Tag: Public Health

Electrochemical Sensor for Detailed SARS-CoV-2 Immunity Data

Electrochemical Sensor for Detailed SARS-CoV-2 Immunity Data

Medgadget

Researchers at the Harvard Wyss Institute have developed an electrochemical device, called the eRapid sensor, that can assist clinicians in quickly characterizing someone’s COVID-19 infection, including identifying the infecting viral variant and the nature of someone’s immunity to the virus in terms of whether it is vaccine-mediated or natural immunity. Monitoring these characteristics could help to personalize treatment for individuals and also provide data for drug development and inform government decisions on the best way to manage COVID-19 in the community. When antibodies from a blood sample bind within the device, it precipitates a biochemical cascade that affects the electrical […]…

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Epic, eHealth Exchange and CommonWell among HHS-approved QHIN candidates

Epic, eHealth Exchange and CommonWell among HHS-approved QHIN candidates

Healthcare IT news

A half-dozen organizations on Monday were approved by the Department of Health and Human Services as the inaugural batch of candidates to participate as qualified health information networks as part of ONC’s Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement.During a Feb. 13 event at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, six healthcare organizations were approved to implement TEFCA as prospective QHINs: CommonWell Health Alliance, eHealth Exchange, Epic TEFCA Interoperability Services, Health Gorilla, Kno2, and KONZA National Network.
In a blog post, National Coordinator for Health IT Micky Tripathi recognized those organizations, “for their willingness to voluntarily step up and meet the…

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EHR-based SDOH Screening Accuracy Falls Short for Housing Instability

EHR-based SDOH Screening Accuracy Falls Short for Housing Instability

DistilINFO Hospital IT

– EHR-based social determinant of health (SDOH) screening questionnaires under identified patients with housing instability and financial strain compared to single-domain screening tools, according to a study published in JAMA. Public health, healthcare delivery organizations, federal agencies, and researchers have advocated for better collection of patient SDOH data. Social factors can influence referrals to community partners, increase awareness of patient needs, measure population health, and improve risk prediction models. Popular EHR platforms include multidomain screening questionnaires assessing SDOH. Researchers evaluated the accuracy of EHR-based questionnaires using single-domain questionnaires on food insecurity, housing instability, and financial strain as external standards. The study…

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Healthcare systems could face new DPRK ransomware tactics

Healthcare systems could face new DPRK ransomware tactics

Healthcare IT news

Government agencies from the United States and the Republic of Korea are highlighting new ransomware tactics they’ve seen, which they say are used to conceal the affiliation of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea hackers working to stage attacks against U.S. and South Korean healthcare organizations and critical infrastructure.WHY IT MATTERS
The new cybersecurity advisory, Ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure fund DPRK malicious cyber activities, details both North Korea’s historically and recently observed tactics, techniques and procedures and indicators of compromise.
The additional observed TTPs “span phases from acquiring and purchasing infrastructure to concealing DPRK affiliation,” according to the United States National Security Agency, the Federal…

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CDS Coalition requests FDA rescind final decision support guidance

CDS Coalition requests FDA rescind final decision support guidance

Healthcare IT news

The CDS Coalition is asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to pull back on its clinical decision support guidance in order to ensure that the agency better balances its regulatory oversight with the healthcare sector’s need for innovation, while comporting with the statutory language of the 21st Century Cures Act. ‘Flagrant’ disregard for Congressional law and intent
The coalition’s stakeholders – clinical decision support software developers, patient advocacy organizations, clinical societies, healthcare providers and healthcare payers – say the FDA’s guidance exceeds Congress’s statutory definitions of what is considered CDS and threatens to undermine lawmakers’ goals.
“The Office of the National Coordinator for…

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Withings U-Scan Overview: Measuring Waste for Health Benefits at Home

Withings U-Scan Overview: Measuring Waste for Health Benefits at Home

Healthcare IT Today

Public health agencies have come to understand the immense value of monitoring waste water, as demonstrated by a recent report calling for its expansion. But Withings allows you to measure your own waste products in the home through a new product called U-Scan.At CES 2023, Julius Dewavrin, Product Manager for U-Scan, explained how U-Scan works and the kinds of health benefits it can provide. More than 3000 components are packed into a disk you can hold in your hand. Just install the device inside the toilet bowl and choose the tests you want it to perform. These include logging your menstrual…

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Regenstrief Institute names new president and CEO

Regenstrief Institute names new president and CEO

Healthcare IT news

Indiana University School of Medicine this week announced that Rachel E. Patzer, an expert in epidemiology and health services research, has been appointed to be president and chief executive officer of the school-affiliated Regenstrief Institute.WHY IT MATTERSPatzer, who holds degrees including a masters in public health and a doctorate in epidemiology, will begin the new role on May 1. She currently works at Emory University School of Medicine, where she serves as the founding director of its Health Services Research Center and is a tenured professor there in the school’s department of surgery.
She founded the Health Services Research Center at Emory…

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Merchandising healthcare access: adopting e-commerce techniques

Merchandising healthcare access: adopting e-commerce techniques

Healthcare IT news

As the consumerization of healthcare continues to take shape, the next frontier of healthcare access may well be merchandising healthcare inventory, contended Derek Streat, cofounder and CEO of DexCare, a digital transformation platform vendor.By combining healthcare and e-commerce technologies and strategies, healthcare provider organizations can dramatically improve the digital discovery of care and access to it for patients, he said.
And as workforce shortages continue and tech giants like Amazon push in, these digital consumer experiences will be critical for traditional providers like health systems to operate sustainably, scale care delivery and access, and survive in this competitive and volatile landscape, he added.
We interviewed…

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Bipartisan House bill proposes permanent telehealth benefits

Bipartisan House bill proposes permanent telehealth benefits

Healthcare IT news

The Telehealth Benefit Expansion for Workers Act would amend the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income and Security Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow employers to treat benefits for telehealth services like excepted benefits.WHY IT MATTERS
The bill aims to keep stand-alone telehealth benefits separate, not as a replacement of medical plans, offering them under a group health plan or group health insurance coverage as excepted benefits.
An excepted benefit allows employers to finance additional medical care, like vision or dental coverage, according to theCenters for Medicare & Medicaid Services FAQsfor insurance agents and brokers, requiring Congress…

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2022 Tech Forum: Availability of SDOH & Health Equity Related Data & Implications for Public Health

2022 Tech Forum: Availability of SDOH & Health Equity Related Data & Implications for Public Health

Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT

September 16, 2022This session will demonstrate how social determinants of health (SDOH) and health equity related data are collected and used in clinical notes and discuss the use of Natural Language Processing (NLP) for extracting these data from electronic health record systems. The session will also include discussion around SDOH, health equity, and public health use cases and how they can be used with NLP.  JaWanna Henry, MPH, MCHES, ONC (Moderator) Catherine DesRoches, DrPH, Harvard Medical School/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Elizabeth Shenkman, PhD, University of Florida Chelsea Richwine, PhD, ONCYonghui Wu, PhD, University of Florida…

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