computer systems at Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo, New York, in April was ransomware, the hospital confirmed.

The worldwide ransomware attack using software known as “WannaCry” temporarily disrupted computers at the United Kingdom’s National Health Service, while U.S. healthcare organizations were largely spared, but CIOs and CISOs can still use this incident as a learning opportunity. 

Genevieve Morris has been named principal deputy national coordinator at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). 

The May 12 cyberattack that hit the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS), FedEx and other companies around the globe could have been limited if computers had been regularly applying security patches. John Christly, chief information security officer (CISO) at Netsurion and EventTracker, spoke to HealthExec about what made this ransomware attack unique and how healthcare CISOs can point to it to get others in the C-suite to prioritize cybersecurity.

NYC Health + Hospitals, the operator of public hospitals and clinic in New York, announced it will “implement new, advanced revenue cycle technology” from Epic at a cost of $289 million over the next five years.

Cerner owns the greatest market share among electronic health record (EHR) vendors, topping competitors McKesson and Epic, while a number of smaller competitors are “thriving,” according to a Kalorama Information report.

Innovaccer Inc., a Silicon Valley-headquartered healthcare analytics company, launched a free tool, the Social Determinants of Health Portal, designed to help providers understand and monitor the impacts of social determinants of health on patient population across every county and work towards achieving better health outcomes.

Clinicians have another chance to influence how the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) measures meaningful use, as CMS will be taking suggestions on new measures through June 30.