The Rochester Epidemiology Project, a partnership of healthcare organizations in Minnesota and Wisconsin for the sharing of medical records for research, is celebrating 50 years of service. The Project is beginning in the next 50 years with the launch of the Data Exploration Portal, which aims to improve community and public health in the two states.

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. 

Researchers at Mayo Clinic have identified a possible cause for a rare infection in heart and lung transplant recipients: the donor. The way in which heart and lung transplant recipients acquired a specific species of bacteria, Mycoplasma hominis, had been previously undefined, and the bacterium was difficult to test. Originally, this bacterium was considered to reside exclusively in, and be a potential pathogen of, the area of the reproductive and urinary organs – the genitourinary tract.

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) in New York have successfully grown lung organoids from human pluripotent stem cells. These 3D structures that mimic a fully-grown lung aim to improve research into respiratory diseases.

With the potential of providing access to quality care at a lower cost, telehealth is gaining another player in its court with the new bipartisan bill. The CONNECT for Health Act hopes to expand the use of telehealth and remote patient monitoring with Medicare patients.

Seeing physicians on their smartphones could mean being discharged faster. A recent study, published in Annals of Emergency Medicine, examined differences in discharge times for emergency department patients with chest pain seen by physicians with or without smartphones to deliver laboratory results. 

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