By Kim Del Fierro

The business world has become more competitive than ever. Not only is there increased pressure on companies to be profitable, but also to keep information safe. For many companies, cybersecurity is an area that’s easy to cut back on, but that can prove to be an expensive mistake.

According to the PwC Global Economic Crime Report, cybercrime is now the second most reported economic crime, affecting 31 percent of organizations. The percentage is high, and if cybersecurity doesn’t become a priority in business, it will certainly get higher. As the leader and owner of a company, do you know which cybersecurity vulnerabilities your organization may have right now? Let’s take a look: [Read more…]

By Oliver Dehning

You’re looking for a company to replace that worn-down carpeting in the waiting room of your small private practice. You send a few emails, get a response and a quote inside of a PDF and double-click to open it.

Just like that, every computer in the office is hit with ransomware.

With the modern world’s reliance on technology, everything comes to a standstill. Fifteen computers are locked down as backup files are restored. When the office reopens three days later, thousands of dollars in canceled appointments are lost – as is patient trust.

That scenario is rare, but not rare enough in healthcare, which was the industry most affected by data breaches in 2017 – the majority of its 328 disclosed breaches coming by hacking or malware attacks. This is despite HIPPA regulations that require strong cybersecurity measures, as well as the millions spent in IT costs by providers and other groups that possess patients’ delicate health information. [Read more…]

By Kim Del Fierro

We live in times when it’s become easier than ever for hackers to breach a healthcare organization through social engineering. Breaches are primarily caused by phishing attacks, representing a huge security problem for businesses.

But why is this type of cybercriminal so widely represented in the statistics? What is it that makes it so easy and so profitable for hackers? We might not like the answers. The ever-increasing connectivity and focus on people and data is leaving us vulnerable to malicious attacks. To protect your healthcare business, you need to start thinking like a hacker.

Let’s take a look at how they infiltrate big business and what can be done about it. [Read more…]

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services had instituted The HIPAA Privacy Rule in the year 1996 laying down a list of rules and guidelines intended to protect the personal health information of patients. To remain compliant with these regulations, all hospitals and healthcare organizations are taking the necessary steps to protect their operations from data breaches. Even as medical institutions have been adopting the latest of software and applications to protect their records, hackers seem to remain a step ahead.

According to the data released by the 2017 “Cost of Data Breach Study” by the Ponemon Institute in conjunction with IBM Security and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, the healthcare industry continues to be the most susceptible to data breaches. In the year 2017 alone, close to 60% of security leaks or 328 breaches occurred for a cost of around $1.2 billion in this sector alone.

Experts are Conducting Studies to Understand the Causes

Should you check out the results of research published by the American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC), you’ll learn about the findings of a team headed by Meghan Hufstader Gabriel, Ph.D. from the University of Central Florida. These results clearly point to the need for secure data destruction protocols that all medical institutions should adopt. [Read more…]

By Kim Del Fierro

Suffering a data breach has dire consequences for any company or organization. Not only is your sensitive data at risk, but also your relationship with your customers. A data breach can severely damage this relationship, harming even the most prominent companies.

The bottom line is that you will lose customers if they can’t trust you to keep their data safe. Many customers don’t seem to realize that part of the responsibility for keeping data safe, such as implementing security best practices, belongs to them as well. Nevertheless, in the event of a data breach, blaming the company that couldn’t keep the data safe is to them, the logical first step. How do your customers feel if your organization suffers a data breach? Let’s take a look at the latest information revealing customer attitudes towards data safety: [Read more…]

By Dr. William DeGasperis

Today’s healthcare providers now understand the many advantages of sharing health information electronically and its value in delivering higher quality, safer patient care. At the same time, the advent of electronic information exchange is also benefitting provider practices, with electronic processing of medical bills and claims, better known as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), translating into greater efficiency and profitability. 

As the industry shifts from paper-based to electronic transaction processing, amid an array of demanding new laws and regulations in some states that require electronic transactions, Providers will reap the many benefits:

• Faster reimbursement 

• No paper claims to stock and complete

• Simplified record keeping by eliminating lost claims paperwork

• Reduced clerical time and the costs to process and mail paper claims

Providers will find it helpful to understand how EDI works, be informed about best practices, and know what to look for when it comes to choosing an EDI clearinghouse partner to ensure seamless implementation.  [Read more…]

By Bill Ho

Every few years, a company tries to make a big push to solve the problem of easy and secure access to our healthcare information. The prospect of getting better access to my medical information — and the ability to share that more easily — has always excited me. On the consumer-facing side, a number of companies have attempted to solve the patient access problem, notably Microsoft (HealthVault in 2007), and Google (Google Health in 2008). Most recently, Apple announced the latest update to its health app, which could make it even easier to see our own health information. Not all have succeeded, however. Google Health, for example, discontinued its service in 2012. The journey to health information nirvana continues to be a difficult one.

While consumer access to health information is important and exciting for all of us as patients, the back offices of healthcare organizations are the workhorses when it comes to sharing patient information. The volume of patient data being shared behind the scenes — from consents and referrals to lab reports, H&Ps, and prescriptions — is several orders of magnitude greater than information shared with patients directly. All of this data are shared between internal departments, among specialists, private medical groups, and across a myriad of institutions and business associates, including insurance companies, laboratories, pharmacies, clearinghouses, law firms, and more.

While the HITECH Act pushed the adoption of electronic health record systems to new heights over the last decade, those systems can be notoriously difficult for sharing information between different EHR systems. And while EHR vendors are ostensibly interested in solving this problem, it seems vendors are more incentivized to have customers migrate to their own system than build a bridge between them. While multiple efforts around a digital highway for better interoperability and communication are currently in play, the one technology that continues to work diligently without any compatibility issues for sharing information is the humble but enduring fax.



[Read more…]

By Mitch Beaumont, Prashanth Prasad, Ulrica Sehlstedt and Mandeep Dhillon, Arthur D. Little

The healthcare sector has changed dramatically in recent years, due to new digital products and services emerging. However, established “analog-native” medical technology companies may need to make significant business and operational model changes in order to create significant value from these developments. We have identified a framework with two sets of primary “levers” that executives can use to impact the changes to their companies’ business and operational models to support a digital business. The specific levers used, and the degree to which they are “pulled”, will be unique to each company’s environment and its ultimate goals for digital. Most medical technology companies will focus more on two or three levers, with minor changes in the others.

Business model levers

• Digital products and services can enhance or shift a medical technology company’s value proposition in the market. Or it can offer tools such as applications and reminders to increase patient engagement and improve adherence. Typically, a digital business will want to build upon the company’s existing core value proposition, rather than creating a new one.

• Most medical technology companies have focused on selling devices, or generating revenue per unit. However, monetization of value can take on alternative forms with digital, such as service-oriented and data-centric models.

• Digital can enable a company to shift or expand the markets it serves to open up new business opportunities. Alternatively, companies may be able to create new business relationships with other value-chain players, such as home health companies, by providing information that improves the effectiveness and efficiency of in-home care delivery. [Read more…]

By Nick Hernandez

Medical practices often find themselves trying to keep pace with advancements in technology, but keeping up is easier said than done.  Investment in technology places heavy demands on capital resources.  As a result, administrators are exploring alternative sources of capital beyond customary bank loans. 

When you buy equipment and finance it with a loan, you own the equipment.  The loan just allows you to spread out the purchase price of the equipment over several years.  You pay back the principal plus interest over the term of the loan.  In contrast, a lease is a long-term arrangement to rent equipment.  Technically, you don’t own the equipment when you lease it.  However, there are different scenarios. In many cases, leases are virtually indistinguishable from loans, and you receive all the benefits and drawbacks of ownership even though you are technically not the owner.  Other types of leases are very different from loans and don’t offer the advantages or responsibilities of ownership.

Do you need new equipment but can’t afford to buy it outright?  Equipment leasing might be for you.  Many administrators are taking a fresh look at lease financing and that’s raising some significant questions.  Administrators should know what leasing options are available, when leasing is an appropriate solution, and what business issues must be addressed in a leasing program. [Read more…]