By Devin Partida, technology writer and the editor-in-chief, ReHack.com.
The medical industry’s growing reliance on digital technologies has come with some increased risks. That became painfully evident for thousands of patients in the wake of a recent ransomware attack on CaptureRX, a healthcare administrative service provider.
On February 6, hackers accessed sensitive patient data from multiple CaptureRX clients, affecting at least 1 million people. The company started investigating after noticing unusual activity, and by February 19, it could confirm that someone had stolen patients’ personally identifiable information (PII). CaptureRX started alerting affected clients on March 30, and the full scope of the incident is still unclear.
Health IT’s Growing Ransomware Problem
This is far from the first instance of a ransomware attack on a health IT company. Ransomware as a whole has become much more common in the past few years, and medical businesses are more at risk than most. Hospitals have more to lose in these attacks, given the sensitive nature of their data, so a successful breach could be more profitable for hackers.
In 2020 alone, there were 92 ransomware attacks against healthcare organizations, affecting more than 18 million patient records. That represents a 60% increase over 2019 in the number of attacks and a 470% increase in records affected. Since 2016, these attacks have cost the industry more than $31 billion.
The CaptureRX attack is the latest in a troubling and growing trend of ransomware attacks against health IT. If industry leaders aren’t already aware of this problem, the sheer size of this incident will likely get their attention. With these attacks becoming more frequent and expensive, the sector will likely shift in response.
When it comes to treatment-resistant mental health disorders like depression, ketamine therapy can work where other therapies have failed. While the drug carries a negative stigma because of its illegal use, it has been found to be extremely beneficial, and is even considered to be lifesaving by those who have used it. From understanding the drug to expanding its use and other ways it can help patients, here’s what you need to know.
How ketamine offers a solution
Ketamine is an anesthetic that’s been around for quite some time, but it has found a new purpose in the treatment of mental health disorders like depression, particularly for those whose symptoms are unchanged by other common treatments. One Nashville psychiatrist, Dr. Daniel Barton, notes that ketamine “works much quicker than other medicines, and so it’s a real effective treatment when a patient’s been suffering for a very long time.” In comparison to other treatments, for instance, ketamine IV therapy is given in lower doses over longer people of time, making it well-tolerated by patients.
However, because of its history of being used recreationally, many may wonder what ketamine therapy feels like. Known as a dissociative anesthetic and often associated with a feeling of floating and relaxation, many describe the feeling of ketamine therapy as being in a dream-like state.
While intravenous ketamine therapy can be fast acting, sometimes improving symptoms of depression within hours of the first treatment, it’s important to take into account that ketamine therapy for depression simply isn’t for everyone. In addition to still being viewed as controversial by some and the potential the drug carries for abuse, it’s necessary to keep in mind that those who have used the drug experience varying levels of success, depending on personal factors — such as how long someone’s been depressed, or how severe their symptoms are.
Expanding the use of the drug
Due to its benefits, ketamine is surging in popularity. In fact, intravenous ketamine therapy may be safe and effective in adolescents with treatment resistant depression, according to one study in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Adolescents in the study actually reported significantly greater reductions in depressive symptoms after 24 hours, compared to those who received the medication midazolam. As well as expanding for the use of younger patients, ketamine therapy for depression is becoming more widespread around the world. Ketamine is now being used in authorized clinical settings in Singapore in order to treat those with major depressive disorder who aren’t otherwise responding to treatment. For example, esketamine, a modified version of the drug, has been approved and used to treat two patients via nasal spray.
By Ron Singh, senior vice president of coordination of benefits, HMS.
Ron Singh
As healthcare policies, regulations and payment models continue to shift in response to the ongoing pandemic, payment accuracy has grown increasingly complex and important as health plans, providers and state agencies alike strive to uncover revenue and additional savings wherever possible. Ensuring the accuracy of billing and payment for Medicaid members has risen to the top of the priority list for payers, yet significant barriers to success remain.
Coordination of Benefits (COB), also known as Third Party Liability (TPL), is a cornerstone of payment accuracy and a high-powered cost control system that keeps provider’s and health plan’s healthcare programs strong. State Medicaid agencies and health plans, both public and private, use COB programs to ensure the appropriate payers are always billed for patient care. Around 20% of Medicaid members have access to other healthcare coverage, and it is often difficult for health plans and providers to identify when this is the case, contributing to astonishing waste, including the $56 billion of improper Medicaid spending in 2019 alone.
Allowing providers to operate with a full understanding of available benefits and enhancing efficiencies across the care continuum helps with getting the appropriate prior authorizations. There may be services covered in the commercial health plan but not under Medicaid, giving patients more options. Individuals can be dually enrolled in Medicaid, Medicare, and commercial health benefits, so when patients know the full scope of available coverage prior to care or billing, care teams operate more efficiently and increase patient satisfaction by maximizing use of all coverage sources.
COB programs have significantly helped to improve accurate payment and billing. However, amid the current health crisis and with Medicaid enrollment on the rise, organizations must strengthen payment accuracy efforts with real-time insight into eligibility and member coverage through the use of data-driven COB technologies. By utilizing these strategic solutions, healthcare organizations can improve care coordination and billing, reduce unnecessary costs and ensure providers are reimbursed correctly the first time.
Best Practices for Enhanced COB Programs and Efforts
With the adoption of COB and payment accuracy solutions, Medicaid agencies and health plans can quickly identify all relevant coverage at the point of enrollment or prior authorization, helping to preserve the integrity of Medicaid as a payer of last resort and significantly reducing costs and administrative burdens for both payers and providers.
The rapid collection of member data in various formats from multiple sources, for example, is a major component of COB success. The data needs to be constantly refreshed and should cover all claim types so that it meets members’ needs based on their fast and frequently changing healthcare coverage. To ensure the best possible match, organizations also need detailed data from all major health plans, as well as state and regional plans made accessible via payment accuracy technology.
Minority communities are incredibly diverse, particularly when looking at population mix and rural vs. urban areas. From different household makeups and risk factors to varying engagement preferences, that diversity also impacts health outcomes—a reality laid bare by COVID-19.
An analysis by Carrot Health found that rural communities bear the highest burden of COVID-19, while Black and Hispanic populations are the most adversely impacted by the virus.
This infographic takes a closer look at diverse communities with large Black and Hispanic populations, information that can be leveraged to improve health outcomes, member engagement, costs and public health.
By Andrei Klubnikin, content management team lead, ITRex.
Although the amount of US healthcare organizations that utilize patient portal software increased from 32% in 2014 to 90% in early 2019, less than a quarter of patients are willing to use the tools to schedule an appointment with a physician, view medical data and get tips for chronic disease self-management.
Patients’ ambivalence towards the technology can be largely attributed to healthcare data interoperability issues and administrative barriers to obtaining access to medical records. Furthermore, most patients still live under the paradigm of encounter-based medicine and perceive medical portals as useful only around the time of a physician office visit.
In an attempt to boost patient portal engagement and usage, medical professionals add multiple functions to healthcare software solutions. In this article, we will review patient portal features essential to engage the target audience and provide approximate patient portal development cost estimates.
Must-have Patient Portal Features as Reported by Healthcare Providers
In a nutshell, a patient portal is the user-facing component of an electronic health record (EHR) solution, which is intended to simplify patients’ access to medical data — i.e., physician notes, laboratory results, billing information, — and drive patient participation.
According to CHiME 2018 Healthcare’s Most Wired survey, the majority of healthcare facilities — with the exception of rural and critical access hospitals — have already incorporated robust communication, mobile and convenience capabilities into patient portal software. The reported enhancements include live chat enabling patients to directly contact care team and billing staff, automatic prescription refills, appointment scheduling and personal health data management. Additionally, 90% of respondents offer some form of telehealth services and take the device-agnostic approach to portal design to improve user experience on mobile devices.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a number of personal health data challenges for both healthcare organizations and private businesses alike. From vaccine passport requirements and businesses handling incredibly sensitive information on their employees, to healthcare workers accessing sensitive patient data while working from home, the health crisis has created unprecedented data security and compliance challenges for employers and healthcare providers.
COVID-19’s Impact on Data Security
When COVID-19 first hit, many healthcare organizations shifted to a partially remote workforce overnight. This meant that healthcare administrators were using personal devices and had access to systems and data that they previously could only access on their employers’ network. The focus was on productivity and business continuity, not cybersecurity.
However, over a year later, we are still using this makeshift IT environment and the increased cyber risks have not been addressed. By accessing patients’ private healthcare information from personal devices or home networks, administrators are doubling or tripling the risk of a breach.
Why Do Criminals Want Healthcare Data?
There are several regulations designed to protect personal data, but health data presents unique challenges. For example, if my credit card were stolen, I can be assured that PCI would cover any losses due to my banks’ contractual obligations with credit card companies. However, my health data – including DNA, disease history and medical conditions – are fully unique. No one can reimburse me with a new set of personal health information!
Criminals understand this, which has led to a rise in personal health data being stolen. Many hackers are now breaching health systems’ networks for personal information, and demanding ransom from individuals to keep that data private.
Furthermore, healthcare workers have been under increased pressure due to the pandemic, which has made hospitals and health systems a more appealing and “softer” target for hackers.
Joining a growing number of healthcare organizations to embrace tele-rehab, UT Health East Texas at Ardent Medical Services recently licensed the TheraNow Platform to provide telemedicine and remote physical therapy treatment to its patients throughout East Texas. Texas has a business-friendly climate, which has seen major companies relocate to the state. Immigrants can easily start an LLC in Texas and other types of businesses
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth undergone a rapid expansion in terms of function, accessibility, offering and capabilities. Multiple platforms have emerged capable of addressing health concerns ranging from general healthcare and mental health to hands-on healthcare capabilities including physical therapy.
At-Home Rehab
The UT Health East Texas partnership with TheraNow gives its recovering patients the option of physical therapy and rehabilitation services at home under the guidance of their physician or therapist. The TheraNow platform provides patients with personalized, prescribed one-on-one video therapy sessions with licensed therapists via their laptops or mobile device. The TheraNow app monitors progress with outcome tracking that helps the therapist to build an effective progressive rehabilitation program.
“When I was initially introduced to TheraNow, I was very impressed with the capabilities to help patients prepare for joint replacement surgery to optimize their outcome and the opportunity to have post-procedure therapy at home through the telehealth platform. I am pleased that our orthopedic surgeons have embraced this technology and that UTHET Rehabilitation Services is also beginning to provide this option to their patients,” said Vicki Briggs, CEO, UT Health Tyler at Ardent Health Services.
Briggs adds that she has first-hand experience with TheraNow, which she used for at-home physical therapy following hip replacement surgery. Her therapist instructed her on performing the exercises and also monitored her progress.
“It was an added benefit to see videos of the exercises to refresh me on exactly how to do them when I was not online with the therapist,” she said. “I was also much more motivated to stay on track with the schedule since I had to check in daily when I performed the exercises and note on the application how I was doing. I was 100% pleased with this experience and had a great outcome.”
UT Health Rehabilitation Hospital Administrator Laurie Lenhof notes that TheraNow is an innovative way for the rehabilitation hospital to provide therapy to patients at home—a treatment options they are “thrilled to extend to our community.”
She adds: “We can also reach beyond our usual service area as the distance becomes less of a barrier. Our rehabilitation leaders and therapists worked diligently to make this new project a reality and are eager to see it grow.”
A career as a counselor can be incredibly gratifying, as it allows you to impact the lives of people of all ages profoundly. You can guide them through various issues, ranging from interpersonal, situational, vocational, and educational, and build their resilience to help them tackle such matters independently.
However, while a job as a counselor may be rewarding, it also requires immense dedication. Counselors need to always be on their best behavior, as they encounter people from various backgrounds with traumatic stories. These people may often come from backgrounds different from yours, and they may have beliefs you disagree with. Therefore, a counselor needs solid skills to adapt to every new situation and treat each client with the same degree of respect and empathy.
If you’re a counselor looking to brush up on your skills, there are numerous ways to do so. Below, we’ll discuss the top four ways to improve as a counselor.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a number of personal health data challenges for both healthcare organizations and private businesses alike. From vaccine passport requirements and businesses handling incredibly sensitive information on their employees, to healthcare workers accessing sensitive patient data while working from home, the health crisis has created unprecedented data security and compliance challenges for employers and healthcare providers.