HIMSS has been active in helping the healthcare community address and mitigate the spread of the WannaCry Ransomware attack.  This is a new type of ransomware that has affected organizations around the world in just a matter of days. Unlike other forms of ransomware seen over the past year, this type does not require human intervention to spread.

Thanks for a new sensor developed by researchers at the University of Illinois, bad breath can a blessing when it comes to diagnosing kidney failure. Published in Advanced Functional Materials, researchers' findings outline the sensor's development and how it is able to diagnose kidney failure.

Primary care practices in Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota and New York’s Erie and Niagara Counties can now apply to participate in the second round of CMS’s Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) model.

For the second time under the Trump administration, CMS has delayed the implementation date of bundled payments for cardiac care and an expansion of a joint replacement model, which are now due to begin Jan. 1, 2018, opening the door to additional changes, like making the models voluntary rather than mandatory.  

mPulse Mobile, mobile experience management company, has partnered with researchers from Harvard Medical School to study the impact of personalized, interactive text messages to Medicaid participants using two different programs. 

Cambridge Consultants, a product design and development firm, has introduced an augmented reality (AR) surgical system capable of giving surgeons “x-ray vision” in real time. This system aims to improve patient outcomes and reduce surgical risk.

Undergoing a surgical procedure is enough to worry about for a patient, yet many have the additional fear of developing surgical site infections (SSIs). A study published in Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control outlines nine recommendations for patients to take charge of their own care and reduce the chances of developing an SSI using patient engagement. 

Allergies aren’t the only thing that are seasonal. In a study published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, researchers found the risk of developing surgical site infections (SSI) increased as the weather warms up.